PYGMALION
Online text: http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gbshaw/bl-gbshaw-pyg-pre.htm
The Myth of Pygmalion and Galatea
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Shaw’s Pygmalion is based on the ancient Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion who fell in love with his ivory statue Galatea. Similarly, Professor Higgins sculpts his masterpiece with Eliza.
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Questions on each Act
Act 1
1. What tensions already show in the relations between the Mother (later named as Mrs. Eynsford Hill), the Daughter (later named as Clara), and the son, Freddy?
2. Shaw's Preface indicates enthusiasm for phonetics, but what "dark side" might we infer from the opening scene in which everyone misconstrues Henry Higgins' motives for taking down Eliza the Flower Girl's speech?
3. What coincidences in the first act seem likely to structure the rest of the play?
Act 2
4. Why does Eliza want to improve her speaking skills and lose her accent? What does she expect to gain?
5. What concerns do Colonel Pickering and Mrs. Pearce (Higgins' housekeeper) raise about Higgins' scheme to educate Eliza? How does he respond to their concerns?
6. How does Higgins treat Eliza and her desire for education? Discuss a few instances--what assumptions does he make about her, and why do you think he makes them?
7. How would you sum up the creed of Eliza's father, the dustman Alfred Doolittle? What does he have against "middle-class morality," and why?
Act 3
8. Shaw offers rather full stage descriptions and directions and includes a long explantion about Henry Higgins' personality. What do you think he is up to by all the references to William Morris decorations? And why provide an account of a character's personality when, in most plays at least, we get a sense of that from the events and dialogue of the play?
9. How does Clara take Eliza's incredible attempt to "talk proper" during an accidental meeting with the Hills at Mrs. Higgins' "at home" social occasion? How do Freddy and Mrs. Eynsford Hill interpret Eliza's performance?
10. What do you think of Higgins' relationship with his mother, as it is developed in this third act? And how does she view her son's scientific experiment with Eliza?
11. What do you think of Higgin's own attitude towards his experiment with Eliza, up to this point in the play? What does he reveal towards the end of the third act?
Act 4
12. In the 1930's film production we plan to watch, we actually see Eliza dazzle the audience at a big party, and pass herself off as royalty. In the play, we don't see her performance. What difference does the change make, if any?
13. What does Higgins say he has accomplished when Eliza succeeds? What does Pickering apparently think has been accomplished?
14. Why is Eliza so distraught at after the party? What cogent criticism of Higgins and his ideas about class and language does she offer in this fourth act?
Act 5
15. Higgins boasted earlier in the play that he would be able to transform Eliza's very being and make her anything he wanted. Judging from this fifth act, would you say he was right or wrong? Is Eliza still the "Eliza" we met at the beginning, or is she another person altogether? Explain.
16. How does Alfred Doolittle's transformation into a married gentleman reflect on the exploration of class and linguistic variety we find in Pygmalion as a whole? What lesson are we supposed to learn from what happens to him?
Sequel
17. Before reading the sequel that follows Act 5, see if you can guess what Shaw is going to spin out as a future for some of the characters. Set down your guesses as a response. Then check to see if he agrees with you.
18. General questions: Shaw says in his Preface before Act 1 that good art is always didactic. What is the ultimate "lesson" he probably wanted us to take away from Pygmalion?
19. Do you agree with Shaw that art should be didactic (i.e. that it should drive home some moral point, take a stand on current issues, etc.)? In your response, don't ignore the other side of the question--consider argument/s against didacticism and argument/s in favor of it.
1. What tensions already show in the relations between the Mother (later named as Mrs. Eynsford Hill), the Daughter (later named as Clara), and the son, Freddy?
2. Shaw's Preface indicates enthusiasm for phonetics, but what "dark side" might we infer from the opening scene in which everyone misconstrues Henry Higgins' motives for taking down Eliza the Flower Girl's speech?
3. What coincidences in the first act seem likely to structure the rest of the play?
Act 2
4. Why does Eliza want to improve her speaking skills and lose her accent? What does she expect to gain?
5. What concerns do Colonel Pickering and Mrs. Pearce (Higgins' housekeeper) raise about Higgins' scheme to educate Eliza? How does he respond to their concerns?
6. How does Higgins treat Eliza and her desire for education? Discuss a few instances--what assumptions does he make about her, and why do you think he makes them?
7. How would you sum up the creed of Eliza's father, the dustman Alfred Doolittle? What does he have against "middle-class morality," and why?
Act 3
8. Shaw offers rather full stage descriptions and directions and includes a long explantion about Henry Higgins' personality. What do you think he is up to by all the references to William Morris decorations? And why provide an account of a character's personality when, in most plays at least, we get a sense of that from the events and dialogue of the play?
9. How does Clara take Eliza's incredible attempt to "talk proper" during an accidental meeting with the Hills at Mrs. Higgins' "at home" social occasion? How do Freddy and Mrs. Eynsford Hill interpret Eliza's performance?
10. What do you think of Higgins' relationship with his mother, as it is developed in this third act? And how does she view her son's scientific experiment with Eliza?
11. What do you think of Higgin's own attitude towards his experiment with Eliza, up to this point in the play? What does he reveal towards the end of the third act?
Act 4
12. In the 1930's film production we plan to watch, we actually see Eliza dazzle the audience at a big party, and pass herself off as royalty. In the play, we don't see her performance. What difference does the change make, if any?
13. What does Higgins say he has accomplished when Eliza succeeds? What does Pickering apparently think has been accomplished?
14. Why is Eliza so distraught at after the party? What cogent criticism of Higgins and his ideas about class and language does she offer in this fourth act?
Act 5
15. Higgins boasted earlier in the play that he would be able to transform Eliza's very being and make her anything he wanted. Judging from this fifth act, would you say he was right or wrong? Is Eliza still the "Eliza" we met at the beginning, or is she another person altogether? Explain.
16. How does Alfred Doolittle's transformation into a married gentleman reflect on the exploration of class and linguistic variety we find in Pygmalion as a whole? What lesson are we supposed to learn from what happens to him?
Sequel
17. Before reading the sequel that follows Act 5, see if you can guess what Shaw is going to spin out as a future for some of the characters. Set down your guesses as a response. Then check to see if he agrees with you.
18. General questions: Shaw says in his Preface before Act 1 that good art is always didactic. What is the ultimate "lesson" he probably wanted us to take away from Pygmalion?
19. Do you agree with Shaw that art should be didactic (i.e. that it should drive home some moral point, take a stand on current issues, etc.)? In your response, don't ignore the other side of the question--consider argument/s against didacticism and argument/s in favor of it.