Pygmalion

Pygmalion Pygmalion Commentary Pygmalion, a play written by George Bernard Shaw, is as poignant today as it was when it was written. The two main characters, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, demonstrate the major class differences of the play’s period, and the prejudices of society. The actors in the movie version, “My Fair Lady,” portray these characters coming from opposite ends of society, who are brought together by unspeakable chance. Throughout the movie, my attention is drawn to the theme of class difference. Higgins is a rich, well-to-do phonetics scientist, while Eliza is a poor flower girl who has grown up on the streets. From the beginning, there is a sense of discomfort between the two classes starting when Eliza tries to sell flowers to Higgins after a glamorous theater performance. Higgins, as well as the rest of his upper class friends and family, blow Eliza off as nothing but a nuisance. Then, after arguing about his superior teaching techniques with Colonel Pickering, Higgins begins bragging that he could train this mere flower girl for a period of six months to the point of passing as a duchess in high-class society. The idea of class difference in this eliza, higgins, movie, live, class, life, society, just, she’s, person, marry, girl, flower, been, two, streets, rich, period, nothing, lady, high-class, work, very, treats, through, teaching, speech, someone, respectable, project, poor, point, phonetics, out, object