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A review by akissforcatullus
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The likely destructive relationship of the artist and the muse.
Being the first play I’ve read, it felt essential to listen to the audiobook while I read it (it’s free on youtube) and gosh, everything felt much more fluid and distinguishable and easy while listening to the different accents being read aloud. Pygmalion is a thought-provoking play centred around a poor, Cockney, flower-girl named Eliza. The setting is early 20th century London, so class is certainly a focal point. We have Mr Higgins, a tyrannical phoneticist, and Mr Pickering, a much more gentler phoneticist. Both are intrigued by Eliza’s request for lessons to make her speak more genteel—so she can get a job in a nice flower shop. Pickering offers to pay for her lessons and bets Higgins that he can't teach Eliza to speak so well that she passes as a noble at an ambassador's garden party coming up. Higgins and Pickerings incentive to help her is solely for the reason of seeing if they can fool the upper class—being that Higgins at least sees through the hypocrisy of the Victorian social hierarchy, and because of it, relishes in the opportunity to beat high society at its own game. Mr Higgins agrees and becomes her teacher, but since he’s incredibly callous and insulting to Eliza, Mr Pickering finds himself being a sort of mediator for the two, as well as, a person that Eliza learns the proper manners of a gentle person from.
Being the first play I’ve read, it felt essential to listen to the audiobook while I read it (it’s free on youtube) and gosh, everything felt much more fluid and distinguishable and easy while listening to the different accents being read aloud. Pygmalion is a thought-provoking play centred around a poor, Cockney, flower-girl named Eliza. The setting is early 20th century London, so class is certainly a focal point. We have Mr Higgins, a tyrannical phoneticist, and Mr Pickering, a much more gentler phoneticist. Both are intrigued by Eliza’s request for lessons to make her speak more genteel—so she can get a job in a nice flower shop. Pickering offers to pay for her lessons and bets Higgins that he can't teach Eliza to speak so well that she passes as a noble at an ambassador's garden party coming up. Higgins and Pickerings incentive to help her is solely for the reason of seeing if they can fool the upper class—being that Higgins at least sees through the hypocrisy of the Victorian social hierarchy, and because of it, relishes in the opportunity to beat high society at its own game. Mr Higgins agrees and becomes her teacher, but since he’s incredibly callous and insulting to Eliza, Mr Pickering finds himself being a sort of mediator for the two, as well as, a person that Eliza learns the proper manners of a gentle person from.
It’s a great play that touches upon sexism and classism, as well as puts into question the absurd idea of Victorian/middle class manners and the belief that such things are either innate or not. It was lovely to see an outspoken, female character like Eliza. I revel in this sentence written after the play has ended (sequel): ‘Eliza has no use for the foolish romantic tradition that all women love to be mastered, if not actually bullied and beaten.’
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Sexism