Both plays illustrate the fact that trying to make yourself better off in life will only end up in pain if you lose sight of the important things in life like family and friends. Those that try to control what their lives become will lose everything. Mother courage attempts to make a living off of the war by selling goods from a cart. Creon is the king of Thebes and tries to enforce his laws to show his power and strength. Mother courage is so focused on selling things from her cart that she loses those that are close to her just because she is focused solely on selling things and because she focuses only on that she loses sight of her children and then loses them to death. Creon is so focused on enforcing his laws and showing his power that he loses his son because Creon is blind to the effects of what he does on his son.

Mother courage is interesting because at any mention of selling something on the cart she loses sight of everything else. In the middle of a sentence she will just stop talking and become the store owner (the store being her cart). To her it’s as if nothing else in the world matters more than her cart or her stock. That’s how she loses her son Eilif. She is so concerned about selling a belt buckle that she doesn’t pay attention to the recruiter leading her son away to the army and his eventual death. Creon is interesting because at any demonstration of defiance to his laws he is encased in a rampage so blind for control and assertion of his power that he cannot see the consequences of his action on other people. Creon tries to show his power and control by charging Antigone his own son’s fiancés with the crime of burying her brother who was a traitor to the city. Creon by charging Antigone with death makes his son commit suicide; Creon doesn’t intentionally cause Haemon to kill himself it was just a bi-product of his rampage for power and control. Mother courage doesn’t mean to let the recruiter take Eilif away to his death in the army but she got distracted when she tried to make a sale.  Both Mother courage and Creon are always looking for ways to better themselves Creon by showing his power he intends to gain control and Mother courage who is always looking to make a sale to someone so that she can have more money. Both of them lose someone that is close to them when they try to better themselves.