Mrs. Warren’s Profession Themes

Mrs. Warren’s Profession forces its audience to consider the problem of the exploitation of women in British society. The play challenges the idea that working as a prostitute is immoral, suggesting instead that society is immoral because it limits opportunities for women, often making prostitution the safest and most lucrative work available to them. The play suggests that a variety of individuals share personal responsibility for women’s exploitation, ranging from those who invest in brothels…

Mrs. Warren’s Profession depicts a society tainted by the sale of sex. A mother is portrayed as a madam who may try to sell her daughter, and a young woman’s suitors might also be her father or brother. The play shows that this impure tangle of relationships is the natural result of the pervasive buying and selling of sex, whether through marriage or prostitution, and of the treatment of women as interchangeable, commodified sexual objects…

Mrs. Warren’s Profession portrays two parent-child relationships in which the children reject sentimental ideas about familial duty. Frank and Vivie share a belief that they should judge their parents based on their parents’ behavior and values, treating their parents only as well as they deserve to be treated. In keeping with Victorian views on the respect owed to parents, however, Mrs. Warren and Reverend Gardner expect Frank and Vivie to respect them and take their…