Pygmalion Drama

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In 19th century continental Europe the Victorian era started in theatre which produced a lot of intriguing plays. During this time there was a lot of conflict throughout the different countries and it reflected through the theatre. 19th century continental Europe was filled with a lot of drama and wars which the play Pygmalion does a great job of portraying through theatre and making connections to historical facts.
During the early 19th century alliances were forming and tension was building all around Europe. The industrial revolution took place during the 19th century, which means everybody’s armies were becoming more advanced (Kindersly, 291). All this industrialization led to a race of arms and everybody wanted to be the strongest nation. With all this industrialization happening and alliances forming World War I started. The final spark that started the war was Archduke Ferdinand getting assassinated in Serbia. Some of the world’s greatest powers were competing against each other. One threat that hung over Europe in the early 1900s was that Germany would rise up and try to become one of the world’s strongest nations (Kindersly, 298). With the war going on Europe’s economy and modern life was pretty bad. The theatre reflected this in there plays. The first flight took place in 1903 with the wright brothers; this would soon lead to airplane warfare, which changed the war dramatically (Kindersly, 290).
In theatre the Victorian era was going on during this time. This era produced a lot of dramas and a few comedies. This makes sense because World War I was going on and there was a lot of drama and tragedies going on in the world. There were a lot of different theatres throughout Europe like the Eagle theatre which audiences pre...

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...the social critique that was in the play (Conolly-Smith). There were controversies over the play because people didn’t want it to end with Eliza and Higgins parting ways but them getting married. When Shaw realized people were getting angry because Eliza and Higgins didn’t get married he blamed the audiences claiming they didn’t understand the play but eventually the blame came back to the play itself as written by Shaw. Shaw had some people on his side like Erich Kӧhner who said Shaw had enough good taste to not end a playwright with an engagement (Conolly-Smith).
In the 19th century alliances formed, wars broke out and social life changed a lot. Pygmalion does and amazing job of pointing out all these factors. With all the challenges of the war and industrialization happening people were still able to go to the theatre and enjoy an enjoyable, educational drama.

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