The author also makes it clear to his audiences that he is not afraid to rock the social boat and portray women's lives as women themselves would like them to be - even if this level of enlightenment was not yet a federal mandate. In one of her responses to Praed's initial line of questioning, Vivie advises (and shocks) him by saying: "Oh yes I do. I like working and getting paid for it. When I'm tired of working, I like a comfortable chair, a cigar, a little whisky, and a novel with a good detective story in it." In this regard,...

In the final analysis, Shaw was not only trying to make a buck, he was doing so at the expense of his critics while providing his audiences with the very real human message that people are just people and will tend to try to get away with whatever they can, no matter what their gender or social standing.