Comparison Of Pygmalion And My Fair Lady

"My Fair Lady" is a Broadway musical Written by Alan Jay Lerner who was also the Lyricist and was Composed by Fredrick Loewe. It opened on Broadway in 1956, it ran on Broadway for 6 years and has had many Revivals. The Musical is based on a play written by Bernard Shaw known as "Pygmalion" and opened in 1913 and had many Adaptations, one being "My Fair Lady" which Shaw did not want to be created. The original play itself was based off a Greek mythology figure Pygmalion who was in love with his statues which portrayed the ideal for women's standards at the time. Both works have won many awards such as Oscars and golden Globes, as well as Academy Awards. The plot for both works is "Pompous phonetics professor Henry Higgins is so sure of his

In "Pygmalion," he is portrayed as a narcissist who cannot truly love and respect others. Additionally, the musical overlooks the complexity of Eliza’s character and of her relationship to Henry. In their musical incarnations, Shaw’s characters lose much of their edginess and humanity. The tone of "Pygmalion" is darker and more realistic than that of "My Fair Lady," which is a work of fantasy composed in a light and comedic style. The music in "My Fair Lady" takes away from the seriousness of the play, for example if Professor Higgins is treating Eliza badly there would be a song incorporated to make light of the situation and make Higgins actions more excusable. In the Musical Higgins sings a song called "A Hymn to him" which is extremely sexist and rude, the lyrics state "Women are irrational, that's all there is to that! Their heads are full of cotton, hay, and rags! They're nothing but exasperating, irritating, vacillating, calculating, agitating, Maddening and infuriating hags! [To Pickering] Pickering why can't a woman be more like a man?" The song is seen as comedic and was not frowned upon during that time. Whereas as in "Pygmalion" it does not have songs to help it with comedic relief therefore, the characters have all their edginess and darkness as some may say. Overall the musical did not follow Shaw's vison in what he had in mind for characters and message portrayed in

When reading "My Fair Lady" the dialogue is very similar if not identical to "Pygmalion" Music can be taken out and the plot would not be significantly changed or damaged. Soon Lerner and Lowe realized the play didn’t follow the basic constructs of a musical with no subplot or secondary love story and no room for an ensemble, they still decided to pursue the musical, which made it hard to follow Kislans criteria. In many parts of the musical you can see how they turned some of the dialogue into a song, which was unnecessary because the motives and thought of the characters are clearly stated in Shaw's opinion as he says it possessed its own verbal music. Some may argue that the music gives us insight of the true feelings of these Characters and what is going through their minds. Shaw would disagree because he feels the songs betray the play itself and change the whole meaning of "Pygmalion" which was mad to deal with class issues. The song "With a Little Bit of Luck" undermines and makes light of the fact he is an important character when he comes to the theme of class distinctions. Doolittle is a source of humor in the play. His values and attitudes create a paradoxical humor, because they are the opposite to what the middle classes would expect a working-class man to think. His juxtaposition of ideas 'I want a bit of amusement, 'cause I'm a thinking