George Bernard Shaw

1856: Born in Ireland to Protestant family in Dublin
1876: Moved to London to join mother, who had abandoned father, and lived with her until he married at age 42
1882: Became a Socialist
1891: Published The Quintessence of Ibsenism
1898: Married Irish heiress, Charlotte Payne-Townshend; Mrs. Warren's Profession (part of Plays Unpleasant) and Candida (Plays Pleasant); the censor refused to allow Mrs. Warrens' Profession to be produced
1902: Mrs. Warrens' Profession finally produced
1905: Major Barbara; Mrs. Warren's Profession banned in New York City, and its manager arrested (Innes 226)
1913: Pygmalion
1923: Saint Joan
1925: Received Nobel Prize for Literature; Mrs. Warren's Profession finally licensed for performance; in Letter to the Nation, Shaw writes that the reason the play is probably censored is because it treats topic of possible incest (Innes 230)
1931: Visited USSR and met Stalin
1939: Academy Award for Best Screenplay for Pygmalion
1950: died

Mrs. Warren's Profession, Women, and Prostitution

Germaine Greer cites Mrs. Warren's Profession as the “connection between prostitution and Capitalism” (qtd. in Innes 197);

According to Emma Goldman: “the economic and social inferiority of woman is responsible for prostitution” (qtd. in Innes 200);

In the late 19th century, appx. 50% of married men visited brothels (Goldman qtd. in Innes 202);

When Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren's Profession in 1885, the “campaign for criminalization of the sex trade and closure of the brothels had been brought to a pitch of public fervor” (Innes 212);

Shaw took the name Warrens from a reference to Rousseau's famous lover and muse, Madame de Warens (Innes 214).

Vocabulary:

Chatelaine: From the OED: "An ornamental appendage worn by ladies at their waist, supposed to represent the bunch of keys, etc. of a mediæval châtelaine: it consists of a number of short chains attached to the girdle or belt, etc., bearing articles of household use and ornament, as keys, corkscrew, scissors, penknife, pin-cushion, thimble-case, watch, etc., according to taste. (Sometimes applied to a bunch of ornaments worn at a watch-chain.)"

Tripos: From the OED: "Cambridge Univ. Formerly: a. (With capital initial.) A bachelor of arts appointed to dispute, in a humorous or satirical style, with the candidates for degrees at ‘Commencement’ (corresponding to the TERRÆ FILIUS at Oxford): so called from the three-legged stool on which he sat. b. A set of humorous verses, originally composed by the ‘Tripos’, and (till 1894) published at Commencement after his office was abolished (in full, tripos verses: see e). c. The list of candidates qualified for the honour degree in mathematics, originally printed on the back of the paper containing these verses (in full, tripos list: see e)."

Wrangler: From the OED: "The name for each of the candidates who have been placed in the first class in the mathematical tripos at Cambridge University."

Works Cited

C. Innes. ed. Cambridge Companion to George Bernard Shaw. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.

Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Web.

W. C. Nielsen March 2010