"Pygmalion is a serious analysis of class and gender conflict." 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. Henry Higgins represents the upper class of society, those that are expected to be both educated and wealthy. He is profoundly aware of his status and is not particularly sympathetic towards those of the lower class. This is revealed as he is first introduced to Liza and refers to her as a 'squashed cabbage leaf.' (Shaw, 2003:18) This first scene is important as it establishes the class differences that are evident within the language contrasts of each of the characters. Higgins plays an important role in establishing this theme as he places great emphasis on phonetics. He has the ability to place an i... ... middle of paper ... ...e society of Shaw's time and of contemporary society. Liza is an independent woman at the closing of the play, when one takes into consideration that she possesses an assertive sense of free will and a determination to maintain her strength of character. Ultimately, Liza's insistence on remaining true to herself is a positive ramification of a transformation process, that in itself presented many moral questions to the perceptive audience. The protagonist has confronted the obstacles imposed on her by social conventions, with regards to both gender and class stereotypes, and has essentially deconstructed the boundaries that had previously prevented her from fulfilling her own capabilities and sense of self worth. Bibliography Bentley, E. Bernard Shaw, 2nd edn. London: Methuen, 1967. Shaw, B. Pygmalion, London: Penguin Books, 2003.
In “The Wife of His Youth,” Liza Jane also delineates deceptive in having social equity. She was married to a slave in the civil war. Her husband was a light skinned slave who managed to escape the slavery and he vowed to come back and get her. Nevertheless, he left his life, and created a new name and life to become allowed into a white society. Liza Jane the wife always knew her true identity in the story. Even in the period of of slavery, she accepted her past and worked as a housewife, meanwhile her husband worked in the plantation. While this life was troubling, she stayed hopeful to maybe come back together with her husband after the civil war ended. Liza Jane searched twenty five years for her husband Sam Taylor. She stayed a loyal housewife and had hope in her husband thinking that he will return looking for her. Mr. Ryder was going to give a ball, there were various seasonings why this was an suitable time for such an occasion. Mr. Ryder can be suitable the president of the Blue Veins. The original Blue Veins was a civilization of colored people gathered in a certain Northern city shortly following the end of the
...class. This play also reflects the beginning class structure of the early modern European society. The European society was based sex and classes (Fiero, 2011).
...ly progressed from a way to tell stories about kings and gods to a way to tell stories about ordinary human beings. By moving our focus off of nobility, the language of plays became the language of every individual, and eventually, due to America’s “melting pot” culture, the language itself became individual. The unique language of American dramatic characters represents not only the diversity of the American people, but also the diversity of all human beings. These dramatically dissimilar differences were not typical of older plays when they were written, but now, they are what make American drama so valuable. Our acceptance and love for characters with different values than ours is representative of the love we can develop for those who are different from us. It represents the worldview that our current culture idealizes and strives to achieve: acceptance for all.
bit of a shame for Higgins, as he is being scolded by someone who he
Both processes are different, as well as the development of each character, as they are affected by race, gender, and social class. Although seemingly opposite characters, both Lizabeth from Eugenia Collier’s Marigolds, and the Lawyer from Anton Chekhov’s The Bet, have a surprising amount of similarities, which ultimately leads them to the reality of life and it’s
George Bernard Shaw uses many different approaches throughout his many works. In Pygmalion and Androcles and the Lion, he uses two very different paths ending in two different results. For example, in Androcles and the Lion, he show how doing a good deed will result in a reward, but in Pygmalion, someone does a good deed for the main character, and she feels ruined because of it. The motivation for the good deed, the deed itself, and the outcome of the deed are all three different in both of the works.
Miss Lottie, the woman that she had once believed was different from those she thought of as normal, was really a person aged from difficult times. Lizabeth’s actions, although at the time had brought her small joy and an antidote to her boredom, had effected Miss Lottie by taking away the last bit of hope and care put into the flowers. Her father was no longer the center and the support of her family, but just a person who could no longer work and earn like he had once done. Lizabeth had not noticed the change and the depression in her father, as a result of childhood blinding her to the troubles of the rest of the world. Lizabeth’s confusing emotions spurred her to continue the destruction of the marigolds, as her brother, who did not understand her actions, sat confused and upset. He was not experiencing the rite of passage that his sister was faced with. As Lizabeth is sitting in the middle of the mess she made in Miss Lottie's garden, “...that was the moment when childhood faded and adulthood began.” Lizabeth's actions as child had opened her eyes as an adult and “... gazed on a reality that is hidden from childhood.”
Both Rita and Eliza rebel against the inflexible class system and have problems developing their potential. They suggest that everyone is capable of fulfilling his potential if he is only given the opportunity. And their teachers and other members of their class misunderstand them. Furthermore they reject the traditional role of women as well.
Margaret is an intelligent, articulate, and ambitious woman who desires to rise up in social status by marrying a man of higher social rank. She attends to those above her, in hopes of elevating her status as she becomes closer to the upper-class. As a minor character, she plays a small yet crucial role in advancing Don John’s plot to slander Hero and spoil her wedding. As a lower-class character, Margaret serves as a foil to the rich girls, particularly Hero, who embodies every attitude and mindset Margaret does not. But she also offers an alternative perspective on the upper-class characters in the play. Because Margaret is victimized because of her social ambitions, punished for wanting to rise above her ...
Blanche DuBois, the protagonist of the play, is introduced to the readers in the first scene, where she makes a surprise visit to her sister and her sister’s husband, Stella and Stanley. She is introduced as a fragile woman who the readers begin to feel sympathy for her. She had been asked to leave her job, and she lost the family estate. The readers ...
Oscar Wilde was written during the Victorian era. The statement that “A text reflects the dominant ideologies of the time in which it was written” in reference to The Importance of Being Earnest is completely untrue. The play explores the inner workings of the Victorian upper class and challenges the attitudes and ideologies which society at the time was based. In particular Wilde criticised the certain social and financial expectations to marry in an upper-class or aristocratic society. Wilde also portrays women to have greater social and moral responsibility and power than men contrary to the ideology that “a woman was inferior to a man” and thus should be powerless. Also critiqued is the immorality of upper class society through their behaviour. Contrary to this the only characters in which are moral are the working class represented by Merriman.Therefore Wilde comprehensively challenges what were dominant ideologies in Victorian England through the use of characters and themes.
"You can take the girl out of the honky tonk, but you can’t take the honky tonk out of the girl.” To some this is a quote and to others it may remind them of a song, but no matter which it reminds a person of the meaning is the same: one may change a person, but they will always have that part of them deep down inside. In this play two men are appalled by how un-ladylike a young flower girl is. The men intrigue the flower girl, which then causes her to approach the men, and take them up on their offer to change her. Over time the men work on turning the flower girl into a true lady. In succeeding such a passion for love develops and causes issues between the lady and one of the men. The issues that were brought up show that even though Professor Higgins changed Eliza’s outward appearance in Pygmalion, he never could change her true character.
Throughout the novel, the reader follows Elizabeth through her struggle to maintain her personal identity, despite what her mother, sisters, and other women in society think of her. Elizabeth enjoys physical activities, such as walking , which is uncommon for women in the society in which she lives. “She has nothing, in short, to recommend her, but being an excellent walker. I shall never forget her appearance this morning. She really looked almost wild.” (Austen, 24). The women often look upon Elizabeth negatively due to her behaviour and personality, especially for her outspokenness, which was especially uncommon and unacceptable upon women. “‘Lizzy’, cried...
Finally, throughout the play, gender inequality and the battle of sexes are explored to the degree that these were the responsible factors for Miss Julie’s naturalistic fate, even though the battle of classes is a recurring theme throughout the play. Leading up to Miss Julie’s downfall, Strindberg successfully manages to avoid the topic of suicide ‘it’s terrible, but there’s no other way. Go’ but instead subtly suggests it through Jeans subliminal messages. Miss Julie was first entitled ‘The First Naturalistic Tragedy’ providing evidence that Miss Julie’s fate was a direct result of the environment around her: a typical anti-feminist zone full of gender inequality. Miss Julie goes well beyond the naturalistic struggle between the sexes that Strindberg wanted to portray.
In the play, Pygmalion, Bernard Shaw creates many events that consist of comedy, seriousness, sympathy and empathy. These four emotions helps the audience decide what they feel towards