Pygmalion

Introduction

Outline

Introduction1. Story vs. Drama, Comedy

2. George Bernard Shaw,

3. the Myth & the Play

4. Social Background: Language & Class

5. Preface

6. The Play as a Whole

Introd (1): A play and a story (textbook pp. 1125-) Play

(read and performed) Story (read)

Comedy (textbook Glossary A2 ) • Evokes laughter at

– The characters’ mechanical and contradictory actions; – Exaggeration & a degree of improbability (a. richness

of life; b. surprise; c. improbable situations); e.g. “A Very Old Man”

– The characters’ ideals (seemingly trivial the tragic characters’ ideal).

• A degree of absurdity in the characters’ behavior the reader feels superior and laughs at the characters;

– A. Social Foibles( 弱點 ): characters defined primarily in terms of their social identities and roles.

– B. Universal absurdity perceived so that the reader identifies with the absurd action and laughs with the characters. (Waiting for Godot”

Comedy of Manners

1. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Shavian (Shaw's) Style:

• stage direction --economical exposition and suggestive of social background;

• prefatory essay--used to express his doctrines;

• discussion in (and around) the play.  Sometimes Shaw calls his own plays Problem Play, Discussion Drama, Play of Ideas.  He also claims that "[p]rimarily, [his plays] are not plays: they are tracts in dramatic forms."  He regards social criticism as the most important function of all art. (A Guide to Bernard Shaw, Edward Wagenknecht, 1929, reissued 1971 pp. 3, 5, 16, 17)

2. Pygmalion: the Myth and the Play• In Ovid's Metamophosis,

Pygmalion is a sculptor who is not interested in women.  Pygmalion, however, finds himself in love with his sculpture, Galatea, and he caresses her and offers her with all the gifts women like.  At the end, Venus realizes his wish and turn Galatea into a real woman. 

– Who is the Pygmalion in the play?

– Why is the play “a Romance in Five Acts”?

– The Sequel provides some sort of explanation.

2. Note: Romance (1. The improbabl, 2. adventure, 3. love)• 傳奇 浪漫小說• An extended fictional prose narrative about

improbable events involving characters that are quite different from ordinary people. e.g. Knights on a quest for a magic sword and aided by characters like fairies and trolls.(ref. http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm )

• Medieval Romance – King Arthur and Round-Table Knights

• 19th century: Tales which are adventurous and exotic.

• 20th century –today: formulaic love story (e.g. family romance), or Lord of the Rings (fantasy + romance)

• Does Pygmalion involve love and adventure?

Pygmalion

Main Themes:

Language, Class & Education

3. Language and Class Differences in (late) 19th-century England

1. Language – Queen’s English – There was then an attempt at having a nationwide spoken standard, known as "the Queen's English." Cockney English is the exact opposite to “Received Pronunciation,” denoting one’s lack of education.

2. The rise of the middle class– a. More and more businessmen and their families prospered and

imitated the upper classes; they can even buy themselves some titles. To look classy, they also try to imitate the manners and accent of the upper class.

b. The upper class -- subtle distinctions became all-important. Aristocrats tried to maintain their superiority by glorifying attributes that could not be bought easily, such as family history, refined social graces, and old traditions.” (ref LRC)

3. Language and Class Differences: Then and Now

1. Queen’s English (ref.: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/QueensEnglish.html examples of

Queen’s English and Cockney here.)

-- “the monarch’s usage of the language should be a model in speech and writing” (Wales, 1994).

-- the King’s English= standard English in written form (since James I in 16th/17th centuries).

2. Nowadays Queen Elizabeth speaks Queen’s English, but the younger generations of the royal family today (e.g. Princess Di and Prince Edward) speaks a mixture of cockney and RP.

2. World englishes – in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Canada, the U.S., the Caribbean area, etc.

4. Science and the Preface

• The center of the play: Eliza as "the most absorbing experiment [Higgins] ever tackled."

• What does science bring to society? Does it solve problems or create problems? This has been a question asked since the rapid scientific developments in the 19th century England. – Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) – the discovery of the x-ray, the electron, and radioactivity

science in 1890’s (ref. LRC)• GBS is interested in both science and phonetics (in

development of a more complete alphabet for everyday use).

• Does this make Henry Higgins a “hero” in the play?

Preface: A Professor of Phonetics. • The English have no respect for their language, and

will not teach their children to speak it.

• The reformer England needs today is an energetic phonetic enthusiast: that is why I have made such a one the hero of a popular play.

• Henry Sweet -- His true objective was the provision of a full, accurate, legible script for our noble but ill-dressed language; but he was led past that by his contempt for the popular Pitman system of shorthand, which he called the Pitfall system.

• It [the play] is so intensely and deliberately didactic, and its subject is esteemed so dry, that I delight in throwing it at the heads of the wiseacres ( 自作聰明者 ) who repeat the parrot cry that art should never be didactic.

• Eliza’s change: neither impossible nor uncommon.

The Play as a wholeAct 1 – in front of St. Paul’s

The meeting of the crowd and the major and minor characters.

Act 2 – at Higgin’s The beginning of the ‘experiment’ and the bet; Mr. Doolittle; (*Eliza’s practice)

Act 3 – At-Home Day of Mrs. Higgins’

The first test; *the Embassy’s party (beginning part)

Act 4 – at Higgin’s After the Embassy’s banquet

Act 5 – at Mrs. Higgins’ The very next day, confrontation of Eliza and Higgins.

* Added for the 1941 Film version

Next Time

Act I as a social microcosm

Act II Beginning of Eliza’s Education/Transformation

Class Discussion Questions

1. What is Act I about? How do you learn it from stage direction?

2. Do you have any experience similar to Act I? Why is the Note-Taker (Higgins) offensive? Why is accent important to him? What do you think about people speaking in different accents?

3. After reading Act 1 and Act 2, what do you think the play is about? Are there any stories you can associate with this play? How?

“Related” Stories: 1) “Cinderella” story: Pretty Woman, 2) Human Creation story: Frankenstein, etc.3) “Self-Made Man” (from Rags to Riches) vs. Class Differences4) PYGMALION STORIES & ART http://www.bluemorning.org/pygmalion/stories/index.htm

Every Group: Characters

What do you think of the characters? How do they act? What are their gestures? Clothing, etc. Are there any symbols associated with them?

About the story you chose, or

Minor Ones: • The Upper Class vs. the Flower Girl: How would you

characterize the traits and relationship of the mother (Mrs Eynsford Hill ), daughter(Clara Eynsford Hill), and son (Freddy Eynsford Hill)?  How would you compare and contrast them with the flower girl (Eliza Doolittle)? 

Major Ones: • Two Scientists: How would you describe the gentleman

(Pickering)? How does he compare and contrast with the note-taker (Higgins)?  Pay attention to their different treatments of the flower girl. 

About the story you chose, or Pygmalion

Group Work

• Text Chosen? • Director• Script Writer• Stage Manager (in charge of recording group

meetings) • Actors/Actresses• Backstage Crew• Sound• Set and Property

• Costume and Makeup

Mini Play Contest: Tentative Schedule

Play Group10 月 26

日General Introd Job Division

11 月 2日

Act I and Act II. (pp. 11-37)

Character Analysis

11 月 9日Act II & III (pp. 38-71) Creative Adapation

11 月 16日

Act III-IV (pp. 71-87 + Act V)

Set and Prop

11 月 23日Act V and Postscript

Theme and Presentation

11 月 30日Mid-Term (2)

Rehearsal (11:10-1:30)

12 月 7日Performance Day