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    Pygmalion Myth and Reality

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    STANLEY RAYEN

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Pygmalion Rites a kee ats What's Inside ® Book Basics Qin Context... @ Author Biography #s Characters .. “Quotes 20, symbols .. ® Themes .... i Motits 5 Suggested Reading .. ® Book Basics AUTHOR George Bernard Shaw FIRST PERFORMED 1913 GENRE Romance ABOUT THE TITLE The title, Pygmalion, refers to a Greek character in Ovid's poem ‘Metamorphoses who sculpts a woman so perfect that he falls in love with her. With the intervention of the goddess Venus, she comes to life. @ In Context Great Britain Emerges from Victorianism Pygmalion was written and produced as Great Britain was ‘emerging from the Victorian era. Spanning the reign of Queen Victoria (1887-1901), this period was marked by peace and prosperity; medical, scientific, and technological advances; and the expansion of the British Empire. Notions of what it meant tobe English or an Englishman—standards and codes of ‘conduct—became idealized, and the concept of the perfect ‘woman—the subservient wife and "domestic angel"—was advanced. A heightened sense of social responsibilty dictated Vietorian social behavior. Likewise, a sense of order and ‘stability stemming from British confidence in commonly held social values, social identity, and meaningful religious faith characterized English society. However, sharp divides existed between the upper, middle, ‘working, and lower classes of society. Women felt these social barriers more keenly than men. Their social, political, and ‘economic rights and options were far more limited. As the Victorian era wore on, artists and writers began to confront these idealized notions of proper behavior and social stereotypes. They took aim at the conventions of the Victorian cera; in particular, a woman's perceived place in society. Their efforts were in line with another challenge to these conventions: the socialist movement. Pygmalion Study Guide In Context 2 British Socialism and Modern Realistic Drama Various organized groups built on socialist ideas emerged in Britain in the 1880s, growing out of intense dislike of the social effects of the Industrial Revolution, Among their goals were social reform, enfranchisement of women, and improvement of living conditions for the working class. Their ideas found expression in late Victorian literature, In the theater, Realism replaced Romanticism, a style of drama marked by exotic locations and larger-than-life heroes. This, new realistic drama featured ordinary people in believable situations and examined the harsh truths hidden beneath the bland surface details of their ves. Rather than offering entertaining escapism, realistic drama attempted to thoughtfully explore contemporary issues and expose social evils Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen introduced realistic drama to the European stage in the second half of the 18th century. Audiences expecting traditional theater were dismayed and sometimes scandalized by the dark topics of Ibsen's plays and their lack of happy endings. Yet, his plays continued to be produced by progressive theaters across Europe, including England. His works were disturbing. They pushed his audience to candidly scrutinize the foundations of their morality and social conscience. Considered the father of modern theater, losen has also been called the father of Realism. One outspoken advocate of socialism and the new theater of Ibsen was George Bernard Shaw. In 1884, he joined the recently established Fabian Society. The society was not radical but aimed to peacefully implement social reforms. through existing institutions and Parliament. Believing that all major social problems could be solved if socialism were implemented, Shaw became one of the Fabian Society's, leading members and its spokesperson. His concerns and, beliefs, as well as his admiration for Ibsen's "theatre of ides inspired his first play, Widowers' House (1892). They were likewise the thematic basis for subsequent works, including Pygmalion, Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. The Problem Play and Pygmalion Dramas that dealt realistically with controversial social issues ‘were known as “problem plays” or “discussion plays." They strove to make the audience think and discuss the issues. Henrik lbsen demonstrated the potential of the problem play, but Shaw brought this type of drama to its intellectual peak. He used polished wit and clever language to transform the English theater into a marketplace of ideas. Scenes of ugliness or suffering are rare in Shaws plays. Unlike the somber Ibsen, he preferred to keep his audience laughing while confronting In Pygmalion, Shaw tackled the idea of language as a class barrier, showing how speech and manners can dictate a person's place in society. Written during the tumultuous days of the suffragette movement in Britain, it also addressed the role of women in society. Text Variations and Optional Scenes Pygmalion earned Shaw a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. ‘Since its German-language translation production in 1913, the play has undergone some changes. One impulse for change ‘came from Shaw's desire to clarify the play's ambiguous ‘ending and the future relationship between Eliza and Higgins. In 1916 Shaw wrote the sequel to the play—a lengthy ‘explanation in which he established that Eliza marries Freddy, not Higgins. Nevertheless, to Shaw's frustration, audiences, persisted in believing that Eliza marries Higgins. ‘A.1938 film version of the play further cemented this idea of a happy ending in the audience's mind, It also inspired some additions to Shaw's original play, incorporating into the text ‘changes made for the film. In 1941, Shaw wrote a “definitive text" which included the additional scenes. A line of asterisks ‘separates these scenes from the earlier theatrical script. While ‘some critics feel that the original text, without the film scenes, is superior, the 1941 text was authorized by Shaw and widely distributed. However, Shaw was aware of the difficulty and, ‘expense of staging these additional scenes and noted that, they could be omitted. Pygmalion Study Guide ‘Author Blograpty 3 A Note about Punctuation and Spelling ‘Some texts of the play preserve Shaw's distinctive punctuation and spelling practices. He preferred to use the apostrophe only when absolutely necessary and removed it whenever he could, as in ve, thats, werent, and wont. However, he retained the apostrophe where its omission might cause confusion, as in, it’s, and he'll Shaw also preferred to use the archaic spelling of shew for show. #% Author Biography George Bernard Shaw, born on July 26, 1856, was a leading dramatist of his time. In addition to his contributions as a playwright, he was a music and theater critic, a novelist, and an outspoken social reformer. ‘Shaw was born in Dublin as the third and last child of George Carr and Lucinda Elizabeth Gurly Shaw. He suffered what he described as "a devil of a childhood.” His father was a civil servant turned unsuccessful corn merchant, as well as an alcoholicall of which reduced the family to living in gentee! poverty. His mother—the daughter of a well-to-do family—found escape from the family difficulties in music. A professional singer and student of the conductor George Vandeleur Lee, she eventually followed him to London to pursue her own career and improve her situation. These life events encouraged Shaw to be a life-long teetotaler (person ‘who does not drink alcohol), imbued him with a strong interest in music, and kindled his sensitivity to the plight of women in Victorian society. In 1876, Shaw joined his mother and Vandeleur Lee in London. He expanded his knowledge of music to include literature. He read voraciously, attended socialist lectures and debates, and pursued a career in journalism and writing. His first attempts to ‘write prose—a string of five novels—were rejected by publishers. However, he did land a job as a freelance critic for an influential daily paper, the Pall Mall Gazette. The liberal politcal leanings of the paper were in line with Shaw's growing interest in socialism, His articles and critiques of art, music, and theater written for this and other publications brought him at last to the attention of London literary society. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. ‘Shaws interest in socialism had a profound effect on his, ‘writing. In 1884, he joined the recently established Fabian Society, a British socialist organization intent on advancing the principles of non-Marxist evolutionary socialism. He became ‘one of its leading members and regularly wrote and lectured ‘on socialist topics. Often he focused on themes of marriage, ‘education, politics, class struggle, and religion. As a self- professed socialist, Shaw was a vigorous proponent of gender ‘equality. He believed that all people have a purpose in life and that women were being denied the chances to play their critical roles in society. He actively supported efforts to alter the marriage laws, eliminate patriarchy, establish female suffrage, and recast gender roles. Shaw felt that “unless ‘woman repudiates her womantiness, her duty to her husband, toher children, to society, to the law, and to everyone but herself, she cannot emancipate herself" As a playwright, his portrayal of remarkable, clever, and powerful women departed from the 19th-century stereotype of the male-dominated, sweetly fragile, self-sacrificing female. Pygmalion clearly demonstrates this departure from the norms of the day. ‘Shaws career as a playwright began in 1891 when he met JT. Grein, the director of The Independent Theatre—a new, progressive venue for "the theatre of ideas" inspired by the realistic "problem plays” of Henrik Ibsen. Grein offered to read ‘Shaw's play, Widowers' House. He accepted it almost immediately, and it was first publicly performed in 1892. Over the next six years, Shaw completed a collection of dramas called Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant. Each attacked with varied ferocity the social evils of the day. His writing successes, continued to the eve of World War |, when Pygmalion opened in Vienna in 1913 and in London in 1914, It was a hit. However, with the outbreak of war, Shaw's plain-spoken antiwar views and pamphlets created uproar. He was shunned by friends and ‘ostracized by the public. Nevertheless, he continued writing plays, and by 1923, with the production of Saint Joan, he ‘succeeded in reviving his career. In 1925, Shaw was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Pygmalion remains one of Shaw's most famous plays. It was adapted to film in 1938, earning Shaw an Academy Award for ‘screenwriting. Continuing its rise to fame, a musical adaptation—My Fair Lady—opened on Broadway in 1956 and ran for more than nine years. A film version of the musical hit, the movie screen in 1964 and earned eight Academy Awards. ‘Shaw continued writing until his death on November 2, 1950, at ‘age 94. At the time, he was working on yet another play. Pygmalion Study Guide Characters 4 Characters Higgins In addition to being an authority on phonetics, Henry Higgins is the author of Higgins's Universal Alphabet. He is described as ‘a robust, vital, appetizing sort of man of forty or thereabouts’ and is “of the energetic, scientitic type, heartily, even violently interested in everything that can be studied as a scientific subject" He is also "careless about himself and other people, including their feelings." This trait becomes most evident in his treatment of Eliza. Yet hs "genial bullying’ and "stormy petulance" are balanced by a forthright manner and lack of any malice, so that *he remains likeable even in his least reasonable moments.” Throughout the play, his complex temperament serves as a catalyst for events, beginning with his ilmannered eavesdropping on Eliza and boorish comments about her English in Act 1 His continued inability to see and treat Eliza as anything more than a lowly flower girl forces her to take a stand for independence and self-respect. While Higgins remains fundamentally unchanged by the end of the play, he gains a new perspective on Eliza and holds her in higher regard and with more respect. Eliza Etiza Doolittle, also called Liza, isa girl perhaps 18 or 20 years ld, Her intial appearance as a flower gil is quite unattractive: dirty, shabbily dressed, and in need of a dentist. Her Cockney accent and "kerbstone English" place her in London's lower class, yet her intelligence and ambition allow her to aspire to something finer. The flower girl who presents herself at Higgins's laboratory is a "deplorable figure,” making her transformation to a lady who can pass for a duchess all the more awesome. Yet, as Eliza points out to Pickering, her fine speech and manners are acquired skills, nothing more. Learning them was "just like learning to dance in the fashionable way.” The real transformation comes with being treated lke a lady and, from there, gaining self-respect. By the end of the play, Eliza emerges as a poised, independent ‘woman who knows her own worth and intends to make her ‘own way in the world, Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. Pickering In addition to his expertise in language, Colonel Pickering is the “author of Spoken Sanscrit” and is a master of Indian dialects. He is an “elderly gentleman of the amiable military type," and throughout the play, he demonstrates a generous and courteous nature, particularly noticeable in his treatment of Eliza—both as a flower gil and a lady. In fact, it is Pickering ‘who kindles Eliza's feeling of self-respect when, on the day she first comes to Wimpole Street, he calls her “Miss Doolittle" ‘Thereafter, he shows her in “a hundred litle things’ that she is, “something better than a scullerymaid” and to him, she will ‘always be a lady. For his part in the experiment, Pickering pays {for Eliza's lessons and clothes. He also provides a ‘counterbalance to Higgins's chronic insensitivity. He is sincerely alarmed when Eliza, driven by anger and hurt, leaves the professor's home and indicates that she will not be returning. His final words to her before accompanying Alfred Doolittle to the former dustman's wedding are, "Do stay with us, Eliza, Doolittle Alfred Doolittle is described as “an elderly but vigorous dustman." A happy member of the undeserving poor, he “seems equally free from fear or conscience" and exhibits skill at wheedling money out of others. "He has a remarkably expressive voice” and, as Higgins discovers, no morals at all—he is willing to turn his daughter over to Higgins, no ‘questions asked, for five pounds. During the course of the play, Doolittle comes into money and, as a result, is vaulted into middle-class status. Lacking the courage to reject the money, he finds himself forced to align with the higher standards of middle-class morality, which includes marrying his live-in missus. In misery he laments that "happier men than me will call {for my dust .. and I'l look on helpless, and envy them. Mrs. Higgins Mrs. Higgins is a gracious member of the upper class. Her affection for Higgins does not shield her from iritation at his, lack of manners, and she is adept at putting him in his place. Inteligent and perceptive, she soon discerns the problems that, her son's experiment will cause for Eliza, and sympathizes with Pygmalion Study Guide Characters 5 the girl. As the conflict between Eliza and Higgins erupts, itis to Mrs. Higgins that Eliza turns for help. Freddy Freddy is a young man of 20, a member of the upper class, good-natured though somewhat weak, and a true gentleman, He is infatuated with Eliza, writes to her daily, and is happiest just spending time on the street where she lives. At the end of the play, Eliza suggests that she might marry Freddy, though he has no money to support them both and seems unfit for, ‘work, But he is devoted to her, can offer the kindness that she needs, and, unlike Higgins, he won't try to make something out of her. Mrs. Pearce Mrs. Pearce has been Higgins's housekeeper for some time—Iong enough to know his singular ways and, without fear, to reproach him when needed for his lack of social graces. She has a strong sense of propriety, and takes it upon herself to be sure that Eliza is cared for properly while in the house. A bond between them grows, and Mrs. Pearce frequently pushes Higgins to show consideration for Eliza and to think about her future. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. Pygmalion Study Guide Characters 6 Character Map Neo Surrogate - eo, @ Main Character © Other Major Character Minor Character Copyright © 2019 Course Hero Inc WS course Hero Pygmalion Study Guide Plot Summary 7 Full Character List Character Higgins Eliza Pickering Doolittle Mrs. Higgins. Freddy Mrs. Pearce The bystander Clara Mrs. Eynsford Hill The parlor-maid Description Henry Higgins, also the note taker in ‘Act 1,is a professor of phonetics and Eliza's tutor. Eliza Doolittle, also the flower gir in ‘Act 1, wants to be a lady and comes, to Higgins for speech lessons. Colonel Pickering, also the gentleman in Act 1, is Eliza's patron and a language expert lke Higgins. Alfred Doolittle is Eliza's father, a dustman (garbage man) and a scoundrel Mrs. Higgins is Henry Higgins's mother, a wise and stately woman and Eliza's champion, Freddy Eynsford Hillis a young ¢gentleman who falls in love with Eliza Mrs. Pearce is Higgins's housekeeper who takes on the surrogate role of Eliza's mother. ‘The bystander takes refuge from the rain in Act 1 and identifies Higgins as a gentleman by his boots. Clara Eynsford Hil also the daughter in Act 1 is sister to Freddy and one of the first to meet the new, more ladylike Eliza Mrs. Eynsford Hil, also the mother in, ‘Act 1,is the mother of Freddy and fone of the first to meet the new, more ladylike Eliza The parlor-maid is a servant in the home of Mrs. Higgins. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. The sarcastic bystander The constable The first landing footman The foot man The host The hostess: Nepommuck The second constable The second landing footman, The taximan The sarcastic bystander takes refuge from the rain in Act 1and challenges Higgins to identify where "the gentleman" comes from. The constable is an older policeman who comes upon Eliza and Freddy kissing at the end of Act 4; he appears in the 1941 text The first landing footman is a servant at the embassy; he appears in the 1941 text. The footman is a servant at the embassy; he appears in the 1941 text. The host receives Eliza at the embassy party; he appears in the 1941 text. The hostess receives guests at the embassy party and asks Nepommuck to learn everything he can about Eliza. She appears in the 1941 text. Nepornmuck, also Whiskers in Act 3, is a former student of Henry Higgins who determines that Elizais a Hungarian princess. He appears in the 1941 text. The second constable is a young policeman who tells Eliza and Freddy to move along, off the streets in Act 4. He appears in the 1941 text The second landing footman is a servant at the embassy. He appears in the 1941 text. The taximan drives Eliza home in Act 4, and later drives her and Freddy to Wimbledon Common in Act 4. He appears in the 1941 text w\ Plot Summary Pygmalion opens on a summer night in the London marketplace Covent Garden. A sudden downpour has Pygmalion Study Guide Plot Summary & pedestrians sprinting for shelter or taxis. Beneath the portico of St. Pau's Church, several people have gathered, including a ‘young Cockney flower girl, an older gentleman of military bearing, and a man taking notes on the flower girs speech, The flower girl assumes the note taker is a policeman, Terrified, she protests her innocence of any wrongdoing. Soon it becomes clear that the man is only interested in phonetically Noting her "kerbstone” English—"English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days." He boasts that he could teach her to speak lke a duchess in three months. It turns out that he is the famous phonetician Henry Higgins. The elderly gentleman is Colonel Pickering, an admirer and fellow speech expert. Higgins invites Pickering to come around the next day tohis home on Wimpole Street. Then, finging a generous collection of coins at the flower girl, Higgins departs for supper with the colonel The next morning, the flower girl—Eliza Doolitle—boldly shows, Up at Higgins's home. She explains that she wants to be a lady ina flower shop, and she offers to pay him to teach her to "talk more genteel. Pickering, who is present, says he will cover all expenses if, in six months, Higgins can pass Eliza off as a lady. Intrigued, Higgins accepts the terms of the bet. Mr. Higgins's housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, urges Higgins to consider the gir!s, future: ‘What is to become of her when youve finished your teaching?" she asks. "You must look ahead a litle. While Higgins’s housekeeper bathes Eliza and orders new clothes, another visitor arrives: Alfred Doolittle—Eliza’s ne'er- do-well father. A poor dustman (garbage man), he has no paternal interest in Eliza beyond handing her over to Higgins for five pounds. His callousness is sightly diminished by the fact that he believes Higgins's motives are honorable. Higgins sives him “a fiver," and Doolitle departs. ‘Some months later, Higgins takes Eliza on a surprise vist to his mother, an inteligent and dignified lady. While the girt's pronunciation is quite good, she needs to learn what to say, and Higgins hopes his mother can help. Also at the get- together are Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hil, a mother and daughter encountered earlier in Covent Garden, as well as, Pickering and Freddy. Though Eliza now looks and acts the part of a fine lady, her vocabulary and unfortunate choice of topics gives away her humble beginnings. With some difficulty, Higgins covers her gaffes, and Freddy is smitten with the lovely Eliza. Later, Mrs. Higgins scolds her son and Pickering both for Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. “playing with your live doll" without considering what will happen to Eliza when the experiment is over. She points out ‘that Eliza will have the refinements of a lady, which inevitably will bar her from earning a living, Untroubled by this prospect the two depart, and Mrs. Higgins cries out in frustration, "Oh, Months later, after Eliza has further honed her skils, Higgins land Pickering put Eliza's accomplishments to the test, and she performs flawlessly. Back at the Wimpole Street laboratory, Higgins and Pickering bask in the victory, with no thought of Eliza. Higgins declares "Thank God it's over," so now he can go to bed "without dreading tomorrow." Directing Eliza to turn off the lights, Higgins starts upstairs, but then returns to get his slippers and finds Eliza weeping with rage. She flings the slippers at him and asserts that they mean more to him than. ‘she does; she has won his bet for him, and now he will toss her back into the gutter. The stormy scene that ensues ends with Higgins stalking out and siamming the door. In his anger and hurt, he is oblivious to the fact that Eliza intends to leave. ‘The next morning, Higgins and Pickering visit Mrs. Higgins to tell her that Eliza is missing. Shortly, the parlor maid announces that a gentleman is waiting to speak to Mr. Higgins. His name is, Mr. Doolittle. Higgins learns, to his astonishment, that an offhand mention of Doolittle in a letter to arich American has made the former dustman very well off. Far from pleased by this turn of luck, Doolitle accuses Higgins of robbing him of his freedom and happiness. Now he is trapped by middle-class morality and on his way to get married, lke a respectable citizen In this, Mrs. Higgins sees good fortune for Eliza, who now will have someone to support her. She reveals that the young lady is upstairs and defends Eliza's choice to leave him and Pickering. The two have behaved heartlessly and selfishly toward her. ‘A.calm, composed Eliza comes downstairs and greets the men, ‘She thanks Pickering for treating her with respect from the very beginning, To Higgins she explains that he will always treat her ike a common flower girl, though now she has it in her power to be his equal. No, she will not come back. Higgins is pleased with Eliza's unexpected transformation from ‘whimpering git! to self-assured woman, and tells her so. All the ‘same, as she leaves with Mrs. Higgins to see her father wed, Higgins cannot resist instructing her to buy some gloves and a tie for him. Eliza replies, "Buy them yourself," and sweeps out. Pygmalion Study Guide Plot Summary 8 Complacentiy, Higgins chuckles, certain that ‘she'll buy em all right enough" Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, nc ES coursertero Pygmalion Study Guide Plot Summary 10 Plot Diagram Rising Action Introduction Introduct ‘Ona rainy night in London, a poor git sels flowers. Rising Action 2. Phonetics expert Higgins busily records the gir's words. 8. Higgins chances on Indian dialect expert, Pickering, 4, Higgins claims he could teach the girl to speak lke a lady. 5. The flower girl, Eliza, takes Higgins up on his boast. 6. Higgins begins tutoring Eliza in speech and manners, 17. Eliza’s first test in public is a marginal success. 8, Higgins's mother scolds him for treating Eliza lke a doll Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. imax Falling Action ©. Eliza's final testis a complete triumph. 10. Higgins dismissively proclaims the experiment is over. Climax ‘1. Enraged by Higgins's boorish insensitivity, Eliza runs off Falling Action 12. Higgins finds Eliza staying with his mother the next day. 18, Eliza asserts she has choices now and no longer needs him 14. Higgins accuses her of ingratitude, yet asks her to return. WI course Hero Pygmalion Study Guide Plot Summary 11 Ri solution 15. Eliza departs, but Higgins is sure she is not gone for good. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, nc ES coursertero Pygmalion Study Guide Plot Summary 12 Timeline of Events The next da ar The flower gir, Eliza, takes Higgins up on his boast and asks him to teach her to speak properly Eliza visits Higgins's mother and tests—with mixed results—her abil to pass as a lady. i months later Eliza's final foray into upper-class society leads Higgins ‘to declare his experiment a triumph. Etiza returns by taxi to Higgins's home to pick up her things. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. Rain 11:15 p.m. Higgins boasts to Pickering that he can teach a flower dil to speak like a lady. Li nat morning Eliza's father, Doolitle, visits Higgins and accepts a five- pound note in exchange for Eliza. Li nat day Mrs. Higgins cautions her son and Pickering to take care inthis experiment with Eliza. L im Feeling unappreciated and disrespected, Eliza tells Higgins she is leaving, Li nat morning Higgins finds Eliza staying at his mother's. He asks her to return, but it seems she may not. Pygmalion Study Guide ‘Act Summaries 13 ©, Act Summaries ‘Pygmalion is written in five acts. Unlike plays written with scenes that have multiple settings, the play has only three. settings: Covent Garden, Henry Higgins's apartment, and Mrs. Higgins's apartment. Act1 Summary In Covent Garden, a district of London, a sudden torrent of rain sends people hurrying for shelter under the portico of St Paul's Church. Among them are a finely dressed lady and her daughter, who have been to the theater and are now desperate to find a taxi to take them home. Another is a man ‘with a notebook in which he is busily writing, The lady’s son, Freddy, rushes in bearing the bad news that no cabs are available. impatiently, his mother sends him back out to try again. As he sets off he runs into a dirty and disheveled gir, solling flowers and sends her flower basket flying. With a swift apology he dashes out into the rain, leaving her to pick up her scattered flowers. Despite the objections of the lady's daughter, Clara, the lady pays the gil for two bunches of ruined violets Moments later, an elderly gentleman dressed in evening clothes hurries in out of the rain. He pauses near the flower Girl, who tries to sell him some flowers. He hasn't enough loose change to pay for any but gives the girl three hapence, or half pennies, and walks off. A bystander warns the girl to give the gentleman a flower in exchange as there is another man eavesdropping and taking down her every word. He may be a detective. Panicked that she will be accused of soliciting for prostitution, the git hysterically confronts the note taker, who dismisses her fear, saying, "Oh, shut up, shut up. Do I look like a policeman? However, a general hubbub among the bystanders erupts in defense of the frightened girl. Things turn abit hostile when the note taker begins identifying where various speakers come from, based on their speech. The people don't like the sense of being played with or patronized The tension eases when the note taker turns his trick on the elderly gentleman, and then on the lady and her daughter. The note taker brags to the elderly gentleman that he could make a Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. duchess of the flower gir by teaching her to speak properly Meanwhile, the rain stops, and soon the bystanders, including the two ladies, have dispersed. ‘Only the elderly gentleman, note taker, and flower girl remain. It ‘turns out the men share a common interest in language and have been intending to seek each other out. The elderly

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