Pygmalion Act I by George Bernard Shaw

So, here we are passed poetry and into drama. The first play we have to read and review is the interesting and witty play by George Bernard Shaw. Here is what I think of this play.

George Bernard Shaw was a prominent playwright of the twentieth century whose main focus of the plays were different social discrepancies and equality of human beings, especially feminism. Such influences were clearly visible in the first act of his play Pygmalion. Here, he shows that human beings constantly jump into conclusions without proper understanding of the situation. Also he makes us believe that a lady or gentleman is distinguished from the lower class (of old British system) was through a flawless and genial speech. Since both this traits are found in the character of the Note-taker or Henry Higgins, we assume that he is the main character or hero of this play.

The play starts with a dark rainy setting. Two ladies stand in the rain waiting for someone called Freddy to bring them a cab. At first, the dialogues given by the two ladies, one mother and one daughter, give the allusion that Freddy might be their servant. But the way Freddy spoke back at them clearly states that he is a relative and later the mother admits that he is his son. The daughter, on the other hand, clearly is an example of the pride and haughtiness present within the British upper class. This is shown via her impatient attitude and rude behavior though calling herself a lady all the time.

The scene takes a different route with the arrival of the Flower-girl. She, in contrast of the ladies, was definitely a representation of the lower classes. She was dressed as modestly and as beautifully as she could manage but compared to the women, she was still a commoner. Life is hard in the lower class. So, they have to adopt several life hacks to improve their condition and also have to be witty if they want to survive in this tough world. The flowergirl was no exception. She shows her cleverness by making the Mother pay her foolishly. She uses her vocal tactics and Cockney pronunciations to gain favors from the wealthy ones. But, she knows that what she does is wrong and it is strongly shown when she mistakes a Henry Higgins as a cop or detective in disguise and throws a tantrum to depict herself as a damsel in distress and get away with what she has done.

The most interesting character of the play was the Note-taker or Henry Higgins, as revealed later. People mistake him for a cop and shows different reaction to him. They come to rescue the seemingly distressed flower-girl at that thought. Shaw shows here that we humans are curious beings because the people who avoided the flower-girl in the beginning clearly became interested in her at the arrival of the “cop”. Also, it is shown that man tend to jump into conclusions in order to see what they want to see. So, even though the Note-taker claims that he is not a cop or detective in disguise, he is still accused of it.

The Note-taker turns out to be a professor of phonetics. Here, Shaw plays with the thoughts and assumptions of his audience. He portrays Henry Higgins as some kind of magician or con man who somehow knows the exact location of his person’s residence. This process will spark the audiences’ interest and they will want to know the answer to this mystery. At the end of the play, Shaw reveals that Higgins was none but a professor of phonetics and he deducted the location of each person in the mob by noticing the way each one talks. Though this is not magic or the tricks of a con man, this is definitely something unexpected and will leave the audience in awe.

The over-all depiction of the story was full of humor and witty dialogues which will definitely attract the audience but will also show them the ups and downs of different classes. The character of Henry Higgins will definitely put some common sense in the minds of the audience and make people think more differently and rationally.