Mrs. Warren's Profession: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: George Bernard Shaw

First published: 1898, in Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant

Genre: Play

Locale: England

Plot: Social

Time: The late 1800's

Vivie Warren, the independent, confident, self-possessed, twenty-two-year-old daughter of Mrs. Kitty Warren. After finishing a rigorous academic program with honors at Cambridge, Vivie plans to become an actuarial accountant. Unlike many young women of her day, she hopes for a highly successful business career. She has lived at boarding schools all of her life and has had little contact with her mother and no knowledge of the family business. Vivie has taken a country cottage in Haslemere to devote herself to reading law in preparation for her business endeavors. Mrs. Warren surprises Vivie by inviting not only herself but also several male friends to share Vivie's holiday. During their encounter at the cottage, Vivie learns the truth about her mother's profession and comes to admire her mother for her strength and determination. She cannot, however, fulfill the role of devoted daughter that her mother would now like her to play. She admits to her mother that they are too much alike but maintains her resolve that her world will be different from that of her mother and that they must part—a typically Shavian touch of having the child reject the parent.

Mrs. Kitty Warren, alias Miss Vacasour, an aging but financially secure madam whose work in prostitution was a result of economic necessity, not moral weakness. Born in poverty, Mrs. Warren saw only two choices offered her by society and unashamedly chose the vagaries of prostitution over the certain death of working in the white-lead factory. Although she makes no apologies for her profession, she does keep the actual nature of her work a secret from her daughter for twenty-two years. Now, Mrs. Warren attempts to assert her “maternal rights” over her independent and strong-willed child. Ultimately, the mother reveals her life's work to her daughter but tells her that the business is no longer active. Mrs. Warren breaks from her role of street-smart business-woman when Vivie rejects her after learning that she still engages in the business that profits by the weakness of others.

Praed, a friend of Mrs. Warren, a self-confessed “anarchist,” and the first to arrive at Vivie's summer cottage. He realizes at once that Vivie is more serious-minded than her mother and her friends and tries to prepare Vivie for the experience she is about to have. A devotee of the gospel of art, Praed represents the life of fine art and culture that could be Vivie's if she could accept her mother and her mother's money.

Sir George Crofts, a longtime friend and business partner of Mrs. Warren and part of her entourage to the country. Crofts, who is about fifty years old, takes an unexpected and uninvited romantic interest in Vivie that she finds distasteful. He unwittingly reveals that the prostitution business is still very active, thus adding to the rift between mother and daughter. He represents the life of aristocratic high society that Vivie firmly rejects.

Frank Gardner, a dandy, Vivie's twenty-year-old would-be beau. Frank embodies the convention of “love's young dream.” His and Vivie's relationship becomes increasingly complex when a jealous Crofts reveals that Frank and Vivie could be half brother and half sister. This mystery is never resolved.

The Reverend Samuel Gardner, Frank's father, the rector of a church located not far from Vivie's summer cottage. The elder Gardner is another of the gentlemen from Mrs. Warren's past. Their chance meeting proves an embarrassment to the reverend, who struggles to have his son follow his now-respectable example.

Liz, the sister of Mrs. Warren who once shared her profession but who has attained respectability and even high social status through marriage. Her present life is unattractive to Vivie, but Kitty Warren idealizes her. She remains unseen but is much discussed.

Honoria Fraser, Vivie's mentor in the actuarial business. She does not appear onstage, but her influence on Vivie speaks for her.