Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Good Woman of Setzuan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Pursuit of Goodness
Greed, Capitalism, and Corruption
Women and Dual Identities
Humanity vs. The Divine
Summary
Analysis
Wong, a water seller standing by the gates of the city of Setzuan, addresses the audience and he introduces himself. In Setzuan, Wong says, water is often scarce—when this is the case, he must travel long distances to find it, but when water is plentiful, he laments having no income. Poverty is not unusual in Setzuan, and many locals believe the gods are the only ones who can “save the situation” there. Wong has heard a rumor from another traveling merchant that the gods are due to arrive soon. Every day, he has been standing out at the city gates in order to welcome the gods—he wants to be the first to greet them.
By introducing Wong, a poor water seller, as the play’s narrator, Brecht demonstrates the central dilemma which will drive the action. Like Wong, who only profits when his neighbors are suffering, the characters in this play will struggle with the impossibility of goodness in the face of capitalism. In other words, this is a world in which one must betray one’s fellow people in order to survive.
Themes
Three people dressed shabbily and traveling barefoot approach. Wong realizes they must be the “illustrious ones” he has been waiting for. He throws himself at their feet, promising to do for them anything they might need. The first god speaks up and states that the trio is in need of a place to stay for the night. Wong asks what kind of place they’d like to stay in. The first god says that Wong should simply lead them to the nearest house. Wong leads the gods to the home of Mr. Fo. He knocks, but Mr. Fo calls out “No!” without even opening the door.
Wong’s struggle to find the gods a place to stay reflects the self-serving narcissism and greed that is rampant in Setzuan. People are so focused on taking care of themselves and their families that they reject strangers—even strangers who come bearing divine gifts.
Themes
As Wong leads them from door to door, the gods find themselves refused time and time again. The gods eventually step away from Wong to talk among themselves. The second god laments that this is the third village from which they’ve been turned away. The first god insists that a “good person” might be just around the corner. The third god, unfurling a scroll and reading from it, reminds the others of the mission—to determine whether the world can “stay as it is.” The world will remain untouched only if enough people are found to be living “worthy” lives. The third god suggests Wong is a good person, but the second god points out a false bottom in the cup of water Wong gave them to share. The first god insists that they’ll be able to find someone who “can be good and stay good.”
The gods, it turns out, are on a very important mission. They are putting the citizens not just of Setzuan but of the entire earth to the test in order to determine whether there is any part of humanity worth saving—or, the text implies, whether the world should be destroyed and remade anew. The search for a truly good person—and the high stakes behind it—forms the entire crux of the play and it demonstrates just how desperate the gods are to find just one ounce of goodness and kindness so that they can be on their way.
Themes
Wong returns to the gods and he sheepishly admits he hasn’t found a place for them to stay. As a villager passes, Wong asks the man if he’ll seize the “rare opportunity” to shelter a trio of gods for the night. The man laughs off Wong, whom he believes is trying to swindle him into hosting “a gang of crooks.” Wong, defeated, announces that there is only one person left in the village—a prostitute, Shen Te, who can never say no to a guest.
This passage shows that everyone in Setzuan is distrustful—society here is structured so that everyone must be out for themselves, with no room in their hearts for kindness toward strangers.
Themes
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Wong approaches Shen Te’s building and he calls out to her. She comes to the window. Wong tells Shen Te that the gods have arrived and they need a place to stay. Shen Te protests—she is expecting a gentleman soon and she needs the money. Wong begs Shen Te to take the gods in. She relents and she tells Wong that she’ll hide until her gentleman has come and gone—then she’ll take in the gods.
Shen Te is initially reluctant to take in the gods because doing so will mean she loses out on business for the night—and the money she needs to survive. Brecht shows how capitalism creates systems of greed and desperation—and how good people, through no fault of their own, find themselves swept up in the rat race.
Themes
Wong returns to the gods, who have not overheard his exchange with Shen Te. Wong excitedly tells the gods that he has found them a room but that they’ll need to wait a moment while it’s cleaned and tidied. While the gods take a rest and they sit down in a doorway, Wong excitedly tells them they’ll be staying with the “finest human being in Setzuan.” The gods ask Wong what life is like in Setzuan. He tells them that good people and no-good people alike have a hard time getting by.
The gods can tell that life in Setzuan is hard. Rather than judging those who have turned them away or hesitated to take them in, the gods seek to learn more about what makes people in this place so wary of helping others—and what systems tie them to isolation, greed, and distrust.
Themes
Shen Te’s gentleman approaches her building and he whistles for her. 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 goes off down the street looking for him. Wong sees her leaving the building and he runs after her, lamenting quietly that he has “failed in the service of the gods” yet again. Ashamed, he runs away to his den in the sewer pipe down near the river to hide from them. Shen Te returns and she finds the gods sitting in the doorway. She introduces herself to them and she invites them to share her “simple” room. The gods, noticing that Wong has left and abandoned his carrying pole, deduce what must have happened. They bring the pole in so that Wong can retrieve it from Shen Te later.
Wong laments being unable to be the one the gods singled out as a “good” person—he is ashamed of his failure and he seeks to hide from their sight. Little does Wong know that the gods have another purpose for him—one that will be crucially important to their mission as it moves forward.
Themes
The lights dim and then rise again—it is morning. Shen Te leads the gods outside. They thank her for her hospitality and they call her a “good human being.” Shen Te insists that she isn’t good and she reveals that she hesitated at first when Wong asked her to shelter the gods. The first god tells Shen Te that it’s okay to hesitate on the way to completing a good deed. He tells her that she has proved to all three of them that good people still exist.
This passage demonstrates that while the gods want to complete their mission with integrity, they are also getting a little desperate to find a “good human being” and they’re perhaps bending their own rules for what constitutes someone truly “good.” Even the gods are perturbed by how bad things on Earth have gotten.
Themes
The gods all bid Shen Te goodbye, but before they can leave, she stops them. Shen Te tells the gods that she’s not sure they’re right about her being a “good” person. She says she’d like to be good but she must sell herself for a living in order to make ends meet. She doesn’t honor her mother and father, she often lies, she sometimes covets her neighbors’ things, and she sleeps with many men. The first god nervously insists that Shen Te’s thoughts and reservations are nothing but “the misgivings of an unusually good woman.”
This passage introduces the idea of how women are often forced to adopt dual identities. Shen Te is, to the gods, a good and generous person—but she has doubts about her own goodness which stem from the ways in which she’s had to compromise her morals and put on a persona as a prostitute in order to survive under capitalism. The gods are unable to handle the moral gray areas Shen Te brings up, so they brush them off entirely.
Themes
The gods again bid Shen Te farewell and they urge her to “be good.” Shen Te says she doesn’t know how she’ll be good when everything is so expensive. The second god insists that gods don’t “meddle with economics.” The third god, though, suggests that maybe Shen Te would have an easier time being good if she had more money. The gods huddle together for a minute in discussion. The first god then approaches Shen Te, thrusts money into her hands, and insists on paying for the room. Shen Te accepts the money, and the gods leave.
This passage hammers home that goodness is, perhaps, impossible under capitalism. When so much revolves around wealth and greed, it’s hard to be truly kind. The gods are willing to accept that perhaps money is an important part of one’s journey to goodness, and they bend their usual rules in order to help Shen Te continue being good. They don’t want their assessment of her to have been wrong—or for her pursuit of continued goodness to fail, proving them wrong.
Themes
