title of pygmalion essay

by George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion study guide.

Pygmalion has become by far Shaw's most famous play, mostly through its film adaptation in 1938. Shaw was intimately involved with the making of the film. He wrote the screenplay and was the first man to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award.

Shaw wrote the part of Eliza Doolittle for a beautiful actress named Mrs. Patrick Campbell, with whom it was rumored that he was having an affair. This rumor later turned out not to be true, and some critics read the disappointed love affair between Higgins and Eliza as reflecting Shaw's own romantic frustrations including a long, celibate marriage.

Shaw once proclaimed: "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." Much of Pygmalion is wrapped up with the class identification that comes with having an accent in British society. As a socialist with strong convictions, Shaw used the stage to expose hypocrisies surrounding marriage, language, and convention. Shaw's preoccupation with language in this play may also have had something to do with the fact that the most frequent criticism of his earlier plays was that his characters engaged in witty banter that lacked depth. By making language the center of this play, Shaw highlights the significance of something that his critics, despite their criticisms, were tending to downplay.

Pygmalion Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Pygmalion is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What tensions already show in the relations between the Mother (later named as Mrs. Eynsford Hill), the Daughter (later named as Clara), and the son, Freddy?

It is raining in Covent Garden at 11:15 p.m. Clara complains that Freddy has not found a cab yet. Freddy returns to his mother and sister and explains that there are no cabs to be found. They chide him, and as he runs off to try again to find a...

What does Higgins mean when he says, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred”?

Higgins is answering Pickering's charge that he cannot be involved in an experiment where the girl (Eliza) is not treated with the utmost respect. Higgins replies that his pupils are sacred, which means regarded with reverence and respect.

explain the myth of pygmalion in what significant ways and with what effect.has shaw transformed that myth into his plav?

This story is about a sculptor who sculpts the most beautiful woman in stone ever and then falls in love with her. The sculptor's name is Pygmalion; the goddess in the myth transforms the stone into a real woman and they live happily ever...

Study Guide for Pygmalion

Pygmalion study guide contains a biography of George Bernard Shaw, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Pygmalion
• Pygmalion Summary
• Character List

Essays for Pygmalion

Pygmalion essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

• An Atypical Romance in Five Acts
• Nurture or Nature: The Gentleman Versus the Guttersnipe
• Pygmalion and Pretty Woman
• The Extent Contextual Attitudes and Values Regarding Gender and Class are Maintained or Altered in Pygmalion and Pretty Women
• The didactic purpose of Shaw's 'Pygmalion'

Lesson Plan for Pygmalion

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Pygmalion
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Pygmalion Bibliography

E-Text of Pygmalion

The Pygmalion e-text contains the full text of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

• Preface to Pygmalion

Wikipedia Entries for Pygmalion

• Introduction

• English Literature
• Short Stories
• Literary Terms
• Web Stories

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw | Summary, Characters & Themes

“Pygmalion” is a renowned play penned by the acclaimed Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw. It’s a satirical take on social class, language, and gender roles, woven into a captivating narrative. This article delves into the summary, characters, and themes of Shaw’s masterpiece.

Table of Contents

Overview of George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, born in 1856, was an influential playwright, critic, and polemicist. He is best known for his wit, social commentary, and exploration of societal norms through his works. Shaw’s contributions to literature earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.

“Pygmalion” is a renowned play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1913. It explores themes of social class, identity, and transformation through the story of a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and her transformation into a refined lady under the tutelage of Professor Henry Higgins.

Summary of Pygmalion

The play begins with Eliza Doolittle selling flowers on the streets of London. She meets Professor Higgins, a phonetics expert, who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can transform Eliza into a lady simply by teaching her to speak properly. Higgins takes Eliza under his wing, subjecting her to rigorous training in language and etiquette. Despite initial challenges and setbacks, Eliza eventually passes as a duchess at a society event. However, she grows frustrated with Higgins’ dismissive attitude towards her feelings and autonomy. In the end, Eliza asserts her independence by leaving Higgins and starting a new life.

Characters in Pygmalion

Main characters:.

• Eliza Doolittle: A Cockney flower girl who undergoes a transformation under Professor Higgins’ guidance.
• Professor Henry Higgins: A phonetics expert who takes on the challenge of transforming Eliza.
• Colonel Pickering: A friend of Higgins who bets him that he cannot transform Eliza into a lady.

Supporting Characters:

• Alfred Doolittle: Eliza’s father, a dustman with a colorful personality.
• Mrs. Higgins: Professor Higgins’ mother, who provides contrast to her son’s views on social class.

Themes in Pygmalion

Social Class and Identity: The play explores the rigid social hierarchy of Edwardian England and the challenges faced by individuals attempting to transcend their class boundaries.

Language and Communication: Shaw highlights the importance of language in shaping one’s identity and social standing. Eliza’s transformation hinges on her ability to speak “proper” English.

Transformation and Self-Improvement: Pygmalion delves into the process of personal growth and self-discovery. Eliza’s journey from a humble flower girl to a confident woman showcases the transformative power of education and self-determination.

Analysis of Pygmalion

Historical Context: Shaw wrote Pygmalion at a time of social upheaval and increasing awareness of class disparities. The play reflects Shaw’s socialist beliefs and his critique of the rigid class structure of Victorian society.

Literary Significance: Pygmalion is celebrated for its wit, sharp social commentary, and complex characters. Shaw’s exploration of themes such as class, gender, and identity continues to resonate with audiences today.

Critical Reception: Upon its premiere, Pygmalion received critical acclaim for its innovative approach to language and its portrayal of social issues. It has since become one of Shaw’s most beloved works and a staple of the theatrical canon.

Comparison with My Fair Lady

Pygmalion served as the inspiration for the musical “My Fair Lady,” which premiered on Broadway in 1956. While both works share similar plotlines and characters, they diverge in tone and emphasis. My Fair Lady places greater emphasis on romance and spectacle, whereas Pygmalion focuses more on social commentary and character development.

READ MORE :

• Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Overview, Summary & Analysis
• Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold | Summary and Analysis
• Allegory And Totalitarianism In Animal Farm By George Orwell

In conclusion, Pygmalion remains a timeless classic that continues to captivate audiences with its incisive wit, memorable characters, and thought-provoking themes. Shaw’s exploration of social class, identity, and transformation continues to resonate with audiences, cementing Pygmalion’s status as a literary masterpiece.

Is Pygmalion based on a true story?

No, Pygmalion is a work of fiction written by George Bernard Shaw. However, it is inspired by Shaw’s observations of the class divisions and social dynamics of Edwardian England.

What is the significance of the title “Pygmalion”?

The title “Pygmalion” refers to a figure from Greek mythology who sculpted a statue that came to life. In Shaw’s play, the title alludes to the transformative power of education and self-improvement.

How does Pygmalion explore the theme of gender?

Pygmalion challenges traditional gender roles by depicting Eliza Doolittle’s journey from a marginalized woman to an empowered individual who asserts her independence.

What are some key differences between Pygmalion and My Fair Lady?

While both works share similar plotlines, My Fair Lady emphasizes romance and spectacle, whereas Pygmalion focuses more on social commentary and character development.

What is the legacy of Pygmalion in literature and theater?

Pygmalion remains a seminal work in both literature and theater, influencing countless adaptations and interpretations over the years.

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A Summary and Analysis of the Pygmalion and Galatea Myth

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The story of Pygmalion and Galatea is well-known: it’s a myth about art, about love, and about the relationship between the artist and his ‘muse’, in some respects. But there are also, as so often with classical myths, a few things we assume we know about this story but, it turns out, don’t really know. Or at any rate, we don’t know the full story.

So let’s delve deeper into the myth of Pygmalion and the statue he sculpted (did he?) and which came alive as the woman named Galatea (was she?) …

Pygmalion and Galatea: plot summary

There are actually two Pygmalions in classical mythology. The first one was a king of Tyre, the son of Mutto and the brother of Elissa. Elissa is better-known to us as Dido, of the Dido and Aeneas love story .

But that Pygmalion is not the famous one. The other Pygmalion was also a king, but a king of Cyprus. Famously, this Pygmalion fell in love with an ivory statue of a woman. In many versions of the myth, Pygmalion was the one who sculpted the statue (though this isn’t always the case in every single account).

Pygmalion went and asked Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, to give him a woman who looked as beautiful as the ivory statue: a real flesh-and-blood woman who looked exactly like the statue he had fallen head over heels for.

When Pygmalion got home, he discovered the statue had come to life. He married the statue-woman and they had a daughter together.

That’s the shorter version of the myth. But such a plot summary can be fleshed out if we turn to Ovid’s Metamorphoses , written much later than the original Greek myths arose, during the heyday of ancient Rome.

In Book 10 of the Metamorphoses , Ovid fleshes out the backstory for Pygmalion: in his account, the king – who was also the sculptor of the statue – was a raging misogynist. But when he sculpted the perfect woman, his misogyny was quickly forgotten and he longed for his creation to become a living, breathing woman.

As in the summary above, Pygmalion went to make offerings to Aphrodite and asked for a woman just like his perfect statue, and when he went back and kissed the statue, it came alive, and the two of them have a child together, a daughter whom Ovid names as Paphos.

Pygmalion and Galatea: analysis

You’ll notice that at no point in the above summary is the name of the statue mentioned. This is because Ovid doesn’t give Pygmalion’s statue a name, nor does the informative and comprehensive The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology (Penguin Dictionary) .

And yet in the popular imagination, Pygmalion gives the statue a name: Galatea. The name of Galatea is found in the earlier Greek myths, given to several different women, but none of them is the statue from the Pygmalion legend. One of them is a maiden who was loved by Polyphemus, the Cyclops from the stories of Odysseus; she didn’t return Polyphemus’ love and when the Cyclops saw Galatea with Acis, her lover, he threw a boulder which killed the hapless man. Galatea turned Acis into a stream which contained sparkling water.

Indeed, according to the twentieth-century classical scholar Meyer Reinhold, it was only in the eighteenth century when Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a play about the Pygmalion myth that the name Galatea began to be associated with the sculpture. The name is, however, entirely fitting for the ivory statue in the story, because it means ‘she who is milky white’ in ancient Greek (it’s related to words like lactic and galaxy and even, ultimately, latte , all of which mean ‘milk’).

And the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea (if we choose to call her that) is one that is laden with meaning and significance. Quite what that meaning and significance might be, however, is less easy to answer: we somehow feel that the story conveys something truthful about art, about inspiration, about masculine attitudes to femininity and womanhood (and, indeed, to their own desire for women), but reducing the various strands of the Pygmalion myth to a single line – as Aesop-like ‘moral’, if you will – is not at all straightforward.

Does the myth represent the triumph of love over hate, of male desire over male hatred of women? Does erotic desire and love trump misogyny in the case of Pygmalion, perhaps with a bit of help from Aphrodite? Perhaps love does conquer all here.

And yet it’s hardly representative of all male attitudes, given Pygmalion’s special status as a sculptor (at least in many retellings of the myth). Is the story, then, not about love but about art? Pygmalion hates women and can only love one that is, in a sense, a reflection of his own self: a ‘woman’ who is his own creation, and thus speaks, on some level, to his own inward-looking narcissism.

This is obviously a less positive interpretation of the Pygmalion myth, because it suggests that men can only like or love women who are made in the man’s own image, like ordering a bespoke tailor-made suit. Galatea (as she has become known, albeit only relatively recently) isn’t given any agency in the story, and is instead first a dumb statue and then, so far as the narrative goes, an equally dumb flesh-and-blood woman, voiceless and passive.

In this connection, it’s hardly surprising that Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s most powerful explorations of misogyny. It’s a play in which Leontes’ wronged wife Hermione returns as a statue (the real Hermione being thought dead by Leontes) only to ‘come alive’ when it’s revealed this is the real Hermione who is not dead at all. The reconciliation of Leontes and the wife he had falsely accused can leave a bitter taste in many readers’ and spectators’ mouths.

Shaw’s play Pygmalion (1913) obviously takes its title from the myth, but Shaw inverts this love story: in Shaw’s Pygmalion a real woman is turned into a statue, a ‘mechanical doll who resembles a duchess’ in the words of the theatre critic Michael Billington. As Shaw makes clear in the epilogue to the play, Eliza makes a carefully considered decision not to marry Professor Higgins, the Pygmalion of the play.

Numerous poets have written about the Pygmalion myth: Robert Graves, who believed strongly in the idea of the female muse inspiring the male artist, wrote two poems about the story. Roy Fuller’s villanelle about Pygmalion and Galatea takes a less happy view: in the poem (not available online, sadly, but Fuller’s New and Collected Poems, 1934-84 is well worth picking up second-hand), Pygmalion voices his regret at making the wish that the statue would come alive.

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Act Summaries & Analyses

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Act I Act Summaries & Analyses

Act i summary.

A sudden downpour results in a variety of people sheltering under the portico of St. Paul’s Church. Theatergoers are in the group, including two women who are later named as Mrs. Eynsford Hill and her daughter, Clara. Her son, Freddy , was sent to find a cab for them. Another woman joins the group, an impoverished flower girl who is later revealed to be named Eliza. When Freddy is leaving, he knocks her flowers to the ground, destroying the wares Eliza desperately needs to survive. He gives her some money to pay for her losses. Another gentleman, who is later revealed to be Colonel Pickering , joins the crowd, and Eliza tries to sell her flowers to him.

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Pygmalion | Significance of the Title

Significance of the Title Pygmalion

Introduction.

The title of a piece of literature should be apt, suggestive and attractive. It should at once attract the attention of the readers and also indicate its theme. Like a good signboard it should suggest what the readers should expect to get in the play. Pygmalion has all the essentials of a good title, as would become clear, if we examine the question in some detail.

The Pygmalion-Legend

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a king of Cyprus who fell in love with a statue of Aphrodite. But Ovid , the Roman poet (43 B.C.-A.D. 18), invents a more sophisticated version in his Metamorphoses. According to him, Pygmalion was a sculptor, a worker in marble, bronze, and ivory. He was exclusively devoted to his art. He had an image of beauty in his mind and no woman could come up to it in the world. He, therefore, worked over his statue from morning to evening in search of loveliness beyond his powers of expression.

In fact, the statues of Pygmalion were always far more beautiful than real human beings, and each statue was more nearly perfect than the last. Still in each new statue, Pygmalion felt something lacking. While his admirers stood entranced before his statues, he never cared to look on them, but was wholeheartedly absorbed in his next attempt.

Pygmalion’s Love of Galatea

Finally, in his quest for ideal beauty, he began to work on an ivory statue of a girl who satisfied him in every way. Even before this statue was finished, he would lay the chisel and stare at his work for an hour or so, tracing in his mind the beauty that had as yet only partly unfolded itself. By the time, the ivory statue was completed, Pygmalion could think of nothing else. In his very dreams, the girl in the statue haunted him and seemed to wake up for him and come alive. The mere contemplation of the finished statue filled him with exquisite pleasure. He would sit gazing at the maiden, whom he had given the name Galatea. Often he imagined that he saw her move and asked himself what a joy it would be if she were actually living. In this obsession with the beauty of his dreams, Pygmalion wore out and became pale and exhausted.

The Blessing of Aphrodite

After long labour and careful patient working, the statue was actually finished. The legend has it that half the night Pygmalion gazed at the beautiful image then with a hopeless sigh he went to bed, haunted as ever by his dreams. Then came the day of the festival of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. Pygmalion had always felt a special devotion for this goddess because he, by his very nature, was a seeker after beauty. He had, therefore, never failed to give Aphrodite the honour that was due to her.

To put it more truly, he had lived all his life in the worship of the goddess. As custom had it, the devotees of Aphrodite offered her many splendid gifts. This time when Pygmalion approached the altar, he prayed earnestly and saw the fire that burned there leap suddenly in flame. This excitement stirred him and he came back to his statue though without knowing as to what he would encounter on his return. His Galatea was as he had left her. He looked at her longingly once more, and as on several former occasions, he seemed to see her move. On a sudden impulse, he approached Galatea and held her in his arms.

Pygmalion-Galatea Marriage

Certainly by the animating grace of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, the statue was really moving. He felt the hard ivory grow soft and warm like wax in his clasp. He saw the lips grow red and the cheeks blush faintly pink. Then Galatea opened her eyes and looked at Pygmalion. The red lips parted slightly and as their creator kissed them, they pressed against his own. Pygmalion’s dream became a perfect reality, when Galatea stepped down from her pedestal into his arms as a flesh and blood girl. In course of time, the two were happily married

• Pygmalion as a Problem Play
• Pygmalion as a Romance

The next day Pygmalion went with his lady love Galatea to pray at Aphrodite’s shrine. The beloved thanked the goddess for the gift of love, the lover expressed gratitude that his dreams and prayers had been fully answered and his lifelong devotion to the goddess of beauty had been rewarded in a most befitting manner.

The Cinderella Fairy Tale

Bernard Shaw has mixed the Pygmalion myth with the Cinderella fairy tale. After the death of his wife, a rich merchant married a woman with two fair but evil daughters. The child of the first marriage was set to do all the work and to sleep among the asses. One day the king gave a grand ball. The step sisters dressed and set off, but Cinderella was left behind weeping. However, a white bird brought her a lovely dress and Cinderella went to the ball where she at once won the prince’s heart. As she rushed back to her home, she dropped her slipper and the prince vowed he would wed the maid who owned it. One step-sister cut off her toe, the other her heel to make it fit, but the prince was not deceived, and he ultimately married Cinderella.

Shaw’s Treatment of the Legend: Differences

In Shaw’s play, Higgins is Pygmalion and Galatea is Eliza Doolittle, an uneducated girl who sells flowers in a London Street. Professor Higgins keeps the flower girl for six months in his laboratory. She is well trained and becomes a perfect, refined lady of London. The experiment of Higgins has succeeded and Eliza Doolittle can pass for a duchess. Thus Higgins is the creator of a new Eliza, but he does not marry his creation, as Pygmalion does in the Greek legend.

Reason Why Higgins-Pygmalion and Eliza-Galatea Are Not Married

Thus Shaw has not followed the Greek legend. Eliza Doolittle is the creation of Professor Higgins. But when she becomes a refined and cultured lady, she shows no inclination to marry Professor Higgins. The Professor also does not like to marry her. He neglects her after the experiment is over. Eliza Doolittle then leaves the place as a free woman. Professor Higgins is quite unsentimental and unromantic in his approach to Eliza Doolittle. He has lived a life of a scholar and his approach to sex is quite different. Mrs. Higgins, his mother, has influenced the life of his son so much that he does not love any other woman except his own mother. Of this strange behaviour of Professor Higgins, Bernard Shaw says

“If an imaginative boy has a sufficiently rich mother who has intelligence, personal grace, dignity of character without harshness, and a cultivated sense of the best art of her time to enable her to make her house beautiful, she sets a standard for him against which very few women can struggle, besides effecting for him a disengagement of his affections, his sense of beauty, and his idealism, from his specifically sexual impulses.”

As Freud would say, it is Oedipus complex which comes in the way of Higgins’ marriage with Eliza, his Galatea, his own creation. According to Shaw’s philosophy, Eliza-Galatea could not have married Higgins who is old, the Life Force would prompt her to marry Freddy who is much younger, and is likely to make a better father to her children. In the conflict between genius (Higgins) and Life Force (Working through Eliza) genius is defeated, and obeying the dictates of the Life Force. Eliza turns to Freddy and marries him.

Blending with the Cinderella Fairy Tale

Thus Shaw has made the Pygmalion legend the basis of his play, but he has considerably deviated from it and modified it to suit his purposes. He has also mixed it up with the Cinderella fairy-tale. The name Cinderella has now come to stand for any girl who achieves happiness and success after leading a miserable life. Like Cinderella, in the fairy-tale of that name. Eliza leads a wretched life for a long time. Her step-mother does not love her and her father compels her to earn her own living as she is old enough to do so. Hence we find her to be a poverty-stricken girl selling flowers at the corner of Covent Garden. But then suddenly a change comes in her life. She is created into a cultured lady who can easily pass off as a Duchess, and is then loved by Freddy, a handsome youngman, who marries her, and with whom she leads a happy life. He is the prince of the Cinderella story who enters the life of Eliza, marries her, and makes her happy and comfortable.

Thus the title of the play is apt and suggestive because Higgins ‘creates’ a new woman, a duchess out of a shabby flower-girl, just as in the Pygmalion legend. Galatea was created out of marble. But Shaw has modified the Pygmalion legend and mixed it up with the Cinderella fairytale. The play is based on the Pygmalion legend but with a difference.

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George Bernard Shaw

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Pygmalion explores how social identity is formed not only through patterns of speech, but also through one's general appearance. Much like speech, one's physical appearance signals social class. In the opening scene, as people from different walks of life are forced to take shelter under the same portico, characters' social class is discernible through their clothing: the poor flower-girl (later revealed to be Eliza ) and the gentleman , for example, easily know each other's status through their different attire. As Pickering comments in Act Four, many noble people believe that one's appearance displays one's natural identity and character, thinking that "style comes by nature to people in their position." Somewhat similarly, at the end of the play, Higgins tells Eliza that he cannot change his nature. But the importance of appearances in the play reveals that identity often is changeable, and does not come naturally so much as it is performed or put on like a costume. Eliza is the most obvious example of this. As she wins Higgins' bet for him, she fools people into assuming that she is from a noble background by changing her appearance. Even before her complete transformation, her own father fails to recognize her in act two only because she has changed clothes and bathed.

The precise extent to which Eliza really changes, though, is highly ambiguous. By the end of the play, it is unclear whether she has really changed her nature or whether she has merely learned to pretend to be someone else. As Eliza tells Higgins and Pickering in Act Five, she believes that she has entirely forgotten her original way of speaking and behaving: she thinks that she has really transformed and cannot return to her old life. Higgins, on the other hand, is skeptical of this. He is confident that Eliza will "relapse" into her old ways. The play thus raises (but doesn't completely answer) a number of questions about the stability of identity. Has Eliza really changed, or can she not escape the identity she was born into? Has she become noble, or is she naturally lower-class? Moreover, is there anything natural about class identity at all? Shaw's play takes its title from the myth of Pygmalion, famously told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. (In it, Pygmalion sculpts a beautiful statue that transforms into a real woman.) Ovid's work is a poem about numerous mythical metamorphoses. But Shaw's play of transformation asks: however much one changes one's appearance, can anyone really ever change?

Appearance and Identity ThemeTracker

Appearance and Identity Quotes in Pygmalion

It's aw rawt: e's a genleman: look at his ba-oots.

You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days. Well, sir, in three months I could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party.

Well, I feel a bit tired. It's been a long day. The garden party, a dinner party, and the opera! Rather too much of a good thing. But you've won your bet, Higgins. Eliza did the trick, and something to spare, eh? Thank God it's over!

I was quite frightened once or twice because Eliza was doing it so well. You see, lots of the real people can't do it at all: they're such fools that they think style comes by nature to people in their position; and so they never learn.

Do my clothes belong to me or to Colonel Pickering?

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Essays on Pygmalion

Prompt examples for "pygmalion" essays, class and social mobility.

Discuss the theme of class and social mobility in "Pygmalion." How does Eliza's transformation challenge the boundaries of class, and what commentary does the play offer on social hierarchies?

Character Transformation

Analyze the transformation of characters in the play, particularly Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins. How do they evolve throughout the story, and what motivates their changes?

Language and Identity

Examine the significance of language and identity in "Pygmalion." How does Eliza's mastery of language impact her sense of self, and how does it influence her relationships and perceptions of others?

Gentility and Manners

Discuss the portrayal of gentility and manners in the play. How do notions of proper behavior and etiquette play a role in the characters' interactions and societal expectations?

Gender Roles and Feminism

Explore the themes of gender roles and feminism in "Pygmalion." How does Eliza's transformation challenge traditional gender norms, and what feminist perspectives can be applied to the play?

Pygmalion and Mythology

Analyze the connection between the play's title and the Pygmalion myth from Greek mythology. What parallels can be drawn between the characters and themes in the play and the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea?

Eliza Doolittle's Transformation in Shaw's Pygmalion

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The Portrayal of Victorian Society and Its Values in Pygmalion

The role of mr. doolittle in pygmalion, denial and obsession in the myth of pygmalion and galatea, demolishing class barriers in pygmalion, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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Bernard Shaw’s Use of Eliza to Elevate The Lower Social Class and Women in Pygmalion

Analysis of eliza's illusory empowerment in pygmalion, superficiality of the upper class and society's expectations in pygmalion, accent and cultural language: pygmalion, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

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Marxism and Colonialism Theories in 'Pygmalion' & 'The Lion and The Jewel'

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16 October 1913, by George Bernard Shaw

Romantic comedy

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.

The main theme of "Pygmalion" is that social class is not something to be valued. Those of a higher social class may not be good people, and those of lower social class can have many virtues of their own.

Professor Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering, Eliza Doolittle, Alfred Doolittle, Mrs. Pearce, Mrs. Higgins, Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, Clara Eynsford-Hill, Freddy Eynsford-Hill

Pygmalion was the most broadly appealing of all Shaw's plays. The play was well received by critics in major cities following its premieres in Vienna, London, and New York. The play became famous as a motion picture in 1938 and later as the stage musical My Fair Lady (1956), with a musical score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. A 1964 film version of the musical featured Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.

“What you are to do without me I cannot imagine.” “If you can’t appreciate what you’ve got, you’d better get what you can appreciate.” “Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby” “What is life but a series of inspired follies? The difficulty is to find them to do. Never lose a chance: it doesn’t come every day.”

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