In Brecht's Lehrstück, The Measures Taken, the Young Comrade is shot and cast into the lime pit by his revolutionary comrades, the Four Agitators. His crime: endangering the revolution by taking pity on the oppressed. The accusation is that he, by such ameliorative actions, may allow a politically corrupt society to preserve itself and thus maintain the status quo, the very status quo that the revolution seeks to overthrow. In other words, he is executed for endangering the revolution by attempting to be 'good'. There is no such didactic imperative at the heart of The Good Person of Szechwan, but there is a dialectical dilemma when the Three Gods in their search for a 'good person' in a world they see as wicked find that person in Shen Teh, leaving her with the ethical imperative 'to be good!' in that world.

The play's narratives, according to the generally accepted text (there is an alternative text - the Santa Monica version - to which reference will be made) follow thus. In order to justify their existence, three eminent gods descend from heaven looking for a good person.