 Shaw's first three full-length plays dealt with social issues. He later grouped them as "Plays Unpleasant". Widower's Houses (1892) concerns the landlords of slum properties, and introduces the first of Shaw's New Women — a recurring feature of later plays. The Philanderer (1893) develops the theme of the New Woman, draws on Ibsen, and has elements of Shaw's personal relationships, the character of Julia being based on Jenny Patterson. In a 2003 study Judith Evans describes Mrs Warren's Profession (1893) as "undoubtedly the most challenging" of the three Plays Unpleasant, taking Mrs Warren's profession — prostitute and, later, brothel-owner — as a metaphor for a prostituted society.
