Mrs Warren's Profession Essay

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In Mrs Warren’s Profession, we could see the issue of convention and the “New Woman” being portrayed through the two main characters, Mrs Warren and her daughter, Vivie. Mrs Warren portrayed the conventional woman, meanwhile Vivie flourished the idea of “New Woman” in the play. Though they both had the same idea of “doing the right thing” for their life, but the meaning differs to both of these women. In Mrs Warren’s defence, “doing the right thing” means to follow what it means to be a woman and what is being expected from women.
Vivie firmly rejected the norm thinking of how women should carry herself and how women were ought to be. Thus, making Vivie a radical “New Woman” herself. The New Woman typically values self-fulfillment and independence rather than the stereotypically feminine ideal of self-sacrifice; believes in legal and sexual equality; often remains single because of the difficulty of combining such equality with marriage; is more open about her …show more content…

Women were always seem to be at the second level of the hierarchy and never at par with male counterparts. Their freedom were very limited in all aspects during the Victorian era such as profession, education, political, cultural and economic. However, Vivie challenged the conventional thinking; how women were perceived based on the accepted customs of women. The examples below show how Vivie did not want to follow her mother’s steps in life, “No: I am my mother’s daughter. I am like you: I must have work, and must make more money than I spend. But my work is not your work, and my way not your way. We must part” (p. 280), and “Yes: it’s better to choose your line and go through with it. If I had been you, mother, I might have done as you did; but I should not have lived one life and believed in another. You are a conventional woman at heart. That is why I am bidding you goodbye now” (p.

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