The character of Mother Courage is often compared to Niobe, a character in Greek mythology. Research Niobe and compare and contrast her with Mother Courage.

Research the effect of war on the psyche of the common man. Is there a psychological explanation for Mother Courage's actions?

Compare the histories of the Thirty Years' War and World War II. How do events in World War II parallel what is portrayed in Mother Courage and Her Children?

Playwright Brecht was a communist. How do the tenets of communism manifest themselves in the themes and events of Mother Courage?