Essays on Pygmalion

The honest and compelling transformation of a simple flower girl from a disempowered ‘draggle-tailed guttersnipe’ to a ‘fierce’ woman who demands what she ‘want[s]’ and feistily laments the loss of her ‘independence’ is emblematic of the laudable qualities that Shaw wishes to highlight in the...

In comparing the Edwardian era – that is, the early 20th century – to the modern age, we can see that some distinct social constructs and class systems are present in both. However, social and class-related barriers are noticeably more porous in today’s world. George...

I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. -Simone de Beauvoir Tête-à-Tête: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre This paper seeks to examine and analyze, as portrayed in...

At first glance and introduction, it seems Mr. Doolittle is no more than a slovenly and crude navvyman. He serves the plot as nothing more than a physical representation of where Eliza comes from. However, in the two scenes he is in, he steals the...

In Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Shaw attacks the relations between Victorian era classes by exposing their wretched treatment of the lower class, as seen in the flower girl, by the higher classes, upper and middle, iconified in Higgins and Mrs. Pearce, respectively. These characters’ condescension towards...

Many individuals are adept at recognizing changes in their environment, others, and themselves. To these people, whatever the “change” might be-a new hairstyle, a new article of clothing, or an affected spoken dialect-rarely goes unnoticed. Sometimes, however, even these keen and perceptive individuals fail to...

George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ is a play that is scathing in its attack on the pruderies, hypocrisies and inconsistencies of higher society in early 20th century London. Through the transformation of Eliza Doolittle, Shaw reveals to the audience that amongst the ‘draggletailed guttersnipe[s]’ of the...

Contextual attitudes and values regarding gender and class in Pretty Woman (1990), directed by Garry Marshall, and Pygmalion (1913), written by George Bernard Shaw, are predominantly maintained throughout both texts, although minor adaptions have been made to preserve contextual relativity. The power inequality in relation...

Pygmalion and Galatea Allusion Pygmalion did not like women, and blamed them for everything. So, instead of finding a real wife, he decided to make himself one. Pygmalion carved out a woman made of ivory that he thought was even more beautiful than any live...

Comparing Pygmalion & My Fair Lady—Act 1, Scene 1 Because the focus of musicals is more concerned with song and dance and less concerned with dialogue than straight plays are, it stands to reason that musicals seek to simplify the plot in order to make...

The societal aspects of their writing made Dickens and Shaw two of the most influential figures of revolutionary and socio-political writing. William Blake, however, was also significant, especially through his work Songs of Innocence and Experience where he gave the marginalised figures of society a...

The Greek Myth of Pygmalion, about a sculptor and the woman he creates and falls in love with, has been appropriated into various texts of different times and made relevant to a wide range of audiences. In particular, George Bernard Shaw’s English play Pygmalion and...

Years before he became the greatest living writer of comedy, Shaw was an ardent social reformer. “My conscience”, he once wrote, “is the genuine pulpit article; it annoys me to see people comfortable when they ought to be uncomfortable; and I insist on making them...

Pygmalion and Galatea as portrayed in the movie Mannequin The movie Mannequin was directed by Michael Gottlieb and was released in 1987. The movie follows the love story of an artist by the name of Jonathan Switcher and Emmy, a mannequin created by Jonathan himself...

Comparing Pygmalion to My Fair Lady Numerous times a piece of literature is changed into a movie or musical it s plot and or theme has been changed to suit the director s thought of what would appeal to the public. One such example is...

My group and I decided to do our project on Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. I chose to be the scene designer. This paper will discuss my process in designing the scene for the Act (scene) we are focusing on. My group decided to focus on...

Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a work about transience, and perhaps no two things in the natural world are more fleeting than life and beauty. Artists aim to preserve these two qualities in their work by simultaneously imitating the natural world to give the appearance of life...

Pygmalion, written in 1912 by George Bernard Shaw and initial performed 2 years later, tells the story of Henry Higgins, an academic acoustics (speech), United Nations agency bets his friend that he will pass off a poor flower woman with a Cockney accent as a...

Summary of Pygmalion On a summer season night in London’s Covent backyard, a gaggle of assorted persons are gathered collectively under the portico of St. Paul’s Church for security from the rain. Among the workforce are Mrs. Eynsford-Hill and her daughter, Clara, who are ready...