George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion
1. Find out about the Pygmalion story. Briefly outline the differences between the myth and the plot of Shaw's play.
2. Find out something about Shaw's life and his importance to the history of 20th century drama. What were some of Shaw's other concerns?
(For these two questions, consult the reference section of the Library. EB will have detailed articles on Shaw; any dictionary of mythology will cover the Pygmalion myth; any history of Literature in the reference section (we have the Cambridge), will give you an article on the play...)
Act One
Why does Shaw open his play in Covent Garden?
Find out what "evening dress" is for (a) a gentleman (b) a lady. On what occasions would it be obligatory?
Comment on the staging of Act One (including costumes for the bystanders and Eliza).
How would you describe the first impression on an audience of (1) The Eynesford-Hills (2) various bystanders (3) Higgins and Pickering (4) Eliza?
What are the differences in language between these 4 main groups?
Shaw makes the point in Act One, that it is not how much money you have that is important, so much as how valuable a given sum of money is to you.
How does Shaw establish money as an important motif in this scene?
How does money help to place the people in Act One more precisely on the social scale?
Who is the dominant character in this Act? How does Shaw establish this?
What are the features of Shaw's stagecraft which make Act One a lively and amusing beginning to the play.
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