Candi's Reviews > Pygmalion

3.5 stars

"… you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul."

Even if you are not already familiar with George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, I’m sure you are likely acquainted with either the on-stage musical version or movie adaptation titled My Fair Lady. I have fond memories of my high school’s production of this classic tale. I adored the music and my favorite scene was the Ascot Races. My fifteen-year old self was thrilled to don the gorgeous dress and feather hat of a lady attending the races. And those lyrics to “I Could Have Danced All Night” still pop into my head on occasion even all these years later (no I most certainly did not play the role of Eliza Doolittle!) Decades later I finally got around to reading the play on which the musical was based.

Professor Henry Higgins is a renowned phoneticist who takes on a bet and an experiment of sorts with Colonel Pickering to turn a common, street-corner flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a well-bred lady, simply by changing her language and her dress. The ultimate goal is to pass her off as a ‘duchess’ at the ambassador’s garden party. Eliza, with a dream of owning her own flower shop someday, agrees to the ‘project.’ The ensuing dialogue is sharp and entertaining!

Shaw makes some brilliant statements about social class and gender distinctions through his characters. What I had forgotten, or perhaps it was not as glaringly obvious to me years ago, is that Professor Higgins is a bit of an ass! "Well, when I've done with her, we can throw her back into the gutter; and then it will be her own business again; so that's all right." I had to set aside my dislike and realize that this is one of the points Shaw is trying to get across – societal expectations and the objectification of women, among others. The ability to make change is inherent in each one of us, however, and can provide the freedom necessary to find a better station in life.

My first attempt to actually read George Bernard Shaw was rather a success, although I still prefer actually seeing a play to reading one. Perhaps I just had a bit of nostalgia for this and wanted more of a visual experience. Nevertheless, I’d rate this 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars!

"If I can't have kindness, I'll have independence."