The German Bertold Brecht and the Englishman George Bernard Shaw were both innovative and controversial writers
who were most active during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Brecht adopted communism and Shaw espoused socialism and free love. Both were radical gadflies and social critics who shocked their contemporaries with the activist philosophies and unpopular but progressive ideas of their plays and other writings.
This paper will examine the possibilities for virtue in the modern world through analysis and comparison of two works by these authors: ShawÆs Saint Joan and BrechtÆs The Good Woman of Setzuan.
Neither writer denies the possibility of people acting virtuously either now or in any age. What they both share is an ironic awareness of the unforeseen or morally negative consequences of the idealistic behaviour of their heroines. ItÆs almost like the old saying about free speech: itÆs a nice thing until you actually try to use it, because those
who disagree with you may cause unforeseen trouble in response.
In his preface to Saint Joan Shaw puts it this way: ôàit is not so easy for mental giants who neither hate nor intend to injure their fellows to realize that nevertheless their fellows hate mental giants and would like to destroy them, not only enviously because the juxtaposition of a superior wounds their vanity, but quite humbly and honestly because it frightens themö.
While clearly Joan of Arc was a genius, Shen Te, BrechtÆs ingTnue prostitute with a heart of gold, is simply trying to help the people around her with selfless love. For this she attracts hangers-on, users, rip-off artists, opportunists, and cynics, such as her love interest Yang Sun.
Because of this tendency for people to selfishly misuse those who would be their benefactors, Brecht felt compelled to balance her nanve virtue with its opposite, her real-politik male alter-ego known as Shui Ta. In Act 2 he takes over...