Pygmalion-+Bernard+Shaw

Pygmalion, in Greek mythology, was a sculptor who created a beautiful ivory statue he called Galatea, with whom he fell in love. The goddess Aphrodite brought Galatea to life, and Pygmalion married her. Bernard Shaw used that Greek myth as the basis for his own play, Pygmalion.

Henry Higgins is the new Pygmalion figure, who ‘moulds’, almost like a sculptor, a Cockney flower girl into his ‘Galatea’, making her most desirable.

Development in the play:

//**‘BY GEORGE, SHE’S GOT IT!’**//

Remember how Higgins, as a professor of phonetics, could place people he heard speak just by their accents, and how he had to change Eliza’s accent before she could be accepted by the upper class.

1. Discuss the importance of accents today. Are they less important than they were?


 * On what occasions are they still important?
 * Which accents are particularly strong?
 * In what situations might someone wish to change his/her accent?

[|Modern version of the Galatea myth]

//**Ideas for personal engagement with the play:**//

Although the play, Pygmalion, mainly deals with issues of social class during the Victorian era in Britain,one could say what would grab the average teenager’s attention are the ideas of human perfection and idealism. Most present-day teenagers do not know life without the internet and are bombarded by images from the media that suggest what is ideal. Many young girls dream of having the fame and beauty of Brittany Spears and many young boys admire such rappers as 50-Cent and can be led to believe that muscles, tattoos, money and women are ingredients of perfection. Perfection and idealism would be emotionally engaging to teenagers because they are at a time in their lives when they are developing physically and emotionally. Some would say this is an awkward stage where some young people begin to lose confidence. It is also an impressionable time when students are susceptible to societal beliefs because they are still in the process of developing their own ideas about life. This idea of perfection and idealism that run through the drama, as Eliza Doolittle strives to transform from a guttersnipe into a duchess, can parallel emotionally engaging ideas such as the media, body image, self worth, personal pride and achievement.

//**Class discussions:**//
> > > ==__Topics for debate/mini class presentation:__== > ==1. The basis of the play, class distinctions, is not relevant today. (Group 1) == > ==2. Doolittle is right: “Morality is a luxury”. (Group 2) == > ==3. Eliza is right: “The difference between a flower girl and a duchess is not how she behaves, but how she is treated”. (Group 3)== >
 * Describe in detail what it means to be perfect. Do you know anyone who fits that description? Where does your idea of perfection come from?
 * Eliza overcomes many flaws throughout the story. How has her drive toward perfection helped or hindered her life in the end? Evaluation of the student’s understanding would be revealed through the ideas and connections made between the story and the binary opposites: **//perfection and being flawed.//**
 * Describe in detail what it means to be perfect. Do you know anyone who fits that description? Where does your idea of perfection come from?