Oppression and Freedom

In Mrs. Warren's Profession, the play presents and ironic interplay of oppression and freedom. Mrs. Warren gains financial freedom and a measure of independence as she moves away from the oppression of her poverty by the exploitation of her sex, which reinforces society's oppression of women. Shaw presents further irony in the fact that Vivie's education has been bought by this oppression, which, when discovered, prompts her to leave her mother and to gain absolute independence.