Pygmalion

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Pygmalion

• Introduction

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Outline

• Introduction
• Story vs. Drama, Comedy
• George Bernard Shaw,
• the Myth the Play
• Social Background Language Class
• Preface
• The Play as a Whole

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Introd (1) A play and a story (textbook pp.
1125-)
Play (read and performed)
Story (read)
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Comedy (textbook Glossary A2 )

• Evokes laughter ? at
• The characters mechanical and contradictory
  actions
• Exaggeration a degree of improbability (a.
  richness of life b. surprise c. improbable
  situations) e.g. A Very Old Man
• The characters ideals (seemingly trivial ?? the
  tragic characters ideal).
• A degree of absurdity in the characters behavior
  ? the reader feels superior and laughs at the
  characters
• A. Social Foibles(??) characters defined
  primarily in terms of their social identities and
  roles.
• B. Universal absurdity perceived so that the
  reader identifies with the absurd action and
  laughs with the characters. (Waiting for Godot

Comedy of Manners
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1. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

• Shavian (Shaw's) Style
• stage direction --economical exposition and
  suggestive of social background
• prefatory essay--used to express his doctrines
• discussion in (and around) the play.  Sometimes
  Shaw calls his own plays Problem Play, Discussion
  Drama, Play of Ideas.  He also claims that
  "primarily, his plays are not plays they are
  tracts in dramatic forms."  He regards social
  criticism as the most important function of all
  art. (A Guide to Bernard Shaw, Edward
  Wagenknecht, 1929, reissued 1971 pp. 3, 5, 16,
  17)

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2. Pygmalion the Myth and the Play

• In Ovid's Metamophosis, Pygmalion is a sculptor
  who is not interested in women.  Pygmalion,
  however, finds himself in love with his
  sculpture, Galatea, and he caresses her and
  offers her with all the gifts women like.  At the
  end, Venus realizes his wish and turn Galatea
  into a real woman. 
• Who is the Pygmalion in the play?
• Why is the play a Romance in Five Acts?
• The Sequel provides some sort of explanation.

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2. Note Romance (1. The improbabl, 2.
adventure, 3. love)

• ?? ? ????
• An extended fictional prose narrative about
  improbable events involving characters that are
  quite different from ordinary people. e.g.
  Knights on a quest for a magic sword and aided by
  characters like fairies and trolls.(ref.
  http//www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm )
• Medieval Romance King Arthur and Round-Table
  Knights
• 19th century Tales which are adventurous and
  exotic.
• 20th century today formulaic love story (e.g.
  family romance), or Lord of the Rings (fantasy
  romance)
• Does Pygmalion involve love and adventure?

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Pygmalion

• Main Themes
• Language, Class Education

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3. Language and Class Differences in (late)
19th-century England

• 1. Language Queens English There was then an
  attempt at having a nationwide spoken standard,
  known as "the Queen's English." Cockney English
  is the exact opposite to Received
  Pronunciation, denoting ones lack of education.
• 2. The rise of the middle class
• More and more businessmen and their families
  prospered and imitated the upper classes they
  can even buy themselves some titles. To look
  classy, they also try to imitate the manners and
  accent of the upper class.
• The upper class -- subtle distinctions became
  all-important. Aristocrats tried to maintain
  their superiority by glorifying attributes that
  could not be bought easily, such as family
  history, refined social graces, and old
  traditions. (ref LRC)

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3. Language and Class Differences Then and Now

• Queens English (ref. http//www.ic.arizona.edu/
  lsp/QueensEnglish.html examples of Queens
  English and Cockney here.)
• -- the monarchs usage of the language should be
  a model in speech and writing (Wales, 1994).
• -- the Kings English standard English in
  written form (since James I in 16th/17th
  centuries).
• 2. Nowadays Queen Elizabeth speaks Queens
  English, but the younger generations of the royal
  family today (e.g. Princess Di and Prince Edward)
  speaks a mixture of cockney and RP.
• 2. World englishes in Hong Kong, Singapore,
  Australia, Canada, the U.S., the Caribbean area,
  etc.

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4. Science and the Preface

• The center of the play Eliza as "the most
  absorbing experiment Higgins ever tackled."
• What does science bring to society? Does it
  solve problems or create problems? This has been
  a question asked since the rapid scientific
  developments in the 19th century England.
• Darwin's Origin of Species (1859)
• the discovery of the x-ray, the electron, and
  radioactivity science in 1890s (ref. LRC)
• GBS is interested in both science and phonetics
  (in development of a more complete alphabet for
  everyday use).
• Does this make Henry
• Higgins a hero in the play?

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Preface A Professor of Phonetics.

• The English have no respect for their language,
  and will not teach their children to speak it.
• The reformer England needs today is an energetic
  phonetic enthusiast that is why I have made such
  a one the hero of a popular play.
• Henry Sweet -- His true objective was the
  provision of a full, accurate, legible script for
  our noble but ill-dressed language but he was
  led past that by his contempt for the popular
  Pitman system of shorthand, which he called the
  Pitfall system.
• It the play is so intensely and deliberately
  didactic, and its subject is esteemed so dry,
  that I delight in throwing it at the heads of the
  wiseacres (????? ) who repeat the parrot cry that
  art should never be didactic.
• Elizas change neither impossible nor uncommon.

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The Play as a whole
Act 1 in front of St. Pauls The meeting of the crowd and the major and minor characters.
Act 2 at Higgins The beginning of the experiment and the bet Mr. Doolittle (Elizas practice)
Act 3 At-Home Day of Mrs. Higgins The first test the Embassys party (beginning part)
Act 4 at Higgins After the Embassys banquet
Act 5 at Mrs. Higgins The very next day, confrontation of Eliza and Higgins.
Added for the 1941 Film version
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Next Time

• Act I as a social microcosm
• Act II Beginning of Elizas Education/Transformati
  on

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Class Discussion Questions

1. What is Act I about? How do you learn it from
   stage direction?
2. Do you have any experience similar to Act I? Why
   is the Note-Taker (Higgins) offensive? Why is
   accent important to him? What do you think about
   people speaking in different accents?
3. After reading Act 1 and Act 2, what do you think
   the play is about? Are there any stories you can
   associate with this play? How?

• Related Stories
• Cinderella story Pretty Woman,
• Human Creation story Frankenstein, etc.
• Self-Made Man (from Rags to Riches) vs. Class
  Differences
• PYGMALION STORIES ART http//www.bluemorning.org
  /pygmalion/stories/index.htm

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Every Group Characters
About the story you chose, or Pygmalion

• What do you think of the characters? How do they
  act? What are their gestures? Clothing, etc.
  Are there any symbols associated with them?
• About the story you chose, or
• Minor Ones
• The Upper Class vs. the Flower Girl How would
  you characterize the traits and relationship of
  the mother (Mrs Eynsford Hill ), daughter(Clara
  Eynsford Hill), and son (Freddy Eynsford Hill)? 
  How would you compare and contrast them with the
  flower girl (Eliza Doolittle)? 
• Major Ones
• Two Scientists How would you describe the
  gentleman (Pickering)? How does he compare and
  contrast with the note-taker (Higgins)?  Pay
  attention to their different treatments of the
  flower girl. 

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Group Work

• Text Chosen?
• Director
• Script Writer
• Stage Manager (in charge of recording group
  meetings)
• Actors/Actresses
• Backstage Crew
• Sound
• Set and Property
• Costume and Makeup

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Mini Play Contest Tentative Schedule
Play Group
10?26? General Introd Job Division
11?2? Act I and Act II. (pp. 11-37) Character Analysis
11?9? Act II III (pp. 38-71) Creative Adapation
11?16? Act III-IV (pp. 71-87 Act V) Set and Prop
11?23? Act V and Postscript Theme and Presentation
11?30? Mid-Term (2) Rehearsal (1110-130)
12?7? Performance Day