Shen Teh dreams of being a virtuous person. The gods bestow upon her 1,000 silver dollars, which she uses to open a modest tobacco shop. Shen Teh intends to help others by using the shop's earnings to purchase food for those in need. However, many individuals she tries to aid take advantage of her generosity. They demand food, money, shelter, and constant attention, showing no concern for her struggling business and focusing only on their immediate desires. Shen Teh finds it challenging to uphold her goodness amid these difficulties.

To preserve her business and maintain the potential to do good, Shen Teh invents a male alter ego, a cousin named Shui Ta. Unlike Shen Teh, Shui Ta is less empathetic and more ruthless. He evicts the elderly couple's family, who have been exploiting her kindness. He dismisses Wang's claim against Shu Fu and becomes a prosperous businessman by taking advantage of others. For example, he confiscates tobacco from the elderly couple's relatives to launch his tobacco factory. Despite this, Shui Ta performs some good deeds; he employs the previously unemployed relatives of the elderly couple, albeit in poor working conditions. By scene nine, during Shen Teh's absence, Shui Ta has settled her debts with the carpet dealer and his wife and has provided rice for the hungry, just as Shen Teh used to do.

At the end of the play, Shen Teh ponders whether it is possible to be a successful business owner while still remaining good.

When the gods grant Shen Teh 1,000 silver dollars, they unknowingly set off an identity crisis for her. Initially, Shen Teh is a local prostitute who kindly turns away business to provide the gods with a place to sleep for the night. However, upon receiving the funds to continue her charitable acts, her identity undergoes a transformation. She evolves into a local entrepreneur and a philanthropic figure, earning the nickname "Angel of the Slums" due to her generosity. With this new identity come increased expectations. Many impoverished people begin to impose demands on her—from her previous landlords, the elderly couple, and their extended family seeking shelter, to the landlady, Mrs. Mi Tzu, who insists on six months' rent upfront. These pressures nearly push her to financial collapse. Even the man she loves, Yang Sun, a pilot, seeks her money to secure a pilot position. Yang Sun is unconcerned about the potential loss of her business, and Shen Teh, in her deep affection for him, almost jeopardizes her shop. To uphold her charitable intentions and support her family, she assumes yet another identity.

Shen Teh invents a male cousin named Shui Ta. This male alter ego is essentially the opposite of Shen Teh. He is much more ruthless in business dealings and is unafraid to evict those who have taken advantage of Shen Teh's generosity. Initially, Shen Teh intends for Shui Ta to appear only during difficult times. However, by the play's final third, Shui Ta's presence is so overwhelming that other characters suspect he has harmed Shen Teh. The Shui Ta persona has to remain dominant 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 understand how their encouragement of her goodness compelled her to create this alternate identity for survival. She tries to explain that both Shen Teh and Shui Ta represent parts of her, but the gods only acknowledge the virtuous side. Before leaving, they instruct her to continue being good and to use the Shui Ta identity only...

Economic factors, particularly poverty, play a crucial role in shaping the storyline of Good Person. Very few characters in the play enjoy significant wealth. Shu Fu, a barber, is affluent enough to offer Shen Teh a blank check to support her charitable endeavors. Mrs. Mi Tzu, the landlady, owns the building where Shen Teh operates her tobacco shop. The Yangs possess some financial resources, but not enough for Yang Sun to obtain a pilot's position. Most other characters, however, endure financial struggles and find themselves in poverty by the end of the play. Mrs. Shin sells her shop to Shen Teh. An elderly couple and their extended family end up homeless, with at least one member turning to prostitution to survive. The carpenter, along with the carpet dealer and his wife, lose their businesses as the play progresses. Wang, unable to afford a home, resides under a bridge. Shen Teh, who was once a prostitute, rises to the merchant class due to a monetary gift from the gods. Her newfound wealth attracts many seeking help. To protect her business, her future, and her unborn child's future, she assumes the identity of the cunning businessman Shui Ta. Poverty forces everyone into desperate actions, while the gods appear largely indifferent to the suffering of both the virtuous and the wicked.

The Good Woman of Setzuan explores the intricate relationship between morality and survival, particularly within the context of Western cultural perspectives. This theatrical piece grapples with the conflict between goodness and the instinct to endure, woven through the fabric of two crucial philosophical threads: the Chinese concept of yin and yang, and Marxist dialectical materialism.

The duality of Shen Te and Shui Ta vividly embodies the yin/yang philosophy, which suggests that the passive and active, the feminine and masculine, are two inseparable halves of a complete whole. Shen Te’s generous and benevolent nature contrasts sharply with Shui Ta’s pragmatic and sometimes ruthless demeanor, illustrating the constant push and pull between opposing forces. This dichotomy not only highlights their mutual reliance but also accentuates the economic and social tensions underscored by Marxist theory within the play.

As Shen Te struggles to maintain her moral compass amidst adversity, it is through Shui Ta’s resourcefulness that she manages to survive. Shui Ta leverages the resources available to Shen Te, amplifying wealth and thus providing opportunities for broader distribution. Yet, his harshness and lack of empathy inevitably create a void that only Shen Te’s kindness can fill, offering solace and support to those languishing in the impoverished corners of Setzuan.

In "The Good Person of Szechwan," the interplay between yin/yang and Marxist philosophies is vividly expressed through the use of water imagery, intertwining with the economic conditions of Setzuan. This region, plagued by poverty and drought, serves as the perfect canvas for these philosophical ideas. The gods, in their aloofness, do not quench the collective thirst of the people; instead, they bestow a modest sum of money upon Shen Te. This is symbolic of their sporadic and selective intervention. Their presence is often felt by Wang, the water seller, who spends his nights in a dry culvert, emblematic of the parched environment. Wang's recurring dream of Shen Te being overwhelmed by the gods' moral injunctions is a poignant metaphor for the burdens she faces.

Shen Te's shop, a divine endowment, is her economic sanctuary, yet it teeters on the brink of collapse under the weight of the numerous needy who depend on her. Her name, Shen Te, which evokes the image of gentle rain, hints at her benevolent nature as she distributes her limited resources to those around her. Conversely, Shui Ta, whose name suggests the sweeping force of a flood, embodies the relentless drive of capitalism. He demolishes barriers in his pursuit of business success, underscoring the stark contrast between altruism and the harsh realities of economic survival.

The narrative utilizes water as a metaphor to explore the delicate balance between these dual philosophies. Shen Te's kindness and Shui Ta's capitalist vigor represent the duality of yin/yang, while also reflecting Marxist ideas of economic struggle. This vivid water imagery serves to highlight the complex interplay of philosophical ideals and economic realities in the world of Setzuan.

Bertolt Brecht’s "The Good Person of Szechwan" cleverly interweaves economic themes with philosophical undertones, inviting the audience to reevaluate societal constructs. By placing the narrative in a fictive Chinese setting, Brecht strategically distances the audience from their own cultural biases, encouraging them to engage with the story's universal themes. The exotic backdrop, complete with Chinese names and seemingly foreign gods, initially appears foreign but gradually becomes familiar as the plot unfolds. This deliberate estrangement serves a crucial purpose: it compels the audience to recognize and critique the human-made conditions contributing to societal poverty rather than attributing them to divine will or immutable fate.

Brecht’s choice of setting is not merely an aesthetic decision; it is a calculated effort to foster critical reflection among his Western audience. By presenting issues in an ostensibly distant cultural context, Brecht circumvents the audience's potential complacency about their own societal issues. The exoticism acts as a narrative device to prevent the audience from immediately attributing the depicted struggles to the natural or divine order. Instead, they are invited to see these issues as malleable, shaped by human action and thus solvable through human intervention.