16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The sweetest thing, February 3, 2004
It is not very likely that George Bernard Shaw knew he was writing the play that would become one of the seminal romantic comedies of the 20th when he penned `Pygmalion'. The play is delightful, with borrowed elements from many genres. There is comedy and romance, above all, but there is also a very clear social critic -- and even a Marxist idea of class struggle. What only enhances the reading of this masterpiece.
Professor Henry Higgins is a linguistic expert who is much more interested in how people say the words rather than what they say. He ends up taking a bet that he is able to transform a simple cockney flower seller, Eliza, into a sophisticated and refined young lady, who would be able to fool the Queen herself. To succeed in such a move he claims he will change only the way she speaks.
To work on Eliza he puts her up in his house and starts polishing her speech. This is not an easy job, because what the girl speaks is not English, but a language she has developed herself. After some time, the Professor decides to introduce her to a group of friends, without mentioning her backgrounds. At first the meeting is blast. Although Eliza can use a fine language it is clear she has not backgrounds to develop and keep up a conversation. And her behavior ends up being the laughing stock. But one of the guests notices how beautiful the girl is. Higgins feels sort of jealous and this could lead their relationship to another level.
Shaw's prose is funny and touching at the same time. He uses devices, like everybody speaking at the same time, which only enhances the fun of the play and brings more truth to the action. His characters are lively and well developed. His social critic is evident. Eliza doesn't want to be rich or sound as such, she only wants to get a better job in a flower store, in other words, she only wants to be what she is. But the Professor insists on making her another person, very different from what she really is. Eliza's presence is the sweetest thing in the play. She is a nice and good-hearted girl, who suffers the consequence of her surroundings.
The play is based on the Greek tragedy `Pygmalion and Galatea', and was the base for one of the most famous musicals of the cinema, `My Fair Lady'.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Evolution of Pygmalion, September 13, 2001
This review is from: Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
Pygmalion is a brilliant success by George Bernard Shaw to modernize the legendary Greek tale of a sculptor who falls in love with his artsitic creation and wishes to bring her to life. The rags-to-riches tale of Eliza Doolittle captivates the reader with its fast paced storyline, and witty dialogue. Shaw fascinates the reader with complicated characters such as Henry Higgins, Doolittle, and Colonel Pickering. Set in England, during a period of sophistication and elegance, Higgins and Pickering were faced with the seemingly impossible task of transforming a filthy flower girl (Eliza) into a beautiful duchess. The outrageous antics that ensue are both humorous and entertaining. Shaw's playful dialogue and timeless plot have been updated to fit the social and cultural standards of our time. For example, Alan Jay Lerner's My Fair Lady is an internationally acclaimed musical adaptation of Shaw's classic play. 1999 brought yet another adaptation of Pygmalion, in the form of the film She's All That, penned by R. Lee Fleming Jr. This teen comedy brings a new twist to the classic characters of Shaw's play. Pygmalion is a quick read and an enjoyable way to spend the day, and the characters in the story will remain with you forever.
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24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LIKE GAUL, DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS, November 16, 2000
Shaw's PYGMALION. like Julius Caesar's Gaul, is divided into three parts.
1. A preface, which was written after the play was already a hit, but was meant by Shaw to be a part of the reader's experience, and is necessary to the understanding of Shaw's main theme.
2. A five act play, meant to be performed, and which is annotated in such a manner so as to facilitate deletion, on the stage, of portions only possible in a film version.
3. What Shaw refers to as a sequel, written in prose, and outlining Liza and Freddy's life after their marriage which takes place after the end of Act V.
In the preface, Shaw first emphasizes the importance of reading his prose sequel. He then devotes the bulk of the preface to a discussion of the difficulties of learning to speak English, because its written alphabet so inadequately reflects the sound of the spoken word. He makes it very clear that he believes that the English Alphabet should be replaced by a 42 letter phonetic alphabet. He states that, "The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it." He also states that Henry Higgins, the speech therapist, is at least partially modeled on Henry Sweet, a leading phonetician of the period.
The central portion of PYGMALION is the five act play to which most of us have been exposed in one form or another; The original play, the screen play with the altered "happy ending," or the musical version, "My Fair Lady." By now, I would guess that we all are very familiar with the plot in which Professor Henry Higgins teaches the uneducated flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, proper language and manners, and, for an evening, passes her off as royalty.
In the all important sequel, Shaw makes it very clear that language alone, is not enough to make the transition from street person to high society. After a long struggle, Eliza and Freddy enter the world of tradesmen and, with Colonel Pickering's backing, open a flower shop in the arcade of a railway station. Because neither Eliza nor Freddy have any concept of how to handle money (Eliza can't count or make change), the shop nearly fails. Colonel Pickering subsidizes them for several years, helping them to get a modest practical education, and eventually the shop does become self supporting. In this section, Shaw also explains why Liza picked the weaker Freddy over the stronger, but domineering Higgins. For a fuller explanation, one should read the sequel which, as I mentioned above, is included in the book.
Shaw makes it very clear that, while proper language is a necessity for success in this world, it alone is not enough. There is something to be said for proper upbringing, education, and exposure to culture.
A number of reviewers on these pages have seen PYGMALION as some sort of skewering of the British Upper Classes. Some have seized on Shaw's political leanings to support these views. There is merit in these observations, but I prefer to take Shaw at face value and accept his statement that his lifelong belief that language is everything and that it IS language that strongly influences the world's opinion of each of is his main reason for writing PYGMALION. He even went so far as to attempt, in his will, to set up a foundation for the purpose of getting the English speaking world to accept an alternate phonetic alphabet and short-hand.
I would probably be remiss if I ended this review without a reference to the Pygmalion of Ovid's "Metamorphosis." Pygmalion was a king of Cyprus and a sculptor. He sculpted a statue of a beautiful woman with which he fell in love. In answer to his prayers to Aphrodite, the statue was brought to life as Galatea, and Pygmalion married her. Shaw needed to look no further for a model plot. PYGMALION should be read in its entirety, preface, play, and prose sequel. By so doing, one can both enjoy the play, and better understand Shaw's motivation in writing PYGMALION.
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