WONG: ...There's only one left. Shen Te, the prostitute. She can't say no....
WONG: Shen Te, it's Wong. They're here, and nobody wants them. Will you take them?
SHEN TE: Oh, no, Wong, I'm expecting a gentleman.
WONG: Can't you forget about for tonight?
SHEN TE: The rent has to be paid by tomorrow or I'll be out on the street.
WONG: This is no time for calculation, Shen Te.
SHEN TE: Stomachs rumble even on the Emperor's birthday, Wong.
WONG: Setzuan is one big dung hill!
SHEN TE: Oh, very well! I'll hide till my gentleman has come and gone. Then I'll take them.
Often in society, judgmental and cruel, the majority has a tenancy to look down upon those in rather questionable circumstance or indulging in questionable activity. As the “authorities” on life and morality, we often find ourselves condemning others. But, who are we to condemn another human being when it God in the end who makes the final judgment? There are people in society that have adopted the view that once a fabric is stained, it is worthless and forever the garment of contempt. In Bertolt Brecht's The Good Women of Setzuan, Shen Te, a mere prostitute, like prostitutes in general, are condemned for their contemptuous profession.
In Bertolt Brecht's The Good Women of Setzuan, when Wong goes door to door looking for someone to take in the gods, we see just how people are when it comes to doing for others and get a better overall view of the way people are in today's society. Who's to say who's a admirable person or not? Obviously, no being made of flesh and blood. It was a was ironic that as Wong went about looking for a single admirable person to take in the gods, he found himself intrusting Shen Te with the gods. It is ironic that prostitutes are viewed as immoral people, but in this case, she is the only truly admirable person Wong could find. I found it fascinating that she hid until the gentleman came and went, missing out on her money needed to sustain and maintain her living situation. In my eyes, that's a selfless act that deserves respect.
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So do you define goodness as being selfless? Even if you cannot pay the rent? Is this what the god see as good? What about Brecht, the playwright?
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