Good Woman and Master Harold

There are many ways in which to analyze, critique, and compare dramas.

Usually the dramas compared are of similar eras. However, I have found two dramas

that are socially similar and even culturally similar and yet they were written 50 years

apart in two different nations. These plays are “The Good Woman of Setzuan” and

“MASTER HAROLD…and the boys.” One could wonder how these plays are similar.

Socially each drama explains the societal expectations of their characters. Culturally,

the beliefs of the culture are interlaced and are determined by those individuals around

the characters that require them to act in such a way that is culturally acceptable.

A fascinating part of this comparative analysis is the fact that “The Good Woman

of Setzuan” was written in 1938, in Germany, and “MASTER HAROLD…and the boys”

was written in 1982 in South Africa. The culture is mirrored in the society. It is hard to

separate the two exclusively. Therefore, the social and cultural actions and events

should be considered in relation to one another.

Within each play, there are two main characters. In “MASTER HAROLD…and

the boys” the protagonist is Sam and the antagonist is Master Harold (Hally). Many

would believe that Hally is the protagonist, however if it was not for the discriminative

actions and events created by Hally, Sam would never change and the story would not

move forward. Sam is mild mannered, and only through Hally is the oppression shown

within this drama (Beck, 109). “The Good Woman of Setzuan” is a bit different. This

time the oppression is shown between male and female rather than black and white. In

fact, this duality is not even just male and female, but different personalities of the same

person. Shen Te is female and therefore takes a lower place on the societal ladder,
which causes her to have to create a cousin, Shui Ta, a male, that comes to help her

with the more masculine parts of her business. Everyone seems to listen to Shui Ta

because he is a man, whereas the other characters walk over and use Shen Te, which

in the end caused her many problems. Using the characters helps the audience to truly

understand the social and cultural implications.

The time frame of the societal and cultural beliefs should also be considered. In

Germany in 1938, the war was brewing. Communism was starting its march against

Western Europe, and Bertolt Brecht was living in the middle of the action. It was in this

situation that Brecht wrote his Chinese tale of one good woman in a world of evil and

malicious people. The culture of China at the time was set up that men were the

powerful and women were objects (Herrmann, 147). Socially, the play takes place in

the lower echelon of the society, in other words, in the poor section of the city of

Setzuan (Herrmann, 141; Carkin & Alcock). These factors are shown in the duality of

Shen Te and Shui Ta (Brecht, 1131), and the element of poverty is obvious in both

economically and morally when Shui Ta says “My cousin has the worst possible

reputation: that of being poor” (Brecht, 1132). What is not said, but is understood by the

audience is that the reputation is also based on the fact that Shen Te was a prostitute

and was among the immoral and poorest part of the society.

Approximately, fifty years later, Athol Fugard’s “MASTER HAROLD…and the

boys was performed in Apartheid South Africa. In this setting, the contrast is not

between the feminine and masculine, but between the black and the white. Culturally,

apartheid was rampant and accepted by society and the government, and the white

man was supreme over the black man. Not only was this acceptable, but socially it
created a lower class in which the black individuals tried to survive (Effiong). This is

best displayed by the change in attitude of Hally toward the end of the play when Hally

tells Sam “You’re only a servant in here, and don’t forget it” (Fugard, 1297). This shows

that Hally is superior to Sam, at least culturally and socially. Up to this point, Hally has

relieved childhood memories that included Sam. However, after receiving a call in

regards to Hally’s father returning home, Hally changes in personality into the

discriminatory individual that is socially desired in relation to the black servants that

work for his mother. This is climaxed when Hally spits in Sam’s face. This one action

has destroyed a relationship that took years to build. This action also put Sam back in

his place in the lower caste of society.

The secondary characters in each play are only used to accentuate the

acceptable and non-acceptable actions of the main characters. For example, the gods

in “The Good Woman of Setzuan” tell Shen Te that she “proved that good people still

exist, a point that has been disputed of late – even in heaven” (Brecht, 1127). Shen Te

replies, “I’m not sure you’re right. I’d like to be good, it’s true, but there’s rent to pay.

And that is not all: I sell myself for a living” (Brecht, 1127). One of the gods follows by

saying that “These thought are but, um, the misgivings of an unusually good woman”

(Brecht, 1127). If it was not for the gods, Shen Te would believe that she was immoral,

hence a bad and disreputable citizen, but she has been shown that her actions for

survival are not as important as her actions toward those who criticize her and those

who are lower than she.

An extremely important example in the play “MASTER HAROLD…and the boys”

shows the relationship of Sam and Hally, and how Hally’s actions have destroyed it.
The incident is the kite story (Beck, 112). Hally initially remembers it from his childhood.

At first he was embarrassed, but in the end was proud of the kite. One thing that he

could not figure out his whole life was why Sam had made the kite and why Sam did not

sit down on the bench in the park with him, but instead walked away. At the end of the

drama, after Hally has ridiculed Sam and humiliated him, he finds out the reason behind

the kite and bench, and the consequences of his recent actions (Brecht, 1298).

“If you really want to know, that’s why I made you that kite. I wanted you

to look up, be proud of something, of yourself…and you certainly were that

when I left you with it up on the hill. Oh, ja…something else!...If you ever

do write it as a short story, there was a twist in our ending. I couldn’t sit

own there and stay with you. It was a ‘Whites Only’ bench. You were too

young, too excited to notice then. But not anymore. If you’re not careful…

Master Harold…you’re going to be sitting up there by yourself for a long

time to come, and there won’t be a kite in the sky” (Brecht, 1299).

Within both of these dramas, the idea of discrimination and being of a lower class

is apparent. For Brecht, it is the feminine and for Fugard, it is the African race. Both

Shui Ta and Master Harold are the epitome of what is acceptable culturally and socially

in there times. The fact that the fifty year difference does not change much of anything

shows that around the world similar events and beliefs occur and need to be

acknowledged. The world should not be looked at as separate countries, but as

countries that are all looking for the same outcome, just taking different ways of getting

there.
 Works Cited
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Brecht, Bertolt, "The Good Woman of Setzuan." Greenwald, Michael L., Roger

Schultz, and Roberto D. Pomo, eds. The Longman Anthology of Drama and

Theater. New York: Pearson Longman, 2001.

Carkin, Michael, and David Alcock. "Standard Bank National Arts Festival." Theater

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<http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.umuc.edu/journals/theatre_journal/v049/

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Effiong, Philip. ENGL 454 - Modern World Drama Module 2. 26 May 2009. University

of Maryland University College. 29 May 2009 <http://tychousa6.umuc.edu/cgi-

bin/id/cdi/index.pl?class=0906:engl454:6980&module=2&default=m2-

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Fugard, Athol, "'MASTER HAROLD'...and the boys." Greenwald, Michael L., Roger

Schultz, and Roberto D. Pomo, eds. The Longman Anthology of Drama and

Theater. New York: Pearson Longman, 2001.

Herrmann, Anne. "Travesty and Transgression: Transvestism in Shakespeare, Brecht,

and Churchill." Theater Journal 41.2 (1989): 133-54. JSTOR. 20 July 2009

<http:// http://www.jstor.org/stable/3207855>.