In Mrs. Warren’s Profession, George Bernard Shaw writes an apology note which accompanies the play. In the note we find out that the play was not performed until eight years after it was published. The note was written as an apology for the reviews it got from the critics. The critics were obviously offended with all the sexual content that was in the play. Shaw describes the play as aphrodisiac. The word aphrodisiac stuck out to me. I have never heard or seen it before so I looked it up in the English oxford dictionary.
One of the definitions stated by the EOD was, “of or relating to sexual desire: that tends to increase sexual desire”. The second definition is, “A drug of preparation inducing sexual desire”. I then looked at the etymology and realized that the word was Greek. The etymology definitely helped me realize that I could relate this to another Greek word. The word is obviously related to the Greek goddess Aphrodite who represents love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. This is the perfect word to describe Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
Mrs. Warren and Vivie both represent the same elements that Aphrodite represents. Mrs. Warren and Vivie both are very confident women who embrace their sexuality. While Mrs. Warren embraces her sexuality with her career, Vivie embraces her sexuality by being a free woman. Aphrodisiac is an excellent word that describes the play and Shaw did an excellent job using it.
-Yuri Can
