Der Gute Mensch von Sezuan

(THE GOOD PERSON OF SETZUAN) by Bertolt Brecht. Premiered 1943. Three gods appear in the imaginary Chinese city of Setzuan searching for a "good person." They find no one of that description until they encounter the prostitute Shen Te, who offers them shelter for the night. They give her money and extract a promise from her to "be good." The thesis Bertolt Brecht propounds throughout the play is that economic circumstances determine whether or not one can afford morality. Only when certain basic needs are met can "goodness" be considered. "We never mess with economics," reply the gods, inferring that religion is useless in the practical needs of people.

   Shen Te buys a tobacco shop with her new wealth and is immediately beset by all manner of indigents hoping to benefit from her good fortune. Brecht creates an alter ego for Shen Te in the form of her "cousin," Mr. Shui Ta. He drives a hard bargain, provides employment for the people, and generally brings order to social chaos. Meantime Shen Te falls in love with an unemployed pilot, who impregnates her. Witnesses note that Shui Ta is becoming plump on his accumulating wealth. The courts charge him with Shen Te's murder. When Shen Te reveals that she and Shui Ta are the same "good person," the gods intervene and forgive her for not being so good after all. They also give her permission to call upon her "cousin" whenever the need arises.

   The play extends the idea Brecht first explored in Mann ist Mann— that of a flexible identity formed by economic, social, and political circumstances. It also exemplifies in numerous aspects the Brechtian principle of Verfremdung, or distancing audience response from the experience of watching it. Its setting is remote, the central character is bifurcated, and songs frequently interrupt the anticipated narrative flow. The play found abundant resonance among critics in the Cold War period who maintained that improvement of social and economic conditions was a prerequisite for improving, and even changing, human nature.