Pygmalion Essay

The genre of romantic comedy has been widely dismissed due to its association with idealistic drivel and sappy quips. However, in some instances, this class of media makes use of its jovial nature to explore profounder and graver themes without losing romanticism or optimism. Victorian playwright George Bernard Shaw uses his characters to poke fun at the assumption of the upper class's moral superiority, common to Victorian England, through his protagonists' conflicting natures and backgrounds. Furthermore he uses his heroine's interactions with rich society to humorously reveal that one is born with neither tact, nor grace, nor sense, as was commonly believed. In his comedy, he addresses and affronts an even graver matter, one that has been prevalent in nearly every society throughout history and is still a point of debate today : the notion of female subservience and dependence to her male counterpart. All of these sober matters are expanded upon in a genre commonly dismissed under the pet-name, 'chick-flick'. George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion is superficially a light-hearted comedy concerning a plucky, chipper, flower girl, but beneath the quirky japery and endearing accents lie multiple attacks on the principles of Victorian society.

Shaw's stance towards the relation between virtue and class within Pygmalion was heavily influenced by society outside of the novel. A great deal of Shaw's own life was reflected in the plays theme of merit being independent of class or stature. Shaw "came from a Dublin family with claims to a certain position in society, [however,] his father's failing led to the family's loss of status, and Shaw was made to feel like an outsider. He decided that he would 'show them' by succeeding in the arts" (Anderson, vii). Shaw's personal background illustrates the belief in attaining merits despite one's social status. Furthermore, during this time period, Shaw was also influenced by the radical reformists for the protection of lower class women. While it is strongly insinuated that Shaw was a feminist, he did find fault in reformists who were overly dramatic or paranoid towards the prospect of lost virtue and the weakness of low class women. Within Pygmalion, Shaw "mocks the working-class woman's anxiety over her "character", but it also implies that such concern is sometimes warranted" (Marshik, 4). This illustrated that he was also opposed to dramatizing the prospect of loss of virtue being particularly dangerous to a sole class over others. The hierarchical society in which Shaw lived and Pygmalion is set determined one's value via the appearance upheld in public. Within Victorian England "...appearances... [were] of the utmost importance [... ]people of all walks of life are categorized by their presumed social standing." (Katherine, 1). Shaw found fault with this social ideal and expressed criticism of it within Pygmalion. Shaw's surroundings and his personal experiences with the relationship between one's merit and class emphatically influenced him and drove him to criticize the notion in Pygmalion.

Within Pygmalion, Shaw uses his characters and their actions to demonstrate that virtue is not indigenous to class, as many assume. Despite being from a lower class, Eliza, the heroine, continuously and artlessly strives to uphold her reputation and virtue. At one point she declares, "I don't want no gold and no diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am" (Shaw, 34). Throughout the play, Eliza upholds her morality, albeit with foolish vigilance, and the phrase "I'm a good girl, I am." practically becomes her catch phrase. In contrast to Eliza, Higgins, a prosperous phonetics professor, displays less decorum and virtue than Eliza and is often portrayed as being callous, brusque and unsympathetic. Initially, Higgins demonstrates a remarkable insensitivity and lack of empathy when he speaks of Eliza : "...when I've done with her, we can throw her back into the gutter; and then it will be her own business again; so thats all right..." (33, Shaw). Thus, he illustrates that he retains a childish degree of selfishness and disregard for consequences and the fate of others. Furthermore, Shaw illustrates that virtue can be a result of social pressure and the need to maintain appearances, not affable intentions, through the character of Mr. Doolittle. It becomes apparent that "Doolittle's own morals, skin deep and adopted under economic persuasion, serve to parody the authority of 'real' social reformers. If Doolittle can 'amuse' himself with social reform, so might anyone, and Pygmalion suggests that one requires neither a pure character nor sincerity to take a leading role in contemporary vigilance societies and moral movements."( Marshik, 7). Through his character Doolittle, Shaw emphasizes that one's propensity towards behaving morally is not related to one's position and further emphasizes the shallowness of the claim that virtue is concentrated in the upper class. Shaw uses the words and mannerisms of his characters to criticize a common Victorian principle and display that virtue and merit are not defined by one's class.

Within Pygmalion, Shaw uses the interactions between Eliza and others to place emphasis on the superficial nature of class distinctions founded on .appearances and pleasantries as well as expressing that such ornaments can be learned by anyone and are not inherited. Eliza's debut at a social party is made humorous in that Eliza, a poor flower girl, disguised in finery and through much practice is mistaken for nobility by the upper class party-goers. The scene climaxes with Eliza's utterance to Higgins; "An old lady has just told me that I speak exactly like Queen Victoria. I am sorry if I have lost your bet. I have done my best but nothing can make me the same as these people" (Shaw, 75).This comically emphasizes how baseless the foundations of Victorian class structure are, one in which a flower-girl, trained for six months can out-do the upper class in their own practices. Pygmalion further emphasises the foolishness of the principle that the upper class are