2. Themes of Pygmalion
• Language and speech
• Education and Intelligence
• Social class and manner
• Identity
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3. Language and Speech:
It is a play about English speech. The play is built
around the professional life of Higgins as a
phonetician and his ability to convert a flower girl
into a duchess by giving her a new speech.
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4. ((Language as a class barrier))
Through the character of Higgins George Bernard
Shaw reminds the audience that articulate speech is a
divine gift and the eloquent work of Shakespeare
Milton in the Bible form the basis of their native
tongue. Shaw emphasizes the hierarchy of in society
through characters from different socio- economic
levels. 4
5. 5
Eliza with her cockney dialect is associated with the
lowest social rank whereas Higgins and Pickering
represent the elite.
6. 6
Education and Intelligence
Two of the play's main characters—Higgins and
Pickering—are academics.
While characters like Eliza and Mrs. Higgins posses
sharp wit. Eliza is a quick leaner and Mrs. Higgins is
socially savvy.
7. Moreover, the play shows some of the downsides of
Higgins' overly intellectual learning. Higgins
approaches other people with a kind of academic
detachment. Higgins lacks what might be called
emotional intelligence.
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8. Social Class and Manners
The play shows how the belief that one’s social
class and manners are connected is false.
As Eliza’s transformation shows, manners and
nobility can be learned.
9. Identity
The play explores how social identity is formed not only
through speech but also through one’s physical
appearance. It signifies one’s social class.
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10. 1 0
As Eliza tells Higgins and Pickering in Act Five, she
believes that she has entirely forgotten her original
way of speaking and behaving: she thinks that she has
really transformed and cannot return to her old life.
