1. Unit 4
Pygmalion

2. The Greek Myth
In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a gifted sculptor from Cyprus. He showed no interest in the local women. Instead, he concentrated on his art until one day he ran across a large, flawless （无瑕） piece of ivory （象牙） and decided to carve a beautiful woman from it. When he finished the statue, Pygmalion found the image of his ideal woman so lovely that he fell in love with it. Then he went to the temple of Aphrodite ( the goddess of love, beauty and fertility ) to ask her to bring the statue to life. When he returned, he found the statue which he named Galatea alive and humbled himself at her feet. At last they got married.

3. Pygmalion,the play by George Bernard Shaw, is an adaptation of the Greek story.
According to the myth, Pygmalion created a female statue and treated it with such affection that, through Aphrodite's intervention, the statue came to life and responded to him. Such is the essence of the self-fulfilling prophecy: what we expect tends to come true.
                                 

4. The author-----George Bernard Shaw,who is
an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and a leading figure in the 20th century theater.
His main works:
Immaturity
Widowers' Houses
Pygmalion
Man and Superman (1902),
John Bull's Other Island (1904),
Major Barbara (1905)

5. This play, Pygmalion, was
also made into a film called
My Fair Lady.
Have you seen the film?
If you have,did you like it?
Have a discussion and give
reasons.

6. Are you interested in Psychology
Are you interested in Psychology? If yes, have you ever heard of the “Pygmalion Effect ”? ?
What is it?

7. The Pygmalion Effect is that people tend to behave as you expect they will. If you expect a person to take responsibility, they probably will. If you expect them not to even try, they probably won’t.

8. Main characters
Eliza Doolittle(E): a poor flower girl who is ambitious to improve herself.
Professor Higgins(H): an expert in phonetics, convinced that the quality of a person’s English decides his/her position in society.
Colonel Pickering(P): an officer in the army and later a friend of Higgins’ who sets him a task.

9. impatient, rude, confident,
superior, self-important
kind, polite, generous,
enthusiastic, eager, confident
anxious, eager, emotional,
ambitious, unsure

10. What other things show one’s status in
Society apart from how one speaks?
You can show your social status by:
Clothes you wear
Expensive possessions (like cars or jewellery)
Attitudes and behavior
Education level
How many foreign language spoken and countries visited

11. Stage direction
The word or words, which appear in italics, provide the director and actors with guidance about how words should be said ( ie tone of voice ) or what action actors should take as they say the words ( ie behaviour )
Tone of voice---
P29 ( surprised ) ( hopefully )
( uncomfortably ) ( kindly )
( still worried )

12. Behaviour---
P29
( holds up some dead flowers )
( leaves )
( begins to cry )
( sees a man taking notes and gets worried )
( gives her a handkerchief )
( hands over the paper covered with writing )
( pushes it back at him )
( looking confused )

13. Dash
In dramatic dialogue, the dash lets the reader and actor know that the character who is speaking has either been interrupted by another character or has decided not to finish what he / she intended to say for some unknown reason