Mrs. Warren’s Profession – George Bernard Shaw – Mrs. Warren’s Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam (brothel proprietor), who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving daughter. It is a problem play, offering social commentary to illustrate Shaw’s belief that the act of prostitution was not caused by moral failure but by economic necessity. Elements of the play were borrowed from Shaw’s 1882 novel Cashel Byron’s Profession, about a man who becomes a boxer due to limited employment opportunities.
The story centres on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren and her daughter, Vivie. Mrs. Warren, a former prostitute and current brothel owner, is described as ‘on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman.’ Vivie, an intelligent and pragmatic young woman who has just graduated from university, has come home to get acquainted with her mother for the first time in her life. The play focuses on how their relationship changes when Vivie learns what her mother does for a living. It explains why Mrs. Warren became a prostitute, condemns the hypocrisies relating to prostitution, and criticises the limited employment opportunities available for women in Victorian Britain.