Mrs Warren's Profession

Play by George Bernard Shaw, written in 1893. It was denied public performance until 1925 because it was considered immoral. One of the play's major themes is the role of women in Victorian society.

Plot Summary

Mrs Warren is a brothel owner, who manages a chain of brothels in the capitals of Europe. Her daughter, Vivie, who studies at Cambridge University, pursues a career in business. Vivie does not know about her mother's profession. It is also uncertain who is Vivie's father. When Vivie finds out that her mother's profession is prostitution she is shocked at first, but when Mrs Warren tells her about her impoverished youth, Vivie develops an understanding for her mother's situation and they are reconciled. However, when Vivie finds out that, despite her mother's wealth, the business is still in operation, she decides to leave and live her own life, rejecting her admirers at the same time.

Double Standard and Consequences of Poverty in Victorian Society

The play deals with the double standard concerning morality in Victorian society. Men were expected to be experienced lovers whereas women should not have any sexual experience before marriage. Mrs Warren's profession as a brothel owner and prostitute is regarded as immoral. However, the fact that her brothels are successful and have made her a fortune shows that it was not unusual for men to find sexual fulfillment in brothels. On the other hand, Mrs Warren's profession is presented as an economic necessity. She had to decide whether to live an honourable life according to Victorian standards, which meant poverty, or to make money by pursuing an immoral profession. Geisen refers to the circumstances in Victorian society that forced her to decide between poverty and wealth and at the same time between morality and immorality. "Mrs Warren's Entscheidung sich durch die Prostitution aus ihrer subjektiv unerträglichen materiellen Not zu befreien, ist nicht unmoralischer als die Weigerung der Gesellschaft, Bedingungen zu schaffen, die eine solche Entscheidung notwendig machen" (Geisen 1984, 193). The fact that Mrs Warren decides to continue her business despite her wealth can be understood from a capitalist point of view. It shows that capitalist ideas and Victorian morality are incompatible. "Mrs Warren zieht nicht das nackte Überleben der Moral vor [...], sondern zieht das kapitalistische Dogma des »getting on« der Moral vor und enthüllt damit die Unverträglichkeit dieses Wirtschaftssystems mit dem Moralbegriff" (ibid, 194).

Sources

Ousby, Ian, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: CUP, 1993.

Shaw, George Bernard. Mrs Warren's Profession. Ed. Herbert Geisen. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1984.