“Mrs. Warren's Profession” is a play by George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright who became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam (brothel proprietor), who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving daughter. They were termed "unpleasant" because they were intended, not to entertain their audiences – as the traditional Victorian theatre was expected to – but to raise awareness of social problems and to censure exploitation of the labouring class by the unproductive rich.
