George Bernard Shaw

The first thing that I thought when I say Shaw’s work Pygmalion was wow this is so long and reading it is going to take forever. The second thing I thought about it was after I read the Preface: A Professor of Phonetics and was oh lord I can imagine this is going to be a difficult work to read because of spelling to emphasize a point.

I feel I must confess that I was never taught phonics and have always been bad about pronouncing certain words. I would list examples but I have decided to spare myself of the embarrassment.

While reading the first Act I felt very sorry for the young flower girl. Her speech was awful but I did not believe that it called for some of the attitude and things said to her. I also could not help but wonder if people have thought me foolish, low class and ignorant when I have not been able to pronounce a word that everyone else seems to find so easy. The note taker, whom later we learn is Henry Higgins, continually says things to this young woman that seem hurtful. If you remember back to Shaw’s background information it states

“Pygmalion foregrounds most of Shaw’s characteristic themes: his distaste for and distrust of the British class system, his impatience with the second-class status afforded by women in the early decades of the twentieth century,” (1004).

I believe that Higgins comments to Eliza (the young flower girl) are a great example of this. Higgins says to Eliza,

“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.” (1013).

And later he goes on to tell Pickering “You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days.” And once again to Eliza “You squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language” (1013). When I read these lines I was angry with Higgins. I could not believe that he was talking to this poor girl in such a way and did not even care about her feelings.

But I was even more shocked (much like Higgins and Pickering) that Eliza had gone to find Higgins in order to take lessons of speech. I had hoped that Higgins would have found a new level of respect for her for stepping up and attempting to learn but he continues to bash her: “Be off with you: I don’t want you…Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down, or shall we throw her out of the window?” (1016-1017). While Higgins continues to give Eliza a hard time while giving her lessons and helping her become more lady like, I believe he gradually begins to fall for her.

I enjoyed reading this play very much so. Like I stated at the beginning of this blog when I first saw how many pages I was to read I thought oh this is going to be terrible but I actually could not put the book down until I had finished the play. You always hear about how the movie based on this play My Fair Lady is such a classic and that everyone must see it. I personally have never seen it, but after reading the play I want to go to the closest blockbuster and rent it. I believe that everyone that has seen the movie and loved the movie should read this play if they have not already. I do believe that perhaps it would open up more understanding of the movie and would also get this lovely piece of literature into lives of more people.