Essay on "Literary Analysis Mrs. Warren's Profession"

Essay 3 pages (1432 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession

When it first opened in New York in 1905, Mrs. Warren's Profession created such a row that it was banned after two days. Apparently this was because of its new portrait of prostitution (Johnson 91). Shaw wrote the drama to critique the view that prostitution was the result of depravity. His view was that it stems from socio-economic conditions. Poverty drives lower class women into its practice. While certainly much has been made of this theme in the play, this essay intends to highlight a different, if related, theme: the contrast of innocence and experience. The relationship between the mother and the daughter shows not only that each character represents a different response to their experience, but also that the daughter chooses to defy the mother in pursuit of a different sort of emancipation. This choice can be seen in light of two things: the daughter's lack of emotional attachment to her mother stemming from a distant upbringing, and her motivations made possible by a new options for women in society.

Kitty is a self-made woman. Coming from poverty and having tried to work honestly, she gives in to prostitution. With financing, she sets up brothels in various European cities. Kitty is a brilliant manager and makes loads of money. She views prostitution as the pretense or pretend feeling that women must endure to achieve their aims. Gilmartin writes, "She is not a hypocrite about how she earns her living" (145). By sacrificing chastity, she overcomes poverty. Her wealth enables her to attain the respectability she desires. Through prostitution, she emancipates herself, but in a different way than Vivie. Her choice has significant impact on her daughter.

Wasserman has analyzed Vivie's portrait and shown from a psychological perspective how important her upbringing was in shaping her character. Kitty sends her daughter away into an institutional life (boarding school). Vivie tells Praed, "I have been boarded out all my life" (219). Her impersonal upbringing occurs distant from the mother's influence. Vivie says to her mother, "I know nothing about you" (243). It is important that she does not seem to care. In other words, she accepts detachment as normal. This has effects on her. Wasserman describes how there is a "dependent relationship between boarding school life and recurring personality traits" (170). For one thing, the absence of personal ties in childhood leaves her unable to love. Without attachment to her mother, she is capable of only shallow relationships. Without question, she is emotionally withdrawn. Boarding school and college have made her intellectual and self-assured, but being distant from her parents has snuffed out her ability to feel.

This is clear in Vivie's rejection of romance and beauty. Wasserman says, "Since Vivie never had a model for love, Frank's courtship represents for her the only kind of relationship she is aware of -- the sordid affair -- and of this she wants no part" (171). Vivie is a distinguished, Cambridge mathematician, a new type of professional woman who would rather "bleed to death" than remain idle (238). What she values most is self-determination. This is clear when she tells her mother, "I shall always respect your right to your own opinions and your own way of life" (246). She hates holidays. When Praed's blood runs cold because her plans involve no romance or beauty, she replies, "I don't care for either, I assure you" (217). She rejects romance with poor Frank, as well as with rich Crofts who represents money and her mother's ideal (240). Her mother protects her innocence from the men who vie for her affection. Vivie shows contempt for pleasure by hating opera. To Praed, she says that "once for all, there is no beauty and no romance in life for me" (273). The point is that she represents an unemotional naive type.

The second factor in the interplay between innocence and experience is her mother's occupation. It swirls like a mystery. The men use euphemisms ("that side of her life" or "bad lot") to speak of it as though it is a secret. It has been hidden from Vivie, along with her father's identity. The contrast between Kitty as experienced in worldly matters and Vivie as innocent comes out in their interaction. Kitty doubts that she drinks and thinks her… READ MORE

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