Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Drama performance analysis
Theatre analysis
Chapter 1- The Nature of Theatre
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Drama performance analysis
In George Bernard Shaw’s didactic, Victorian play Pygmalion, Linguistics Professor Henry Higgins’s perceptive ears are offended by the sound of Eliza’s lowly, Cockney accent, so he wishes to change it into a flawless, pleasant voice that would blend in among high society. Higgins is a sarcastic and rude character who treats Eliza badly throughout most of the play, sometimes not even acknowledging her presence. This brings up the question of why she tolerates his rudeness. What drove Eliza to change? Change is desired when we face conflicts that must be resolved. Another question this play presents is: What does it mean to be high class? Is it as Henry Higgins says it is, that it is just the proper way of speaking? Can the “right” sociolinguistics or money or heritage give someone high status?
We can wish to change when wanting to improve ourselves, to satisfy others who we hold in esteem, to meet demands placed upon us, but most importantly, a successful change must come from self-motivated reasons. A change forced upon a person is like no change at all. After the pressure, the expectations, the possible threat of that comes with authority, have all been removed, a change can only last if the subject being changed had wanted to be changed in the first place. Initially, she wanted to improve her speaking voice so that she could find a better job, and with a better job, better prospects in every part of her life. She realizes that she can do this with Higgins’s help—she recognizes his expertise in this subject, but he is unwilling to help her until she pays him a high sum that she cannot afford. Higgins’s peer Colonel Pickering’s attention is brought to Eliza’s plight and he feels for her, so he strikes up a wager with Higgins and ...
... middle of paper ...
...see any kind of challenge in Freddy, so he was not of so much interest to her. George Bernard Shaw’s message, though, is that affection for another person should not be disguised as distaste, for eventually, the person we love will move on to somebody else who treats him or her as he or she deserves to be treated. In a way, Eliza’s plan to marry Freddy is a type of poetic justice against Higgins, who, even though exhibits the proper grammar and speech of gentility, is not truly a gentleman. His behavior and attitude are just inexcusable for a heroine like Eliza. From this irony and dark humor in Pygmalion, we learn that we should be genuine and reveal our true feelings for a love interest eventually, even if it is slowly to keep ourselves from being hurt—we do not want to meet Higgins’s lonely fate. He could have had Eliza, but his caustic behavior kept them apart.
Eliza's assaults against True Womanhood are violations of the virtues submissiveness and purity. When Eliza refuses to ignore the gallantry of Major Sanford in favor of the proposals of Reverend Boyer despite the warnings of her friends and mother, she disregards submissiveness in favor of her own fanc...
Eliza Wharton has sinned. She has also seduced, deceived, loved, and been had. With The Coquette Hannah Webster Foster uses Eliza as an allegory, the archetype of a woman gone wrong. To a twentieth century reader Eliza's fate seems over-dramatized, pathetic, perhaps even silly. She loved a man but circumstance dissuaded their marriage and forced them to establish a guilt-laden, whirlwind of a tryst that destroyed both of their lives. A twentieth century reader may have championed Sanford's divorce, she may have championed the affair, she may have championed Eliza's acceptance of Boyer's proposal. She may have thrown the book angrily at the floor, disgraced by the picture of ineffectual, trapped, female characters.
To conclude, in the poem “Changes” by D. Ginette Clarke, the use of repetition, word choice, and punctuation revealed the persona in a well-thought out and respectable manner. Clarke was very clever in the way that she had used these elements to not only reveal the persona, but also to make the poem as amazing as it is. The persona started off as a curious man, then came off as serious, only to turn out to be a demanding and vehement person; but in the end, the persona’s special characteristics were clear. Therefore, the use of repetition, word choice, and punctuation revealed and represented the persona and his curious, eager, and desperate personality.
George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, is a humorous, yet moral, play that portrays the active social classes and lifestyles in Britain. The play features the main character Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, who embarks on the formidable task of teaching a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, how to speak English properly, and then passing her off as a duchess at the royal ball. Pygmalion was later adapted into the film, My Fair Lady in 1964, and although there are many differences between the two, the play delivers Shaw’s central message of social criticism, which is not to interfere within other social classes and not to meddle in society, more effectively than the movie.
As reflected in George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, one’s social status depended heavily on one’s speech and appearance. Eliza Doolittle is born into the lower class as reflected by her cockney dialect and seems to be destined to remain in said class until both her speech and dress are changed with help. The fact that her social status can be elevated with the mere change of tongue and cloth points to how obviously artificial the division between classes were and how one could change themselves with poise and ease.
The classic play Pygmalion written by George Bernard Shaw is his analysis of the prevailing society of the time. The title comes from the Greek myth of Pygmalion, who was a renowned sculptor and created a flawless statue whose beauty remained unmatched. At the sculptor’s request the God put life into the work of stone and thus the statue Galatea came to life. Accordingly Shaw adapts the myth to suit his own purpose. The statue in this case is Eliza Dolittle, who sells flowers in Convent Gardens. Since she is from the lower strata of the society, her accent is marked by a distinct flavor of its own, thereby pointing out that social hierarchy of that time was clearly dependent on public behavior, which included the way one spoke. Professor Henry Higgins plays the role of Pygmalion, who teaches Eliza how to talk properly (since he is an expert in languages, particularly accents) along with instilling good manners and a proper code of conduct in her. In the end Eliza, who has learnt how to be a ‘lady’ ends up with a flower shop in the upper section of the society but is married to a poor man who is studying to be an accountant. Yet she makes a good living and that is the moral of the story. It is interesting to note that class and manner play an important part in this play. Thus one will attempt to show through the characters of Eliza and Henry that class in the sense of social hierarchy does not equate with class in the sense of manners, tact and dignity. Eliza as mentioned earlier is one the principle characters of the play, along with Higgins, comes from an extremely impoverished background. She speaks the gutter language: “Aint no call to meddle with me, he aint” (1). She is not an epitome of good manners by any definition of the...
The idea of ranking individuals based upon their wealth and behaviors has endured through all cultures, countries, and times. George Benard Shaw's Pygmalion addresses an individual's capability to advance through society, an idea as old as social distinction. Shaw does so through the social parable of a young English flower girl named Eliza Dolittle, who after receiving linguistic training assumes the role of a duchess. She receives instruction, as a bet, by a self-absorbed language professor named Henry Higgens. However, Eliza does not take her social ascension alone, as she is joined by her drunken father Alfred P. Dolittle. The manner in which they rise from poverty demonstrates their equality as humans. As illustrated through Shaw's Pygmalion, the innate equality of individuals necessitates their ability to rise from their social class.
At the beginning, people didn’t think highly of her but now, people do. When she came in Higgins’ laboratory, she came dressed differently and she looked good and looked like she kept up with herself. She is starting to have a different mindset of her appearance. For example, on page 74 of Pygmalion, it states, “ Eliza, who is exquisitely dressed, produces an impression of such remarkable distinction and beauty as she enters that they all rise, quite fluttered. Guided by Higgins’s signals, she comes to Mrs.Higgins with studied grace.” This proves that Eliza is changing her mindset, which occurs to affect her thoughts about herself, her speech, and her appearance. Eliza, first described as "not at all attractive," has become incredibly desirable thanks to some nice clothing, jewelry, and a few months of training. Also, Eliza has learned to that people who treat her with no respect cannot bring her down or allow her to go back to where she was in the beginning. Based on Act V in Pygmalion, Eliza has learned that nobody can bring her down. It states, “You know I can’t go back to the gutter, as you call it, and that I have no real friends in the world but you and the Colonel. You know well I couldn’t bear to live with a low common man after you two; and it’s wicked and cruel of you to insult me by pretending I could.” This means that no matter what anybody has to her, she will never go back down the path she was just on.
As mentioned briefly above, this passage is about Eliza’s decision in the play concerning her potential departure. There is a lot of character development within this passage as we see the selfishness in Henry and the weakness in Eliza. It starts by Henry retaining a selfish and crude attitude towards Eliza. This is also where some of the humor within the passage comes in. Henry jokes about Eliza lacking any form of feelings and Eliza constitutes that “[she has her] feelings same as anyone else”, Henry disrupts the conversation and addresses only Pickering asking if he “see[s] the difficulty […] to get her to talk grammar”. This proclamation by Henry is extremely rude and it shows how little respect he has for Eliza and people of her standards. It is only when Eliza threatens to leave that he softens up and offers her chocolates. This is because his interest in proving himself to Pickering makes him realize that he needs to be gentler to Eliza in order of achieving anything with her.
...a already achieves transforming the physical aspect of herself. It only takes several months to change her dialect too. Higgins is successful in teaching her how to talk without a Cockney accent as well as how to have proper grammar. In only six months, Higgins is able to get people to view Eliza as a duchess only by changing her looks and speech. The result of her classes is not what she expects, not only does she meet her goals but she is also able to improve her self-confidence. Although she still has some remaining flaws from before her training, she leaves Higgins’ apartment as a much improved character. She chooses to live a life without wealth and a high social status instead of one where constantly gets criticized by Higgins. In conclusion, out of all the ways in which Eliza changes, the development of her self-worth is the most important transformation.
He thinks that his habits of walking over everyone around him and being outrageously blunt are too ingrained in him to be changed. However, the whole play is about how he transforms Eliza. He believes he can change her so dramatically that she can pass as a duchess, but he does not believe that even he can start to act like a decent person. Shaw's depiction of Eliza's transformation from a Cockney flower girl to a duchess is rather interesting. Higgins' irony and comedic relief adds a light-hearted tone to the serious themes presented in the play.
The characters in the play Pygmalion follow very stereotypical traits and qualities that are anticipated by society, however the author disputes with these stereotypes and shows how society perceives people based on what they appear to be. “She is no doubt as clean as she can afford to be; but compared to the ladies she is very dirty.” This quote is a transcript describing Eliza Doolittle who is a lower class lady selling flowers. Eliza is instantly recognized to be poor and therefore irrelevant to high-class citizens. The author doesn’t classify her as a lady, which is signifying that she is not the equivalent to the wealthier. It is instantly assumed she is poor by the way she looks and is described as dirty. When she is transformed to what society classifies as high class in terms of behavior she is instantly more valued and respected. Mr. Higgins who teaches Eliza these esteemed qualities is of higher class and it is an exception, in terms of society, because of the fact that he would involve himself with a lower ranked being. “It’s filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul.” This quote shows that Higgins sees the help he is offering Eliza to be an experiment and how this teaching is a fundamental opportunity to test the social class system.
Bernard Shaw’s comedy Pygmalion presents the journey of an impoverished flower girl into London’s society of the early 20th century. Professor Higgins proposes a wager to his friend Colonel Pickering that he can take a common peddler and transform her into royalty. Eliza Doolittle is the pawn in the wager. But little does Higgins know the change will go far beyond his expectations: Eliza transforms from a defensive insecure girl to a fully confident,strong, and independent woman. When the audience first meets Eliza Doolittle she is a flower girl peddling at 11 PM in front of St. Paul’s Church. The audience’s first impression is one of sympathy because she is dressed in rags and pedestrians are unkind to her. Higgins calls Eliza "you squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language." (p. 21) The audience’s sympathy is intensified when we see Eliza’s wretched lodgings. These lodgings are much contrasted to those of Higgins in Wimploe S...
Bernard Shaw's play, entitled Pygmalion, transcends the nature of drama as a medium to be utilized for sheer entertainment value. Shaw's play powerfully comments on the capacity for the individual to overcome the boundaries established by systems of class and gender. Dominant assumptions and expectations may essentially prevent an individual from becoming socially mobile within a seemingly rigid hierarchical social structure. However, Liza, the protagonist utilizes language as the tool which enables the her to escape the confines of the lower class and to be regarded as a human of a certain degree of worth within society. As Liza transforms from flower girl to duchess, the audience is witness to the many ways that an individual can be dehumanised through the socialisation process. Issues of both class and gender arise from the tensions within the play that surround the interactions between Higgins and Liza and the viewer is able to openly question the values that exist within a society that judges the character of a person on the basis of wealth and education.
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.