This paper uses two plays from the beginning of the century, "Mrs. Warren's Profession" by George Bernard Shaw and "Hindle
Wakes" by Stanley Houghton to examine the attitudes of the playwright and British society toward women. It deals with such issues as
prostitution and marriage and shows how different the views of the turn of the
century man can be. It looks at how the liberation and oppression of women are major themes in both plays and discusses how exactly which of the female characters in each play is liberated or oppressed is a more contentious issue - and views of this are subject to the social climate of the contemporary audience.