Analysis of Bernard Shaw “Pygmalion”

Sezim Karyppaeva 1601.04001

Pygmalion

“Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that

your native language is the language of Shakespear and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there

crooning like a bilious pigeon.”

― George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion

In my introduction to the play I took a quote from Higgins speech, which can shortly tell us, what

kind of story it is going to be. The quote shows society’s manners and thoughts, which are going to

be discussed later in my essay.

George Bernard Shaw is English playwright, writer, essayist, one of the reformers of theatrical art

of the 20th century, after Shakespeare, Nobel laureate in literature, winner of the Oscar. From a

young age, Shaw saw himself as a writer, but the articles he sent to various editions did not print.

Visiting the reading room of the British Museum for self-education, he met with W. Archer and

thanks to him began to engage in journalism. The first huge success was brought in 1897 by The

Devil's Disciple, which was part of the third cycle, Pieces for Puritans. The finest hour of the

playwright came in 1904, when the leadership of the Cord Theater changed and included a number

of his plays in the repertoire - in particular, Candida, Major Barbara, Man and the Superman, and

others. After successful productions for the Show, the reputation of the author has consolidated,

which boldly treats public morality and traditional ideas about history. Contributing to the golden

treasury of drama was the deafening success of Pygmalion. Pygmalion is comedy play, which very

clearly delivers situation about society, culture problems in a very satirical and witty way. As it was

was created in 1912 - the era of modernism. During this period, Great Britain lost its position as the
most powerful power in the world, but society has become more equitable, and despite two world

wars and the Great Depression, the average standard of living has risen sharply. There was the First

World War, which deprived England of almost a million inhabitants and left huge debts. England's

economic crisis worsened in the XX century. The social, economic and political situation of the

country has worsened. All these criteria influenced the meaning and the theme of the play and that

is way I mentioned it.

“Pygmalion” is a social, satirical, romantic, tutoring comedy play, which consist from five acts,

which have smooth continuation in the each act. Exposition starts in the first act: It is rainy day.

Lady with her daughter are waiting for the, Freddy Eynsford Hill, who went to find a taxy. Later

without any result, they went home and on the way meet The Flower Girl, who accidently turns all

flowers on him. Then she noticed a man, who wrote something in a notebook and thought he was

writing a fine on her and starts crying. Rising action continues in the next chapter. She met Mr.

Higgins and Mr. Pickering. Eliza Doolittle demands from them to buy her flowers. Then she visits a

house of Mr. Higgins and asks a favor to teach her a right pronunciation and make from her a

flower shop lady. Mr. Pickering and Mr. Higgins bet, that it is impossible to tutor her and make

good woman from uneducated girl. Later on, father of that girl visits them and asks a money help.

Climax is the most important part of all plot. Eliza Doolittle changed all her life and finally became

a woman from the high social class. She visits all sumptuous and rich parties and meetings. Finally

Eliza argues with Mr. Higgins and ran away. Mr. Higgins and Mr. Pickering are very sad about this.

Falling action is that she totally changes her life with her father and got married with Freddy.

Conclusion is that Eliza finally gets along with Mr. Higgins and starts absolutely another life.

Next I want to more closely look at each character’s description and importance in the whole play.

First of all our protagonist Eliza Doolittle. From books description:

“She wears a black straw hat, severely damaged in its lifetime by London dust and soot, and hardly

familiar with the brush. Her hair is some kind of mouse color, not found in nature. A greasy black
coat, narrow at the waist, barely reaches the knees; a brown skirt and a canvas apron are visible

from underneath. The shoes, apparently, also knew better days. Without a doubt, she is clean in her

own way, but next to the ladies she resolutely seems to be a dumbass. Her features are not bad, but

her skin condition leaves much to be desired; in addition, it is noticeable that she needs the services

of a dentist.” She is dynamic and changing throughout the story. When she is transformed from a

sassy, smart-mouthed flower girl with deplorable English, to a regal figure fit to consort with

nobility, it has less to do with her innate qualities as a heroine than with the fairy-tale aspect of the

transformation myth itself. It is very difficult for her to be absolutely another person and she at the

end changes, but feel unease discomfort inside. She is the character through which Bernard Shaw

shows how the society influences on rural people. He underlines, that normal people, poor or rich

all have their own personality and every person cannot be the same as if made by sample.

Next character is Mr. Higgins, professor of phonetics, who is going to teach Eliza. He is rather foil

and antagonist in the story. Here is a book description:

“A man is about fifty, with gray hair and morels on his face, of small stature. Higgins was

constantly dissatisfied with something, pissed and seemed, at first glance, ill-mannered. At first he

treated Elise worse than a servant. But always there was Colonel Pickering, who tried to calm

Higgins. For him, it was a matter of honor, so he demanded that Eliza be ready to study phonetics

almost around the clock. His tireless energy exhausted the small flower girl and attracted at the

same time. Higgins was only interested in betting, and he throws Eliza to the mercy of fate. Such

was the nature of this old bachelor” He is the one who plays a role of society. He is antonym of

Eliza. He have hard heart, rude temper and egoism. He represents society’s mores and values and

unfortunately there inside of values is no place for soul. He plays a role of antagonist till the end of

the play. He is doing a favor, which was not asked. He is creating another person by society’s

sample.
There are some more minor characters, who also helped to give full picture of situation and deliver

all those feelings and emotions. They are:

Colonel Pickering is a match of Mr. Higgins, but where Higgins is a boorish, careless bully,

Pickering is always considerate and a genuinely gentleman.

Alfred Doolittle is a father of Eliza and shows a situation of the city. He is so greedy and poor, that

he is even ready to just get money and live his daughter. He represents poverty and overall situation

during Great Depression.

Mrs. Higgins is Mr. Higgins mother. Even if she is as rude and as egoistic as her son, she feels pity

about the poor girl. That he is doing from her a toy, which he wants to repair.

Freddy Eynsford Hill is the son of rich family and all the play he is as if a variant for Eliza to catch

her place in the high society and that actually happens in the end. That is all characters, who played

great and minor role in the play and now I would like to tell about setting, narrator and conflicts.

First act takes place in the Covent Garden at 11:15 p.m. under the portico of St. Paul’s Church and

this is where Higgins, Pickering, Freddy, and Eliza met. Second act takes place in Higgins’s

laboratory in Wimpole Street. Third Act takes place in Mrs. Higgins’s home and the Embassy Ball.

Forth act takes place in Wimpole Street laboratory. Fifth Act takes place in Mrs. Higgins’s drawing

room. The time of play is similar for all play. It is the end of 19th the beginning of the 21 century.

The setting helps us to fully describe the society’s difference and its importance at that time. The

narrator is the author himself third point of view. We as if see the story from the other side and

sometimes narrator takes some quotes to explain, what is going on there. He uses these lines to

clarify situation.

Conflicts here are the main point as it shows us, what Bernard Shaw wanted to underline and

explain us with this play “Pygmalion”. First conflict is Man vs Society. Eliza Doolittle, who has the

same rights as any person is forced to change and live the other way. She is driven by society to this
step and it painfully influenced her life. Bernard Shaw using this conflict, as if laughs at high

slayers of that social stare. Next conflict is Man vs Man. This is confrontation of two different

people from different centuries and social classes, which lead to the effect of Pygmalion.

In Pygmalion, Shaw combined two topics of equal concern to him: the problem of social inequality

and the problem of classical English. To show how radically it is possible to change a person, Shaw

chose a transition from one extreme to another. If such a radical change in a person is possible in a

relatively short time, then the viewer must tell himself, that then any other change in the human

being is possible. The Shaw, perhaps, was the first to realize the omnipotence of language in

society, its exceptional social role, about which psychoanalysis spoke indirectly in the same years.

It was Shaw who spoke about this in a poster-edifying, but no less ironic and fascinating

Pygmalion. Professor Higgins, albeit in his narrow special field, but still ahead of structuralism and

poststructuralism, which in the second half of the century will make the ideas of "discourse" and

"totalitarian language practices" their central theme, but language is not the only expression of a

human being. Mrs. Higgins’s appearance at the reception has a single blunder - Eliza doesn’t know

what they say in society in this language. One of the theses of the play states that the human

character is determined by the totality of the relation of personality, linguistic relations are only part

of it. Man is created by man — such is the lesson of this, by Shaw's own admission, “intensively

and consciously didactic” play.

Style of writing is realism and drama. He uses comedy style to underline social problems and make

situation more obvious and clear. Tone of the play is didactic and witty. Shaw wants to get us

thinking about a lot of important topics of that society, which really are actual today as well. He is

not showing himself very smart and goofy, but only gives an example using satire.

There are several stylistic devices the author uses to make and effects on his readers and as I told

before first of them is Allegory. Eliza represent that lower society and Mr.Higgins represents high

society. Both of them help us to see difference in the slayers and education level of both, but does
not matter from which slayer they are both should have soul and kindness. An allusion is a

reference in a piece of literature, often another piece of literature. In Pygmalion, Shaw references

many commonly known items. Higgins is an educated man, which can be inference from his quote

"A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere—no right

to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech:

that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit

there crooning like a bilious pigeon." The next is used cacophony to better show how law was

Eliza’s English. Every time Eliza speaks in her cockney accent, it is a cacophony. Dramatic irony is

irony that is understood by the audience, but not the characters in the literary work. The largest

instance of dramatic irony in Pygmalion is when Eliza, Higgins, and Pickering attend the

ambassador's party. Here Eliza is not sure who she is, Lady in a flower shop or just the same street

flower girl. During Charles Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion," Eliza and Higgins' relationship is

foreshadowed the first time they meet. So here author slightly uses foreshadowing also. Irony is

used many times when Eliza speaks in the beginning of the play. Before Eliza is taught how to

properly speak English, she butchers the English language. The mood of the play changes

throughout Pygmalion. Towards the beginning, Pygmalion seems to be written solely for an

entertaining purpose. However, the mood shifts during the climax after Eliza confronts Higgins, the

mood shifts from funny and amusing to a realistic, mysterious mood.

By mind this play is a very strong and didactic play. It laughs out and underlines topics, which still

remain unsolved and pivotal to discuss. I think the author is skilled writer, who could easily deliver

all information in two character’s life Eliza Doolittle and Mr. Higgins. He just softly points on all

problems masterly using stylistic devices and literary terms. I enjoyed reading this book and hope I

coped with its full analysis.