Good Woman of Setzuan
Good Woman of Setzuan
Good Woman of Setzuan
5
6 I Introduction
the two plays were performed far more than any of Brecht's
others in Briti sh and American theatres.
The world premiere of The Caucasian Chalk Circle
was at Carleton College, Northfield, Minne s o t a, in the
spring of 1948. The same spring The Good Woman had
its American premiere at Hamline University, St. Paul,
M innesota . All the more ente rp rising colleg es then beg an
doing the parable s , and profe ssional activity followed along
at its lower rate of speed. I accept e d an invitation to direct
the first profe ss i ona l producti on of The Caucasian Chalk
Circle at He dgerow Theatre, near Philadelphia, in the sum
mer of 1948. Me anwhile Uta Hagen had done a staged
readi ng of The Good Woman in New York; she was later
to play the title role in the first full pro duction of the play
in New York. Aroun d 1950 The Caucasian Chalk Circle
was among the small group of pl ays which bro ught together
in Chicago the gifted people who would later be identified
as members of "Second City" and "The Compa ss . " (I well
recall the struggle we had getting any r oy al ti es out of
them.) Both the parables eventually became plays that all
the more ambitious p r ofes sional theatres knew they had to
do. The Actor's Worksh op of San Francisco offered a
lavish production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle in 1963.
The Minnesota Theatre Company in Minne apolis did the
play at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in 1965.
A word about the text. It, too, has develo pe d with
the years. What Brecht said he wanted, for his first appear
ances in print in the United State s, was a faithful word
for-word reproduction of the German. This he got, save
for some errors which were c aught later, in the first edition
published by Minnesota. The only significant omission from
the book at that time was that of the Prologue to The
Caucasian Chalk Circle. For the manuscript was delivered
to the publisher s at about the time of Brecht's appear ance
before the House Un-American Activities Committee in
Was hington ( October 1947). It was on advice from him
that the appearance of this Prolog ue was pos tpon e d. From
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 11
which incident have come two false rumors: one, that the
Prologue was written later and so had not been part of
Brecht's original draft of the play; two, that the omission
was made on my initiative and so constituted editorial
interference. It should be added that when an author says,
"Let's not include such and such a passage till later," he
may well not foresee for how long he is postponing its in
clusion. To insert a prologue, the printer has to redo a
whole play. The Prologue to The Caucasian Chalk Circle,
though found in the German manuscript Brecht sent me
in 1945, did not appear in English until the Tulane Drama
Review printed it at my request in 1959. Soon thereafter,
it turned up in the Grove Evergreen paperback edition of
the play.
Perhaps all good foreign plays should be published
first in a very literal translation and subsequently in vari
ous attempts at a true equivalent, even, if necessary, in
"adaptations." Some plays can have high literary quality
in another language and at the same time be fairly literal
transcriptions. Others have not proved so amenable. (I
put it thus cautiously to allow for the possibility that some
or all of them might prove so amenable at some future
time.) Brecht toyed with the idea of his plays always being
literally translated for publication and freely adapted for
performance. But even this is not a perfect formula. When
ever the stage version is more plausible, has more charac
ter, more charm, vivacity, edge, or whatnot, reasonable
readers will prefer it not only in the theatre but in the
study: for it is more readable. Hence, when I had to
discard the literal translation of The Good Woman for
stage purposes, the nonliteral text that resulted was ad
judged preferable by publishers and readers as well as
producers and spectators. For the Phoenix Theatre pro
duction (New York, 1956) I decided to ignore the literal
translation altogether and, working again with the German,
to make a completely new rendering for the stage. Since
all the larger libraries have copies of the first Minnesota
12 I Introduction
-E. B.
Berlin, March 1965
THE GOOD WOMAN
OF SETZUAN
CHARACTERS
Three Gods
A Carpenter
Mrs. Mi Tzu, Shen Te's landlady
A Policeman
An Old Man
17
18 I Bertolt Brecht
FIRST GOD : Just try the first house you come to, my son.
WONG : It's too bad. Mr. Fo isn't in. And his servants
don't dare do a thing without his consent. He'll have
a fit when he finds out who they turned away, won't
he?
WONG knocks.
FIRST GoD : Very well, count him out. That' s one man
among millions. And as a matter of fa ct, we only
need one on ou r side. These atheists are saying, "The
world must be changed because no one can be
good and stay good." No one, eh? I say : let us find
one-just one-and we have those fellows where
we want them!
SHEN TE: Oh, very well! I'll hide till my gentleman has
come and gone. Then I'll take them. (She disappears. )
THIRD GOD (to WONG, softly): Psst! I think he's gone now.
FIRST GOD : Thank you, thank you, dear Shen Te, for
your elegant hospitality! We shall not forget! And
give our thanks to the water seller-he showed us
a good human being.
SHEN TE: Stop, illustrious ones! I'm not sure you're right.
I'd like to be good, it's true, but there's the rent
to pay. And that's not all: I sell myself for a living.
Even so I can't make ends meet, there's too much
competition. I'd like to honor my father and mother
and speak nothing but the truth and not covet my
neighbor's house. I should love to stay with one
man. But how? How is it done? Even breaking a few
of your commandments, I can hardly manage.
FIRST GOD : Oh, there are ways. (They put their heads
together and confer in dumb show. To SHEN TE,
with embarrassment:) As you say you can't pay
your rent, well, urn, we're not paupers, so of course
we insist on paying for our room. (Awkwardly
thrus ting money into her hand.) There! (Quickly.)
But don't tell anyone! The incident is open to
misinterpretation.
SHEN TE (to the audience): It's three days now since the
gods left. When they said they wanted to pay for the
room, I looked down at my hand, and there was
more than a thousand silver dollars! I bought a
tobacco shop with the money, and moved in yester
day. I don't own the building, of course, but I can
pay the rent, and I hope to do a lot of good here.
Beginning with Mrs . Shin, who's just coming across
the square with her pot. She had the shop before
me, and yesterday she dropped in to ask for rice
for her children. (Enter MRS. SHIN. Both women
bow.) How do you do, Mrs . Shin.
MRS. SHIN: How do you do, Miss Shen Te. You like your
new home?
SHEN TE: Slums? That's not what you said when you sold
me the shop!
26
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 27
MRS. siDN : And who are these ... ladies and gentlemen?
SHEN TE: I'm afraid I have n ' t got a hundred silver dollars.
WIF E : Shen Tel Dear! Why don't you let your . . . cousin
settle this affair? (To CAR P ENTER : ) Put your claim
in writing. Shen Te's cousin will see you get paid.
WIFE (to SHEN TE ) : He'd tear the dress off your back
to get his shelves . Never recognize a claim . That's
my motto.
WIFE (to the couple): Say thank you. (They mutter some
thing.) The cups are there. (To SHEN T E : ) Luck.-y
you bought this shop when you did !
Pause.
Enter GRANDFATHER.
The B OY enters.
34 I Bertolt Brecht
WIF E : And the boy, how he's grown ! But he always could
eat enough for ten.
SISTER-IN-LAW laughs.
'
UNCLE S VOIC E : Open the door!
GODS (singing ) :
0 you feeble, well-intentioned, and yet feeble chap
Where there's need the fellow thinks there is
no goodness !
When there's danger he thinks courage starts to
ebb away !
37
38 I B ertolt Brecht
A knocking.
WIFE : What?
39
40 I Bertolt Brecht
HUSBAND : I don't.
SHUI T A :You won't find Miss Shen Te. She has suspended
her hospitable activity for an unlimited period. There
are too many of you. She asked me to s ay : this is a
tobacco shop, not a gold mine.
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 41
The B OY leaves.
HUSB AND ( brings the shelves back in) : And quite enough
too !
P OLICE MAN : That's right, Mr., urn, what was the name,
sir?
WIFE (to the HUSBAND ) : It's all right as long as he's stand
ing in the doorway-the boy will see him.
SHUI TA is silent.
WIF E : Oh, he saw the boy leave not ten minutes ago!
P OLICE MAN : Don't listen to her, Mr. Shui Ta, I'll be happy
to relieve you of their presence one and all! (To
all three : ) Out! (He drives them before him . )
Pause.
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 49
P O LIC E MAN :I'll write it for her. You lend us a hand, and
we write an ad for you ! (He chuckles away to him-
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 51
NIECE : But he's the only man left in the park. And it's
going to rain.
Enter SHEN T E.
52
The Good Woman of Sctzuan I 53
YANG SUN : Well, don't show 'em to me. Look, it's raining.
You better come under this tree.
YANG SUN : You call them flyers? Think they know what
a machine is? Just 'cause they have leather helmets?
They gave the airfield director a bribe, that's the
way those fellows got up in the air! Try one of them
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 55
YANG suN : You c an ' t even wipe your own face . (He is
wiping it for her with his handkerchief. Pause. )
Pause.
Pa use .
SHEN TE is silent.
SHEN TE : Everything.
SHEN TE : No.
SHE N T E : Yes.
Pause.
Pause.
WONG : Oh, thank you, Shen Te. And how is life treating
you?
SHEN TE ( tenderly ) :
I want your water, Wong
The water that has tired you s o
The Good Woman of Setzu an I 61
She p ays WONG, and runs over to YANG SUN with the
cup. But YAN G SUN is fast asleep.
FIRST GOD : Let's hope the experience gives her the strength
to stay good!
FIRST GOD : Yes, yes, yes, all the se smalle r good deeds !
FIRST GOD : Wh at's this ? A c arp e nter spe aks ill o f her?
WON G : Oh, he only says her s h elve s weren't paid for in full.
SEC OND GOD (who has a bad cold and can't pronounce his
n's and m's ) : Wh at' s this? Not paying a c arpe n ter?
Why was that?
WONG : But i t
wasn't Shen Te, illustrious ones, it was her
cous in . She called him in to h el p .
THIRD GOD : Forgive us for taking this tone with you, Wong,
we haven't been getting enough sleep. The rich rec
ommend us to the poor, and the poor tell us they
haven't enough room.
UNEMP LOYED MAN : Sit down. I'll put some water on it.
WONG sits.
She slips into the carpet shop. MR. SHU FU has just
emerged from his shop.
OLD WOMAN : If you decide you don't like it, you can
exchange it. (She pulls S H E N TE to one side. ) Has he
got money?
OLD WOMAN : It's folks like you that need it. We'd think
twice about lending anything to your cousin.
WONG : For the young fellow I saw you with in the park?
SHEN TE nods.
MRS . SHIN : Never mind all that. It's time you took a look
at his hand!
WONG : Well , you all saw it. You could all te stify .
SHEN TE :
Your brother is assaulted, and you shut your eyes?
He is hit, cries out in pain, and you are silent?
The beast prowls, chooses and seizes his victim, and
you say :
"Because we showed no displeasure, he has spared
us."
If no one present will be a witness, I will. I'll say
I saw it.
To the audience :
They've stopped answering
They stay put
They do as they're told
They don't care
Nothing can make them look up
But the smell of food.
MRS . YANG :And they were calling Sun the Dead Pilot of
Setzuan! A friend in need!
MRS . YANG :If the man you mentioned can do it. . . Oh, .
Oh, why don't the gods have their own ammu n i tion
And launch against badness their own ex pe d itio n
En thr on ing the good and preventing sedition
And bringing the world to a peaceful condition?
Why is it?
74
5
Shen Te's tobacco shop . Behind the coun ter, MR. SHUI TA,
reading the p ap er. M RS . SHIN is cleaning up . She talks and
he takes no notice.
YANG SUN ' s VOICE : Is that Miss Shen Te's tobacco shop?
MRS. SHIN ' s VOICE : Yes, it is, but it's Mr. Shui Ta who's
here today.
75
76 I Bertolt Brecht
SHUI TA : No.
YANG suN : It was decent of her to come out with the two
hundred but they aren't much use with the other
three hundre d still missing.
Slight pause.
YANG sUN : What? Can you imagine Yang Sun the flyer
behind a counter? (In an oily voice. ) "A strong cigar
or a mild one, worthy sir? " Not in this century !
MRS . MI TZU : How much are you asking, Mr. Shui Ta?
MRs. MI Tzu : How much did she pay for it, Mr. Shui Ta?
MRS . MI TZU : She was robbed. But I'll make you a special
offer if you'll promise to be out by the day after
tomorrow. Three hundred silver dollars .
SHUI TA : No.
YANG SUN : Oh, I'll dig it up, even if I have to steal it.
SHUI TA : I see.
YANG suN : Well, don't fall off the roof. I'll get to Peking
somehow.
SHU! TA : Oh.
80 I Bertolt Brecht
YANG SUN : You don't know women. She'll want to. Even
then.
MRS. smN (sticking her head out of the back room ) : Well ,
he has your cousin under his thumb, and doesn't care
if all Yellow S treet knows it!
SHUI TA :
A caress becomes a stranglehold
A sigh of love turns to a cry of fear
Why are there vultures circling in the air?
A girl i s going to meet her lover.
SHU FU : The charm of Miss Shen Te, Mr. Shui Ta, derives
from the goodness, not of her shop, but of her heart.
Men call her the Angel of the Slums.
SHU! TA : No.
WONG : I am Wong the water seller. You are Mr. Shui Ta?
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 83
S HUI TA : I am.
WONG : But she w a s , sir! Just ask her ! Isn't she in?
MRS. SHIN : Shall I call Mr. Shui Ta, Mr. Shu Fu? He
wouldn't want strangers in here !
YANG SUN : Shen Te here? I didn't see her come in. What
kind of conference?
YANG suN : What is it, Shen Te? Have you gone crazy?
SHEN TE : Yes.
SHEN TE : Yes.
SHEN TE : No.
SHEN TE : No.
YANG SUN : How you cut me down from the willow tree?
Bought me water? Promised me money to fly with?
SHEN TE (in a small voice ) : For give me, Mr. Shu Fu,
I want to go with Mr. Yang Sun.
89
6
MRS. YANG : Good idea. I'll go and look for him. Keep
an eye on things .
SHEN TE : But when the bride's dress will still get rained
on sometimes !
They drink.
SHEN TE : No.
MRS . YANG : Where are you off to? It's only a matter
of minutes.
SHEN T E : My cousin? !
YANG SUN (not looking her in the eye ) : Are you deaf?
Mother says she's old-fashioned. And I say I'm
considerate. We'll wait another fifteen minutes.
YANG SUN : And since you always do the wrong thing, it's
lucky your cousin's coming. Have another drink.
YANG SUN : Right. And that's why he's bringing the three
hundred silver dollars. Here-to my wedding.
Short pause.
YANG SUN : That was yesterday. (He pulls two tickets part
way out of his inside pocket, making her look under
his coat. ) Two tickets . I don't want Mother to know.
She'll get left behind. I sold her furniture to buy these
tickets, so you see . • •
WAITER : I can't let you leave till you've p aid your bill,
m a'am.
Pause.
WONG : Forgive me, illu strious one, I only meant you might
deign to intervene.
WONG : She had t o call o n her cousin again. But not even
he could help . I'm afraid the shop is done for.
Slight pause.
97
98 I Bertolt Brecht
FIRST GoD : The good man fin ds his own way here below !
MRS. SHIN : If you ask me, you should fight tooth and nail
to keep the shop.
MRS . sHIN : But if he's gone for good a s you s ay, why has
he left his p ants behind?
99
100 I Bertolt Brecht
gone. )
SHEN TE : I can pay you for the washin g without any check.
SHEN TE :
When I he ard his cunning laugh, I was afraid
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 101
Say : Welcome
To the conqueror of unknown mountains and
unreachable regions
Who brings us our mail across the impassable deserts !
SHEN TE : Wong!
WONG : It's about the carpenter, Shen Te. He's lost his shop,
and he's been drinking. His children are on the streets.
This is one. Can you help?
lEN TE : But y our right hand ! Look, take this cart , sell
everything that' s on it, and go to the doctor with th e
money . . .
lEN TE ( to the CHILD ) : Sit down over here, son, till your
father comes .
SHEN T E is silent.
Pause. Music.
SISTE R-I N-LAw :So i t ' s true, the shop has closed down .
And the furniture 's in the back yard. It's the end of
the road !
change !
Pause.
WONG : How do you do, Mr. Shui Ta. This is the carpenter.
Miss Shen Te promi s e d him space in Mr. S hu Fu's
c ab in s .
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 1 07
MRS . MI Tzu :Mr. Shui Ta? I've brought you your three
hundred silver dollars.
MRS . MI TZU : What? You don't need the money for that
flyer?
108 I Bertolt Brecht
SHUI TA : No.
SHUI TA ( takes the barber's blank check from the cart and
fills it out ) : Here is a check for ten thousand silver
dollars. On Mr. Shu Fu's account. Look! (He shows
her th e signature on th e check. ) Your six months' rent
will be in your hands by seven this evening. And now,
if you'll excuse me.
OLD MAN : There was something she was going to give us.
WONG : illu strious ones . I've been h aving a bad dream . Our
beloved Sben Te was in great distress in the rushes
down by the river-the spot where the bodies of
suicides are washed up . She kept staggering and hold
ing her head down as if she was carrying something
and it was dragging her down into the mud . When I
called o ut to her, s he said she bad to take your B ook
of Rules to the other side, and not get it wet, or the
ink would all come off. You bad talked to her about
the virtues, you know, the time she gave you shelter
in Setzuan.
1 10
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 111
THIRD GOD : Still more work! No, no ! The rules will have
to stand, my dear Wong !
SHUI TA : Th at is correct.
MRS . YANG : Mr. Shui Ta, th e m on ey ' s all gon e . When the
Peking job didn't materialize, he ran through it all in
1 12
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 113
Pause.
MRS. YANG : Mr.Shui Ta, you are kindness itself : the gods
will reward you! ( To YANG SUN : ) And honest work
will make a man of you, my boy. ( YANG SUN follows
SHUI TA into the factory. MRS, YANG comes down
again to the foo tlight s . ) Actually, honest work didn't
agree with him-at first. And he got no opportunity
to distinguish himself till-in the third week-when
the wages were being paid . . •
Shen Te's shop, now an office with club chairs and fine
carp ets. It is raining. SHUI TA, now fat, is just dism iss ing
the OLD MAN and OLD WOMAN. MRS. SIDN, in obviously
new clothes, looks on, sm irkin g .
SHUI TA : No! I can NOT tell you when we expect her back.
MRS. SHIN : They lost the c arp et shop because they couldn't
pay their t axe s . The m o n ey arrived too late.
MRS. smN : After all, you are in your seventh month. But
old Mrs . Shin will be there in your hour of trial! (She
cackles feebly . )
1 17
118 I Bertolt Brecht
MRS. SHIN : We all have our price, and mine won't be too
high for the great Mr. Shui Ta ! (She opens SHUI TA's
collar. )
MRs. SHIN : You ask that nine times a day. Why, it'll have
the best that money can buy!
noise?
WONG : Mr. Shui Ta, I've come to ask when Miss Shen Te
will be back, it's six months now . . . . There are
rumors . People say something's happened to her.
SHUI TA : Sh! It's nine o'clock. But the rain's so heavy, you
can't hear a thing.
SHU! TA : By whom?
SHU FU : Shui Ta, I'm sick and tire d of y our cons t an tly
expanding projects . I place cab ins at your cousin's
disposal; you make a factory of them. I hand your
cousin a check ; you present it. Your cousin dis ap
pears ; you find the cabins too small and start talking
of yet more-
SHU F U : What?
MRs . MI TZU : So do I.
POLICE MAN : Mr. S hui Ta, I'm afraid I shall have to take
a look at th a t room. (He does so. The room is
empty. ) No one there, of course, sir.
POLICEMAN : I can't say how sorry I am, Mr. Shui Ta. (He
shows him the door. )
Wong's den. For the last time, the GODS appear to the
water seller in his dream. They have changed and show
signs of a long journey, extreme fatigue, and plenty of mis
haps. The FIRS T no longer has a hat; the THIRD has lost
a leg; all three are barefoot.
126
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 1 27
They disappear.
10
THIRD GOD : We'll never get away with it, our certificates
were so b adly fo rge d .
128
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 1 29
FIRST GOD : I see. And are there others who could testify
along, shall we say, the same lines?
SHU FU rises.
With a ge st ure the FIRST GOD asks who MRS. MI TZU is.
NIECE : Liar.
WIF E : Thief.
BOY : Blackmailer.
132 I Bertolt Brecht
BROTHER : Murderer.
YANG SUN : He's this and he's th at, but he is not a m u rderer,
my l ord. Just fifteen minutes before his arrest I he ard
Shen Te's voice in his own back room.
YANG SUN : Yes . But I also made her happy . Till he (point
ing at SHUI TA ) decided to sell her to you!
SHUI TA : And what was the money for, my lord? For the
poor! And for Shen Te so she could go on being
good!
SHUI TA is silent.
WONG : What have you done with the good Shen Te, bad
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 135
Pause.
SHEN TE : I'm telling you I'm the bad man who committed
all those crimes!
FIRST GOD :
Exeunt GODS.
'
SHEN T E s eyes follow the GOD S as they are imagined
to step into a cloud which rises and moves forward
over the orchestra and up beyond the balcony.
VALEDICTOR Y HYMN
What rapture, oh, it is to know
A good thing when you see it
And h avin g seen a good thing, oh,
What rapture 'tis to flee it
Be good, sweet maid of Setzuan
Let Shui Ta be clever
Departing, we forget the man
Remember your endeavor
Because through all the length of days
Her goodness faileth never
Sing halleluj ah ! Make S h en Te's
Good name live on forever!
SHEN TE : Help!
EPILO GUE
* A t afternoon performances:
We quite agree, our play this afternoon
Collapsed up o n us like a pr icked balloon.
t When I first received the German ma nuscript of Good
Woman from Brecht in 1 945 it had no Epi l o gue . He wrote it
a little later, influenced by misunderstandings of th e ending in
the press on the occas io n of the Viennese premiere of the play.
I b eli eve that the Epilogue h as sometimes been sp oke n by the
actress playing Shen Te, but the actor playing Wong might b e
a shrewder choice, since the audience has already ac cepted him
as a kind of chorus . On th e other hand, it is n o t Wong who
should deliver the Epilogue : whichever actor delivers it should
drop the character he has been pl ayi ng .-E . B .
141
ALTERNATE ENDING FOR
GERMAN PRODUCTION
FIRST GOD :
1 42
The Good Woman of Setzuan I 143
FIRST GOD : She has n o t perished. She was only hidden. She
will stay with you. A good human being!