You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
funny
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:
Complicated
funny
Hahaha this book is hilarious! ^^
professor Higgins and Pickerings are such little boys!! They're so funny!!
what a wonderful book :)
i really enjoyed being able to picture the characters while i read about them (my fair lady cast...)
professor Higgins and Pickerings are such little boys!! They're so funny!!
what a wonderful book :)
i really enjoyed being able to picture the characters while i read about them (my fair lady cast...)
The most famous play by George Bernard Shaw that is loosely based on the Greco-Roman myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, which recounts the sculptor and king Pygmalion creating a female sculptor that he falls in love with, comes to life thanks to Athens, and ends up marrying. Shaw modernized re-telling takes place in England and has inspired countless adaptations, particularly the musical, My Fair Lady.
A confirmed bachelor, private gentleman, and amateur linguistic with an interest in phonetics makes a bet with newfound friend, Colonel Pickering, to use his knowledge of speech to teach and transform a poor flower girl from her vulgar-sounding cockney to a refined “proper” English of the upper-classes and try to fool people at an elegant garden party that she is a duchess.
Language becomes a marker of social class. The upper classes dehumanize and think poorly of Eliza because of her poverty, dirty clothing, general appearance, and cockney speech. Higgins has refined his skill with phonetics to the point where he can tell where someone was born and lived based on their speech. Speech seems to be integral part of who we are as people, but if the play explores this assumption it also ends up critiquing it. Once Eliza is trained in proper upper-class English she realizes she can never go back to her lower-class lifestyle again. Her speech is something she was taught through training and no longer represents her origins. Speech can also be an illusion that fools people to make false assumptions about others.
As part of its critique of social class distinction, the play shows in numerous ways that strict class distinctions are artificial. The genteel family of Mrs. Eynsford Hill, Clara, and Freddy are technically part of higher social circles, but in reality are impoverished. Higgins may be well-educated, wealthy, and an independent gentleman who teaches speech, but his own speech is full of curses, foul language, and he is accused of having bad manners and social graces. The upper and middle classes aren’t always as sophisticated as they pretend to be.
Indeed, the funniest moment of the play is when Eliza’s father, Mr. Doolittle accidentally ends up gaining a large amount of money due to Higgins making a joke during a correspondence with a philanthropist. While Mr Doolittle understands he needs this money to survive and not end up in a workhouse since he hasn’t saved for his future and he is only getting older, he also fears that he will have to adopt middle-class social mores and change his lifestyle of drinking and having a good time. He resents Higgins meddling in his life and forcing him to be something that he is not.
Although presented in a comical matter, Mr. Doolittle’s abrupt situation parallels Eliza. She comes to Higgins hoping to change her life, but ends becoming a social experiment. It is not only her poverty that dehumanizes her, but the experiment itself to change her in the image of Higgins is dehumanizing. The success at the garden party, both Higgins and Pickering take credit for the success, while declaring the party boring and discussing how nervous they were feeling without giving her an ounce of credit, thinking about her feelings, her accomplishment, and basically ignoring her very presence, she comes to understand that she is valued only as an object and accomplishment for them. It turns out that she is not a statue to be formed in Higgins, but actually has thoughts, feelings, and desires of her own, while being left in an ambiguous position within Higgins’ home. However, the play also hints that Higgins has developed latent feelings for her and she for him.
One of Higgins biggest flaws is his lack of self-knowledge and denial of his flaws. Eliza came to Higgins because she recognized a flaw in herself that needed to be fixed in order to advance in the world, but this came at the price of her independence. She rejects the arrogant Higgins as a potential partner, although keeps a friendship of sorts with him and Pickering, and decides to marry Freddy.
A confirmed bachelor, private gentleman, and amateur linguistic with an interest in phonetics makes a bet with newfound friend, Colonel Pickering, to use his knowledge of speech to teach and transform a poor flower girl from her vulgar-sounding cockney to a refined “proper” English of the upper-classes and try to fool people at an elegant garden party that she is a duchess.
Language becomes a marker of social class. The upper classes dehumanize and think poorly of Eliza because of her poverty, dirty clothing, general appearance, and cockney speech. Higgins has refined his skill with phonetics to the point where he can tell where someone was born and lived based on their speech. Speech seems to be integral part of who we are as people, but if the play explores this assumption it also ends up critiquing it. Once Eliza is trained in proper upper-class English she realizes she can never go back to her lower-class lifestyle again. Her speech is something she was taught through training and no longer represents her origins. Speech can also be an illusion that fools people to make false assumptions about others.
As part of its critique of social class distinction, the play shows in numerous ways that strict class distinctions are artificial. The genteel family of Mrs. Eynsford Hill, Clara, and Freddy are technically part of higher social circles, but in reality are impoverished. Higgins may be well-educated, wealthy, and an independent gentleman who teaches speech, but his own speech is full of curses, foul language, and he is accused of having bad manners and social graces. The upper and middle classes aren’t always as sophisticated as they pretend to be.
Indeed, the funniest moment of the play is when Eliza’s father, Mr. Doolittle accidentally ends up gaining a large amount of money due to Higgins making a joke during a correspondence with a philanthropist. While Mr Doolittle understands he needs this money to survive and not end up in a workhouse since he hasn’t saved for his future and he is only getting older, he also fears that he will have to adopt middle-class social mores and change his lifestyle of drinking and having a good time. He resents Higgins meddling in his life and forcing him to be something that he is not.
Although presented in a comical matter, Mr. Doolittle’s abrupt situation parallels Eliza. She comes to Higgins hoping to change her life, but ends becoming a social experiment. It is not only her poverty that dehumanizes her, but the experiment itself to change her in the image of Higgins is dehumanizing. The success at the garden party, both Higgins and Pickering take credit for the success, while declaring the party boring and discussing how nervous they were feeling without giving her an ounce of credit, thinking about her feelings, her accomplishment, and basically ignoring her very presence, she comes to understand that she is valued only as an object and accomplishment for them. It turns out that she is not a statue to be formed in Higgins, but actually has thoughts, feelings, and desires of her own, while being left in an ambiguous position within Higgins’ home. However, the play also hints that Higgins has developed latent feelings for her and she for him.
One of Higgins biggest flaws is his lack of self-knowledge and denial of his flaws. Eliza came to Higgins because she recognized a flaw in herself that needed to be fixed in order to advance in the world, but this came at the price of her independence. She rejects the arrogant Higgins as a potential partner, although keeps a friendship of sorts with him and Pickering, and decides to marry Freddy.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
I enjoyed reading this much more than u expected. The characters were incredibly interesting and quirky and the whole thing wasn’t like anything I’d ever read before. I recommend this to anyone looking for something short and sweet to read.
George Bernard Shaw apparently once said, "Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself." I suppose this does not extend to writing books. Shaw was an absolute bastard. Unfortunately, he was also very talented.
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
LOVED IT. Pygmalion is an insanely funny critique of the middle class and our society, an a glimpse into the human psyche. (Henry Higgins is obviously my favorite. Villainous and logical are the perfect pairing.) And Eliza is definitely one who'd join the women's empowerment movement of any time in history. We read this aloud in class, and I'd definitely recommend at least reading it out loud in a group instead of reading it alone. If you don't have enough friends to play all the parts, read it out to yourself.