Pygmalion - Higgins' Philosophy Professor Higgins is seen throughout Pygmalion as a very rude man. While one may expect a well educated man, such as Higgins, to be a gentleman, he is far from it. Higgins believes that how you treat someone is not important, as long as you treat everyone equally. 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. -Higgins, Act V Pygmalion. Higgins presents this theory to Eliza, in hope of justifying his treatment of her. This theory would be fine IF Higgins himself lived by it. Henry Higgins, however, lives by a variety of variations of this philosophy. It is easily seen how Higgins follows this theory. He is consistently rude towards Eliza, Mrs. Pearce, and his mother. His manner is the same to each of them, in accordance to his philosophy. However the Higgins we see at the parties and in good times with Pickering is well mannered. This apparent discrepancy between Higgins' actions and his word, may not exist, depending on the interpretation of this theory. There are two possible translations of Higgins' philosophy. It can be viewed as treating everyone the same all of the time or treating everyone equally at a particular time. It is obvious that Higgins does not treat everyone equally all of the time, as witnessed by his actions when he is in "one of his states" (as Mrs. Higgins' parlor maid calls it). The Higgins that we see in Mrs. Higgins' parlor is not the same Higgins we see at the parties. When in "the state" Henry Higgins wanders aimlessly around the parlor, irrationally moving from chair to chair, highly unlike the calm Professor Higgins we see at the ball. Higgins does not believe that a person should have the same manner towards everyone all of the time, but that a person should treat everyone equally at a given time (or in a certain situation). When he is in "one of those states" his manner is the same towards everyone; he is equally rude and disrespectful to all. Yet when minding his manners, as he does at the parties, he can be a gentleman. If the second meaning of Higgins' theory, that he treats everyone equally at a particular time, is taken as his philosophy, there is one major flaw. Higgins never respects Eliza, no matter who is around. In Act V of Pygmalion, Eliza confronts him about his manner towards her. "He (Pickering) treats a flower girl as duchess." Higgins, replying to Eliza, "And I treat a duchess as a flower girl." In an attempt to justify this Higgins replies "The question is not whether I treat you rudely, but whether you ever heard me treat anyone else better." Eliza does not answer this question but the reader knows that Higgins has treated others better than Eliza. At the parties, for example, Higgins is a gentleman to the hosts and other guest, but still treats Eliza as his "experiment." Higgins could never see the "new" Eliza. Higgins only saw the dirty flower girl that had become his "experiment." Much like an author never sees a work as finished, Higgins could not view Eliza lady or duchess. Since Higgins knew where Eliza came from it was difficult for him to make her parts fit together as a masterpiece that he respected. Part of Higgins' problem in recognizing the "new" Eliza is his immaturity. He does not see her as what she is, he only sees her as what she was. This immaturity is representative of Higgins' childish tendencies that the reader can see throughout the play. Higgins' child-like actions can partially explain the variations in his philosophy. Try to imagine Higgins as a young teenager. A young Higgins, or any teenage boy for that matter, has a very limited outlook. They treat everyone the same; depending on the situation they may be little gentlemen or rude dudes. When around parents the teenager is rude and inconsiderate yet when among his friends he a complete gentleman. The adult Higgins' actions are the same as the child.
Catherine, like the McKees, makes an appearance at Tom’s apartment, and Nick first notes her “sticky bob of red hair, and a complexion powdered milky white”, which shows her attempt to maintain an appearance of class (30). Yet, she does not apply the makeup successfully, and the evident cosmetics and sign of effort speak against her sense of class and taste. However, Catherine makes an appearance at the end of the novel after the death of her sister, Myrtle. Catherine holds both her sister’s and her own image in great importance, and so when others convince her “that [her sister’s] ambulance had already gone to Flushing ... she immediately fainted, as if that was the intolerable part of the affair” (156). Flushing exists as part of the Valley of Ashes, while Catherine lives in a hotel, presumably on the outskirts of the city. The fact that her sister goes to the dirty, poor city instead of to a cleaner area disturbs her rather than the news about her sister, which suggests the importance of appearances over the safety or health of her own family. Therefore, perhaps Fitzgerald makes a commentary through Catherine that the pursuit of class and self importance motivates a
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After Madeline refutes the ideas of the old, she presents ideas for the future. The piece seems to pause just before she focuses solely on her daughter. The tone of the first nine lines is snobbish almost. Madeleine seems to be raising her nose to ideas of the old. But as she begins to focus on her daughter, the tone changes. The snobbish tone becomes softer, gentler, as if she’s raising her daughter’s chin to meet her gaze and speak to her:
How one treats those that are below them on society 's ladder says a great deal about them as a person. In the short story “Reunion” by John Cheever, Charlie’s father’s overbearing masculinity, and callous treatment of “domestics” lead to his further estranging his relationship with his son. Because this man is so focused on his own image of power and superiority, and because he is rude to the waiters, he loses valuable time to bond with his son.
Y: I appreciate that you compare Cedric Price with the other architects about concept and design; I Have some questions about your simulation, I think it is interesting and based on some thought about
Eliza meets both Boyer and Sanford in the beginning of her tale. Mr. Boyer is a respectable man from a rich family. He is studying to be a reverend. Everyone likes him and he would be a very suitable husband for Eliza. However Eliza is enamored with Major Sanford. Sanford is a supposedly rich man with a reputation of being trouble. Eliza is warned of Sanford’s reputation but chooses to ignore the warnings. Eliza even tries to rationalize her feelings for such a troublesome man by telling her best friend Lucy “A reformed rake makes the best husband,” (Foster 47). Eliza also states that she wants advice from her mother about what to do, but will only follow the advice if it concurs with what she already plans to do.
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...rrogant. An example of this is when Biddy send him a letter to say that Joe would visit him and Pip thought that if he “could have kept [Joe] away by paying money, [he] certainly would have paid money.” Joe raised Pip as a father, yet Pip was embarrassed of him and thought he was below him because he was given money to become a gentleman. Just like London which before visiting seemed attractive and paradise-like, Pip had a great outside perception as a gentleman; but upon first visiting, Pip found the reality was that London, just as the marshes were, was a dirty place and he too became wrong with his inward feelings. It is only after Pip loses everything, has “debts” and is nursed back to a stable condition by the faithful Joe who pays off his debts, that he realises a true gentleman is determined not by wealth and mannerisms but by someone who does good. Magwitch
Men of the time were held to the standard of being active in society. They were expected to be active in politics and social activities outside of the home. Expectations for men were also for them to be respectful and proper, especially when women were present. The character, Jack Worthing, in The Importance of Being Earnest, is the representation of the perfect Victorian gentleman. For example, Jack says to Algernon in Act I, “...My dear fellow, the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman!” (Wilde 1.2.236). In this simple quote, Jack describes the high standards and expectations that Victorian gentlemen were held to. But not only men were held to high standards, women were expected to hold themselves in the most proper way as well. The point of a Victorian woman’s life was to marry and domestically support her family. Women had little rights and in fact, prior to the Married Women’s Property Acts of 1870, women were forced to give up all property that they held to their husbands upon marriage. (Appell 1). Within the play, Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen 's mother, is provided as a tool to explain the oppression put upon women of the time.
The character Nicholas Higgins is an example of a positive working class person during the industrial revolution. Nicholas Higgins is a strong believer that unlike the people from the north, the southerners are a “pack of spiritless, down-trodden men” (Gaskell 133). The possibility of bettering himself unlike the people from the south who don’t know when they are being “put upon” gives him a sense of strength (Gaskell 133) Nicholas takes pride in the fact that he is able to stand up for the things he believes in through striking. The old class system and its beliefs aren’t followed during the industrial revolution. When Margaret Hale attempts to “come and call upon” Nicholas Higgins’s house, he is at first confused and then allows her to visit as a friend (Gaskell 73). Nicholas’s dislike for people from the south is ignored for Margaret Hale and believes that “north and south has both met and made kind o’ friends in the big smokey place”. (Gaskell 73). The angry mob ruins the strike orchestrated by the union and Nicholas Higgins. The strike and angry mob that occurs in the novel is disastrous for Nicholas Higgins and he is unable to get his job back, instead of giving up he tries everything he can for a different job. Higgins believes that he is “sick o’ Milton” and “Milton is sick o’ [him]” when he is unable to find another job and is also looking after John Bouchers eight children. (Gaskell 306) In the beginning, Nicholas Higgins doesn’t have much respect for the factory owners but his respect for the master’s changes through his eventual friendship with John Thornton. Nicholas Higgins’s friendship with John Thornton led him to work “over-hours [one] night, unknown to anyone, to get a neglected piece of work done” because of the problems Thornton was going through (Gaskell 421).
George Bernard Shaw was a firm believer of equal rights for women, he took part in the meeting of the suffragettes and campaigned on their behalf. The suffragettes helped women to gain the vote and Shaw raised public awareness for this issue by revealing his opinions in the press. Shaw was also part of a movement which believed that individuals could attain a higher social status than that they were born into and this could be accomplished by people educating themselves and this transformation would be a true reflection of the person’s social class. This concept is outlined and explored in Pygmalion, in which Eliza Doolittle is passed off as a duchess at the end of the play. This was in contrast to the belief of the Victorians who were of the opinion that classes could not be alternated in a person’s life. Shaw also held the opinion that education was very significant and that educating people would lead to a more sophisticated and fair society.
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I don’t matter, I suppose’” (Berst 99). Eliza’s actions can be felt as a Cinderella impulse coming from her (Berst 99). Eliza worked hard to get through the lessons with Higgins and had won that bet, so she deserves the credit for the hard work she put in. It seems that Eliza at this point is lonely and probably wanted someone in her life to tell her she was doing the right thing, she has accomplished things she wanted to do for herself.
...t Fielding tends to mock the upper class more and it can be argued they are the ones with worse characteristics however he also ridicules lower class characters such as Mrs. Slipslop, the middle aged plump lady's maid who is also a bully ; Peter Pounce, the swindling skinflint, Mrs. Tow-wouse, the scolding innkeepers wife and Pamela's hypocrisy in the sense she once saw Fanny as her equal but now deems herself to be superior. In conclusion we see that Fielding does not so much then make a distinction between class, but shows us that hypocrisy, vanity, unkindness and cruelty are vices that belong to all members of society and it is only those who see the goodness in humanity and who treat all others with kindness and respect regardless of class that are superior individuals.
...'you can't believe I have forgiven you"? Here he demonstrates his conceitedness as he only 'forgives' Nora because the 'IOU' has been 'torn' and as a result there is nothing that can harm his 'unassailable reputation'. Contrastingly, in 'The Murder in the Red Barn', Maria is very concerned about what ‘people will say' when they witness her with 'the son of the rich Mr Corder'. Victorian society's beliefs about social class were that a man of upper class should only marry a woman of his social class as working class were seen as inferior and immoral.