Bernard Shaws Mrs. Warrens Profession Essay -- Bernard Shaw Warrens

Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession In Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Shaw presents prostitution as a result of few economic opportunities for lower class women (rather than of hedonism, laziness, or depravity, as was commonly believed at the time this play was written) through the characters of Mrs. Warren and her daughter Vivie. When Vivie initially finds out her mother was once a prostitute, she responds in the typical Victorian fashion: with scorn and indignation. The prevailing mindset of the time was one that lauded personal responsibility. It assumed agency in each citizen that, if not complete, was at least enough so that any respectable person could avoid unrespectable vocations. When confronted with the information that her mother was, at least at one time, involved in the epitome of unrespectable vocations, Vivie says, â€Å"Everybody has some choice, mother†¦ People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I dont believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they cant find them, make them† (Norton 1831). However, Vivie’s mother responds to her daughter’s very Victorian assumption by showing just how much choice her â€Å"respectable† half sisters had. She says, â€Å"One of them worked in a whitelead factory twelve hours a day for nine shillings a week until she died of lead poisoning† (1831). The other one married a drunk. Her full sister Lizzie, on the other hand, became a prostitute and, as such, quite successful. When the two sisters ran into each other at a restaurant where Mrs. Warren was â€Å"wearing out [her] health and [her] appearance for other people’s profit† (1832) being a waitress, Liz explains to her that h... ...aying economics, rather than some personal, moral flaw, as the cause of prostitution, Shaw challenges the status quo belief that sees it as a self-contained immoral phenomenon. Without excusing its vices, he explains that it is neither a cause nor a result of hedonism and moral depravity, but rather that these are all effects of a common cause: an economic system that provides women with so few opportunities that they are forced to use their femininity as a commodity, something that hypocritical British society did not mind at all. A patriarchal society that is accustomed to wielding power over women through money and marriage, as Crofts puts it, â€Å"doesnt ask any inconvenient questions† (1843). Works Cited Shaw, Bernard. "Mrs. Warren’s Profession." The Norton Anthology of English Literature.7th Ed. Vol. 2. Ed. Abrams, et al. London: Norton, 1962. 1810-1856. Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession Essay -- Bernard Shaw Warren's Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession In Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Shaw presents prostitution as a result of few economic opportunities for lower class women (rather than of hedonism, laziness, or depravity, as was commonly believed at the time this play was written) through the characters of Mrs. Warren and her daughter Vivie. When Vivie initially finds out her mother was once a prostitute, she responds in the typical Victorian fashion: with scorn and indignation. The prevailing mindset of the time was one that lauded personal responsibility. It assumed agency in each citizen that, if not complete, was at least enough so that any respectable person could avoid unrespectable vocations. When confronted with the information that her mother was, at least at one time, involved in the epitome of unrespectable vocations, Vivie says, â€Å"Everybody has some choice, mother†¦ People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I dont believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they cant find them, make them† (Norton 1831). However, Vivie’s mother responds to her daughter’s very Victorian assumption by showing just how much choice her â€Å"respectable† half sisters had. She says, â€Å"One of them worked in a whitelead factory twelve hours a day for nine shillings a week until she died of lead poisoning† (1831). The other one married a drunk. Her full sister Lizzie, on the other hand, became a prostitute and, as such, quite successful. When the two sisters ran into each other at a restaurant where Mrs. Warren was â€Å"wearing out [her] health and [her] appearance for other people’s profit† (1832) being a waitress, Liz explains to her that h... ...aying economics, rather than some personal, moral flaw, as the cause of prostitution, Shaw challenges the status quo belief that sees it as a self-contained immoral phenomenon. Without excusing its vices, he explains that it is neither a cause nor a result of hedonism and moral depravity, but rather that these are all effects of a common cause: an economic system that provides women with so few opportunities that they are forced to use their femininity as a commodity, something that hypocritical British society did not mind at all. A patriarchal society that is accustomed to wielding power over women through money and marriage, as Crofts puts it, â€Å"doesnt ask any inconvenient questions† (1843). Works Cited Shaw, Bernard. "Mrs. Warren’s Profession." The Norton Anthology of English Literature.7th Ed. Vol. 2. Ed. Abrams, et al. London: Norton, 1962. 1810-1856.