Themes and Meanings
The Good Woman of Setzuan raises the question of morality in Western culture by enacting a dilemma of goodness versus survival. The issues are encompassed in the play in two basic philosophies: The Chinese yin/yang and Marxist dialectical materialism. The highly contrasting behaviors of Shen Te and Shui Ta illustrate the Asian philosophy of the yin/yang that says two sides of nature—the passive woman and the active man—make up the whole. The constant opposition between Shen Te and Shui Ta and their desperate need for one another, as well as the economic questions that their disparate behaviors raise, point to the Marxist underpinnings of this play. Out of Shen Te’s need to survive despite her goodness and generosity comes the constructive manner in which Shui Ta uses the resources at Shen Te’s disposal to multiply the wealth and thus create more for distribution. On the other hand, Shui Ta’s tightfistedness and cruelty creates a need for more of the human warmth and aid that Shen Te brings to people in misery in the slums of Setzuan.
Both the yin/yang and Marxist philosophies are poetically realized through water imagery and are dramatically stated in terms of the economic situation in Setzuan. The poverty and drought which serve as the backdrop for this play unite the two sets of ideas. The gods do not bring water to everyone; they only bring a small amount of money to Shen Te. They frequently appear to Wang, the water seller, in his night’s lodgings of a dry culvert. Wang dreams that the weight of the gods’ moral precepts will drown Shen Te. Her shop, which she considers a gift from the gods, is an economic lifeboat. However, it may sink, because too many drowning hands reach out for it. The name Shen Te, in Chinese, connotes gentle rain. The name Shui Ta suggests the rushing waters of a flood tide. The generous Shen Te rains her small gifts on those around her; Shui Ta, the unrelenting capitalist who washes away restraints in his rush to succeed in business, emphasizes the relationship between water and the economics of Setzuan, and between the yin/yang and the Marxist dialectic.
With the firm connection between water and economics poetically embedded in the text, Bertolt Brecht goes a step further for the philosophical education of his audience. Instead of creating a play steeped in Chinese tradition, he uses a fictive Chinese setting and Chinese names, exotic gods who become less so as the play progresses, and a sprinkling of tales to divorce the play from the everyday realities of his intended Western audiences. If the play had a less exotic setting, the audience could simply accept the problems and conditions as those of their society, too long ingrained to be solved, or even willed by God as the natural order of things. The critical distance that the Chinese setting provides is designed to let the audience recognize that human action is responsible for the conditions of poverty and can be marshalled to solve those problems.
Themes
Last Updated August 24, 2024.
Success and Failure
Shen Teh aspires to be a good person. The gods grant her 1000 silver dollars, which she uses to purchase a small tobacco shop. Shen Teh aims to assist others through the shop by using the profits to buy food for the hungry. However, many people she tries to help exploit her kindness. They demand food, money, shelter, and constant attention. Unconcerned about the failing business, they focus solely on their immediate needs. Shen Teh struggles to maintain her goodness under these...
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challenging circumstances.
To save her business and retain the possibility of doing good, Shen Teh creates a male alter ego, a cousin named Shui Ta. Unlike Shen Teh, Shui Ta is less compassionate and more ruthless. He expels the elderly couple's family, who have been taking advantage of her. He refuses to support Wang's claim against Shu Fu and becomes a successful businessman by exploiting others. For instance, he seizes tobacco from the elderly couple's relatives to start his tobacco factory. Despite this, Shui Ta does some good; he employs the previously jobless relatives of the elderly couple, though in poor working conditions. By scene nine, during Shen Teh's absence, Shui Ta has settled her debts to the carpet dealer and his wife and has provided rice for the hungry, as Shen Teh used to do.
At the play's conclusion, Shen Teh contemplates whether it is possible to be a successful business owner and remain good.
Identity
When the gods bestow 1000 silver dollars upon Shen Teh, they unintentionally
trigger an identity crisis for her. At the start of the play, she is merely a
local prostitute who is kind enough to refuse business so that the gods have a
place to stay for the night. However, after receiving the money to continue
doing good, Shen Teh's identity transforms. She becomes a local businesswoman
and a charitable figure, earning the title "Angel of the Slums" for her
benevolent acts. This change in identity brings with it new expectations. Many
of the impoverished begin to make demands on her—from her former landlords, the
elderly couple, and their extended family seeking shelter, to the landlady,
Mrs. Mi Tzu, who demands six months' rent in advance. These demands nearly
drive her to financial ruin. Even the man she loves, the pilot Yang Sun, wants
her money to secure a pilot job. Yang Sun is indifferent to the potential loss
of her business, and Shen Teh, deeply in love, almost sacrifices her shop for
him. To maintain her charitable goals and support her family, she adopts yet
another identity.
Shen Teh creates a male cousin, Shui Ta. This male persona is essentially the antithesis of Shen Teh. He is far more ruthless in business and dealings. He is unafraid to evict those who have exploited Shen Teh's kindness. Initially, Shen Teh plans for Shui Ta to appear only during tough times. However, by the final third of the play, Shui Ta's presence is so dominant that other characters suspect he has harmed Shen Teh. The Shui Ta identity has had to remain prominent to secure a future for Shen Teh and her unborn child. When Shui Ta is arrested for Shen Teh's disappearance and brought before the three gods in court, the gods fail to see how their support for her goodness forced her to create this alternate identity just to survive. She attempts to explain that both Shen Teh and Shui Ta are facets of her, but the gods only accept the good side. Before departing, they instruct her to continue being good and to use the Shui Ta identity only once a month. Shen Teh is ultimately left to resolve her identity crisis on her own.
Economic Circumstances/Wealth & Poverty
Economic conditions, especially poverty, are major drivers of the plot in
Good Person. Only a handful of characters possess any significant
wealth. Shu Fu, the barber, is wealthy enough to give Shen Teh a blank check
for her charitable activities. The landlady, Mrs. Mi Tzu, owns the building
where Shen Teh's tobacco shop is located. The Yangs also appear to have some
money, although it is insufficient for Yang Sun to secure a pilot's job.
However, most other characters face financial hardships and end up in poverty
by the play's conclusion. Mrs. Shin sells her shop to Shen Teh. An elderly
couple and their extended family become homeless, with at least one family
member resorting to prostitution to make ends meet. The carpenter, along with
the carpet dealer and his wife, lose their businesses over the course of the
play. Wang, unable to afford a home, lives under a bridge. Shen Teh, who
previously worked as a prostitute, ascends to the merchant class thanks to a
monetary gift from the gods. Her new wealth draws many seeking assistance. To
secure her business, her future, and her unborn child's future, she adopts the
persona of the shrewd businessman Shui Ta. Poverty drives everyone to desperate
measures, while the gods seem largely indifferent to the impact on both the
virtuous and the wicked.