Character Devices In Pygmalion

1733 Words7 Pages
Kevin Shu Mr. Ruffer/ Mrs. Harnett English Literature/Composition 7 September 2011 Pygmalion Essay Pygmalion, a play written by George Bernard Shaw, is about a flower girl who takes phonetics lesson from Henry Higgins. In the novel, language is used to define a person; many people believe Henry to be a very sophisticated, refined man because he is in a master at phonetics. The people of London takes this as a fact; for example, Freddy Eynsford Hill uses inflated language in his speech during Mrs. Higgins's at-home day to make himself seem more sophisticated saying "Ahdedo" instead of "How do you do" . Those who are not refined and do not know how to talk properly are considered beneath others. Even though it is true that Liza Doolittle…show more content…
In the beginning of the book, she pronounced words improperly and use bad language:"You ought to be stuffed with nails, you ought. Take the whole blooming basket for sixpence" (Shaw 24). At the end of her lessons, she not only developed good diction and phonetics, she also had good etiquette. At the end, everyone treats her with respect besides Mr. Higgins. This transformation occurred because what she wore and how she talked showed that she probably had been raised in a good family and therefore had a good education since people can usually judge what education people received through how they talked. A man like Colonel Pickering can be considered educated because of the way he talks; Mr. Higgins was able to find out where we went through his speech: "Yes: tell him where he come from if you want to go fortune-telling", and Mr. Higgins replied, "Cheltenham, Harrow, Cambridge, and India" (Shaw 19). When people hear Liza in the beginning of the novel, they believed her to be ignorant. When she had the language of a queen, people believed Liza to also act like a queen and have the education of one. Liza did act differently when comparing her from the end of the novel to the beginning of the novel, so it seems as though from the teachings of phonetics that she also learned good behavior, but at the end of the book Liza says to Colonel Pickering, " But it was from you (Pickering) that I learn really…show more content…
The change from a flower girl to a lady for Liza Doolittle was not just because of her elegant language, but also because of how she dressed and how she was treated. Freddy Eynsford Hill tries to use inflated speech to try and impress people but is always ridiculed by his mother and sister. Clara Hill speaks as well as other people but she is also impolite, saying the phrase, "Such bloody nonsense!"(Shaw 79) in front of her mother. and Nepommuck knows how to speak in many languages but even with his stature, he still swindles and blackmails others. Mr. Doolittle becomes rich at the end of the book but the way he talks stays the same; people still see him differently: "I was happy. I was free. I touched pretty nigh everybody for money when I wanted it. Now I am worrited; and everybody touches me for money. In the house I'm not let do a hand's turn for myself: somebody else must do it and touch me for it. A year ago I hadnt a relative in the world except two or three that wouldn’t speak to me. Now Ive fifty" (Shaw 112). How he spoke had nothing to do with his transformation. The clothes he wear and the class he in defined what type of man Mr. Doolittle is.

More about Character Devices In Pygmalion

Open Document