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George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion

One of George Bernard Shaw’s best-known plays, «Pygmalion» was a rousing success on the London and New York stages, an entertaining motion picture and a great hit in its musical version, «My Fair Lady». An updated and considerably revised version of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea, the 20th-century story pokes fun at the antiquated British class system. In Shaw’s clever adaptation, Professor Henry Higgins, a linguistic expert, takes on a bet that he can transform an awkward cockney flower seller into a refined young lady simply by polishing her manners and changing the way she speaks. In the process of convincing society that his creation is a mysterious royal figure, the Professor also falls in love with his elegant handiwork. The irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, together with Shaw’s brilliant dialogue and splendid skills as a playwright, have made «Pygmalion» one of the most popular comedies in the English language. A staple of…
119 printed pages
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Impressions

  • missninashared an impression4 years ago

    Satires and I do not generally get on well. I do not believe that it is because I have a hard time making fun of the follies of humans, I am capable enough of doing so in other works (like in Austen's novels, for example). However, I am perhaps too hopeful. I hope and trust that in the end, the main characters, at the very least, experience some amount of growth. Perhaps that is not what happens in real life, and yet I cannot make myself truly believe so. The ending felt, to me, too much of a joke. There were conversations close to the end that made me expect a much more satisfactory one. One in which, Professor Higgins becomes more mature and like a gentleman, and Eliza realizes her own strength and capabilities grows beyond her station and becomes a dignified lady, perhaps fulfilling her initial wishes to become more independent and do better for herself. But perhaps stubborn men are too pigheaded to change, and perhaps I expected too much of an uneducated flowergirl, and too much of human nature, in general. Of whether the characters truly were faithful and consistent throughout the play, perhaps I am not a reliable judge.

  • sgarmshared an impression9 years ago

    Интересно, но не актуально.
    Читается не легко

  • Bardolatorshared an impression2 years ago
    👍Worth reading

Quotes

  • Bardolatorhas quoted2 years ago
    If you can't appreciate what you've got, you'd better get what you can appreciate
  • Random Opinionhas quoted3 years ago
    When you go to women," says Nietzsche, "take your whip with you."

    WTH!!

  • zaloznikehas quoted9 months ago
    But as to Higgins, the only distinction he makes between men and women is that when he is neither bullying nor exclaiming to the heavens against some featherweight cross, he coaxes women as a child coaxes its
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