PYGMALION

                                                   Dictionary entry:

Pygmalion: noun, classical mythology; a sculptor and king of Cyprus who carved an ivory statue of a maiden and fell in love with it. It was brought to life, in response to his prayer, by Aphrodite.

                                                     AUTHOR: GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

BOOK: PYGMALION

GANRE: PLAY, COMEDY, ROMANCE

NUMBER OF ACTS: 5 

WRITTEN: 1912

TIME & PLACE: London, England, 1900s

The story was first filmed in 1938 and was adapted as the stage musical My Fair Lady in 1956 (filmed in 1964).

                                                                  Characters

Eliza Doolittle is first introduced as an unpolished, foul-mouthed flower girl but is transformed into a beautiful woman. Eliza Doolittle is a young Cockney flower girl whose goal in life is to leave her life on the streets and run her own shop. Eliza develops into an articulate and worthy representative of her generation, and a feisty opponent to the bullying Higgins.

Professor Higgins is a linguist who believes he can transform Eliza Doolittle into a duchess in six months. He is an intelligent man but is also disrespectful to others despite their social class and extremely arrogant.

Colonel Pickering is a linguist who challenges Professor Higgins to transform Eliza Doolittle into a duchess. Colonel Pickering funds Professor Higgins' work with Eliza and is considerate and kind to her.

Alfred Doolittle is Eliza's materialistic father who tries to obtain money when he learns Professor Higgins is working with Eliza.

Mrs. Higgins is Professor Higgins's mother, who disagrees with Higgins' and Pickering's plan to try to change Eliza into a duchess.

Freddy Eynsford Hill - Freddy first meets Eliza during a meeting with his mother and sister at Mrs. Higgins' house. He falls in love with Eliza and writes letters to woo her.

Brief overview

Pygmalion is in many ways a Cinderella story with its transformation of a poor but lovely young girl into a princess.

Henry Higgins, a phonetician, accepts a bet that simply by changing the speech of a Cockney flower seller he will be able, in six months, to pass her off as a duchess. Eliza undergoes grueling training. When she successfully “passes” in high society—having in the process become a lovely young woman of sensitivity and taste—Higgins dismisses her abruptly as a successfully completed experiment. Eliza, who now belongs neither to the upper class, whose mannerisms and speech she has learned, nor to the lower class, from which she came, rejects his dehumanizing attitude.

Major Themes

Language as a Class Barrier

In his preface to the play, entitled, "A Professor of Phonetics," Shaw writes:

“The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like.”

In Pygmalion, language is closely tied with class. From a person’s accent, one can determine where the person comes from and usually what the person’s background is.The power of language to break through social barriers is fully realized in Eliza's triumphant performance at the ambassador's party. She is perceived to be a duchess. Yet victory has its price. She can speak nothing but his language now, which cuts her off from her former life, feeling abandoned by Higgins and faced with an uncertain future.

COCKNEY: [ U ] the type of speech used by working-class people from the East End of London

                    [ C ] a person from the East End of London, who speaks cockney

Cockney rhyming slang is a humorous slang first used by Cockneys. It was invented in London in the 1840s by market traders, costermongers (sellers of fruit and vegetables from handcarts) and street hawkers. It was probably first used as a language designed to disguise what was being said from passers-by.

Rhyming slang often includes humour. Many phrases make sarcastic or ironic references to their subjects, like for example: trouble and strife =wife, fat boy slim= gym, jam-jar = car, plates of meat = feet, giraffe = laugh, Brad Pitt = fit, etc.

“Are you ‘avin a Giraffe mate?”.

"Mate, that girl is proper Brad Pitt."

The pronunciation in cockney is often different, like for instance:

● initial h is dropped: »ouse« = house, «Enry«= Henry

● /ð/ becomes [v]: »muvver »= mother

● /θ/ becomes [f] :« fink »= think

● vowel sounds become longer: »daavnt« = don't, etc

 Cockney slang also uses double negation: »There ain't nuffink like it.« = There is nothing like it

Transformation

Shaw explores the theme of transformation by showing how a poor flower girl becomes a lovely, self-reliant lady, both superficially and at heart. Like Pygmalion's ivory sculpture, she is brought to passionate life. No longer a "squashed cabbage" or even a duchess, she becomes an independent woman. 

Appearance and identity

Appearances can be deceiving and mask the true essence of a person. Eliza evolves in speech and dress, etiquette, and expectations. She discovers that she no longer fits into her former situation. That self is lost to her. Her identity—who she is and where she fits in the world—must adjust.

  

    

George Bernard Shaw 

was an Irish plawright, critic and political activist.  He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman(1902) and Pygmalion (1912).