Shaw's play Pygmalion, written in 1912, is based on the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion and his beautiful creation. Wit, originality and touching sharp social problems provided the work of Bernard Shaw with popularity in many countries of the world.
main characters
Henry Higgins- professor, specialist in phonetics.
Eliza Doolittle- a young flower girl, uneducated and ill-bred.
Other characters
Mrs Einsford Hill- an elderly lady, an impoverished representative of high society.
Freddie- a young man of twenty years old, the son of Mrs. Eynsford Hill.
Clara- the arrogant and narcissistic daughter of Mrs. Einsford Hill.
Pickering- an elderly colonel, keenly interested in phonetics.
Alfred Doolittle Eliza's father.
Mrs. Higgins- the mother of Henry Higgins, an elderly lady, kind and fair.
Act one
A sudden summer downpour causes that under the portico of the church of St. Paul's is attended by the most diverse audience, including a smartly dressed elderly lady with her daughter and son, a street florist, an army colonel, and a man with a notebook who "hurriedly takes some notes."
The young flower girl is young and good-looking, but compared to "the ladies around her, she looks like a real mess", and her speech and manners leave much to be desired. Someone in the crowd concludes that the man with the notebook is a policeman who is watching the flower girl.
Frightened, the girl begins to cry and lament loudly, attracting everyone's attention to herself, but it soon turns out that this man is the famous professor Henry Higgins, a specialist in phonetics. By pronunciation alone, he can easily determine where this or that Englishman comes from.
After talking with Colonel Pickering - the author of the sensational book "Conversational Sanskrit" - the professor is surprised to learn that he specially "came from India to see" him. Carried away by a common idea, the new friends go to dinner together, leaving the flower girl a rather impressive amount of money by her standards.
Action two
The next day, Higgins invites the Colonel to his apartment on Wimpole Street to showcase his rich collection of phonetic records. Pickering is shocked by what he has heard, and was about to leave the professor, when a maid enters and announces the arrival of a certain poor girl.
She turns out to be yesterday's flower girl, who, in a ridiculous outfit, enters the room with "naive vanity and the air of an important lady" and introduces herself as Eliza Doolittle. Dreaming of a job as a saleswoman in a flower shop, she asks the professor to teach her to "speak in an educated way", otherwise she will have to sell violets on the street all her life.
Higgins regards the guest's request as a ridiculous incident, but the colonel is imbued with Eliza's difficult life situation and invites his friend to make a bet. Pickering is ready to recognize the professor as the best teacher in the world and, moreover, to take on all the costs if he succeeds in passing off a shabby flower girl “for a duchess at a reception at the embassy” in six months. Higgins, anticipating an interesting experiment for him from all points of view, agrees to the bet.
Act Three
After several months of fruitful studies, Higgins decides to have his ward examined, and invites her to his mother's house on her reception day. To Mrs. Higgins' fears of being in an awkward position, the son reassures that the flower girl "is strictly ordered to touch only two topics: weather and health."
Meanwhile, the maid reports the arrival of guests, among whom is Colonel Pickreing, Mrs. Einsford Hill with her daughter Clara and son Freddie.
Eliza enters, striking those present with "her beauty and elegance". At first, he communicates with guests in memorized phrases, "with pedantic purity, a pleasant musical voice", but soon he is inspired by the effect produced, and moves on to more familiar street jargon. Wanting to save the day, Higgins informs those present that these are newfangled secular expressions.
After the guests leave, the professor and the colonel share with Mrs. Higgins the successes of the former flower girl. However, the lady cools their ardor, pointing out the obvious mistakes of the girl. Eliza's training continues with these mistakes. Meanwhile, young Freddie Hill, struck by the beauty of the girl, bombards her with love messages.
act four
Tired but very pleased, Pickering and Higgins share their impressions of the past reception at the embassy. Eliza lived up to all their expectations, brilliantly portraying the Duchess. The colonel assures his friend that the work he has done is "a complete triumph", and he recognizes in him the greatest teacher of our time.
However, Eliza, "in sumptuous evening dress and diamonds", does not participate in the conversation. She is worried and very annoyed: the bet is over, and she is completely unaware of her future. Higgins does not immediately understand the change in the mood of his ward, but, realizing what the matter is, does not show any interest in Eliza's emotional experiences.
Stung by his indifference, Eliza leaves the house in which she lived for six months, learning the correct speech and refined manners.
Act Five
Finding Eliza missing, Higgins comes to his mother, and, not finding her girl, intends to seek help from the police. Mrs. Higgins dissuades this son, arguing that the girl is not "a thief or a lost umbrella."
Eliza enters the living room: she is "in perfect control of herself and carries herself with complete ease." The professor in an orderly tone tells her to immediately return to his house, to which Eliza does not pay the slightest attention to him.
Higgins is outraged at the way a "rotten cabbage stalk" is playing a true lady in front of him. Eliza is grateful to Colonel Pickering for teaching her good manners and rules of conduct in society. She complains to him about the disgusting attitude towards her from Higgins, who continues to see in her only an uneducated flower girl.
When Eliza and the professor manage to be alone, an explanation takes place between them. The girl reproaches him for his callousness, to which Higgins confesses that he "doesn't need anyone". However, he will miss Eliza and asks her to stay with him.
Eliza goes to the wedding ceremony of her father and stepmother. Higgins, after her, instructs her to buy gloves, a tie and cheese for home, to which Eliza contemptuously replies "Buy it yourself", and the professor "with a sly grin jingles change in his pocket" .
Conclusion
In his play, full of dramatic conflicts, Benard Shaw raises the issue of social inequality, ways to overcome it and further consequences.
Play Test
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Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.2. Total ratings received: 305.
The play "Pygmalion" was written in 1912-1913. In this play, Shaw used the myth of Pygmalion, transferring it to the setting of modern London. The paradoxicalist could not leave the myth intact. If the revived Galatea was the embodiment of humility and love, then Shaw's Galatea raises a rebellion against her creator: if Pygmalion and Galatea of antiquity married, then Shaw's heroes should by no means marry.
Shaw's immediate task, as he did his best to emphasize in the preface, is the promotion of linguistics, and primarily phonetics. But this is only one side of an interesting, multifaceted play. At the same time, this is a play of great social, democratic sounding - a play about the natural equality of people and their class inequality, about the talent of people from the people. This is also a psychological drama about love, which for a number of reasons almost turns into hatred. And finally, this is a humanistic play, showing how carefully and carefully you need to approach a living person, how terrible and unacceptable a cold experiment on a person is. We feel the charm and originality of Eliza Doolittle already in the first acts, when she still speaks in ridiculous street jargon.
"Pygmalion" tells the reader about how people's lives change thanks to education. Characters: Eliza Doolittle, poor flower girl; her father, a scavenger; Colonel Pickering; young man - scientist Henry Higgins; Mrs Hill with her daughter and son Freddie. The events take place in London.
… On a summer evening it rains like a bucket. People run to the portico of the church, hoping to take shelter there from the rain. Among them - an elderly lady, Mrs. Hill and her daughter. The lady's son, Freddie, runs to look for a taxi, but on the way he stumbles upon a young girl, street flower girl Eliza Doolittle. He knocks the basket of violets out of her hands. The girl scolds loudly. Someone writes her words in a notebook. Someone says that this man is a police informer. The man with the notebook is later revealed to be Henry Hingins, author of The Higgins Universal Alphabet. Hearing this, one of those standing at the church, Colonel Pickering, is interested in the personality of Hingins. For a very long time he wanted to meet Hingins, since he himself is fond of linguistics. At the same time, the flower girl continues to lament over the flowers that have fallen to the ground. Higgins tosses a handful of coins into her basket and leaves with the Colonel. The girl is sincerely glad - by her standards, she now has a huge fortune.
The next morning, Higgins demonstrates his phonographic equipment to Colonel Pickering at his home. The housekeeper reports that a "very simple girl" wants to talk to the professor. Eliza Doolittle appears. She wants to take phonetics lessons from the professor, as her pronunciation does not allow her to get a job. Higgins wants to refuse, but the Colonel offers a bet. If Higgins can “turn a street flower girl into a duchess” in a few months, then Pickernig will pay for her education in full. This offer seems very tempting to Higgins, and he agrees.
Two months pass. Higgins brings Eliza Doolittle to his mother's house. He wants to find out if it is already possible to introduce a girl into secular society. The Hill family is visiting Higgins' mother, but no one recognizes the flower girl who has come. The girl at first speaks like a high-society lady, but then she switches to street jargon. The guests are surprised, but Higgins manages to smooth things over: he says that this is the new secular jargon. Eliza causes complete delight of the audience.
A few months later, both experimenters take the girl to a high-society reception. Eliza has a dizzying success there. Thus, Higgins wins the bet. Now he does not even pay attention to Eliza, which causes her irritation. Only pronunciation separates a street flower girl from a duchess, but Eliza isn't going to be a duchess. It is Higgins, in his scientific enthusiasm, who shouts that in six months he will turn Eliza into a duchess. The experiment does not go unpunished: Galatea rises against her creator with all the strength of an offended and indignant soul. She throws her shoes at him. The girl seems that her life has no meaning. She runs away from the Higgins house at night.
The next morning, Higgins discovers that Eliza is not there, trying to find her with the help of the police. Without Eliza, Higgins is “as if without hands”: he cannot find where his things are, what day to assign things to. Higgins' mother knows to find her. The girl agrees to return if Higgins asks her for forgiveness. In his play, the show managed to highlight the issue of social inequality of people. The educated Eliza remains as poor as she was when she was a flower trader. Only the tragic awareness of their poverty and boundless inequality between people has been added. But in the end, Eliza Doolittle returns to the Higgins house, and now she is by no means considered a stupid girl, but is valued and respected as a person.
History of creation
Comedy B. Shaw "Pygmalion" written in 1912-1913. The name of the play is associated with the images of antiquity. The sculptor Pygmalion, the hero of ancient Greek myth, hated women and avoided them. Art captivated him. He embodied his craving for beauty in the statue of Galatea, a girl that he carved from ivory. Fascinated by his own creation, Pygmalion fell in love with Galatea and married her, after the goddess Aphrodite revived her at his request. However, B. Shaw's play is not an artistic retelling of this myth. The playwright, true to his passion for paradoxes, decided to revive the myth in a new way - the more unexpected, the better. Galatea of myth was tender and submissive,"Galatea" in the play, Shaw was to rebel against her"creator". Pygmalion and Galatea of antiquity marry, but the heroes of the play should not do this. And in the end"Galatea" The show was supposed to come alive"Pygmalion" teach him human feelings. The action was transferred to modern England, the sculptor turned into a professor-linguist who conducts a scientific experiment.
Undertaking the experiment, Higgins thought least of all about Eliza. For him, the main thing was to bring the effectiveness of his teaching method. And when the tension of several months of uninterrupted work subsided, and there was no longer a need for the presence of a girl in the professor's house, the scientist devoted to science, who did not pay any attention to women, was surprised to understand that he could not imagine his life without Eliza. In Shaw's play, the process of transforming a petrified scientist into a man took place in reverse myth. A simple flower girl made those strings sound in the soul of the aristocrat Higgins, which he did not even know about. Unlike the ancient myth, in which Pygmalion himself created the beautiful Galatea, the hero of Shaw only polishes a personality that gradually changes not only itself, but also its transformer. End"Pygmalion" also unexpected. The viewer is waiting for the wedding. And indeed, all the heroes of the play leave for the wedding at the end, but not Eliza with Higgins, this newest Galatea and Pygmalion, but Eliza's father and her stepmother. What will happen next with the main characters, the author leaves it up to the viewer to decide. The reader can learn from the afterword how Eliza marries Freddie, but friendly relations with Higgins and Pickering will not stop after her marriage.
The first production of the play in early 1914 was a resounding success. Since then"Pygmalion" went around all the leading theaters of the world and enjoys constant stage success.
Productions
1913 - First productions"Pygmalion" in Vienna and Berlin
1914 - Premiere of "Pygmalion" took place in London at His Majesty's Theatre. Starring: Stella Patrick Campbell and Herbert Birbe-Tree
1914 - First production in Russia (Moscow). Moscow Drama Theater E. M. Sukhodolskaya. Cast: Nikolai Radin
1943 - "Pygmalion" State Academic Maly Theater of Russia (Moscow). Starring: Daria Zerkalova, Konstantin Zubov. For the production and performance of the role of Dr. Higgins in the play, Konstantin Zubov was awarded the Stalin Prize of the second degree (1946)
1948 - "Pygmalion" ( radio performance) (Moscow). Cast: Daria Zerkalova
1951 - "Pygmalion" State Academic Art Theater. J. Rainis of the Latvian SSR
1956 - musical " My fair lady» to music by Frederick Lowe (based on the play"Pygmalion") (New York)
2000 - "Pygmalion" ( translation into Ukrainian by Nikolay Pavlov). National Academic Drama Theatre. Ivan Franko (Kyiv). Staged by Sergey Danchenko
2005 - Musical " My fair lady», F. Low, State Academic Theater« Moscow Operetta»
2011 - Musical "Eliza", St. Petersburg State Music and Drama Theater Buff
My Fair Lady (musical comedy in 2 acts). Chelyabinsk State Academic Drama Theatre. CM. Zwillinga (director - people's art of Russia - Naum Orlov)
"Pygmalion" - International Theater Center"Russian". Production by P. Safonov
« Pygmalion, or almost MY FAIRY LADY» - Drama and Comedy Theater named after Dunin-Martsinkevich (Bobruisk). Staged by Sergei Kulikovsky
2012 - musical performance directed by Elena Tumanova. Student Theater "GrandEx" (NAPCS, Simferopol)
^ Interesting Facts:
Bernard Shaw - British writer, playwright"Pygmalion" - is the second most popular (after Shakespeare!) playwright in the English theater.
The play was written in 1912 and its first productions took place in Vienna and Berlin.
It is believed that the famous Anglo-American expression" Wow! "("Wow!") came into wide use precisely from the play"Pygmalion" - it was actively used by the ignorant Eliza Doolittle before her transformation into a lady of high society.
The play became world-famous for the Broadway premiere of the musical.« My fair lady», which took place in 1956. The show immediately became very popular, and tickets for it were sold out six months in advance.
In 1964, a play by Bernard Shaw formed the basis of a film starring Audrey Hepburn. The film was awarded"Oscar", "Golden Globe" and BAFTA.
The popular English playwright, second only to Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw left the deepest imprint on world culture.
His work was marked by two prestigious awards: the Nobel Prize was awarded to the great novelist for his contribution to literature, and the Oscar for the screenplay based on the play of the same name by Bernard Shaw Pygmalion. Summary of the play in this article.
Pygmalion and Galatea
Literary scholars and critics have made various suggestions as to what motivated Shaw to write this play. Some refer to the famous myth of Ancient Greece and offer to recall the legendary sculptor who created the statue of a beautiful girl. Others believe that Shaw recalled Gilbert's play Pygmalion and Galatea. Still others have gone so far as to accuse Shaw of almost plagiarism, pointing to Smollet's novel as a borrowing source.
In fact, the history of writing Pygmalion began with the great playwright's passion for actress Stella Campbell, which he wrote about in his diary. He often had novels in the form of correspondence with actresses, among whom were Florence Farr and Ellen Terry, but Stella occupied an exceptional place in the life and work of Shaw.
The correspondence continued for several years. But Shaw did not want to change anything in his life. Stella, on the other hand, was faithful to her unlucky husband, who lived on her income. Bernard recognized her as a brilliant actress and tried to help her financially. But she refused financial assistance. Having once seen the performance of Forbes-Robertson and Mrs. Campbell in Hamlet, he decided to create a play for her.
In one of his letters to Ellen Terry, he shared the idea that he would like to write a play where Robertson would be a gentleman and Stella a girl in an apron. While the London diva was thinking about whether to play a dirty flower girl, the premiere of the play took place in Vienna, then it was a resounding success in Berlin. On the English stage, the play "Pygmalion" was staged only in April 1914, with Mrs. Campbell playing the main role.
Characters
London flower girl Eliza, turned into a society lady by the eccentric professor of phonetics Higgins, has become one of the world's favorite theatrical stage heroes. This role has become a favorite female role and glorified many theater actresses, bypassing all world scenes - from the famous London diva to the Russian D. Zerkalova. Which is not surprising.
As will be seen from the summary below, Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw is a cheerful, brilliant comedy, the last act of which contains an element of drama: the flower girl coped well with the role of a society lady and is no longer needed. The main characters of the play are Eliza and Professor Higgins with Colonel Pickering, who made a bet:
- Eliza, the flower girl, is a girl of eighteen or twenty, and cannot be called attractive. She is wearing a hat, badly damaged by dust and soot, which was hardly familiar with the brush. Hair of an unnatural color that needs soap and water. The faded black coat barely covers her knees. Eliza's shoes were known better days. Everything shows that the girl is clean, but next to others she looks like a mess.
- Phonetics Professor Higgins is a man in his forties, strong and healthy. He wears a black frock coat, a starched collar, and a silk tie. He belongs to the people of science, who are interested in everything that can become the subject of research. Everything that attracts his attention, he treats with genuine passion. If something turns out not according to him, the good-natured grouchiness of the professor is replaced by outbursts of anger. But everyone forgives him, because he is very sincere.
- Colonel Pickering is an exemplary gentleman. It was his courtesy that played an important role in the transformation of Eliza.
Other participants in the play
In the amazing transformation of Eliza, not only the main characters played an important role. Pygmalion No. 1 can be called the girl's father. In social terms, the scavenger is, one might say, at the bottom. But Alfred is a bright and unusual personality. The flower girl owes many positive character traits to her father. His impressive behavior is obvious: the ability to explain himself to any person, originality of thinking, self-esteem.
An interesting personality Alfred adapts to any situation and remains himself. In other words, circumstances may change, but a person will not change: a person will remain a person. However, Shaw would not have been Shaw if he had not put self-respect into the soul of a street girl, and would not have made interesting a man who valued his father's feeling at five pounds. Why are the characters of Henry, the housekeeper, Pickering, Eliza, and the girl's father so powerful, and the drawing-room people so weak? How skillfully the great playwright succeeded in this can be seen from the summary of Pygmalion. Bernard Shaw and out secondary characters made interesting personalities:
- Eliza's father Alfred Doolittle is an elderly but strong man. He's wearing scavenger clothes. An energetic person who knows no fear and conscience.
- Professor Higgins' housekeeper is Mrs Pierce.
- Professor Higgins' mother is Mrs. Higgins.
- Mrs Hill's daughter is Clara.
- Mrs Hill's son is Freddie.
- Mrs. Higgins' guest is Eynsford Hill.
In five acts of the play "Pygmalion" Shaw, as a wise and insightful artist, discovered in a street girl those features that made possible her transformation, unexpected but plausible. He says that it is worth changing the conditions of existence, creating a favorable environment, and you will see how a miracle will happen: natural abilities will open up, self-esteem will increase.
Eliza will pass a severe test of social manners and social ritual. Passes for a duchess at a reception at any embassy. Such is the development of the artistic thought of Bernard Shaw. In the summary of Pygmalion, you can get to know Eliza and follow her amazing transformation from a dirty girl into a duchess.
Summer rain
A violent pouring rain gathered several people under the portico of the church. Two ladies, chilled in their evening gowns, were waiting for the taxi that Freddie had gone to fetch. A passer-by, having heard their conversation, said that it was impossible to find a taxi, as people were leaving the theater at that time and, moreover, it was pouring impenetrable rain.
Freddie, the son of an old lady, came and said he couldn't find a taxi. The mother sent him back. Freddy, accompanied by his sister's indignant exclamations and thunder, went back to look, and ran into a flower girl who was hurrying to cover. The street vendor did not reach into her pocket for a word: picking up flowers, she lamented in the dialect of a commoner and angrily answered the questions of the ladies.
Then she caught sight of an elderly gentleman hurrying to take cover from the rain. The flower girl switched to him, persuading him to buy a bouquet. A passer-by noticed the girl that a guy standing nearby, probably a policeman, was writing down everything in a notebook. Those present immediately drew attention to the man standing with a notebook. He explained that he was not a policeman and, nevertheless, told who was born where, down to the street.
The gentleman, who is also a colonel, showed interest in this man. So the acquaintance of the creator of the Higgins alphabet and the author of the book "Conversational Sanskrit" Pickering took place. They were going to meet each other for a long time, so they decided to continue their acquaintance over dinner. Higgins tossed a handful of coins into the flower girl's basket on the way. The girl, who got hold of a huge amount, gets into the taxi that Freddie caught and leaves.
Professor and Colonel's Bet
The next morning Higgins received Colonel Pickering at his house and demonstrated the phonographic apparatus. Mrs. Pierce, the housekeeper, reported that a certain girl had come to him and wanted to talk to him. When she was called in, the professor recognized her as yesterday's flower girl. Eliza explained that she wanted to take phonetics lessons from Higgins, as she could not get a good job with her terrible pronunciation.
The money is small, but the colonel encourages Higgins to prove that he can, as he assured, turn a street vendor into a duchess. They make a bet, and the colonel undertakes to pay all the expenses for training. The housekeeper takes the flower girl to the bathroom to launder.
After some time, the girl's father showed up at Higgins' house. The drink-loving type demands five pounds from the professor and promises not to interfere. Higgins is surprised by the eloquence and persuasiveness of the scavenger, for which he received his compensation. Eliza Doolittle enters the room in an elegant kimono and no one recognizes her.
Entering a secular society
After a few months of training, Higgins decided to check how his student coped with the task assigned to her. As an exam, he takes the girl to his mother's house, who gives the reception. Mrs. Hill is also there with her daughter and son Freddie. They don't recognize the girl as the flower girl they met a few months ago.
Eliza behaves impeccably, but when it comes to her life, she breaks into common language. Higgins saves the day by explaining to those present that this is the new secular jargon. When the guests have left, the colonel and the professor tell Mrs. Higgins how they teach the girl, take her to the theater and opera. In addition, she has an excellent ear for music.
In response to their enthusiastic stories, the professor's mother remarks that the girl should not be treated like a living doll. They, somewhat disappointed, leave Mrs. Higgins' house and continue their studies, taking into account all the mistakes that the elderly lady pointed out to them. Freddie did not remain indifferent to the charming guest, and showered Eliza with romantic messages.
Eliza's Success
Higgins, having devoted a few more months to his student, arranges a decisive exam for her - he takes her to an appointment at the embassy. Eliza is a resounding success. Upon returning home, the colonel congratulates the professor on his success. No one pays attention to Elise anymore.
An annoyed girl expresses to her teacher that she cannot lead her former life. He asks what will happen to her now, where will she go and what should she do now? The professor is unable to understand her soul. The girl throws slippers at the professor in anger, and leaves the Higgins house at night.
twist of fate
The Colonel and the Professor arrive at Mrs. Higgins' house and complain about Eliza's disappearance. The professor admits to his interlocutors that without her, he, as if without hands, does not know what is planned for the day, where his things lie.
The girl's father comes to the house - he looks different - a quite wealthy bourgeois shows Higgins that it was his fault that he had to change his lifestyle. A few months ago the professor wrote to the founder of the Moral Reform League that Alfred Doolittle was perhaps the most original moralist in England. The millionaire left in his will to the scavenger an annual allowance, on the condition that he lecture at the League several times a year.
Mrs. Higgins is relieved that there is now someone to take care of the girl. Eliza arrives and explains alone with the professor. Higgins believes that he is not guilty of anything and demands the girl to return. To which she replies that she will immediately go to his colleague, get a job with him as an assistant and reveal the Higgins method known to her now.
The professor defiantly instructs the girl to make purchases on the way home. To which Eliza replies with contempt: "Buy it yourself." And he goes to the wedding of his father, who, given his current situation, is forced to officially marry the woman with whom he lived for twenty years.
Metamorphoses of "Pygmalion"
The analysis of this comedy shows a brilliant and impressive plot, turning into a realistic drama in the finale. Fascinated by a linguistic experiment, Higgins discovers that he has created more than just a beautiful girl capable of delivering sophisticated speeches. To his amazement, he realizes that before him is a human being with a soul and a heart.
George Bernard Shaw pursued this goal: to show the representatives of the blue blood that they differ from the lower class only in clothes, pronunciation, education and manners. For the rest, decency and spiritual sensitivity, nobility and self-esteem are inherent in ordinary people. The playwright wanted to show that the difference between them could and should be overcome. And he succeeded.
The open end of the play, as left by the author, caused a lot of criticism and indignation from the public. The excellent playwright, in turn, did not want to repeat anyone. George Bernard Shaw showed originality and ingenuity, embodying an artistic concept. In the subtitle, he indicated that it was a fantasy novel, and by this he accurately defined the genre features of the play.
As the author himself later wrote, he called the play a novel because it is a story about a poor girl who, like Cinderella, met a handsome prince and was turned into a beautiful lady by him. And for the indignant public, lost in conjecture - for whom Eliza will marry, he wrote comments in which he did not state, but assumed the future of the girl. Shaw supplemented the play with new scenes for the film script, which premiered in 1938 and was a resounding success.
Year of writing:
1913
Reading time:
Description of the work:
Bernard Shaw wrote the play Pygmalion in 1912. It is one of his most famous plays. In order for the play to be filmed in 1938, Bernard Shaw supplemented the play with several more major episodes. These episodes are included in the English text of the play, but they have not yet been translated into Russian.
The play takes place in London. On a summer evening, the rain pours like a bucket. Passers-by run to Covent Garden Market and to the portico of St. Pavel, where several people have already taken refuge, including an elderly lady with her daughter, they are in evening dresses, waiting for Freddie, the lady's son, to find a taxi and come for them. Everyone, except for one person with a notebook, peers impatiently into the torrents of rain. Freddie appears in the distance, having not found a taxi, and runs to the portico, but on the way he runs into a street flower girl, hurrying to take cover from the rain, and knocks a basket of violets out of her hands. She bursts into swearing. A man with a notebook hurriedly writes something down. The girl laments that her violets have disappeared, and begs the colonel standing right there to buy a bouquet. The one to get rid of, gives her a change, but does not take flowers. One of the passers-by draws the attention of a flower girl, a sloppily dressed and unwashed girl, that a man with a notebook is clearly scribbling a denunciation of her. The girl starts whimpering. He, however, assures that he is not from the police, and surprises everyone present by accurately determining the origin of each of them by their pronunciation.
Freddie's mother sends her son back to look for a taxi. Soon, however, the rain stops, and she and her daughter go to the bus stop. The Colonel takes an interest in the abilities of the man with the notebook. He introduces himself as Henry Higgins, creator of the Higgins Universal Alphabet. The colonel turns out to be the author of the book Conversational Sanskrit. His last name is Pickering. He lived in India for a long time and came to London specifically to meet Professor Higgins. The professor also always wanted to meet the colonel. They are about to go to dinner at the Colonel's hotel, when the flower girl again begins to ask to buy flowers from her. Higgins tosses a handful of coins into her basket and leaves with the Colonel. The flower girl sees that she now owns, by her standards, a huge amount. When Freddie arrives with the taxi he finally hailed, she gets into the car and, slamming the door shut, leaves.
The next morning, Higgins demonstrates his phonographic equipment to Colonel Pickering at his home. Suddenly, Higgins' housekeeper, Mrs. Pierce, reports that a certain very simple girl wants to talk to the professor. Enter yesterday's flower girl. She introduces herself as Eliza Doolittle and says that she wants to take phonetics lessons from the professor, because with her pronunciation she cannot get a job. The day before, she had heard that Higgins was giving such lessons. Eliza is sure that he will gladly agree to work off the money that yesterday, without looking, he threw into her basket. Of course, it is ridiculous for him to talk about such amounts, but Pickering offers Higgins a bet. He incites him to prove that in a matter of months he can, as he assured the day before, turn a street flower girl into a duchess. Higgins finds the offer tempting, especially since Pickering is willing, if Higgins wins, to pay the entire cost of Eliza's education. Mrs. Pierce takes Eliza to the bathroom to wash.
After a while, Eliza's father comes to Higgins. He is a scavenger, a simple man, but impresses the professor with his natural eloquence. Higgins asks Dolittle for permission to keep his daughter and gives him five pounds for it. When Eliza arrives, already washed and wearing a Japanese robe, the father does not even recognize his daughter at first. A couple of months later, Higgins brings Eliza to his mother's house, just in time for her appointment. He wants to know if it is already possible to introduce a girl into secular society. Mrs. Higgins is visiting Mrs. Einsford Hill with her daughter and son. These are the same people with whom Higgins stood under the portico of the cathedral on the day he first saw Eliza. However, they do not recognize the girl. Eliza first behaves and talks like a high-society lady, and then moves on to a story about her life and uses such street expressions that all those present are only amazed. Higgins pretends this is the new social jargon, thus smoothing things over. Eliza leaves the gathering, leaving Freddie ecstatic.
After this meeting, he begins to send Eliza ten-page letters. After the guests leave, Higgins and Pickering vying, enthusiastically tell Mrs. Higgins about how they work with Eliza, how they teach her, take her to the opera, to exhibitions, and dress her. Mrs. Higgins finds that they treat the girl like a living doll. She agrees with Mrs. Pierce, who believes that they "don't think of anything".
A few months later, both experimenters take Eliza to a high-society reception, where she has a dizzying success, everyone takes her for a duchess. Higgins wins the bet.
Arriving home, he enjoys the fact that the experiment, from which he has already managed to get tired, is finally over. He behaves and talks in his usual rough manner, not paying the slightest attention to Eliza. The girl looks very tired and sad, but at the same time she is dazzlingly beautiful. It is noticeable that irritation accumulates in her.
She ends up throwing his shoes at Higgins. She wants to die. She does not know what will happen to her next, how she will live. After all, she became a completely different person. Higgins assures that everything will work out. She, however, manages to hurt him, unbalance him and thereby at least a little revenge for herself.
Eliza runs away from home at night. The next morning, Higgins and Pickering lose their heads when they see that Eliza is gone. They even try to track her down with the help of the police. Higgins feels without Eliza as without arms. He does not know where his things are, nor what he has scheduled for the day. Mrs. Higgins arrives. Then they report about the arrival of Eliza's father. Doolittle has changed a lot. Now he looks like a wealthy bourgeois. He lashes out indignantly at Higgins for the fact that through his fault he had to change his way of life and now become much less free than he was before. It turns out a few months ago Higgins wrote to a millionaire in America, who founded branches of the Moral Reform League all over the world, that Dolittle, a simple scavenger, is now the most original moralist in all of England. He died, and before his death, he bequeathed to Dolittle a share in his trust for three thousand annual income, on the condition that Dolittle would give up to six lectures a year in his Moral Reform League. He laments that today, for example, he even has to officially marry the one with whom he has lived for several years without registering a relationship. And all this because he is now forced to look like a respectable bourgeois. Mrs. Higgins is overjoyed that a father can finally take care of his changed daughter the way she deserves. Higgins, however, does not want to hear about "returning" Dolittle Eliza.
Mrs. Higgins says she knows where Eliza is. The girl agrees to return if Higgins asks her forgiveness. Higgins is in no way agreeing to go for it. Eliza enters. She expresses gratitude to Pickering for his treatment of her as a noble lady. It was he who helped Eliza change, despite the fact that she had to live in the house of a rude, slovenly and ill-mannered Higgins. Higgins is smitten. Eliza adds that if he continues to "push" her, she will go to Professor Nepin, a colleague of Higgins, and become his assistant and inform him of all the discoveries made by Higgins. After a burst of indignation, the professor finds that now her behavior is even better and more dignified than when she looked after his things and brought him slippers. Now, he is sure, they will be able to live together no longer just as two men and one stupid girl, but as "three friendly old bachelors."
Eliza goes to her father's wedding. Apparently, she will still live in Higgins' house, because she managed to become attached to him, as he did to her, and everything will go on as before.
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