Lecture on 'Pygmalion' by George Bernard Shaw

Introduction & Plot Overview

• Setting: Begins with pedestrians seeking shelter in Covent Garden due to a sudden downpour.
• Main Characters Introduced:
  • Flower girl (Eliza Doolittle)
  • Note-taking man (Henry Higgins)
  • Older gentleman (Colonel Pickering)
• Plot Summary:
  • Higgins, an expert in phonetics, boasts he could teach Eliza to speak like a duchess.
  • Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, offers to pay for lessons to speak genteel.
  • Pickering covers expenses if Higgins can pass Eliza off as a lady in six months.
  • Eliza undergoes transformation in speech and manners.
  • Test at Higgins’ mother’s home shows progress but also reveals Eliza’s humble origins.
  • Mrs. Higgins criticizes the men for treating Eliza like an experiment.
  • Eliza performs flawlessly in major test, Higgins remains insensitive.
  • Climax: Eliza confronts Higgins about her future, leaves in rage.
  • Falling Action: Eliza stays with Mrs. Higgins, thanks Pickering for his respect.
  • Resolution: Uncertainty about Eliza’s return.

Central Characters

• Henry Higgins:
  • Authority on phonetics, robust and energetic man around forty.
  • Careless about people’s feelings, transforming Eliza without seeing her beyond experiment.
  • Grows to view Eliza with respect but remains fundamentally unchanged.
• Eliza Doolittle:
  • Starts as a dirty, shabbily dressed flower girl with Cockney accent.
  • Intelligent and ambitious, desires to speak genteel.
  • Transformed in appearance and manners, gains self-respect and independence.
• Colonel Pickering:
  • Scholar of Indian dialects, courteous and generous.
  • Kind to Eliza through her transformation.
• Alfred Doolittle:
  • Vigorous elderly dustman, carefree with money borrowed.
  • Morally lax, willing to transfer daughter for money.
• Mrs. Higgins:
  • Upper-class, intelligent and perceptive lady.
  • Irritated by son’s lack of manners, predicts issues with Eliza’s transformation.
• Freddie:
  • Young upper-class man, infatuated with Eliza, represents contrast to Higgins.
• Mrs. Pearce:
  • Higgins’ housekeeper, ensures Eliza’s proper treatment.

Symbols

• The Flower Shop: Eliza's dream driving her transformation. Represents change and growth.
• Clothing: Reflects social status and transformation. Eliza’s and Alfred’s wardrobe changes signify shifts in social perception.
• The Mirror: Represents self-awareness and identity. Eliza’s first encounter signifies realization of need for change.

Themes

• Language as a Class Barrier: Highlights how speech affects social status.
• Transformation: Eliza’s change from a flower girl to a lady under Higgins’ tutelage symbolizes both physical and inner changes.
• Appearance and Identity: Showcases how external factors like dress and manners affect social standing.
• Femininity: Examines fixed roles of women and advocates for a free-spirited, educated, self-reliant female ideal.

Motif of Pygmalion and Galatea

• Basis: Derived from Ovid’s Greek Myth, where sculptor Pygmalion falls for a statue that Venus brings to life.
• Comparison: Higgin’s transformation of Eliza mirrors Pygmalion’s sculpting. In Shaw’s play, Eliza gains independence, rejecting the creator, unlike Ovid’s Galatea who stays with Pygmalion.
• Ending: Shaw's ending differs significantly, illustrating a break from creator to independent living.