George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion"

For many decades, we as people have come to criticize on every aspect of one

another’s being without learning the cause of why one portrays themselves in such a way.

In the book of Pygmalion, a play of an English woman who is looked down upon by society

Because of her dialect and occupation, is no exception to what many struggle with to understand.

The book takes place in London, England were a flower girl named Eliza Doolittle tries to sell

flowers to a bystander who becomes disgusted by her when she calls a man by his first name(“Freddy, look wh’ y’ goin’ deah” Shaw 12). Moments later she tries to sell flowers to two men named Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering, whom turn away from her and speak openly about her awful pronunciations and the way she carried herself. Throughout the story, the two men help Eliza Doolittle better her speech and improve the way that she presents herself in public. By doing so, the book shows many transitions of one characters tremendous growth, and the attitudes of everyone around her when she is portrayed in two different lights. Because of the circumstances in the book, the conflict, diction, and point-of-view are important elements used in Pygmalion.

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin Ireland in 1856. In 1876, Shaw moved to London where he established himself as a leading music and theatre critic. He began his literary career as a novelist. He began to write plays to illustrate his criticism of the English stage. A quote that Shaw had always said was ("A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic. “George Bernard Shaw - Biography”. Nobelprize.org. 15 Apr 2011”).In 1950, Shaw fell off a ladder while trimming a tree on his property at Ayot St. Lawrence in Hertfordshire, outside of Lo...

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...ed in Pygmalion. In conclusion, Pygmalion is a great read on how people interact with someone because of their self presentation. The diction showed how it can change in ones being and how others can change towards one. It shows conflict in society and in one’s self by examining what one is used to and how one is treated. Lastly the book shows that the point-of-view depicted upon one is not always what one sees, but what one lives.

Works Cited

Afreen, Haq. “A fabulous play by Bernard Shaw”. Readbookonline.net. web. Jan. 11, 2006

Esther, Lombardi. “Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw”. Classicreader.com. web. Nov. 17, 2006.

Frenz, Horst. ”George Bernard Shaw – Biography”. Nobelprize.org. Apr. 15, 2011

Shaw, Bernard. “Pygmalion”. New York: Penguin Books. 1956. Print

Timiko, Michael. “G.B Shaw”. World & I Online Magazine. World & I, July 2003., Web. Mar. 2004.