http://www.meghanwilliams.com/ugb.html Meg Williams What we believe influences how we behave What we believe influences how we behave Likewise, how we behave impacts what people think[r]
(1)DRAMA II
MODERN DRAMA
(2)PYGMALION
(3)George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard grew up in an atmosphere of
genteel poverty, which to him was more
(4)PYGMALION
(5)The Myth Behind the Play
There is never any overt reference in the play to Pygmalion; Shaw assumes a classical understanding
(6)(7)The Myth Behind the Play
While he stands astonished and glad, though
doubting, and fears he may be mistaken, again and again with a lover's ardor he touches the object of his hopes.
It was indeed alive! The veins when pressed
yielded to the finger and then
resumed their roundness. Then at last the votary of Venus found words to thank the
(8)The Play Itself: PYGMALION
One of the most popular plays of Bernard Shaw,
(9)PYGMALION
(10)Pygmalion: Background
Pygmalion is set in London, England, around the beginning of the twentieth century
During this time in London, workingclass people like Eliza Doolittle
• lived in slums
• had no heat or hot water
(11)The class structure in England at this time was very rigid
upper clas s
middle clas s
(12)Pygmalion: Background
The government did provide some schooling
However, an education did not teach the proper speech that was considered a sign of the upper class
(13)PYGMALION
(14)George Bernard Shaw
“I must warn my
readers that my
attacks are directed against themselves, not against my stage figures.”
(15)George Bernard Shaw
• Shaw wanted to force his viewers to face the
reality of unpleasant events.
• He promoted the “unpleasant” plays by
publishing a long preface in which he could argue his views.
• Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature
in 1925.
(16)(17)PYGMALION
(18)Pygmalion: Introduction
In this play, George Bernard Shaw uses humor and lively characterization to explore how
language,
class structure, education,
(19)Pygmalion: Introduction
The two main characters are • Eliza Doolittle—a poor but
proud flower girl with a
cockney accent—a way of speaking associated with the working classes
(20)Pygmalion: Introduction
Eliza comes to Higgins’s house to ask him to give her speech lessons
Mythology Guide http://www.meghanwilliams.com/ugb.html