anderer (1893) and Mrs.Warren s Profession (1894). He protests against the evils of the society and the low position of a woman. He exposes such seamy sides of bourgeois society as poverty, sexual exploitation, marriage as a business deal, prostitution. s Houses. The first performance of B. Shaw s play Widower s Houses in 1892 was quite a sensation. Shaw was attacked both by the public and the critics who called him a cynic.theme was declared by Shaw to be middleclass respectability fattening on the poverty of the slums as flies fatten on filth . The play was a ruthless exposure of the darker sides of English life.respectable English gentleman Sartorius has made his fortune by renting tenement houses in the slum area. The houses are in a terrible state, but he refuses to spend any money on repairs. During the rest on the Rein he acquaints his daughter Blanche with a young doctor Harry Trench. They fall in love with each other and decide to marry. They return to England where Harry Trench pays a visit to Mr. Sartorius house and is shocked at finding out that Sartorius s wealth has come from slum property. Trench offers Blanche to live on his income which he believes is derived in an honest way. However, Sartorius proves to Trench that the wealth of the latter comes from the same source, because the slums are located on the land that belongs to Trench and his aunt. The play reveals that the respectability of the rich rests on the money squeezed out of suffering and starving people.the start was made. He started by criticizing bourgeois morals and corruption. A year later he wrote the Philanderer and a few months later another satire Mrs. Warren s Profession, all the three being plays unpleasant , because he was telling the truth to the bourgeois readers and spectators .. Warren s Profession. Mrs. Warren is a proprietress of several brothels in Belgium, Vienne, Budapest and she profits greatly from them. She considers her business quite honest and noble. She is able to give her daughter Vivie a decent education at private school and then at the university. Her daughter does not suspect what the source of her mother s income is. When she becomes aware of this her first impulse was to protest against it. It seemed that Bernard Shaw s intention was to portray a new character who due to her energy would try to change things in the bourgeois society. But it didn t happen. Her mother told the story of life of three sisters: one of them, got poisoned by lead at the factory and died, another married a worker and kept the house and three children for 16 shillings a week till her husband deteriorated through heavy drinking. Was it worthy to keep straight for the sake of it? she asks her daughter. Then she told her daughter about her work as a scullery maid until she and her sister Lizz opened a brothel. It was a first-rate brothel and the girls were treated miles better than she was treated working as a scullery maid. Little by little her daughter begins to take mother s side. You were right if taken from practical point of view , she said. And from all others , was Mrs. Warren s answer. She said that marriage did not settle the question, so the best way was to chase a bachelor, marry him and live on his money. Prostitution is tackled by Shaw as the social evil and he severely criticizes it. No wonder that the play did not see the stage until 1902.first cycle was followed by another one which he called now Plays Pleasant. There appeared Arms and the Man ( The Chocolate Soldier ), The Man of Destiny, and Candida.title of the cycle is rather ironical: through the amusing situations and witty scenes with sparkling dialogues B. Shaw continues his criticism of bourgeois morals and ideals. He attacks militarism and war, their senselessness and cruelty, ridicules war and the so-called glories of war (Arms and the Man, 1894). This is a story of a man who gives up military service, the war and the arms entirely for a woman s society. Edward VII, then a would-be king, Prince of Wales said that the author of the play must be a fool. Shaw dethroned Napoleon in The Man of Destiny. The main attention of ...
