Pygmalion
By George Bernard Shaw
(PowerPoint by Julia Powell)
Edwardian/ Georgian Period
1901-1936
• Named as such due to the rule of King Edward
VII (1901-1910) and King George V (1910-1936).
• King Edward VII was titled Edward the
Peacemaker due to his short, yet positive and
peaceful reign as King.
• During King George V’s rule, he declared war
against Germany. (WWI)
• The Treaty of Versailles ended the war in 1919.
• In 1936, George VI is
crowned King.
• In 1939, Great Britain
once again declares war
on Germany due to
Hitler’s invasion of
Poland. (WWII)
• In 1941, many parts of
London were destroyed
by air raids, killing over
60,000 people.
• England’s prime minister,
Winston Churchill,
worked with Roosevelt to
end the war.
Life of the Time
• Women’s Rights: the
right to vote in 1928,
Equal Pay Act of
1970, and Margaret
Thatcher became the
first woman prime
minister.
• Technology: radio,
television,
automobile, airplane,
bread slicer, and
Kool-aid.
Literature of the Time…
• War poems
• Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim
• Arthur Conan Doyle’s
The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes
• George Bernard Shaw’s
Pygmalion and Major
Barbara
• William b. Yeats’ The
Winding Stair
George Bernard Shaw
“I must warn my
readers that my
attacks are directed
against themselves,
not against my stage
figures.”
-Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
• Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1856.
• He grew up poor and lacked any professional
training due to his dislike of it.
• In his 20’s he moved to London and became a
music and theater critic and a member of the
Fabian Society (a group dedicated to the
advancement of Socialism.)
• As a theater critic, he argued that a theater of
ideas should replace the sentimental theater of
the time.
• Shaw used his plays to expose the hypocrisy and
complacency of British society.
George Bernard Shaw
• Shaw wanted to force his
viewers to face the reality
of unpleasant events.
• He promoted the
“unpleasant” plays by
publishing a long preface
in which he could argue
his views.
• Shaw was awarded the
Nobel Prize for literature
in 1925.
• He continued to write
until he was 94.
Main
Characters of
Pygmailion
Role
Relationships
Conflicts
Significance
Eliza Doolittle
Protagonist, poor
flower girl who
wishes to be rich
and happy
Daughter of Alfred,
experiment subject
to Higgins and
Pickering, possibly
means more to
Higgins
Cannot change her
inner characteristics
to suit the newly
changed outer
appearance. Argues
with Higgins on this
subject
Is able to stay true
to herself and to
not conform to
please society.
Mr. Higgins
Antagonist
Friend to Higgins,
wishes to be
friends with Eliza
He tries to change
Eliza's personality
but she wont let him.
He also has a hard
time understanding
women.
His actions show
that no one can
change another's
character
,
Professor of
phonetics and tries
to teach Eliza the
proper ways of
society.
Col. Pickering
Another researcher
of phonetics
Friend to Higgins,
and a friend to
Eliza
Trying to get Eliza
and Higgins to
understand each
other
He did not change
his morals to suit
Higgins' needs
Mrs. Pearce
Motherly figure,
and Housekeeper
Protector of Eliza,
and keeps Higgins
in line
Has trouble in
trying to reason
with Higgins
Is a role model to
Eliza
Freddy Hill
Ideal image of a
man at the time (to
Eliza)
has feelings for
Eliza over time,
they marry
Argues with the
people of his society
on his choice of
Eliza.
Gives hope to
Eliza
Words to know
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Phonetics
Dialect
Cockney
Dramatist
Fin de siecle
Social satire
Aestheticism
Fabian society
Shavian
Naturalism
Fabian Society
Possible open ended questions
• The last times that Pygmalion was used as an option for
the free response question was in 2003, 2005, and 2008.
• 2003: Novels and plays often depict characters caught
between colliding cultures. Such collisions can call a
character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel
or play in which a character responds to such a cultural
collision. Then write a well-organized essay in which
you describe the character’s response and explain its
relevance to the work as a whole.
-Liza would be the perfect choice. She is brought into a
completely foreign environment and persuaded to
change her personal characteristics.
• 2005: In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character
who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write
an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward
conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of
the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
- Liza changes her outward appearance and countenance but on
the inside her feelings are hers to keep; this enforces the theme of
how one’s feelings cannot be changed by outward façade.
• 2008: In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil,
possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the
distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For
example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used
to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character.
Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil
for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze
how the relation between the minor character and the major
character illuminates the meaning of the work.
For further study…
• http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cmazer/mis1.html
• http://www.lonestar.edu/library/kin_Pygmalion.htm
• http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English_Literature/shaw
/Pygmalion.html
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/53904
8/George-Bernard-Shaw
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/24327949/20thCentury-British-Literature