1. Pygmalion Analysis Group 2
Troy Miller, Noah Dovenbarger, Kaley Wilson,
& Deshan Meemanage

2. Themes Connected to Context
The society of classes was based on socioeconomics
Education is affected by socioeconomics
This was the culture that individuals surrounded themselves with throughout the entirety of the Victorian Era.
Women were part of the same class as wealthy men, but they were still looked down upon as unequal and deserving of lesser opportunities.
The author’s implementation of the character Pickering acts as a foil to the historical context of this
The cockney accent provides further evidence towards people coming from a lower class resulting in lower education

3. Theme Connected to Contexts etc.

4. Education and Intelligence
“Ahyee,beyee,ceyee,deyee” (pg 40)
Eliza does not know her ABC’s
“This is what we pay for as elementary education. This unfortunate animal has locked up for nine years in school at our expense to teach her to speak and to read the language of shakespeare” (pg 40)
This was higgins response to the previous statement made by Eliza
Don't necessarily have to be educated to understand how to worldworks
Concept believed by Alfred Doolittle
“Nah then, Freddy: look wh’ y’ gowin deah” (pg 4)
Eliza’s cockney accent is associated with her not being intellectual
Eliza fooled others of a higher socioeconomic class without being from that class herself
Proving that you do not have to necessarily be educated to be smart

5. Education and Intelligence
THE NOTE TAKER. Simply phonetics. The science of speech. That's my profession; also my hobby. Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby! You can spot an Irishman or a Yorkshireman by his brogue. I can place any man within six miles. I can place him within two miles in London. Sometimes within two streets. (1.118)
Here, Higgins shows that speech can be regarded as a science and used as a tool.
THE NOTE TAKER. A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere— no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon. (1.125)
Here, however, he invests speech with spiritual and cultural implications; English should be respected, he argues, is important because it is the language of great artists, and a gift from God.

6. Scene Introduction Act II pg. 19-20
Pickering and Higgins are speaking privately about the deal with Eliza, in where she offers the men a somewhat small amount of money for Higgins to help her change the way she speaks. Higgins then brings up the amount of income she brings in every day and compares it to the amount a millionaire would be willing to pay a part of their income.

7. Question:
A playwright has many tools at hand for developing themes. In the development of a theme in Pygmalion, show how one of these conventions has been used to develop a theme in the play.