Julie uses and toys with Jean, who then manipulates the feelings that Julie has developed for him. She eventually catches on, but Jean does not deny anything when she does. He openly tells her, "I"m looking for an investor who can put some money into the project," (p. 122).
When Julie's father, the count, returns to the house, Jean automatically returns to his servant status. In response to Julie's requests, he explains that, "it's as if this coat made it impossible for me to order you If the count were to come down and ask me to cut my throat, I think I would do it on the spot." Julie, suddenly recognizing the situation she has been put into by Jean and herself, finds that she is completely ruined and in desperation kills herself. She explained her decision to Jean as an act to "save my honour, save his name," referring to the count, (p. 148). Strindberg leaves the reader or the audience with the idea that social parameters lead to people wanting to change their social status. He makes it clear that manipulation is the most efficient way of doing this, and that manipulation leads to dire consequences. He wanted the audience to know that if social parameters did not exist, this type of problem would not exist.
Brecht also explores the boundaries of society, but in a more unconventional way than Strindberg does. The Good Person of Szechwan is set in a poor province in China, where wealth determines social status. Sun, an out of work pilot, is very poor and is considering suicide. Shen Teh, an impoverished yet generous woman, was a prostitute, but received a tobacco shop as a gift from the gods. Shen Teh had not been in search of a higher social standing, but this gift placed her in a higher position. Sun, along with many others, took advantage of Shen Teh's generosity and her new money. She was exploited until she was about to be ruined, but she could not find it in her heart to turn the people down or make them pay her back.