The Good Woman Of Setzuan

The three gods are on a mission to find out if there are good people in existence, thereby proving that they do not need to destroy the world. They discover Shen Te, who opens her home to them and gives everything that she has to anyone who needs it. Shen Te, however, is the only one they can find. On their journey, they learn that “when [they] do find halfway good people, they don’t live in a dignified, human way” (70). Similarly, Shen Te is a prostitute and does not begin to “live in a dignified, human way” (70) until the gods give her money in exchange for her hospitality. They pay her much more than a usual night’s rent, and that windfall—the gods’ intervention—allows her to change her circumstances. She invests that money wisely and becomes a shop owner. However, the gods do not make a practice of intervening in human affairs. They are largely ineffectual, judging from afar without aiding those they deem to be good.

Additionally, even with the financial influx, Shen Te’s goodness is unsustainable. Since, in order to remain good, she must be entirely selfless and giving, the people around her continually take everything she has.