Mrs. Warren's Profession. Review on Mrs. Warren's Profession - George Shaw

This is one of Shaw’s not-so-famous but definitely touching plays. It forms a part of his series ‘Plays Unpleasant’. The fact that Shaw is more comfortable with the style of comedy & humour than bitter invective & melodrama can be understood through this play. Nevertheless, it does make for an interesting reading as it deals with the burning issue of prostitution. Shaw feels that prostitution is caused due to social deprivation & the woman is not to be blamed for it. But once she enters this field, the woman becomes entrenched in it forever. Through this play Shaw exposes the underbelly of the ‘purity’ & smugness of the higher classes. He exposes the existence of ‘White Slave Trade’ in the post-industrial revolution England. Mrs. Kitty Warren & her daughter Vivie are the two protagonists of the play. Mrs. Warren is lured from the drudgery of her work as a barmaid by her sister Lizzie to prostitution, which was considered to be very lucrative during those times. Through the earnings from this profession, she raises her illicit daughter Vivie & gives her a good education (albeit keeping her in the dark about her profession). Vivie is the symbol of the modern ‘Everywoman’ who sets out to carve a niche for herself in the male dominated world. It is important to note that it was during this time that individualism, the women’s suffrage movements and other movements were on the rise.

Women like Annie Besant encouraged the use of contraceptives. The institution of marriage had become obsolete & about one-third of the children in England were born outside wedlock. Shaw also ridicules the marriage transactions in this play. This is apparent when Sir George Crofts (an ex-lover of Mrs.Warren) proposes to Vivie & tries to lure her with the prospects of rich widowhood (after his death) & high status. This attitude of Sir Crofts seems to be really gross & repulsing. But Vivie discards all temptations & bondages in the form of Mr.Praed (who stands for aesthetic intelligence), the Priest ( her illicit father & the symbol of the Church), Frank ( who stands for young, idle love) & her mother (wealth & filial relations) for forwarding her career & realising her ambitions. She becomes disillusioned when she realises that Frank (whom she loved) is her half-brother – he’s the son of the Priest. This play is a morality play in the sense that it shows Vivie’s spiritual triumph over temptations of life. It is a tragedy because she is disillusioned by her loved ones & by the social status of an ‘illegally begotten’ child. Shaw manages to show the turmoil of Mrs. Warren, Vivie & Frank in a way that touches us deeply.the characters of Sir Crofts as a lecherous old man, Praed & the Priest are also very well developed. To conclude, a play worth reading, even though it lacks the usual ‘magic’ & ‘laughing gas’ of Shaw’s other works.