“Pygmalion”- a thorough delight
Before
giving any view about the book I would like to tell you about George Bernard
shaw.Pygmalion is a masterpiece of Bernard Shaw.
Born- in
Dublin, Ireland
July 26, 1856
Died- November 02, 1950
About the author
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, and a co-founder of the
London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and
literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of
journalism, his main talent was for drama. Over the course of his life he wrote
more than 60 plays. Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems,
but each also includes a vein of comedy that makes their stark themes more
palatable. In these works Shaw examined education, marriage, religion,
government, health care, and class privilege. He
is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature
(1925) and an Oscar (1938). The former for his contributions to literature and
the latter for his work on the film "Pygmalion" (adaptation of his
play of the same name). Shaw wanted to refuse his Nobel Prize outright, as he
had no desire for public honors, but he accepted it at his wife's behest. She
considered it a tribute to Ireland. He did reject the monetary award,
requesting it be used to finance translation of Swedish books to English.
Shaw died at Shaw's Corner, aged 94, from
chronic health problems exacerbated by injuries incurred by falling.
 |
| George Bernard Shaw |
Masterpiece of
Bernard Shaw…………PYGMALION
Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess
at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of
gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable
speech. The play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the
day and a commentary on women's independence.
SUMMARY
Two old gentlemen meet in the rain one
night at Covent Garden. Professor Higgins is a scientist of phonetics, and Colonel
Pickering is a linguist of Indian dialects. The first bets the other that he
can, with his knowledge of phonetics, convince high London society that, in a
matter of months, he will be able to transform the cockney speaking Covent
Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a woman as poised and well-spoken as
a duchess. The next morning, the girl appears at his laboratory on Wimpole
Street to ask for speech lessons, offering to pay a shilling, so that she may
speak properly enough to work in a flower shop. Higgins makes merciless fun of
her, but is seduced by the idea of working his magic on her. Pickering goads
him on by agreeing to cover the costs of the experiment if Higgins can pass
Eliza off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party. The challenge is taken,
and Higgins starts by having his housekeeper bathe Eliza and give her new
clothes. Then Eliza's father Alfred Doolittle comes to demand the return of his
daughter, though his real intention is to hit Higgins up for some money. The
professor, amused by Doolittle's unusual rhetoric, gives him five pounds. On
his way out, the dustman fails to recognize the now clean, pretty flower girl
as his daughter.
For a number of months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak
properly. Two trials for Eliza follow. The first occurs at Higgins' mother's
home, where Eliza is introduced to the Eynsford Hills, a trio of mother,
daughter, and son. The son Freddy is very attracted to her, and further taken
with what he thinks is her affected "small talk" when she slips into
cockney. Mrs. Higgins worries that the experiment will lead to problems once it
is ended, but Higgins and Pickering are too absorbed in their game to take
heed. A second trial, which takes place some months later at an ambassador's
party (and which is not actually staged), is a resounding success. The wager is
definitely won, but Higgins and Pickering are now bored with the project, which
causes Eliza to be hurt. She throws Higgins' slippers at him in a rage because
she does not know what is to become of her, thereby bewildering him. He
suggests she marry somebody. She returns him the hired jewelry, and he accuses
her of ingratitude.
The following morning, Higgins rushes to his mother, in a
panic because Eliza has run away. On his tail is Eliza's father, now unhappily
rich from the trust of a deceased millionaire who took to heart Higgins'
recommendation that Doolittle was England's "most original moralist."
Mrs. Higgins, who has been hiding Eliza upstairs all along, chides the two of
them for playing with the girl's affections. When she enters, Eliza thanks
Pickering for always treating her like a lady, but threatens Higgins that she
will go work with his rival phonetician, Nepommuck. The outraged Higgins cannot
help but start to admire her. As Eliza leaves for her father's wedding, Higgins
shouts out a few errands for her to run, assuming that she will return to him
at Wimpole Street. Eliza, who has a lovelorn sweetheart in Freddy, and the
wherewithal to pass as a duchess, never makes it clear whether she will or not.
I suggest all book lovers to read unabridged form of the
book and I assure you that you’ll never wish that this book should be over….you
would love to turn the pages …..You’ll be in love with Miss doollite.
This play is one of Shaw's most popular
plays. It has been adapted into the award-winning film and stage productions of
Lerner and Loewe's musical, "My Fair Lady."
"After a long time of not
reading any plays I finally found time to read this one and I can surely say
that it's by far the best decision I have made.
Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion'
portrays a bet made by Henry Higgins, a well-know phonetician with his best
friend, in which professor states that he can change a flower girl's entire
behavior and manner of speech and in a few months she will look like a true
lady. What I found particularly interesting in this play is surely the classic
British humor sense which gives life to its characters in a very special way.
As a result, the characters become extremely true-to-life and every single
phrase fulfills you with joy and excitement. Also, I should mention that the
parallel between the ancient Greek's 'Pygmalion and Gallathea ' and this story,
gives this play a special appeal, so from a playful story it becomes a
meaningful lesson which clearly shows how little habits can change a person's
destiny. It's a comedy that's all about class
and human relationships."
With Love
Dipali
