Pygmalion By George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw Biography He was born in 1856 and died in 1950. He described himself as “an upstart son of an alcoholic downstart.” He was born in Dublin into a prosperous family. However, his father’s failings led to the family’s loss of status. When Shaw was 16, his family split up. His mother and sisters went to London. After four years of working random jobs, Shaw went to London.

George Bernard Shaw Biography Continued In London, he lived with his mother until he got married at the age of 42. He struggled in London. He wrote five novels in six years, and all five were rejected from publishing companies. During this period, Shaw also wrote reviews of music, art, books, and drama. Shaw wrote more than 50 plays in his career. In 1925, Shaw earned the Nobel Prize in literature.

Bernard Shaw

A New Kind of Drama There was a growing dissatisfaction with the “fashionable drama” of the day. The current drama was said to have little connection with the issues of the day. Some refer to this drama as modern realistic drama. Shaw believed that art should not exist for art’s sake. He believed that art should be didactic and should reform society. Do you agree?

Shaw’s Drama Unlike many Victorian playwrights, Shaw did not believe that love solved all of life’s problems. Although his plays were didactic, they were also comedic. He was skilled at keeping his audience entertained. Shaw loved to use an anticlimax. He would lead the audience to anticipate a conventional conclusion and then not offer it. His hope was to leave his audience with new insights.

Shaw’s Current Popularity Unlike some reformist authors, Shaw’s work remains popular today. His work is constantly being revived in theaters around the world. The Theater Guild, which is an American theater company has a saying, “When in doubt, do Shaw.”

Pygmalion Arguably, Shaw’s most famous play Pygmalion was first performed in 1913. In 1956, the musical version of Pygmalion called My Fair Lady was staged. And in 1964, the film starring Audrey Hepburn was released. The film went on to win eight Oscars, including Best Picture.

Victorian Working Class London In the late 1800s and early 1900s, 80% of London’s labor force consisted of members of the working class. More than 30% of Londoners lived below the poverty line. Inner London was often perceived as dangerous, decadent, and a den for drunken, lazy, and unruly behavior.   

Victorian Working Class London Continued Studies showed that the vast majority, over ¾, of the city’s poor were victims of social structures and circumstance, including low wages, family illness, or irregular availability of employment.

The Victorian Wealthy The wealthy inhabitants of London developed the concept of society: a cultural and economic elite known largely for style, fashion, and extravagant parties. Members of society adhered to certain unalterable social principles, including: Hierarchy Respectability Male dominance

Flower Girls Girls and women of the lower class often earned their living by selling flowers in the open markets, restaurants, or door to door at London homes. A flower seller like Eliza Doolittle would have made about 38 pounds per year, while a lady in a shop could earn up to 300 pounds per year.

Mr. Higgins and Phonetics One of the main characters in Pygmalion named Henry Higgins is a phonetics expert. Phonetics is the science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription.

Accents A characteristic pronunciation, especially: One determined by the regional or social background of the speaker. One determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker's native language carried over to his or her use of another language. The specific way a person pronounces specific words. Shaped by where the person lives or grew up, the person’s original (or native) language, or any number of social factors.

Dialects A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists. Applies not only to the way a person pronounces specific words, but also which words a person uses and how the person uses those words to convey his or her meaning. Often will use words in very different ways than the “proper” or widely accepted usage of the language it comes from.

Standard English “Standard English” is taught in schools and spoken by important public figures in the government and media. However, most citizens speak a dialect or with an accent specific to the region in which they live, their social class, their ethnicity, etc. Standard English is a dialect itself.

Dialects in Pygmalion Henry Higgins speaks Standard English – the “proper” or widely accepted form of English – and enunciates his words clearly. Even when he is insulting someone, he chooses his words carefully (often selecting phrases that highlight his advanced education). “Yes, you squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language; I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba.” Eliza speaks the Cockney dialect of English – a dialect of London’s poor working class. Cockney is known for its distinctive pronunciations and word choices. “Aoooow! I ain’t dirty: I washed my face and hands afore I come, I did.” Eliza uses the word “ain’t” instead of “I am not”, “afore” instead of “before”, and “I come” instead of “I came”. She adds the phrase “I did” to the end of her sentence for extra emphasis. She also makes the unusual “Aoooow” sound.