The Good Woman Of Setzuan

Brecht’s epic theatre was famous for employing the alienation or distancing effect. This means that to urge the audience to think critically and unemotionally about the issues presented, Brecht worked to counteract the illusion of reality and an audience’s tendency to become immersed in the story and the characters. How does this manifest in the play? What specific tactics does the play use to remind the audience that they are in the theatre watching a play?

Considering the issues that the play raises, how relevant do you think The Good Woman of Setzuan remains today? If you were directing a production now, what would you emphasize? Is there anything that seems outdated or might need to be changed?

At the end of the play, Shen Te is left pleading for the gods to help her as they ignore her and fly away. Consider the question in the epilogue. What is the answer to the predicament in the text? Is it to “change human nature or—the world? Well: which? Believe in bigger, better gods or—none? How can we mortals be both good and rich?” (106). Do you think that the play answers the question or leaves it open? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

The German title of the play, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan is now frequently translated more precisely as The Good Person of Setzuan rather than The Good Woman of Setzuan. This raises the question as to who the good person of the title is in actuality. Why might Shen Te not be the good person? Who else might fit the title, and why?

In what way does the play comment on gender roles? How does Shen Te demonstrate the performance of gender as both herself and Shui Ta? Use specific examples from the play.

When Shen Te meets Yang Sun, he takes advantage of her and exploits her, and it seems clear that he is not good. At the end of the play, he has changed. Describe the ways that he is different, using evidence from the text. Based on the way the play formulates goodness, is he a better person at the end? Why or why not?

Brecht was famously Marxist, and this ideology is very present his works. Research the tenets of Marxism. How do Marxist ideals come through in the text? Is Shen Te, as a good person, enacting Marxism? Why or why not?

Brecht incorporates parables into the play, or moments in which characters tell short, moralistic stories with lessons that relate to the characters in the play. Choose one such parable and analyze it. What is the lesson? How does that lesson comment on the characters or the overall messages of the play?