The structure of Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife is similar to that of Pavilion Yubei. But some redundant parts were deleted for a smoother development of the plot. The biggest breakthrough lies in the description of the inner feelings of the female leading role. In Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife the role of Meng Yue-Hua is played by two actors: one plays a traditional Meng Yue-Hua who is a social conformist in appearance, and another plays the true Meng Yue-Hua who represents the woman’s desire of displaying her inner self. For example, when Scholar Liu Sheng-Chun enters the courtyard to take shelter from the rain, the conventional Meng Yue-Hua screams, “Someone is peeping!” while her inner self feels happy and surprised. The old Pavilion Yubei suppresses woman’s true feeling, while Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife has the true Meng Yue-Hua say, “I feel terrified and embarrassed, ah, and yet I feel shy, and a little bit happy with some confused feelings entangled in my heart.” Simply put, Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife is a subverted version of Pavilion Yubei, and through the form of the little theater, it clearly reveals the female desire, indeed the most natural human emotion, which was not presentable on the traditional stage of Chinese Opera (particularly the roles of qing-yi).
Another important point for appreciation of the opera, Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife, is the use of the modern stage. The traditional virtual setting of “one table and two chairs” of Chinese Opera was given up; instead, the Pavilion Yubei becomes a live character through personification. The Pavilion Yubei does not just play the role of a reporter of the hours but also gives implications to the development of the plot. That is, it exists like a mirror that reflects the creative consciousness of the playwright, and through its simple speeches the audience gets to know the hidden meanings behind the dialogues and the body language of the characters.
In addition, we have to point out that when Meng Yue-Hua meets Liu Sheng-Chun in the Pavilion Yubei, they both seek shelter from the rain. However, in the opera of Pavilion Yubei, the rain was treated merely as background without any emphasis. In Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife, however, the image of rain is extended to the lyrics, so when Meng Yue-Hua chants, “They drip and fall, the pearl-like raindrops, the pearls strung in a line, connecting and rolling together, flowing and wandering in the wind and rain, flowing and wandering!” She is talking about the continuous rain throughout the night on the literal level, but the rain can be a metaphor of her entangled feelings as well.
