Monologue

Mrs Warren Monologue from Mrs. Warren's Profession

From Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw

female · defiant · 2:09 min

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Yes; and a very good aunt to have, too. She’s living down at Winchester now, close to the cathedral, one of the most respectable ladies there. Chaperones girls at the country ball, if you please. No river for Liz, thank you! You remind me of Liz a little: she was a first-rate business woman--saved money from the beginning--never let herself look too like what she was--never lost her head or threw away a chance. When she saw I’d grown up good-looking she said to me across the bar “What are you doing there, you little fool? wearing out your health and your appearance for other people’s profit!” Liz was saving money then to take a house for herself in Brussels; and she thought we two could save faster than one. So she lent me some money and gave me a start; and I saved steadily and first paid her back, and then went into business with her as a partner. Why shouldn’t I have done it? The house in Brussels was real high class: a much better place for a woman to be in than the factory where Anne Jane got poisoned. None of the girls were ever treated as I was treated in the scullery of that temperance place, or at the Waterloo bar, or at home. Would you have had me stay in them and become a worn out old drudge before I was forty? VIVIE No; but why did you choose that business? Saving money and good management will succeed in any business.

About this piece

Mrs. Warren reflects on her past choices and the business acumen of a friend, asserting her determination to rise above her circumstances and make a better life for herself.

40s · determination · ambition · identity · freedom · power

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