Hope in Mrs Warren's Profession and Waiting for Godot

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Mrs Warren's Profession and Waiting for Godot were both received with criticism when they were first introduced. Mrs Warren's Profession in particular was censored and seen as immoral for its portrayal of prostitution and incest, whereas Waiting for Godot was met with general bafflement and debate on dramatic technique. However both plays survived to enjoy notoriety. In this essay I will look at both plays and discuss if society is despaired of but hope is found in the human spirit. Mrs Warren's Profession gives us an insight into the corruption which was at the heart of Victorian Society1. Mrs Warren forced by the economic realities of 19th Century London becomes a prostitute, and by the exploitation of her sex she gains financial freedom and independence. This in its self shows us that society is despaired off as Mrs Warren had to resort to prostitution in order to gain the freedoms she now has, this reinforces society's oppression of women. In his preface to Mrs Warren's Profession Shaw states that “starvation, overwork, dirt and disease are as antisocial as prostitution – that they are the vices and crimes of a nation and not merely its misfortunes”2, this view is also represented by Mrs. Warren when she explains of her difficult childhood and her struggle to gain a comfortable life for herself. Mrs Warren also describes the fate of her sister and how all this impacted on her decision to follow her sister into prostitution instead of working herself to death, she asks Vivie “Do you think I did what I did because I like it, or thought it right, or wouldn't have rather gone to college and been a lady if I'd had the chance?”.3 Mrs Warren was despairing of her society in that because of her social and economic stature she was given no chance to better herself and was exploited by men like Croft who are wealthy and belong to the upper/middle classes. One of the most indicative notions that society is despaired off is that Mrs Warren seems to have convinced herself that prostitution is not a bad life and that she is truly helping the women she employs to better themselves. However her daughter Vivie forces her to face reality and Mrs Warren admits that she has grown too comfortable to the life she now has. Mrs Warren had obviously come to accept her way of life, however she would still never be accepted by the upper social classes, regardless of her wealth.

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