Innocence vs. Experience in Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession

Introduction: Shaw's Socioeconomic Critique and the Innocence–Experience Theme

When it first opened in New York in 1905, Mrs. Warren's Profession caused such a controversy that it was banned after two days — apparently because of its provocative new portrait of prostitution (Johnson 91). Shaw wrote the drama to critique the view that prostitution was the result of moral depravity, arguing instead that it stems from socioeconomic conditions: poverty drives lower-class women into its practice. While much has been made of this theme in the play, this essay intends to highlight a different, if related, theme — the contrast of innocence and experience. The relationship between the mother and the daughter shows not only that each character represents a different response to their circumstances, but also that the daughter chooses to defy the mother in pursuit of a different sort of emancipation. This choice can be understood in light of two factors: the daughter's lack of emotional attachment to her mother, stemming from a distant upbringing, and her motivations made possible by new options for women in society.

Kitty is a self-made woman. Coming from poverty and having tried to work honestly, she gives in to prostitution. With the financing she accumulates, she sets up brothels in various European cities. Kitty is a brilliant manager and makes considerable money. She views prostitution as the pretense — the performed feeling — that women must endure to achieve their aims. As Gilmartin writes, "She is not a hypocrite about how she earns her living" (145). By sacrificing chastity, she overcomes poverty, and her wealth enables her to attain the respectability she desires. Through prostitution, she emancipates herself, but in a fundamentally different way than Vivie. Her choice has a significant impact on her daughter.

Kitty Warren: Experience, Pragmatism, and Self-Made Emancipation

Wasserman has analyzed Vivie's portrait and demonstrated from a psychological perspective how important her upbringing was in shaping her character. Kitty sends her daughter away into an institutional life at boarding school. Vivie tells Praed, "I have been boarded out all my life" (219). Her impersonal upbringing occurs far from the mother's influence. Vivie says to her mother, "I know nothing about you" (243) — and crucially, she does not seem to care. She accepts detachment as normal, and this has lasting effects on her personality.

Vivie's Upbringing and Its Psychological Effects

Wasserman describes a "dependent relationship between boarding school life and recurring personality traits" (170). The absence of personal ties in childhood leaves Vivie unable to love. Without attachment to her mother, she is capable of only shallow relationships and is emotionally withdrawn throughout the play. Boarding school and university have made her intellectual and self-assured, but her distance from her parents has extinguished her capacity to feel.

This emotional withdrawal is most evident in Vivie's rejection of romance and beauty. Wasserman writes, "Since Vivie never had a model for love, Frank's courtship represents for her the only kind of relationship she is aware of — the sordid affair — and of this she wants no part" (171). Vivie is a distinguished Cambridge mathematician, a new type of professional woman who would rather "bleed to death" than remain idle (238). What she values above all is self-determination. This is clear when she tells her mother, "I shall always respect your right to your own opinions and your own way of life" (246).

Conclusion: Innocence as a Path to Self-Determination

In sum, the relationship between innocence and experience plays out fully through the mother and daughter. This theme remains relevant today, as the same types of dynamics continue to shape relationships between mothers and daughters across generations. Parents and children often hold competing worldviews, and the negotiation between them is difficult for both parties — just as it is in Mrs. Warren's Profession. The play asks its audience to hold a sympathetic view of the underprivileged, who are sometimes forced to assume shameful roles by the weight of social and economic circumstance. At the same time, it demonstrates that worldly experience is not always the superior position. Innocence is a choice. Self-determination is possible. Women can work to make their way in the professional world, even if it means rejecting a parent's traditional values and resisting their influence. This theme endures well beyond Shaw's own era and speaks to ongoing questions about women's emancipation and autonomy.