The Role Of Social Class In 'Pygmalion' By George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw is known by many titles – a leader in the Fabian society, a devout socialist, and perhaps the greatest English playwright since Shakespeare. His literary work is iconic, having led to some of the biggest social reforms in the Victorian period, as well as influencing modern literature today. He ventured where many playwrights would not, by bringing his socialistic opinions into his plays. Shaw utilizes characters and phonetics to exemplify the tolerance of the ‘unbridgeable’ gap between the social classes. In his socially critical play Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw uses Greek myth as a paradigm of social mobility with his didactic style, challenge of societal norms, and hypocrisy of the Victorian social class.
Much of Shaw’s beliefs on social class stem from his youth. His background in socialism and Fabianism greatly influenced his works. He grew up in the lower middle class, and as a child, he witnessed many people, including him, get denied certain luxuries and respect due to their place in social hierarchy. Shaw did not believe in social classing (Crick), instead believing that everybody deserved equal chance, as Bert asked in The Awakening, “How valid is social status based less on one’s family and money? How many wrongs should a birthright right if a birthright could right wrongs?” Social equality was not a popular goal, however, as well as the idea that people could improve their social standing as, quoted by George Gissing “social transformation, whether passive or active (‘raising or being raised’), was still for a member of the London underclass in the late nineteenth century, or a virtual impossibility.” Shaw addresses social mobility in his preface, arguing that it is quite easy and quite ...

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...will always have an idol to follow, whether it is an idealistic social title, or the dominant power of money. All of these theories are consistent with today’s society, generating a timeless nature for the story of Pygmalion. Social class will always exist in English society, but Shaw has set new social standards with his plays, provoking the mind, and forcing his audience to see his point of view (Crick). He has enabled equality between the social classes by laying the foundation for social reform and equal opportunity. His didactic style and fearless approach to politics has set him apart from the average playwright, allowing Shaw’s literary works to have an outstanding impact on social class, and teach his socialistic and Fabianistic beliefs in a way that leaves the general audience with no question on what he plans to achieve with his ideas of social reform.