DRAMA II Modern Drama

DRAMA IIModern Drama Lecture 23

SYNOPSIS • Themes of Pygmalion (Conti…) • 2. Theme of Transformation • 3. Theme of Identity • 4. Theme of Appearance • 5. Theme of Manipulation

Themes PYGMALION

Themes

2. Theme of Transformation • This one may seem like a no-brainer: Pygmalion's all about turning a poor girl into a duchess, right? Well, sure, and Eliza's metamorphosis is stunning. • You could even go so far as to call it a Cinderella story. But remember: Cinderella turned back into a poor girl before she finally found her prince. • Pay attention and you'll notice that not all the attempts at transformation here are successful. There are plenty of false starts and false endings. By play's end, Shaw's made one thing very clear: be careful what you wish for.

2. Theme of Transformation

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Status Divide Quote #THE NOTE TAKER. Oh yes. Quite a fat one. This is an age of upstarts. Men begin in Kentish Town with 80 pounds a year, and end in Park Lane with a hundred thousand. They want to drop Kentish Town; but they give themselves away every time they open their mouths. Now I can teach them— (1.120) Moving up in society can require a complete transformation; money, it seems, can't buy everything.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Perceptions Quote #The flower girl enters in state. She has a hat with three ostrich feathers, orange, sky-blue, and red. She has a nearly clean apron, and the shoddy coat has been tidied a little. The pathos of this deplorable figure, with its innocent vanity and consequential air, touches Pickering, who has already straightened himself in the presence of Mrs. Pearce. (2.21) What seems like an honest attempt at "looking respectable" to Eliza seems merely pitiful to Pickering. Not all transformations are successful, and sometimes the failure to change can be more affecting than success.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Environmental suitability Quote #[[Doolittle] hurries to the door, anxious to get away with his booty. When he opens it he is confronted with a dainty and exquisitely clean young Japanese lady in a simple blue cotton kimono printed cunningly with small white jasmine blossoms. Mrs. Pearce is with her. He gets out of her way deferentially and apologizes]. Beg pardon, miss.THE JAPANESE LADY. Garn! Don't you know your own daughter? (2.289-290) Given the right circumstances, even the most superficial adjustment can lead to a profound and surprising change.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Over ambition Quote #PICKERING. We're always talking Eliza.HIGGINS. Teaching Eliza.PICKERING. Dressing Eliza.MRS. HIGGINS. What!HIGGINS. Inventing new Elizas. (3.226-244) Pickering and Higgins, caught up in the process of "inventing new Elizas," seem to have forgotten that she is a human being just as they are.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Fear of Unknown Quote #LIZA [pulling herself together in desperation] 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? (4.60) Having achieved her goal and won the bet, Eliza finds that her metamorphosis has left her confused. Having just "become" something new, she is already afraid of what will come next.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Control of Emotion Quote #HIGGINS [with dignity, in his finest professional style] You have caused me to lose my temper: a thing that has hardly ever happened to me before. I prefer to say nothing more tonight. I am going to bed. (4.89) Higgins, so used to being in control, is disappointed and frustrated to find himself losing hold of his emotions. He, the transformer, has become the transformed, if only momentarily.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Control of Manner Quote #Eliza enters, sunny, self-possessed, and giving a staggeringly convincing exhibition of ease of manner. She carries a little work-basket, and is very much at home. Pickering is too much taken aback to rise.LIZA. How do you do, Professor Higgins? Are you quite well?HIGGINS [choking] Am I— [He can say no more]. (5.115-117) Here, once again, Higgins is stunned to find that his "creation" is now able to control and change her manner with ease. That said, Shaw's use of the word "exhibition" casts the truth of that change in doubt.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Subjectivity Quote #Eliza. You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking, and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me as a lady, and always will. (5.143) Ironically, Eliza argues that the man who taught her to be a lady will never see her or treat her as one. She also suggests that transformation is subjective, that not all people will acknowledge all changes.

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference | Nature Quote #HIGGINS. If you come back I shall treat you just as I have always treated you. I can't change my nature; and I don't intend to change my manners. My manners are exactly the same as Colonel Pickering's. (5.191) In claiming that he can't change his own nature, Higgins complicates his own claims about change and transformation; if he can't change his nature, we have to wonder, how can he really understand how to change someone else's?

2. Theme of TransformationDramatic Reference| Confidence Quote #HIGGINS. Of course I do, you little fool. Five minutes ago you were like a millstone round my neck. Now you're a tower of strength: a consort battleship. You and I and Pickering will be three old bachelors together instead of only two men and a silly girl. (5.265) Higgins acts as though he were waiting for Eliza's final act of defiance the whole the time; it is hard to say, however, whether his confidence is as great as he makes it seem.

Questions About Transformation Higgins and Pickering tell Mrs. Higgins that Eliza is an incredibly quick learner. They even call her a genius. Who, then, deserves more credit for Eliza's transformation: Eliza herself, because of her potential intelligence, or Higgins, for bringing it out?

Questions About Transformation Why is Higgins so keen on teaching Eliza? Can we ever really understand his real motives? If so, what are they?

Themes

Pygmalion 3. Theme of Identity • Every single day we talk about ourselves, saying "I did this," "I did that," "I am," and "I'm not," but we don't usually think about what "I" means. • In Pygmalion, Shaw forces us to think this through. Some characters want to change who they are, others don't want to change at all. • Things get even more complicated when identities are made up, constructed. The play wants us to ask ourselves what I really means to think about different versions of the self, and whether that self can ever really be changed.

Pygmalion 3. Theme of Identity

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Prejudice • Even the things we do to establish a connection with unfamiliar people and things – like using slang or nicknames – can end up causing confusion and cases of mistaken identity. Quote #THE MOTHER. Now tell me how you know that young gentleman's name.THE FLOWER GIRL. I didn't.THE MOTHER. I heard you call him by it. Don't try to deceive me.THE FLOWER GIRL [protesting] Who's trying to deceive you? I called him Freddy or Charlie same as you might yourself if you was talking to a stranger and wished to be pleasant. [She sits down beside her basket]. (1.41-44)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Insecurity • Eliza seems extremely insecure about her own identity and character. She fears that even the smallest offense will lead people to look at her and treat her differently. Quote #THE FLOWER GIRL [springing up terrified] I ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I've a right to sell flowers if I keep off the kerb. [Hysterically] I'm a respectable girl: so help me, I never spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off me […] They'll take away my character and drive me on the streets for speaking to gentlemen. They— (1.59)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Minor Details • We see here that identity can be determined by something as small as a pair of boots. Quote #THE BYSTANDER. It's all right: he's a gentleman: look at his boots. [Explaining to the note taker] She thought you was a copper's nark, sir. (1.61)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference |Gender Specific Attitudes • Judging Eliza by her slovenly appearance, Higgins treats Eliza like an object instead of a human being. His comment is no doubt sarcastic, but it tells us something about his attitude toward women. Quote #HIGGINS. Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down or shall we throw her out of the window? (2.30)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Uncertainty • Eliza seems to have grown up without a feminine presence in her life, and she's proud to have turned out all right anyway. Perhaps this pride is what leads her to keep claiming she's a "good girl." Quote #LIZA. I ain't got no mother. Her that turned me out was my sixth stepmother. But I done without them. And I'm a good girl, I am. (2.118)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Stereotypes • Eliza attempts again to define herself in contrast to stereotypes. She wants to make it clear that she's not simply looking for handouts; still, it's hard for her to look dignified in her dirty clothes. Quote #LIZA. No: I don't want no gold and no diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am. [She sits down again, with an attempt at dignity]. (2.145)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Fallacies • Higgins stereotypes Eliza as a poor person and simply assumes that she has a drinking problem. Quote #HIGGINS. Oh, pay her whatever is necessary: put it down in the housekeeping book. [Impatiently] What on earth will she want with money? She'll have her food and her clothes. She'll only drink if you give her money.LIZA [turning on him] Oh you are a brute. It's a lie: nobody ever saw the sign of liquor on me. [She goes back to her chair and plants herself there defiantly]. (2.121-122)

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Object vs. Subject Quote #HIGGINS. What! That thing! Sacred, I assure you. [Rising to explain] You see, she'll be a pupil; and teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred. I've taught scores of American millionairesses how to speak English: the best looking women in the world. I'm seasoned. They might as well be blocks of wood. I might as well be a block of wood. It's— (2.165) • Not only has Higgins come to view his clients as objects rather than human beings, he even seems to have lost something of his own identity in the process. There is another interesting interpretation, however: a block of wood, like a canvas, is a medium for artistic expression. He, of course, is paid to shape his clients, but this suggests that he, himself, could also be subject to the same process.

3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Clash Within • Higgins admits that he sees himself as a sort of child, still in the process of growing, an impression which Shaw confirms in his initial description. At the same time, he is unwilling to acknowledge certain other highly visible aspects of his personality. Quote #HIGGINS. You know, Pickering, that woman has the most extraordinary ideas about me. Here I am, a shy, diffident sort of man. I've never been able to feel really grown-up and tremendous, like other chaps. And yet she's firmly persuaded that I'm an arbitrary overbearing bossing kind of person. I can't account for it. (2.197)

Quote #MRS. HIGGINS. Be quiet, Henry. Colonel Pickering: don't you realize that when Eliza walked into Wimpole Street, something walked in with her?[…]PICKERING. But what?MRS. HIGGINS [unconsciously dating herself by the word] A problem. […]MRS. HIGGINS. No, you two infinitely stupid male creatures: the problem of what is to be done with her afterwards.HIGGINS. I don't see anything in that. She can go her own way, with all the advantages I have given her. (3.248-255) 3. Theme of IdentityDramatic Reference | Multidimensionality • Mrs. Higgins is concerned that her son and Pickering have been short-sighted, and failed to acknowledge the full extent of their task. Eliza's problems, like her personality, are multifaceted.

3. Theme of IdentityQuestions • We watch Eliza change in a number of ways throughout Pygmalion: she learns how to speak properly, she begins dressing differently, etc. But does she ever lose her old self, her old identity? Can we really say what her old identity is anyway?

3. Theme of IdentityQuestions • On the other hand, can we ever really be sure that identity is fixed? Does Eliza's transformation call into question the way we view the self? Are there any characters who seem totally and completely comfortable with themselves and their personalities?

3. Theme of IdentityQuestions • What are the different ways in which the characters define themselves? For instance, do they compare themselves to other groups? Do they allow their class to define them, or their jobs? Are they even conscious of their own identities?

3. Theme of IdentityQuestions • Why the heck is Eliza so afraid that people will think she's not a "good girl"?

4. Theme of Appearance • Is beauty only skin deep? Is it in the eye of the beholder? Or is it the consequence of social circumstances? Shaw's more interested in dealing with the big questions – like that last one – than with old saws. • In Pygmalion, anything from a pair of boots to a bath to an expensive dress can tell us important stuff about a character, like their place in the world or their state of mind. • They can reveal what might normally be hidden from view, or hide that which might normally be obvious. So appearances can be deceiving, and the trick is learning how to judge what is true and what is false. The thing is, it's not an easy skill to pick up.

4. Theme of Appearance

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Physical appeal Quote #[[Eliza] is not at all an attractive person. She is perhaps eighteen, perhaps twenty, hardly older. She wears a little sailor hat of black straw that has long been exposed to the dust and soot of London and has seldom if ever been brushed. Her hair needs washing rather badly: its mousy color can hardly be natural. She wears a shoddy black coat that reaches nearly to her knees and is shaped to her waist. She has a brown skirt with a coarse apron. Her boots are much the worse for wear. She is no doubt as clean as she can afford to be; but compared to the ladies she is very dirty. Her features are no worse than theirs; but their condition leaves something to be desired; and she needs the services of a dentist]. (1.29) • Shaw tells us that she "is not at all an attractive person," but he contradicts himself in the next act. In this case, mere physical appearance, dirtiness, and neglect destroy any kind of physical appeal.

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference |Standards of Appearance • Even before she is taught to speak and talk correctly, Eliza has some ideas about cleanliness, self-image, and respectability. She is simply unable to meet any of the usual standards. Quote #The flower girl enters in state. She has a hat with three ostrich feathers, orange, sky-blue, and red. She has a nearly clean apron, and the shoddy coat has been tidied a little. The pathos of this deplorable figure, with its innocent vanity and consequential air, touches Pickering, who has already straightened himself in the presence of Mrs. Pearce. (2.21)

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Behavior • Mrs. Pearce has strong views on the potential harmfulness of what might be called bad behavior. As she sees it, Higgins must look and act respectable if he expects Eliza to change for the better. Quote #MRS. PEARCE. Yes, sir. Then might I ask you not to come down to breakfast in your dressing-gown, or at any rate not to use it as a napkin to the extent you do, sir. And if you would be so good as not to eat everything off the same plate, and to remember not to put the porridge saucepan out of your hand on the clean tablecloth, it would be a better example to the girl. You know you nearly choked yourself with a fishbone in the jam only last week. (2.188)

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Deceptive Attribute • Doolittle's clothing clashes with his other attributes: his facial features, his demeanor, and his voice. He is dressed like a dustman, but Shaw tells us that he is not the kind of person we might expect. Quote #Alfred Doolittle is an elderly but vigorous dustman, clad in the costume of his profession, including a hat with a back brim covering his neck and shoulders. He has well marked and rather interesting features, and seems equally free from fear and conscience. He has a remarkably expressive voice, the result of a habit of giving vent to his feelings without reserve. His present pose is that of wounded honor and stern resolution. (2.211)

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Language vs. Visual • Just as with the upstarts Higgins mentions (see 1.120), all it takes is a single word to disrupt an extremely powerful illusion. Quote #[[Doolittle] hurries to the door, anxious to get away with his booty. When he opens it he is confronted with a dainty and exquisitely clean young Japanese lady in a simple blue cotton kimono printed cunningly with small white jasmine blossoms. Mrs. Pearce is with her. He gets out of her way deferentially and apologizes]. Beg pardon, miss.THE JAPANESE LADY. Garn! Don't you know your own daughter? (2.289-290)

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Awareness Quote #There is a portrait of Mrs. Higgins as she was when she defied fashion in her youth in one of the beautiful Rossettian costumes which, when caricatured by people who did not understand, led to the absurdities of popular estheticism in the eighteen-seventies.In the corner diagonally opposite the door Mrs. Higgins, now over sixty and long past taking the trouble to dress out of the fashion, sits writing at an elegantly simple writing-table with a bell button within reach of her hand. (3.3-4) • Mrs. Higgins's graceful beauty and her ability to define herself against fashion suggest that she is very comfortable with herself, that she knows, deep down, who she is.

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Genteel Poverty • Though Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill are both subject to the same kind of "genteel poverty," each expresses their condition in a different way, perhaps because of the difference in age. Quote #Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill are the mother and daughter who sheltered from the rain in Covent Garden. The mother is well bred, quiet, and has the habitual anxiety of straitened means. The daughter has acquired a gay air of being very much at home in society: the bravado of genteel poverty. (3.43)

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Subject to Change • Eliza, first described as "not at all attractive," has become incredibly desirable thanks to some nice clothing, jewelry, and a few months of training. Appearance is a changeable, and powerful, thing. Quote #Eliza, who is exquisitely dressed, produces an impression of such remarkable distinction and beauty as she enters that they all rise, quite flustered. Guided by Higgins's signals, she comes to Mrs. Higgins with studied grace. (3.91)

4. Theme of AppearanceDramatic Reference | Conflict • The contrast between Eliza's clothing and her face, between their elegance and her sadness, recalls the disconnect between Eliza's magnificent skills and her opportunities to employ them. Quote #Eliza opens the door and is seen on the lighted landing in opera cloak, brilliant evening dress, and diamonds, with fan, flowers, and all accessories. She comes to the hearth, and switches on the electric lights there. She is tired: her pallor contrasts strongly with her dark eyes and hair; and her expression is almost tragic. (4.1)

DRAMA II Modern Drama