Pygmalion Study Guide Acts 1-5

Who wrote Pygmalion?

George Bernard Shaw

When was Pygmalion written?

1912

What are the elements of the Pygmalion archetype?

Creator, creation (object of affection), wish granter, transformation and "happily ever after" ending

Who is the female protagonist in Pygmalion?

Liza or Eliza Doolittle

Shaw writes that "England today needs ...an energetic phonetic enthusiast" (2). Who is this person in the play?

Higgins

Who does Liza marry at the end of Pygmalion?

Freddy

Why does Eliza seek Higgins' help?

To learn to speak proper English

Why does Eliza want to learn to speak proper English?

She wants to open a flower shop.

Higgins pays Eliza which compliment in ACT IV?

She is beautiful.

Who says, "No more artificial duchesses. The whole thing has been simple purgatory" (Shaw 39)?

Higgins

Why is Eliza so upset with Higgins in ACT IV?

She believes Higgins only cares about winning the bet.

What does Liza throw at Higgins?

Slippers

At the beginning of ACT V, Higgins calls the police to find Liza, but Liza is hiding where?

The upstairs of Mrs. Higgins' house

Mr. Doolittle undergoes what kind of transformation?

He changes from a dustman to gentleman.

Why is Doolittle so upset with Higgins and Pickering?

Because they made him into a gentleman

Where did Doolittle's money come from?

Wannafeller left it to him in his will

Who does Liza give credit to for teaching her manners?

Colonel Pickering

When does Liza claim to have first gained self-respect?

When Pickering calls her Miss Doolittle

What does Eliza claim is the difference between a flower girl and a lady?

The difference in the way people treat them

What do readers learn about Mrs. Eynsford Hill's financial situation at the end of Pygmalion?

She struggles to maintain her upper-class lifestyle.

What does Eliza secretly wish at the end of Pygmalion?

To get Higgins alone

What does Liza try to engage in at Mrs. Eynsford Hill's house?

Small-talk

Who says, "YOU won my bet! You! Presumptuous insect! I won it" (Shaw 40)?

Higgins

Who says, "I'm a good girl. I am" (Shaw)?

Liza

Who says, "Why did you take my independence from me" (Shaw 54)?

Liza

What is the major theme?

A cockney flower girl will behave like a lady if she is treated like one and a woman who is a lady in name only, is not a lady at all

7 Important ideas conveyed through Alfred Doolittle

Marriage, parenthood, politics, religion, charity, social pressures, middle class morality

Setting

London, England early 20th century

What is satire?

The use of humor, irony, and ridicule or exaggeration to expose and/or criticize someone or something

How does shaw use satire?

To expose the upper class' stupidity and vices

Some ideas that shaw treats satirically:

1. A person's status in society is determined by how he speaks and dresses 2. the "undeserving poor" need as much help as the deserving poor 3. snobbery exists at all levels of society 4. social class divisions are highly artificial

Rich people 1912

Bathe daily, heated homes, dress nicely day and night, ride in taxis, do little or no work, concerned with trivial matters

Poor people 1912

No way to bathe, wear what they have and for warmth, walk, work hard, concerned with survival

Exposition

Background info

Inciting incident of conflict

The event that sets in motion the action if the play

Rising action

Complications and discoveries which create conflict

Climax

Turning point of the plot, emotional intensity of play

Falling action

Series of events following the climax

Denouement

Resolution of the conflicts

Protagonist

Main character

Antagonist

Person situation or inner conflict in opposition to the main characters goals

Secondary characters

All other characters other than the protagonist and antagonist

3 parts of setting

1. Viewable elements 2. Common sights and sounds to enhance time and place 3. Sound effects and or music contribute to time and place

Theme

Expressed through words and actions of the characters in a series of situations that make up the plot. The playwright's message

Phonetics

The study of sounds of speech

Literary foil and example

2 characters that are opposite of each other to highlight the traits of each other. Example: Higgins and Pickering

circumstance, meet

What purpose does the rain shower serve?

- It gives the main characters a relatively believable ____________ under which to ____

police officer, phonetician

The note taker is assumed to be of what profession? What actually is his profession?

- The others assume he is a ______ _______ of some kind. He is actually a ___________

right, live

What does the note taker say about a "woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds"?

- He says she "has no _____ to be anywhere—no right to ____." (18)

duchess, ambassador

The note taker brags about what he could do for the flower girl within three months. What does he claim?

- He claims that he could pass her off as a _______ at an __________'s garden party

flower girl, mother, daughter, money,

Who takes the cab Freddy brings? Why?

- The ______ ____ takes the cab Freddy brings.

The ______ and ________ have left for the bus, and the flower girl feels rich because of the _____ which Professor Higgins gave her.

speech

What do Higgins and Pickering have in common?

- They both study ______

use, waste, cylinder,

When Higgins recognizes the flower girl, what is his reaction?

- He says that "she's no ___. . . . I'm not going to _____ another ________ on it. Be off with you; I don't want you." (26)

learn, speak, flower shop

What does Eliza Doolittle want?

- She wants to _____ how to _____ well enough to be able to be hired to work in a ______ ____ instead of on the street corner.

dustbin, object, nice

Even after he agrees to teach her, what is Higgins' attitude towards Eliza?

- "She's deliciously low—so horribly dirty. [...] Put her in the _______ ." (29-30) He treats her as an ______ —and not a very ____ object, either.

housekeeper, reason

Describe Mrs. Pearce's role.

- She is the ___________ for Higgins and tries to be the voice of ______: "You mustn't talk like that to her. [...] Stop, Mr. Higgins. I won't allow it. It's you that are wicked." (31) "But what's to become of her? Is she to be paid anything? Do be sensible, sir." (32)

chocolates, taxis, gold, diamonds

Eliza determines to leave rather than to be further insulted. How does Higgins persuade her to stay?

- He offers her c_________ and promises her t____, g___, and d_______.

morals, low-class, right, wrong, sensitive

What is the point of the bath scene?

- It shows Eliza has ideas of ______ and decency even though she is ___-_____ and "vulgar." She has a personal code of _____ and _____and is _________.

curse, robe, clothes, example

Mrs. Pearce makes some suggestions to Higgins. What are they?

-She asks him to _____-less, to not sit around in his ____, to not wipe his hands on his _______, and to try to be a good _______ for his pupil.

money, blackmail

Why did Alfred Doolittle come to see Professor Higgins?

- He wanted to get _____ for himself, to _________ Higgins in order to get a little money.

class, responsibility, free, expectations

Doolittle says, "I'm undeserving, and I mean to go on being undeserving." Why does he not want to better himself?

- If he rises in _____, he also will rise in ______________. He wants a ____ life, free from responsibility and people's ____________.

waste, guilty, responsibility

Why does Doolittle want only five pounds instead of the ten he is offered?

- He can _____ five pounds without feeling ______. Ten pounds would require ______________.

mother, daughter

Who are Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill?

- They are the ______ and ________ from the rainstorm in Act One

rude, work

Henry says, "We want two or three people. You'll do as well as anybody else." What does the fact that he says that tell us?

- He is ____ to everyone—not just to Liza. He thinks only of his ____ and himself

speaks, story, vulgar

What does Liza do wrong at Mrs. Higgins' home?

- She ______ perfectly but tells an odd _____ of her aunt's death using ______, though well pronounced, language.

taken, imitate

What does Clara think of Eliza?

- Clara is very _____ with Eliza. She wants to use Liza's new small-talk and to _______ her.

guest, languages, expert, fraud, princess

Who is Nepommuck?

- He is a _____ at the ambassador's reception, fluent in many _________, and says he is an ______. He claims Eliza is a _____, that she is really a ________.

Yes, successful

Is Eliza successful at the ambassador's reception?

- ___, she is very __________.

conversation, rude, lights, slippers, throws

Why did Eliza throw Higgins' slippers at him?

- Higgins and Pickering had just carried on a whole ____________ as if she weren't in the room. They were ____ and inconsiderate and treated her unfeelingly. In talking about the lessons with her, Higgins said, "The whole thing has been a bore." "The whole thing has been simple purgatory." After ignoring her through the whole conversation, Higgins has the nerve to ask her to turn out the ______ as he leaves the room. When he comes back looking for his ________ , she ______ them at him in her anger.

imagination, bed, cry, prayers

What is Higgins' advice to Liza when he realizes she is upset (although he cannot understand why she is upset)?

- "It's only ___________. Low spirits and nothing else. Nobody's hurting you. Nothing's wrong. You go to ___ like a good girl and sleep it off. Have a little ___ and say your _______: that will make you feel comfortable."

flowers, myself, lady

Why does Liza wish Higgins had left her where he had found her?

- "[At the corner of Trottenham Court] I sold _______. I didn't sell ______. Now you've made a ____ of me I'm not fit to sell anything else."

person

Why does Liza tell Freddy, "Don't you call me Miss Doolittle [...] Liza is good enough for me."?

- She feels like in many ways "Liza" in her old ways was a better ______ than "Miss Doolittle."

love, glimpse

What was Freddy doing below Eliza's window?

- He has fallen in ____ with her and hangs around the outside of the house hoping to get a _______ of her.

personally, services, find, appointments

Why is Henry Higgins concerned about Liza's being gone?

- Her absence has affected him __________. He misses her ________; he can't ____ anything and doesn't know when his ____________ are.

money, responsibilities, middle, poor

Why is Alfred Doolittle upset?

- He has unwillingly come into _____ and now has the ________________ of being ______ class instead of being "undeserving ____."

No, insensitivities

Higgins says, "She behaved in the most outrageous way. I never gave her the slightest provocation." Is he lying or not?

- __; he genuinely believes that he did nothing. Higgins is blind to his own _______________.

marries, Pickering, Higgins, flower shop

What becomes of Eliza?

- She _______ Freddy, stays friends with _________, tolerates _______, and runs her own ______ ____.