The Themes of Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw

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The play, Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw is about a phonetics expert who makes a bet that he can pass a Cockney flower girl as a duchess in the matter of a few months. This girl, Eliza does achieve the transformation, but at the expense of a familiar life in the gutters, and risks being caste off into the world with nowhere to turn. This play explores many themes, has extensive use of symbolism, interesting tonality, irony, and the play itself is an allusion to ancient Greek mythology.

The major theme in Pygmalion is class. In Britain you are very much judged by your social class. Your class is marked by your clothing, your mannerisms, and your accent. By a phonetics expert like Higgins, a person can be placed within two streets in London by their accent, and therefor can be placed under their social class and furthermore judged based off of it. Higgins takes on the challenge of passing off a girl born into the lowest of social classes, and moving her up the social classes by changing her accent, clothing, and mannerisms.

Another theme in Pygmalion is imperfection and perfection. Before her transformation, Eliza is viewed, by herself and the world, as flawed. Her Cockney accent keeps her in the gutter, her mannerisms appall those of the upper classes, and she can barely make enough money to get by. Then, her transformation perfects her, bringing her accent and mannerisms up to that of an upperclassman. However, in the quest to perfect, she is left with an imperfect life. She does not know what to do with her perfected self, and feels like a victim to the world.

This play explores a variety of serious themes, however Pygmalion's tone is light-hearted. Higgins is constantly making careless insults that actually come off as qu...

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Higgins' character is rather ironic. He believes that he cannot be changed. He thinks that his habits of walking over everyone around him and being outrageously blunt is too ingrained in him to be changed. However, the who play is about how he transform Eliza. He believes he can change her so dramatically that she can pass as a duchess, but he does not believe that even he can start to act like a decent person.

Shaw's depiction of Eliza's transformation from a Cockney flower girl to a duchess is rather interesting. Higgins' irony and comedic relief is adds a light-hearted tone to the serious themes presented in the play. Along so, the symbolism supplies a deeper meaning. Pygmalion is a charming work, which shows as it's lived gloriously through the years. Although the play ends without a resolution, Eliza's transformation is sure to win the hearts of many.

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