1. Pygmalion the Sequel and Conclusion

2. 11/23 Class Discussion Questions (2) 3. Everyone: Which endings do you like: that of Act V, of the Postscript, of the film, or the musical My Fair Lady? What meanings does the ending produce for the whole text – as a Pygmalion (creation/transformation) story, as a story of a self-made woman (re. education), as a comedy of manners?

3. The Sequel 1.Romance, Eliza’s decision & Higgins’ 2.Consequences: Eliza’s and Freddy’s marriage and families, their residence and livelihood, their ‘education.’ 3.Clara  Do you agree with Shaw?

4. Starting Questions 1.In what ways does the Sequel ‘revise’ Pygmalion as a romance? Or deny that it is a romance? 2.What are the reasons added here against Eliza’s staying with Higgins as a soul mate?

5. 1. Conventions of Romance Denied 1. Our imaginations have been enfeebled by “their dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs (made for nobody in particular) of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of "happy endings" to misfit all stories. 2. Eliza’s transformation: Not an uncommon story. 3. Does the hero have to marry the heroine? (Do the married couple live happily ever after?) 4. Eliza and Freddy’s marriage and their shop.

6. 2. Factors in Eliza’s Decision 1.Eliza’s Status: (111) Her decision depends on “whether she is really free to choose.” She is, since she is young and pretty. “Eliza's instinct tells her not to marry Higgins. It does not tell her to give him up.” What does this mean? 2.Higgins: a. His love of his Mother –Typical of an “imaginative boy” with an intelligent and graceful mother. (112)  Leads to “ a disengagement of his affections, his sense of beauty, and his idealism from his specifically sexual impulses ” b. His interest in Milton and the Universal Alphabet (113)

7. 2. Factors in Eliza’s Decision 2. Higgins’ – 113 c.her resentment of Higgins's domineering superiority, d.her mistrust of his coaxing cleverness in getting round her and evading her wrath when he had gone too far with his impetuous bullying. (113) Eliza and Freddy He is a gentleman; He is weak, thus attracted to Eliza as a strong woman. (conclusion 115: “Will she look forward to a lifetime of fetching Higgins's slippers or to a lifetime of Freddy fetching hers? […] Unless Freddy is biologically repulsive to her [...]”) * Do you agree with Eliza’s or with Shaw’s reasons?

8. Do you want to marry one that is weaker than you, or stronger? (ref. p. 114) When a lion meets another with a louder roar "the first lion thinks the last a bore." The man or woman who feels strong enough for two, seeks for every other quality in a partner than strength. weak people want to marry strong people who do not frighten them too much; and this often leads them to make the mistake we describe metaphorically as "biting off more than they can chew."

9. 2. Factors in Eliza’s Decision Kate’s personal views: Agree-- “strength” not the most important factor 1. There is a lot to consider in choosing one’s spouse. (Besides love, pattern of relationship, status, sexual attraction, money, one’s age and the choices available.) 2. Eliza should not stay with one who is domineering and refusing to change. Disagree – 1.Does the strong one really want to marry a weak one? Or maybe there is attraction of two who are congenial to but different from each other. 2.Why are there just these two choices for Eliza? Couldn’t she work and wait a bit? (But at that time staying single “may not be” a choice for her.) 3.Why is there only description of Eliza’s secret affection for Higgins (124), but not the other way around?

10. Higgins’ “Secret” Affection For his mother? (Oedipal attachment to his mother) For Pickering? There is no absolute difference between homosexuality and homosociality esp. at a time when sex was a taboo.

11. 2. Consequences Money: –Freddy – no money, no job. –Doolittle – not willing to offer support. –Honeymoon would have been penniless without P’s support –Uses the gift of 500 pounds for a long time; keeps getting supported by the two bachelors Residence –Considers living with the two bachelors Occupation –Opens a flower shop with the support of Pickering. (117) – Finally earning money. Education (122) (to write, shorthands and polytechnic ( 工藝 ) class – Not really helpful.

12. Eliza’s Relation with Higgins after her marriage Still lives in Wimpole Street; still nagging; Still jealous of other women; Cannot become a professional phonetician (no right to meddle with “his” knowledge. her secret wish to be alone on a "desert island" with Higgins to seduce him.

13. Clara 1. changed under the influence of Eliza’s transformation, H. G. Wells and the novelist Galsworthy to realize the vanity and unimportance of her class; 2. works at a furniture store.

14. Conclusion 1.Pygmalion & Romance 2.Comedy of Manners -- Language and the Other Social Markers//Appearance vs. Reality 1.Pronunciation, Handwriting, Dress, manners, interest, 2.Marriage and Family 3.Morality – Class-bound? Prudery made fun of. 3.Class Differences & Social Mobility 1.The ways upper class is presented – useless or fashionable 2.The background Shaw offers (in Act I and the Sequel) –of social climbing 3. Eliza’s, Doolittle’s and Clara’s different kinds of changes 4.Scientific Creation, Education & Human Concern 1.Professionalism (with Ideals) Higgins vs. Nepommuck 2.The Roles of Money 3.Respect for others

15. Conclusion (2) 5. Other Possible Readings: (For your reference ONLY) -- Higgins as one suffering from Asperger’s syndrome (a kind of autism) (Weintraub) --Aspergen “has difficulties in social interaction, lacks empathy, or has difficulties with it, has trouble with social role-taking and has unusual responses to the environment similar to those in autism.” --can achieve success in some specialized academic subjects. E.g. computer programmers, dentists, scientists. -- examples –of Higgins’ insensitivity to Eliza’s feelings Act II; –of his rude social behavior, lack of manners Acts I & III –of his exclusive interest in languages and accents

16. Do you agree? Class – -- Eliza: “The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how's she's treated.” -- Higgins: “The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.” (1236) --generalization Manners: -- “[People’s saying] [w]hat they think they ought to think is bad enough, Lord knows; but what they really think would break up the whole show. [... ] We are all savages... (Act 3) Life: -- “What is life but a series of inspired follies?” (Act 2) –rhetorical questions -- “If you cant appreciate what youve got, youd better get what you can appreciate.” (Act 5) – sententia ( 使用 警句, 格言 see Notes)Notes

17. Notes –Sequel H. G. Wells (who influences Clara) – a socialist and Utopia novelist (work: The Time Machine) –“Passionate concern for society led Wells to join the socialist Fabian Society in London, but he soon quarreled with the society's leaders, among them George Bernard Shaw.” Kew Gardens (p. 122 “Combination of London School and Kew Gardens”) -- the Royal Botanic Gardens Nell Gwynne: (1650-1687) -- who originally sold oranges in the precincts of the Drury Lane Theatre; -- became an actress at the age of only fifteen; -- became the mistress of King Charles II, from 1670 until his death, and thus popular to the public.