"Mrs. Warren's Profession" by George Bernard Shaw was a play written
             more than a hundred years ago in 1894[1] The roles that women play in
             this masterpiece show that Shaw was far ahead of his time in his thoughts
             about what women should do and be. In his work he presented a new vision
             of an intellectual, entrepreneurial woman and challenged the conventional
             roles imposed by society. He also included accounts of women victimized by
             a capitalist society and defended their rights to take whatever actions
             they had to in order to changer their circumstances even if that meant
             prostitution. In fact, Shaw's beliefs are consistent with modern-day
             feminism with only one exception. Shaw seemed to fear that a woman's
             independence and choice of a career had to come at the expense of something
             else, namely love and family. Nonetheless, "Mrs. Warren's Profession" is
             still revolutionary in comparison to the idealized Victorian version of
             The play has two main characters, Vivie Warren, and her mother Mrs.
             Kitty Warren. Vivie is an intellectual seeking an actuarial career, but
             her mother is involved in a more unseemly profession, prostitution. The
             play begins with visits from guests Praed, a friend of Mrs. Warren's and
             Sir George Crofts, Mrs. Warren's business associate. These guests are
             later joined by Frank, a pursuer of Vivie's romantic affections and his
             father, Reverend Gardner. The plot centers on Vivie's discovery of her
             mother's secret career and her daughter's inability to get her to change.
             The interactions that Shaw shares make for a lively discourse that clearly
             conveys his beliefs on the more fortunate intellectual woman, the woman
             victimized by capitalism, and the conventional role model.
             The Intellectual, Entrepreneurial Woman
             Shaw's play shows that women have the opportunity to be the
             intellectual woman as illustrated through Vivie Warren. His description o...