The Role of Education in Shaw's Pygmalion and Russell's Educating Rita
Both plays show that education can be used as a tool for emancipating working class individuals. Both Eliza and Rita get uprooted and have to give up personal features. Language is linked up with identity and both find a new identity through education. Rita is treated in the way according to her language. Yet pure language training doesn't transform her character and identity profoundly. Her change is simply external. Rita, on the other hand, keeps her way of speaking but develops her character and reaches personal independence. She has been internally changed because of literature. By comparing both plays, we see that education requires both language training and knowledge of literature.
Eliza's transformation demonstrates that social distinctions such as accents are artificial and suggest that class barriers can be overcome by language training. It becomes questionable however if language reveals or forms one's character. Eliza's outcry at the end of the play denies this idea. Yet she understands herself better. Education is connected with social progress. Eliza's problems show that language alone provides only a superficial transformation. She lacks education to become fully integrated. By this, Shaw illustrates the impossibility of moving classes in those days.
Eliza's never thought about becoming educated herself. Rita, on the contrary, wants to use education as a means of complete change, as the means by which people develop their potential. She succeeds in leaving her working class environment behind. Is education only liberating? As Rita adopts a new culture and becomes alienated, she might be regarded as limited, just like Frank, who has no understanding for people of a different class.
Dilorenzo, Thomas J.. The Real Lincoln: a new look at Abraham Lincoln, his agenda, and an unnecessary war. Roseville, Calif: Prima, 2002
In The Real Lincoln, Thomas J. DiLorenzo argues thematically throughout nine chapters about the misconception of Abraham Lincoln. He opens each chapter with an argumentative main body, and then provides sources and examples to back up his argument. In chapter two, the belief that Lincoln was the man who fought solemnly against slavery is questioned. DiLorenzo says that, “… Lincoln stated over and over that he was opposed to racial equality” (11). Before his reign as governor of Illinois and presidency, Lincoln ...
In “The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln,” Phillip Shaw Paludan argues that even though Abraham Lincoln faced unparalleled challenges, Lincoln was America’s greatest president as he preserved the Union and freed the slaves. According to Paludan, Lincoln’s greatness exceeds that of all other American presidents as Lincoln’s presidential service was remarkable in both the obstacles he faced as well as the ways in which he overcame them. Before accepting the distinguished chair in Lincoln studies at the University of Illinois, Springfield, Paludan was a professor of history at the University of Kansas for over 30 years. Paludan has authored several books including Victims: A True Story of the Civil War and A People’s Contest: The Union and Civil
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln served in many facets of the United States government and was also a respected lawyer in Illinois. He was best known for being elected as the 16th President of the United States of America. As president, Lincoln guided the United States through one of the worst times in American history, the Civil War. From the start of his political career, Lincoln was instrumental in his efforts and eventual success in ending slavery in America. He was known for his public speaking abilities and delivered some of the most popular speeches in United States history. He lived a successful life before the presidency, during the presidency, and up to the time of his tragic death. His life was cut short when he was assassinated in 1865 while still serving as President of the United States. Lincoln was revered as one of the greatest presidents in American history. Prior to becoming one of the most powerful men in the world, Lincoln grew up in a poverty-stricken family.
DiLorenzo, Thomas. The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War. Three Rivers Press, 2003.
Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery was the belief that the expansion of it to Free states and new territories should be ceased and that it eventually be abolished completely throughout the country. He believed simply that slavery was morally wrong, along with socially and politically wrong in the eyes of a Republican. Lincoln felt that this was a very important issue during the time period because there was starting to be much controversy between the Republicans and the Democrats regarding this issue. There was also a separation between the north and the south in the union, the north harboring the Free states and the south harboring the slave states. Lincoln refers many times to the Constitution and its relations to slavery. He was convinced that when our founding fathers wrote the Constitution their intentions were to be quite vague surrounding the topic of slavery and African-Americans, for the reason that he believes was because the fathers intended for slavery to come to an end in the distant future, in which Lincoln refers to the "ultimate extinction" of slavery. He also states that the men who wrote the constitution were wiser men, but obviously did not have the experience or technological advances that the men of his day did, hence the reasons of the measures taken by our founding fathers.
David Herbert Donald's Lincoln is a biography of our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln. At the age of twenty one, he was sure he did not want to be like his father Thomas Lincoln, an uneducated farmer, so he left his fathers house permanently. He had many jobs, learned many lessons, and made both friends and enemies, all which helped him to become one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America during the time the country had split, the Civil War. Thoroughly researched and excellently written, this biography comes alive and shows us what really happened during the early to mid-nineteenth century and it still puts us in the point of view of our former president, using the information and ideas available to him.
Abraham Lincoln wrote one of the greatest speeches in American history known as the Gettysburg Address. It was not only used as a dedication to the fallen troops of the North and South, but as a speech to give the Union a reason to fight and attempt to unite the divided nation. The sixteenth president’s handling of his speech at Gettysburg demonstrated how the effectiveness of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, could bring unity to a nation deeply divided on beliefs. His speech touched the hearts of many and indirectly put an end to the Civil War. Lincoln may have been considered a tyrant at the time but he was a great leader of a nation, a war, and a democracy.
In both books, we can see how both characters, Frederick Douglass (The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass) and Linda Brent (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl) have a contact with the concept of education. The slaves knew that learning things could be useful for them. If some day they become free and had the possibility of obtaining a job, they knew that what they had learned was going be both useful and necessary. They also realized that an educated slave was not well seen. Perceiving this, slaves normally decided to act as if they were uneducated and knew nothing at all. This way the owner will not know that they were actually uneducated or that they were willing to learn. The owners saw slave education as something wrong and it was strictly prohibited. In some cases, owners, mainly wives, will teach slave children how to read or write. This can be seen in the book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, where we see that Linda’s mother’s mistress treated Linda well and taught her how to read. However, in most cases husbands will realize this and prohibit their wife from educating slaves. This concept is easily observed in The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, where we see that Hugh Auld’s wife, Sophia, starts to teach Frederick how to read. When Hugh discovers this, he forces her to stop this; as he thinks that educating slaves will make them more difficult to
In the Herland society education was a very important and valued aspect. Children were taught by the more experienced women of the society. Children appeared to enjoy their studies. This had a lot to do with how education was provided to the children. Learning was made to be fun and exploratory. It was hands-on and as the children progressed, their individual talents and interests were noticed and encouraged. “Beauty, health, Strength, Intellect, Goodness-for these they prayed and worked” (Gilman, p. 61). The theme throughout the novel indicated that the women were highly educated, and made every opportunity a hands-on learning experience. Even the arrival of the three men who were exploring became an educational experiment as they immediately began teaching the men their own language. Gilman noted that after capture, the men were each given a book to learn the Herland language, “we were indeed to learn the language, and not only that, but to teach our own” (p.
During the Abraham Lincoln’s short time as president, he managed not only to save a nation deeply divided and at war with itself, but to solidify the United States of America as a nation dedicated to the progress of civil rights. Years after his death, he was awarded the title of ‘The Great Emancipator.’ In this paper, I will examine many different aspects of Lincoln’s presidency in order to come to a conclusion: whether this title bestowed unto Lincoln was deserved, or not. In order to fully understand Lincoln, it is necessary to understand the motives that drove this man to action. While some of his intentions may not have been for the welfare of slaves, but for the preservation of the Union, the actions still stand. Abraham Lincoln, though motivated by his devotion to his nation, made the first blows against the institution of slavery and rightfully earned his title of ‘The Great Emancipator.’
...e advancing through school while in the poem, the boy and his father are advancing through life. In ‘Freedom Writers’, the kids do not want an education because they feel it is irrelevant in their lives. They think that surviving until 18 years of age is an achievement. Their change of perspective is related to school and their lives. This is different from the poem in which the change of perspective is about the boy’s father. In ‘Freedom Writers’, the teacher brought about the kids’ change of perspectives, so it was induced. However, in the poem, time brought about the change, so it was inevitable.
In the beginning of the play, Rita is introduced as a talkative woman who is very capable of expressing her thoughts in a straightforward fashion. Based on Rita’s casual dialect and her lack of discipline, it is clear that she has had limited education prior to this encounter. On the contrary, Frank is a “bona fide lecturer” who is knowledgeable in his field of study. (4) Ironically, Frank is very dissatisfied with his occupation, and the same negligent attitude can be found in Rita’s personality. (16) Their relationship flourishes immediately because of this similarity, establishing a welcoming environment for Rita. The office becomes Rita’s sanctuary as she slowly reveals her lack of confidence. Rita expresses her disbelief when she received her acceptance notice. In Rita’s mind, Open University must be an inferior college and they must have lacked applications this year. (4) For Rita, if it were any other tutor, she would have “packed in” and left. (9) Frank is the reaso...
...y a set of expectations and values that are established on mannerisms and conduct challenged by Elizabeth. From this novel, it is evident that the author wrote it with awareness of the class issues that affect different societies. Her annotations on the fixed social structure are important in giving a solution to the current social issues; that even the class distinctions and restrictions can be negotiated when an individual turns down bogus first impression s.