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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very short little play, but I enjoyed it. I very much so preferred the ending in the play to the movie version.
'Pygmalion' is one of my favourite plays and many people know it better as the musical 'My Fair Lady' with the amazing Audrey Hepburn. I still can't get over the fact that my grandmother knew her and saw her perform in her own livingroom! Yes, I am jealous of my grandmother!
The plot of this play is amazing in its simplicity. A professor teaches a flower girl how to speak properly, thinking that this is the way to enter into society. That she is eventually the one with the better manners barely comes as a surprise. All of the characters are lovable, although Higgins always treads on the line between lovable and offensive. The play is a great piece of criticism on trying to fit in too much and thereby changing your own persona, something that is still very current. Neither Eliza Doolittle, nor her father, are happy with their new position and expectations in and of society.
Shaw, through Higgins, is actually something of a feminist if you look at his lines closely. Towards the end of the play, Higgins tells Eliza:
'You call me a brute because you couldn't buy a claim on me by fetching my slippers and finding my spectacles. You were a fool: I think a woman fetching a man's slippers is a disgusting sight: did i ever fetch your slippers? I think a good deal more of you for throwing them in my face. No use slaving for me and then saying you want to be cared for: who cares for a slave?'
Shaw is basically advocating for women to be independent and not slave over men. Higgins wants Eliza to be her own woman and to be his equal. He has no inclination to fall in love with her and the play therefore does not have the, perhaps expected, romantical ending. Unfortunately but predictably, Hollywood changed the ending of 'My Fair Lady' from the play. I only found out later that Shaw had been inspired by Ibsen, who wrote the ur-feminist play 'The Doll's House' which I also quite liked but wasn't as light in tone as this one.
This play was of course inspired by the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea, a story of a sculptor who falls in love with his own sculpture and asks the gods to bring her to life. Shaw was probably inspired by the 1871 play 'Pygmalion and Galatea' by W.S. Gilbert in which Galatea eventually returns to being a statue because she was happier that way. We see the same desire in Eliza near the end when she wishes she could return to the less complicated life of a flower girl, a thing that is impossible for her now that she has seen how life could be. There is also a link to 'Frankenstein', or at least I believe there is. Just like Frankenstein, Higgins creates and then leaves his creation wanting. He teaches Eliza no manners and doesn't show her any kind of love, much like Frankenstein's attitude towards the Creature.
I am always fascinated to see how plays are adapted onto a stage and still haven't had the luck to see this one live. What I do know is that Shaw had written a couple of scenes he said could be removed if they proved to difficult to stage. I wonder whether playwrights sometimes feel very limited in their writing because they have to think about what is possible on stage and what isn't. On the other hand, many plays are surreal and play exceptionally well with light and music, something a book, which has all the room for endless descriptions, has not.
The plot of this play is amazing in its simplicity. A professor teaches a flower girl how to speak properly, thinking that this is the way to enter into society. That she is eventually the one with the better manners barely comes as a surprise. All of the characters are lovable, although Higgins always treads on the line between lovable and offensive. The play is a great piece of criticism on trying to fit in too much and thereby changing your own persona, something that is still very current. Neither Eliza Doolittle, nor her father, are happy with their new position and expectations in and of society.
Shaw, through Higgins, is actually something of a feminist if you look at his lines closely. Towards the end of the play, Higgins tells Eliza:
'You call me a brute because you couldn't buy a claim on me by fetching my slippers and finding my spectacles. You were a fool: I think a woman fetching a man's slippers is a disgusting sight: did i ever fetch your slippers? I think a good deal more of you for throwing them in my face. No use slaving for me and then saying you want to be cared for: who cares for a slave?'
Shaw is basically advocating for women to be independent and not slave over men. Higgins wants Eliza to be her own woman and to be his equal. He has no inclination to fall in love with her and the play therefore does not have the, perhaps expected, romantical ending. Unfortunately but predictably, Hollywood changed the ending of 'My Fair Lady' from the play. I only found out later that Shaw had been inspired by Ibsen, who wrote the ur-feminist play 'The Doll's House' which I also quite liked but wasn't as light in tone as this one.
This play was of course inspired by the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea, a story of a sculptor who falls in love with his own sculpture and asks the gods to bring her to life. Shaw was probably inspired by the 1871 play 'Pygmalion and Galatea' by W.S. Gilbert in which Galatea eventually returns to being a statue because she was happier that way. We see the same desire in Eliza near the end when she wishes she could return to the less complicated life of a flower girl, a thing that is impossible for her now that she has seen how life could be. There is also a link to 'Frankenstein', or at least I believe there is. Just like Frankenstein, Higgins creates and then leaves his creation wanting. He teaches Eliza no manners and doesn't show her any kind of love, much like Frankenstein's attitude towards the Creature.
I am always fascinated to see how plays are adapted onto a stage and still haven't had the luck to see this one live. What I do know is that Shaw had written a couple of scenes he said could be removed if they proved to difficult to stage. I wonder whether playwrights sometimes feel very limited in their writing because they have to think about what is possible on stage and what isn't. On the other hand, many plays are surreal and play exceptionally well with light and music, something a book, which has all the room for endless descriptions, has not.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a very quick, enjoyable, lighthearted play that i give 3.5 stars!
i knew the basics of the story from the movie "my fair lady"- i have never seen the whole thing, but i've watched enough to get the basic idea of the plot. eliza in the play seems quite different from the movie version- she is more likely to stand up for herself and what she wants. the commentary shaw provided in his work was an insightful look into the british class system.
though i (mostly) enjoyed the play, it dragged enough in some places for me to justify not giving it a higher rating than 3.5. however, it was still good enough for me to devour in a day, so a better-than-average rating is, i believe, what it deserves!
i knew the basics of the story from the movie "my fair lady"- i have never seen the whole thing, but i've watched enough to get the basic idea of the plot. eliza in the play seems quite different from the movie version- she is more likely to stand up for herself and what she wants. the commentary shaw provided in his work was an insightful look into the british class system.
though i (mostly) enjoyed the play, it dragged enough in some places for me to justify not giving it a higher rating than 3.5. however, it was still good enough for me to devour in a day, so a better-than-average rating is, i believe, what it deserves!
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved it, but at that same time the ending was a bit disappointing. Very sad to a romantic.
I loved Eliza and Mrs. Higgins and the postscript at the end of the play by George Bernard Shaw, but I hated Henry Higgins so much that I can't give this five stars. I read this play because I watched a TV show that was based on My Fair Lady and I had Pygmalion on hand, so I thought I would check it out. I found the plot interesting, and I really enjoyed the critique of the classes and what separates them, but again, Henry Higgins. I almost put this down because I just disliked him so much. I did love Eliza and Mrs. Higgins. And the postscript of the play was really the highlight for me.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes