The Good Person Of Szechwan

            Breaking the fourth wall in any type of entertainment, movies, television, even music, is becoming more and more common in our society, and Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan proves that this phenomena as been written into works much earlier than one might think. There are various moments in this play where a character speaks to the audience and there are many points where songs are sang for various lengths of time. I am okay with the characters of the play talking directly to the audience, I feel like it is a convincing way of letting that character get some thoughts and feelings out that he/she wouldn’t have been able to do with another character on stage. The thing that I do have trouble with are the songs. I am not exactly a fan of musicals, and while this could in no way be called a musical, the songs just seem completely out of place. While some of the songs do have meaning, like the song of the eighth elephant. This was an important song that showed how Sun is tame compared to the other workers, and how he feels separate from the working group. Then there are songs about Green Cheese and I have to admit these type of songs made me want to quit reading the drama all together. Brecht’s play is too serious to be adding in silly effects like song and dance numbers, it just doesn’t help the play do what it wants to do. With all of the issues about being a decent person, pleasing the gods, succeeding with what one has, the songs just don’t fit into that spectrum.

            One other thing that I wanted to discuss slightly, even thought it wasn’t one of the prompts, is the lack of a central main character. While on my first read I pictured Shen Teh as the main character, I started to see Wang as more or a main role, as well as the cousin Shui Tah, and the Three Gods who appear at most of the interludes. All of these characters are just as important as the next. I feel like the more I read this, the more Wang becomes the main character in my eyes. He is one of the only ones, if not the only one, in the play to have consistent contact with the three gods. This is really important, because the entire play is sort of about these gods trying to find a good enough person in the world. Wang may seem pitiful and manipulative, but he is trying to do the best he can with his morals and water selling business. I feel like Wang is a much more interesting character than Shen Teh as well, he is slightly more conflicted, while she is just too worried about making everyone else happy.