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Shu Fu
Wong is a poor water seller in Setzuan. Wong acts as a sort of narrator or chorus for much of the action—despite his lowly profession, he is the first person to recognize the disguised trio of gods who appear in Setzuan for the deities they are and he offers to help them find shelter. The gods don’t see Wong as the “good” person they’ve been searching for but they nonetheless choose to appear to him in visions throughout the play as they check in on Shen Te, whom they do believe is inherently good. Wong is a man who has capitalized on a natural resource: when there is a drought and his fellow men are suffering, he earns a profit by selling them water. When there are rains and floods and no one is thirsty, Wong himself is suffering. Wong’s dilemma is symbolic of the larger struggles of life under capitalism—one’s success in terms of material wealth, Brecht suggests, always comes at the expense of another.
Wong Quotes in The Good Woman of Setzuan
The The Good Woman of Setzuan quotes below are all either spoken by Wong or refer to Wong. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Prologue Quotes
WONG: I sell water here in the city of Setzuan. It isn’t easy. When water is scarce, I have long distances to go in search of it, and when it is plentiful, I have no income. But in our part of the world there is nothing unusual about poverty. My people think only the gods can save the situation.
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THIRD GOD: Good-bye, Shen Te! Give our regards to the water seller!
SECOND GOD: And above all: be good! Farewell!
FIRST GOD: Farewell!
THIRD GOD: Farewell!
SHEN TE: But everything is so expensive, I don’t feel sure I can do it!
SECOND GOD: That's not in our sphere. We never meddle with economics.
THIRD: One moment. Isn’t it true she might do better if she had more money?
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Scene 1a Quotes
FIRST GOD: Do us a favor, water seller. Go back to Setzuan. Find Shen Te, and give us a report on her. We hear that she’s come into a little money. Show interest in her goodness—for no one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand. Meanwhile we shall continue the search, and find other good people. After which, the idle chatter about the impossibility of goodness will stop!
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Scene 3 Quotes
SHEN TE: I want your water, Wong
The water that has tired you so
The water that you carried all this way
The water that is hard to sell because it's been raining.
I need it for the young man over there—he's a flyer!
A flyer is a bold man:
Braving the storms
In company with the clouds
He crosses the heavens
And brings to friends in faraway lands
The friendly mail!
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Scene 3a Quotes
THIRD GOD: Forgive us for taking this tone with you, Wong, we haven't been getting enough sleep. The rich recommend us to the poor, and the poor tell us they haven’t enough room.
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Scene 4 Quotes
SHEN TE: Your brother is assaulted, and you shut your eyes?
He is hit, cries out in pain, and you are silent?
The beast prowls, chooses and seizes his victim, and you say:
"Because we showed no displeasure, he has spared us."
If no one present will be witness, I will. I'll say I saw it.
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Scene 6a Quotes
FIRST GOD: Our faith in Shen Te is unshaken!
THIRD GOD: We certainly haven’t found any other good people. You can see where we spend our nights from the straw on our clothes.
WONG: You might help her find her way by—
FIRST GOD: The good man finds his own way here below!
SECOND GOD: The good woman too.
FIRST GOD: The heavier the burden, the greater her strength!
THIRD GOD: We're only onlookers, you know.
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Scene 7 Quotes
WONG: It’s about the carpenter, Shen Te. He's lost his shop, and he's been drinking. His children are on the streets. This is one. Can you help?
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Scene 9a Quotes
WONG: Illustrious ones, at last you're here. Shen Te’s been gone for months and today her cousin's been arrested. They think he murdered her to get the shop. But I had a dream and in this dream Shen Te said her cousin was keeping her prisoner. You must find her for us, illustrious ones!
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THIRD GOD: The place is absolutely unlivable! Good intentions bring people to the brink of the abyss, and good deeds push them over the edge. I'm afraid our book of rules is destined for the scrap heap—
SECOND GOD: It's people! They're a worthless lot!
THIRD GOD: The world is too cold!
SECOND GOD: It's people! They're too weak!
FIRST GOD: Dignity, dear colleagues, dignity! Never despair! As for this world, didn't we agree that we only have to find one human being who can stand the place? Well, we found her. True, we lost her again. We must find her again, that's all! And at once!
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Scene 10 Quotes
SHUI TA: Shen Te… had to go.
WONG: Where? Where to?
SHUI TA: I cannot tell you! I cannot tell you!
ALL: Why? Why did she have to go away? […]
SHUI TA (shouting): Because you’d all have torn her to shreds, that’s why!
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Wong Character Timeline in The Good Woman of Setzuan
The timeline below shows where the character Wong appears in The Good Woman of Setzuan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
Wong, a water seller standing by the gates of the city of Setzuan, addresses the audience...
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Three people dressed shabbily and traveling barefoot approach. Wong realizes they must be the “illustrious ones” he has been waiting for. He throws himself...
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Wong returns to the gods and he sheepishly admits he hasn’t found a place for them...
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Wong approaches Shen Te’s building and he calls out to her. She comes to the window....
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Wong returns to the gods, who have not overheard his exchange with Shen Te. Wong excitedly...
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...She does not come to the window and so he leaves. Shen Te calls for Wong. When Wong, who is hiding in the doorway with the gods, doesn’t answer, Shen Te...
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Scene 1a
Wong, crouched in his sewer pipe den, curls up and goes to sleep. The audience sees...
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Scene 3
...to be the most generous. Shen Te notices a drop of rain hit her head. Wong enters singing “The Song of the Water Seller in the Rain.” He laments that when...
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Shen Te spots Wong and runs to him, telling him that his pole is at the shop. Wong thanks...
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Scene 3a
Back in Wong’s sewer pipe, the gods come to Wong in a dream once again. Wong tells them...
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The gods tell Wong that they’ve been turned away quite often lately—the rich send them to the poor, but...
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Scene 4
...that Shen Te is “carrying on” with a man. The barber, Shu Fu, angrily kicks Wong out of his shop for “pestering” his customers, burning Wong’s hand with a hot curling...
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...tobacco shop and she shows them the huge sum of money. Mrs. Shin points out Wong’s injury. Shen Te apologizes for not seeing it sooner. She suggests taking Wong to a...
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Scene 5
Wong and the policeman enter looking for Shen Te. Shu Fu pretends to be busy looking...
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Scene 6a
Back in Wong’s den, the gods again come to him in a dream. Wong tells the gods that...
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When Wong declares that Shen Te may lose her shop, however, the third god asks if they...
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Scene 7
Wong enters with a real little boy. He tells Shen Te that the carpenter has lost...
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Shen Te asks Wong to go find Shu Fu. Before sending him off, though, she asks about his hand....
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...the shop is closing, suggests Shen Te call upon Shui Ta to save them all. Wong, the carpenter, and the carpenter’s other children enter; as they do, Shui Ta arrives and...
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...children, the sister-in-law, the grandfather, and the unemployed man off to Shu Fu’s cabins, leaving Wong and Mrs. Shin behind.
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...where Shen Te is—Shen Te was supposed to give something to her and her husband. Wong declares that things will soon be okay—Shui Ta never stays long. Mrs. Shin, “approaching a...
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Scene 7a
In Wong’s sewer pipe, Wong dreams of the gods yet again. The gods seem tired from their...
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Scene 9
Wong knocks at the door. He enters, stating that he’s looking for Shen Te. It’s been...
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...be settled—but suddenly, voices from the street announce the arrival of the police. Yang Sun, Wong, and the policeman all enter the shop. The policeman says that Yang Sun has reported...
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...is baffled. He spots the bundle Shui Ta has stashed away and picks it up. Wong declares that Shen Te’s clothes are here. A crowd has gathered outside the door—they declare...
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Scene 9a
Back in Wong’s den, the gods appear for the last time in the water seller’s dreams. The gods...
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Scene 10
...of it all, the old woman says, Shen Te is still nowhere to be found. Wong laments that “only the gods” will ever know what truly happened to her.
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...to the bench, they whisper nervously amongst themselves about their badly-forged certificates and shabby robes. Wong alone recognizes the judges as the gods and smiles at them. They smile back.
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The first god then asks if there is any “less favorable” evidence. Wong, the carpenter, the old man and old woman, the unemployed man, the sister-in-law, and the...
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...was for the poor—and for Shen Te, so that she could “go on being good.” Wong accuses Shen Te of spoiling the “fountain of goodness” that the shop, a gift from...
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