Woulda Guess That?

These days we, the youth, seem to think that the only way to make humor is to make someone fall or have an out-n-out joke. But we see in the play The Good Woman of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht. He uses a form of satire. Irony is the one that I found most repeatedly in the reading up to act 5. For example:
Policeman:(lyrically) We can't pay six months' rent, so what do we do? We marry money.
….
Policeman: Should she put an ad in the paper?(31)
Old Woman:(not eager to commit herself) Well, if she agrees –(31)
Policeman:I'll write it for her. You lend us a hand, and we write an ad for you!(31)
Shui Ta: (slowly) Not a bad idea.(31)
This passage seemed extremely amusing to me and quite ludicrous because these people are discussing a prostitute. They have just said that she did wrong because she used to sell herself for money. Now, these same people are putting an ad in the newspaper to see what the highest bid will be for her. With their plan, she will be selling the rest of her life.
Then along with that, this is a policeman, of all people, who conjure the plan of putting an ad in the paper. Policeman are supposed to be the epitome of justice, while this police officer is doing this deed.
This is not the only place where Brecht uses irony for humor, but this example stood out to me as the most hilarious.


Work Cited
Brecht, Bertolt, and Eric Bentley. The Good Woman of Setzuan. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota, 1999. Print.