Humans and their way to see a perfect life - Essay Example

The immediate socio-political aim of this is arguably to shun any form of determinism for the future of either a nation or an individual. As the play develops the society and its individuals develop with numerous plausible denouements. This method of plot and character development is reminiscent of the Marxist notion of the dialectic whereby a state and its people are said to be shaped through specific changes in economic modes and means of production. This then decimates the role of divine or larger than life political intervention in shaping individual or societal destinies.

The dialectical method in narration thus also reduces the role of authorial intervention by factoring in the participation/expectation of the readers or viewers in ascertaining the play’s conclusion. One of the important factors for the exploitation of Shen Te is her gender. This is a part of Brecht’s attempt to reveal the different aspects of exploitation in the world. By making her gender a fluid part of her identity, Brecht makes it clear that identities apart from one’s class identity are part of the superstructure of the society.

What joins the individual to the society, is basically the economic base of it, according to Brecht. This is seen in the fact that sexual relationships are made and broken on the basis of economic transactions. This is what happens in a society where there is little scope for goodness on the part of the individual. The goodness that Shen Te extends to Yang Sun is not something that he deserves since he feigns love only in order to receive the dowry that he demands. This is again to be used for an extension of his financial possibilities, as he wishes to go to Peking in order to earn a living as a pilot.

The stereotypical presentation of Shen Te, a woman, as a generous soul, too is for the purpose of exposing the constraints that the society places on the economic agency that women have. Thus, the root cause of most kinds of oppression, according to Brecht, is the economic exploitation of the weaker sections of the society. This then forms a never-ending cycle. The play’s theme of “doubleness” poses questions pertaining to the subject of gender. As a prostitute in an increasingly mercenary society Shen Te defies her objectification through the symbolic androgyny that this duality of identity confers upon her.

Brecht creates the stereotypical figures of the “feeling” woman and the “thinking” man only to upset these artificially constructed categories and merge them into one. Individual goodness then needs to be tempered with an awareness of the problems of innocence. What Brecht makes Shen Te do is also the advice that he offers his audience. They need to be self-reliant and not depend on extraneous elements such as gods to offer justice. In any case, at the end of the play, the gods are shown to be the judges.

This indicates that divinity is a sham and is merely employed in order to support economic structures of any society. The revolution against such corrupt structures needs to come from the proletariat and from ordinary citizens like Shen Te. It is to them that Brecht looks, in order to progress to a communist society where every individual would be able to work in unison and express their goodness without having to be exploited as Shen Te is. She says, The little lifeboat is swiftly sent down.

Too many men too greedily Hold on to it as they drown. (Brecht) This is a clear indication of the problems that the society of Setzuan