Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife is an adaptation of a traditional Chinese opera, Pavilion Yubei, in which Wang Yiu-Dao, a scholar, suspects his wife of adultery as she was forced to stay overnight in a pavilion because of rainy weather and so wants to divorce her.  The most popular performance of Pavilion Yubei was staged for Mei Lan-Fang who presented the gentleness, dignity, modesty, and virtue of the role quingyi (demure female roles) through excellent acting skills.  However, the plot in the traditional opera is criticized as old fashioned and patriarchal, as the subjectivity of woman is totally ignored.  Modern audiences think it unbelievable that the leading man could divorce his wife because of his suspicion and jealousy.