Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw and Satire

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Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw and Satire

• An Overview of the History, Literature and Styles

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GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

• born in Dublin, Ireland in 1856
• In 1950, Shaw fell off a ladder while trimming a
  tree on his property outside of London, and died
  a few days later of complications from the
  injury, at age 94

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SHAW INFLUENCES

• Shaw first worked as an art critic, then music
  critic, and finally, from 1895 to 1898, as
  Theatre Critic for the Saturday Review.
• founded the Fabian Society, a socialist political
  organization dedicated to transforming Britain
  into a socialist state through education.
• The Fabian society would later be instrumental in
  founding the London School of Economics and the
  Labor Party.

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SHAW INFLUENCES

• The outbreak of war in 1914 changed Shaw's life.
  For Shaw, the war represented the bankruptcy of
  the capitalist system and a tragic waste of young
  lives, all under the guise of patriotism.
• He expressed his opinions in a series of
  newspaper articles which proved to be a disaster
  for Shaw's public stature he was treated as an
  outcast, and there was even talk of his being
  tried for treason.

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PYGMALION THE MYTH

• Pygmalion was a sculptor from Cyprus who had no
  interest in the local women. He found them
  immoral and frivolous. Instead, he concentrated
  on his art until one day he ran across a large,
  flawless piece of ivory and decided to carve a
  beautiful woman from it.
• When he had finished the statue, Pygmalion found
  it so lovely and the image of his ideal woman
  that he clothed the figure and adorned her in
  jewels. He gave the statue a name Galatea,
  sleeping love.
• He found himself obsessed with his ideal woman so
  he went to the temple of Aphrodite to beg for a
  wife as perfect as his statue.

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PYGMALION THE MYTH

• Aphrodite was curious so she visited the studio
  of the sculptor while he was away and was charmed
  by his creation. Galatea was the image of
  herself.
• Flattered, Aphrodite brought the statue to life.
• When Pygmalion returned, he found Galatea alive,
  and humbled himself at her feet. Pygmalion and
  Galatea were wed.

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE PLAY

• World War I
• Queen Victoria characterized the times with a set
  of values called Victorianism which revolved
  around
• "social high-mindedness,
• domesticity, and
• a confidence in the expansion of knowledge and
  the power of reasoned argument to change
  society."

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE PLAY

• During the 19th century, many more Englishmen
  could vote. 
• This also brought the introduction of women's
  suffragette organizations.
• Increased political participation further
  prompted a shift in gender roles.
• The new woman - increasing numbers of women in
  the work force, as well as reforms to divorce
  laws and other impacts upon domestic life.

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PYGMALION THEMES

• Language Nature of it, connection to perception
  of the speaker, etc.
• Social Roles are they innate can they be
  taught?
• Human Evolution Fixed or ever-changing?
• Manners Important or Ridiculous?

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PYGMALION THEMES

• Roles of the Sexes What does it mean to be a
  lady of society? A gentleman of society?
• Class Distinctions What purpose do they serve?
  How are they maintained?
• Personal Identity Is one what society perceives
  one to be or something controlled by the self?
• Idealism What drives human acts?

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PYGMALION BASIC PLOT

• Pygmalion is a comedy about a phonetics expert
  (Henry Higgins) who, as a kind of social
  experiment, attempts to make a lady out of an
  uneducated Cockney flower girl (Eliza
  Doolittle). 
• Pygmalion probes important questions about social
  class, human behavior, and relations between the
  sexes.

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PYGMALION CHARACTERS

• Henry Higgins - a phonetics expert and a
  scientist who loves anything that can be studied
  as a scientific subject.  His enthusiasm for the
  study masks his human qualities.
• Eliza Doolittle - an uneducated, streetwise
  Cockney flower girl.  Her intelligence allows her
  to recognize her self-worth and the worth of
  others.
• Alfred Doolittle - Eliza's father, "an elderly
  but vigorous dustman..." who can borrow money
  from his most miserly friends.  Doolittle
  describes himself as "the undeserving poor".
• Mrs. Higgins - Henry Higgins's  mother, kind,
  sympathetic, understands those she encounters
  well.  She is the gracious lady of the house.

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PYGMALION CHARACTERS

• Frederick Eynsford Hill - Eliza Doolittle's young
  suitor from the upper class.  Freddy shows
  complete devotion throughout the play.
• Miss Clara Eynsford Hill - sister of Freddy, very
  comfortable in society, though without the wealth
  to actually support the lifestyle.
• Mrs. Eynsford Hill - mother of Freddy and Clara,
  very socially conscious and interested in those
  people her children associate with.

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PYGMALION CHARACTERS

• Nepommuck - Henry Higgins's first language
  student, adept in several languages.
• Mrs. Pearce Henry Higgins housekeeper, a
  practical, proud woman.  Mrs. Pearce is not
  afraid of Henry, but conscious of her middle
  class status.
• Colonel Pickering - An acquaintance of
  Higgins who has lived in the British Colonies in
  India and become very adept at the Indian
  dialects.  Pickering becomes the  caring, kind
  voice in Higgins scientific experiment. He views
  Eliza Doolittle as a person worthy of respect.

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SATIRE

• Satire defined A writing designed to make
  readers criticize themselves, society, human
  foolishness and weakness, human vices and crimes,
  or anything the writer is dissatisfied about in
  general.

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ELEMENTS OF SATIRE

• 1. Satires do not offer suggestions, they simply
  point out what is wrong with society and people.
• 2. Satires expose errors and conditions society
  no longer notices because we have grown to accept
  them or ignore them.

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ELEMENTS OF SATIRE

• SATIRE IS PERSUASIVE WRITING AND USES THE
  FOLLOWING APPEALS
• Logical Appeals Supporting a position with
  evidence, facts or statistics.
• Emotional Appeals Using words that create
  strong feelings in the reader.
• Ethical Appeals A text that establishes the
  writer as sincere and qualified to make such
  remarks.

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SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES

• 1. EXAGGERATION To make a persons
• vices or beliefs seem ridiculous and
• unattractive, satirists will exaggerate, often
• to the point of hyperbole.
• 2. UNDERSTATEMENT Making shocking
• Statements seem casual to emphasize how
• common the practice has become.

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SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES
3. IRONY Satirists use four types a. VERBAL
IRONY Sarcasm b. SITUATIONAL IRONY A contrast
between what is expected and what actually
happens. c. DRAMATIC IRONY Contrast between
what a character and what the reader knows. D.
Cosmic irony - it seems that God or fate is
manipulating events so as to inspire false hopes,
which are inevitably dashed.
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SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES
4. INVECTIVE describes very abusive, usually
nonironical language aimed at a particular
target (e.g., a string of curses or name
calling). Invective can often be quite funny, but
it is the least inventive of the satirist's
tools. A lengthy invective is sometimes called a
diatribe. The danger of pure invective is that
one can quickly get tired of it, since it offers
limited opportunity for inventive wit.
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SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES
5. Caricature Exaggerating for comic and satiric
effect one particular feature of the target, to
achieve a grotesque or ridiculous effect. Refers
more to drawing than it does to writing (e.g.,
the political cartoon). 6. Burlesque Ridiculous
exaggeration in language which makes the
discrepancy between the words and the situation
or the character silly. For example, to have a
king speak like an idiot or a workman speak like
a king.
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SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES

• 7. Parody A style which deliberately seeks to
  ridicule another style. This may involve, in less
  talented parody, simply offering up a very silly
  version of the original. In more skilful
  parodies, the writer imitates the original very
  well, pushing it beyond its limits and making it
  ridiculous.

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SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES
8. Reductio ad absurdum A popular satiric
technique (especially in Swift), whereby the
author agrees enthusiastically with the basic
attitudes or assumptions he wishes to satirize
and, by pushing them to a logically ridiculous
extreme, exposes the foolishness of the original
attitudes and assumptions.