1. Pygmalion
By George Bernard Shaw
(PowerPoint by Julia Powell)

2. George Bernard Shaw
“I must warn my readers that my attacks are directed against themselves, not against my stage figures.”
-Shaw

3. Didactic Literature that instructs or teaches
Shaw says that Pygmalion “is so intensely and deliberately didactic(6).
Shaw argues “that great art can never be anything else”(7).

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Role Conflicts Significance Main Characters of Pygmailion
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, Professor of phonetics and tries to teach Eliza the proper ways of society.
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
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

7. Literary Foil
A character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character.
Higgins and Col. Pickering are both phonetics teachers, however, they will contrast in many ways.

8. Victorian Society
During the 18th and 19th centuries, divisions between classes were extreme and it was difficult to move from class to class. The class you were born in was often the class you died in.
Women had an especially difficult time as they were educated in domestic affairs. They were dependent on men.

9. Fabian Society Shaw believed in socialism.
He joined the Social Democratic Federation but later joined the Fabian Society.
The Fabian society rejected revolutionary socialism and wanted to help society move to a socialist society painlessly and believed that they could reform society through rational arguments and information dispensing. This was a more gradual approach.

10. Socialist Society
The Fabian Society believed that capitalism had created an unjust and inefficient society.
Shaw favored equality of income and advocated equitable division of land and capital.
Many of Shaw’s plays dealt with issues such as poverty and women’s rights.

11. Words to Know Phonetics- the study of speech sounds
Dialect- a particular form of language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
Cockney- a person born within earshot of the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow church in what is now the city of London.
Dramatist- a person who writes plays.
Social satire- a literary genre that uses irony or sarcasm to expose societal flaws.
Naturalism- an offshoot of realism, naturalism saw the universe as an uncaring force, indifferent to human suffering.

12. Socialist Society
Favors an economic system in which all of the most productive resources are the property of the government, in which production and distribution of goods and services are administered by the government rather than private enterprise.
The government controls the economy and reflects the best interest of its people.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. For further study… http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cmazer/mis1 .html
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shaw/Pygmalion.html
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Century-British-Literature