Symbolism In George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion

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Symbolism in Pygmalion There are many symbols found in George Bernard Shaw’s romance, Pygmalion. Throughout the story, readers can see that some items and even characters become excellent symbols. Flowers, Colonel Pickering, and Henry Higgins’ slippers are strong symbols in the story that represent the change in Eliza Doolittle. Shaw shows that the flowers that Eliza sells represent her transformation throughout the book. He also shows that the character of Pickering symbolizes the model for a true gentleman. Lastly, the author shows that Henry Higgins’ slippers become a significant symbol in two ways, the gaining of respect and the losing of respect. These are the important symbols found in Pygmalion. Shaw uses flowers as the symbol of Eliza’s blooming transformation. Flowers are shown in the beginning for readers to predict that the flower girl will flourish into a lady while keeping her true self. Throughout the story, readers find out that Eliza wants a job…show more content…
The author uses Higgins’ slippers in two ways. The first is the gaining of respect through the slippers. Henry Higgins misplaces his slippers the first time and Eliza finds them for him and places them by his feet. Eliza shows respect for the man in a grateful way for his teachings. The second way Shaw uses the slippers is when Eliza loses that respect for Higgins. After the bet is won, Eliza found no use for her to Higgins anymore and she throws the misplaced slippers at him. She cries to Higgins, “What am I fit for? What have you left me fit for? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What's to become of me?” (Act 4 pg. 77). Eliza becomes afraid of what is to come next after her metamorphosis. It was those symbolic slippers of respect that she threw back at Higgins declaring that she had had it with him. Therefore, Shaw uses the slippers to represent the gaining of respect and the losing of respect that Eliza had for

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