individual and the moral values placed upon people by society is constantly

present. This is true of the characters in George Bernard Shaw's play Mrs.

Warren's Profession. Shaw demonstrates that doing something frowned upon

by society does not have to be an evil thing so long as it is good for the

Perhaps the most obvious example of societal morals conflicting with

individual need is the case of Mrs. Kitty Warren. Mrs. Warren is a woman

whose economic standing and lack of any professional skills forced her into

becoming a prostitute. Obviously such a profession is against the beliefs

of the society that she lives in. Not only is she not ashamed of her

occupation, she is proud of the amount of money that it, as well as

managing several houses of prostitution, has made for her. When asked of

any shame about her job by her daughter she states, "Well of course dearie,

it's only good manners to be ashamed of it: it's expected of a woman."

This statement shows that the only reason that one would be ashamed of it

is because of society says that one should be. She feels that the

restrictions that society has placed on women has made it impossible for

morals in the case of need, he is in the direct opposite opinion when it

really can' bring myself to touch the old woman's money now." Vivie is

While it can be seen that Shaw approves of going against societal

Mrs. Warren says, "It means a new dress every day; it means theatres every

constantly insulting his own father, a reverend, with comments such as, "

Frank Gardner. Frank's main goal throughout the play is to marry Vivie in

fro self indulgence. The conclusion could be drawn that Shaw feels that

comes to continually doing it for only the purposes of greed. This is

for him. He paints him as an annoying manipulative character that is

attempting to evoke sympathy for the character of Mrs. Warren by pitting

prostitution. Describing her reasons for continuing with her profession,

fact they begin to cause feelings of disgust that someone would do that

attempts when he realizes how her mother earns the money. He states , "I

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1433
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)