Mrs Warren's Profession (New Mermaids)

Shaw, Bernard

ISBN 10: 0713679948 / ISBN 13: 9780713679946

Published by Methuen Drama, 2013

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mrs Warren's Profession (New Mermaids)
• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0713679948
• ISBN 13: 9780713679946
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: very good

About this title

Synopsis

'Shaw's refusal to moralise about the sex trade, only about the system that supports it, provides the play with its dramatic tension and surprising modernity.' Guardian

Shaw's 1893 play centres on the mother and daughter relationship between Kitty Warren and her Cambridge-educated daughter, Vivie, who is currently enjoying a comfortable and financially untroubled life. Kitty's own upbringing was far from easy, however, and meant that she eventually had to make money through prostitution and then through the management of several brothels. When Vivie discovers that her mother brought her up and funded Vivie's Cambridge education on the money made from these pursuits, she is horrified and can barely cope. What's more, Vivie discovers that her mother's brothels are still in operation.

Students will find a wealth of information in this text to guide their studies: an extended introduction exploring the theatrical and historical context, critical reactions, background on the author, and stage history. It also includes Shaw's original Preface, and the play itself contains numerous notes and explanations throughout to aid students' understanding.

About the Author

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish playwright and critic, whose plays are famous for their wit, eloquence and interest in provocative ideas. Inspired mainly by the social dramas of Ibsen, he began to write plays of his own while working as an arts critic, though they were not performed until later. His play Mrs Warren's Profession was banned by the Lord Chamberlain until 1925. Unable to find commercial audiences for his plays, Shaw wrote extensive Prefaces for them, elaborating on the social and moral themes that they explore. Subsequent plays include Major Barbara, Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah, and Saint Joan. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925, and an Academy Award in 1938, for the screenplay of the film adaptation of Pygmalion, a film which would later form the basis for My Fair Lady.