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
In a private dining room of a cheap restaurant in town, Shen Te and Yang Sun celebrate their wedding with a number of guests. A priest sits in the corner alone. Yang Sun, wearing a dinner jacket, talks with his mother Mrs. Yang. He tells her that Shen Te has told him she cannot sell the shop—“some idiot” is requesting the 200 dollars back. Mrs. Yang suggests that Yang Sun postpone the wedding, but Yang Sun tells her it’ll be okay—he’s sent for Shui Ta to settle the matter by bringing the money to the wedding anyway. Mrs. Yang goes outside to wait for Shui Ta’s arrival.
Yang Sun has no empathy for anyone other than himself; he denigrates Shen Te for being a good person and staying on top of her debts rather than devoting her life and her finances all to him. Yang Sun hopes to use Shui Ta for his own purposes—but little does he know that Shui Ta and Shen Te are the same person.
Themes
Shen Te addresses the audience. She tells them that she believes she has made the right choice—Yang Sun has given up flying for her. She calls for Yang Sun to drink a toast “to the future” with her. Mrs. Yang returns to the room and she states that Shui Ta has not arrived. Shen Te, hearing that Mrs. Yang expects Shui Ta to come to the wedding, is flummoxed. Yang Sun says they will all wait another 15 minutes.
Even though Shen Te tries to look on the bright side of things and enjoy her wedding, she remains paranoid and frightened as she struggles to balance her present identity with her alter ego.
Themes
Mrs. Yang excitedly tells her guests that she, Yang Sun, and Shen Te are moving to Peking so that Yang Sun can be a pilot. Shen Te is taken aback by the fact that Yang Sun hasn’t told his mother he’s giving up the job. Yang Sun says he still wants to use the money to secure the job. Shen Te is upset, but Yang Sun declares that he needs to get out of Setzuan. Shen Te points out that she’s promised the old woman the money back. Yang Sun says it’s lucky that Shui Ta is on his way—Shen Te always does “the wrong thing.”
Shen Te continues to be shocked and baffled by Yang Sun’s indiscriminate dishonesty. When she tries to confront him about her fears, Yang Sun tells her she’s a bad businesswoman and a poor decision-maker. Yang Sun wants Shen Te to think only of him and to ignore everyone else’s wants and needs—even her own.
Themes
Shen Te replies that her cousin isn’t coming—he “can’t be where [she is.]” She reveals that Shui Ta told her that Yang Sun only bought one ticket to Peking. Yang Sun pulls two tickets out of his pocket and he says he sold his mother’s furniture to afford the second—he doesn’t want his mother to know she’s getting left behind. Shen Te asks what will become of the old man and old woman. Yang Sun asks what’s to become of himself.
Yang Sun is a relentless two-timer and liar. He cares about no one but himself and he’s willing to leave even his own mother high and dry in pursuit of his own wants and needs. He represents the very worst of humanity—the kind of person motivated only by greed and corruption.
Themes
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A waiter enters and asks Mrs. Yang to pay for the party. Mrs. Yang insists that someone is coming with the money. The priest leaves to officiate another engagement. Mrs. Yang assures the guests that the priest will return. Yang Sun, however, tells the guests to go home—the priest is gone, and Shui Ta is nowhere to be found. The others leave. Shen Te asks if she should go home too. Yang Sun drags her across the room, tearing her dress.
The wedding is a disaster—and the cruel, violent Yang Sun blames Shen Te for everything. As Yang Sun creates a cruel farce, he attempts to shame Shen Te for thwarting his opportunity to marry her and take her money.
Themes
Yang Sun sings “The Song of St. Nevercome’s Day,” in which he talks of all the things that will “never come”: the day a beggar maid’s son will sit on a solid gold throne, the day “badness will cost you your head,” the day “men will be good without batting an eye,” the day he himself will “be a flyer.” As the song concludes, Mrs. Yang declares that Shui Ta is not coming.
Yang Sun’s cruel, self-pitying song is suffused with meanness but also with real anxiety. Yang Sun knows that certain things will never happen—and just as he knows that corruption will always rule and the poor will always be poor, he knows that his own dreams will never come true.
Themes
