In this play the meaning or perhaps the tendency is a criticism of society similar to the theatre of Bertolt Brecht. A word often reappearing is surplus value, meaning the bottom line of the work done. The workers do not get anything in return. Instead it all ends up in the pockets of the capitalists under the term “profit”. This action demonstrates the differentiation between the clean socialism and the tactic parliamentary procedure. “We have no power!” says the worker. “Then take it!” says his wife. And there is no doubt about which side the author supports. The worker in the play is happy as long as he can afford his TV, refrigerator and the car which he pets and rubs. His wife thinks the exact opposite. She sings the song about the surplus value. The third element of the play is a group of young upper-class sons who tease the worker son because of joining the ball at “The Bourgeois”.
Finally, the play has an obviously ironic ending as the capitalists and the workers admit their mistakes. Left on the stage is the working-class woman. She is lonesome like all other rebels are. She is now ready to patch the son’s jacket and do her normal work.
