The Contemptuous Saint

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.

What Not to Judge

In Palace Walk, the author, Naguib Mahfouz, introduces Egyptian culture to us, the readers, through very descriptive passages, like this one, in the story of a young girl named, Amina. Through the description of her life as a young married woman, we are exposed to the way women were seen in Egypt at that time. Like many primarily Muslim countries, women are seen as having to be submissive and inferior to men. We clearly see examples of this in the relationship of Amina and her husband, Ahmad Abd al-Jawad.

"She returned to the room, closed the door, and pulled a pallet out from under
the bed. She placed it in front of the sofa and sat cross-legged on it. In good
conscience she did not think she had any right to sit beside him. Time passed
without her speaking. She waited until he invited her to speak; then she would"
(9).

Young Amina, having been raised in a culture where women have always been seen as inferior to men, has been serving her husband for a quarter of a century. She has taken good care of her household, her husband, her stepson, Yasin, and her children since the age of 14. As westerners, we might see many objections to this. For example, "why should a young girl be given so much responsibility at such an early age?" or, "why not allow a young person, just because she's a female, choose who she is to marry and how she is to live out her youth?". Although very valid questions, as readers belonging to the western world, we must force ourselves to understand the way of life that women in Egypt had been taught to live.

While reading this, we, as westerners, may find it ridiculous that a woman has to behave in this way, but to people that share the same beliefs find it completely normal. In his book, Mahfouz described how Amina was terrified of being alone when she first married Mr. Ahmad. She was terrified of demons that might have been in her home while she was alone at night and sought a bit of comfort by going from room to room with her maid and attempt to ward off demons. But, he later tells that she gets accustomed to her new life with the help of her husband’s words.
Mahfouz, as Amina's memory of Mr. Amad's words, writes, "'I'm a man. I'm the one who commands and forbids. I will not accept any criticism of my behavior. All I ask of you is to obey me. Don't force me to discipline you" (4). These words were the words that taught Amina to adapt to her new life. For the next quarter of a century, Amina learned to love her new life. Through his writing, Mahfouz tells us that “she even profoundly loved this hour of waiting up…” (5). By saying this, Mahfouz lets the readers know that although a woman’s life in Egypt may seem wrong to some people, it’s completely normal to others and that some women even loved their way of life.

Although the life of a woman may seem slave-like to people like us who were raised with western mindsets, Mahfouz shows us that the way women in Egypt lived was something completely normal to them and something they even grew to love. It isn’t right for people to judge the lifestyles of others because it’s not our place to do so. We need to respect the lifestyles of others and not judge them simply because we grew up accustomed to a different way of life.

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