Survival in Simplicissimus and Mutter Courage

the long version

This study argues that the underlying link between Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus and Brecht's Mutter Courage is a concern with human survival in a dangerous world. It focuses on the various threats to survival, the way the characters deal with them, and the price they pay for doing so. Furthermore, it discusses other survival possibilities explored in the texts and comes to the conclusion that both Brecht and Grimmelshausen present figures from the lower clergy as models of survival. This is a surprising irony in the light of Brecht's communism and the setting of religious conflict in both works.