TITLE:Pygmalion.

AUTHOR: George Bernard Shaw.

GENRE:Drama.

THEME: A flower girl from the gutters is taught to speak properly that she passes as a duchess.

                  Drama is a genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. At the center of a drama is usually a character or characters who are in conflict at a crucial moment in their lives.With Pygmalion we are very happy to introduce you to such genre!

     The change a language could bring into an individual’s life is remarkable: especially when it comes to English. English has opened great avenues—provided if intently considered—to common, uncouth people paving way for greater searches and prospects. Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is a highly celebrated play that casts light on an impoverished, young flower girl, Eliza, who aspires to levitate her status by means of becoming skilled in English through classes from a prominent phonetician, Higgins. Eliza’s remarkable journey throughout the play is something that has to be cautiously documented for its stupendous touch of heroic approach with unyielding spirit over each and every odd circumstance that helps in the move of the play. How Eliza by each sequence attains remarkable change and enlightenment realising and respecting her self-identity, standing by her rigid values, being determined in her resolution are the core of Pygmalion.

     The very opening scene of the play catches the entry of Eliza who is hit by Freddy while they rush for shelter from rain. Eliza bursts: “Theres menners f’ yer! Ta-oo banches o voylets trod into the mad” as she sits on the plinth sorting her flowers. (8) It gives a cue that Eliza is a typical girl possessing a peculiar way of speaking English that varies in utterance and the manner its spelling is recorded in the text. Upon hearing this, Higgins, a bystander rages that a woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere—no right to live. Thus he further adds: your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible. Higgins challenges that within three months he could pass Eliza with the rank of a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party/as the Queen of Sheba or even get a place as a lady’s maid or shop assistant that needs better English than that of what Eliza presently has. Enthralled Eliza meets Higgins the next day for her English lessons where Colonel Pickering, Higgins’ friend comes forward to sponsor her lessons. How Eliza gets trained, copes in a new environment, whether she wins the bet for Higgins or not are the hilarious must read aspects of the play.

   “I write plays with the deliberate purpose to convert the nation to my opinions,” said G.B. Shaw, who used the stage to reform society. His forty-odd plays were mostly against the established order, and written to make the Englishmen drop their outworn beliefs and accept his own ideas. If you are a believer in feminism you would love this play; as it’s said from a male’s perception. Shaw through Higgins shows his personal beliefs of feminism, as well the idea that the creator should not have control over the creation’s destiny.

Happy reading!

DETAILS:

Material: Paperback with 105 pages.

Publication: London: Orient Constable & Co, 1954.

ISBN 13: 9780141439501

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