Mrs. Warren's Profession and Waiting for Godot were both met with criticism when they were first introduced. Mrs. Warren's Profession, in particular, was censured and deemed immoral for its depiction of prostitution and incest, while Waiting for Godot was met with general bewilderment and debate over dramatic technique. Yet both comedies survived to enjoy notoriety. In this essay I will examine both plays and discuss whether society is desperate, but hope is found in the human spirit. Mrs Warren's profession offers us an insight into the corruption that was at the heart of Victorian society1. Mrs. Warren, forced by the economic realities of 19th-century London, becomes a prostitute and, through the exploitation of her sex, gains financial freedom and independence. This in itself shows us that society is desperate as Mrs. Warren had to resort to prostitution to gain the freedoms she now has, this reinforces society's oppression of women. In his preface to Mrs Warren's Profession, Shaw states that "hunger, overwork, filth and disease are as antisocial as prostitution - that they are the vices and crimes of a nation and not merely its misfortunes"2, this point of view is also represented by Mrs. Warren when she explains her difficult childhood and her struggle to earn a comfortable life. Mrs. Warren also describes her sister's fate and how it all affected her decision to follow her into prostitution instead of working herself to death. He asks Vivie, “Do you think I did what I did because I like it, or did I think so?” right, or wouldn't I have preferred to go to college and become a lady if I had the chance?”3 Mrs. Warren despaired of her society because, due to her social and economic stature, she was given no opportunity to improve itself. and has been exploited by men like Croft who are wealthy and upper-middle class. One of the most telling notions that society is desperate is that Ms. Warren seems to have convinced herself that prostitution is not a bad life and that she is truly helping the women she employs to better themselves. However her daughter Vivie forces her to face reality and Mrs Warren admits that she has become too comfortable with the life she has now. Mrs. Warren had obviously come to accept her way of life, however she would never be accepted by the higher social classes, regardless of her wealth.