-
Analysis of the transformation
of Elisa in
Pygmalion
and
its causes
Introduction
Born in Dublin in 1856 to a middle-
class family, George Bernard Shaw gradually
became one of the most important
playwrights after Shakespeare. Maybe somebody
disagree
with
such
assessment,
however,
the
fact
that
day
never
passes
without
a
performance
of
some
Shaw
play
being
given
somewhere
in
the
world
Schwart,
1966:24
)
definitely
prove
Shaw's
charm
among
the
readers.
Of
which,
Pygmalion
is
undoubtedly
the
most
welcomed
and
beloved
one.
Pygmalion
is
originally
a
mythology
from Ovidius’s
Metamorphoseon libri
.
Pygmalion
，
King of
Cyprus
，
was a
famous
sculptor
．
He fell in love
with the sculpture which was made by
him. Shaw
named
the
play
after
the
king's
name
of
the
myth
play;
obviously,
it
shows
the
relationship between his work and the
mythology. In the mythology, the ivory became
a beautiful statue and finally a fair
lady. In Shaw's play, Elisa is a cockney speaking
Covent Garden flower girl
at first, but became an attractive
princess at last. This is the
result of
Higgins's
six months phonetics and
manner training, and after
six months,
Eliza
is
not
a
self-contemptuous
flower
girl
any
more,
she
is
a
brave
resistant
who
dares to pursue her own
happiness. Shaw's relapse of mythological
archetype has his
own purposes.
Besides, he made bold changes when he imitates.
Many scholars have studied this work
from the perspective of feminism, Fabianism,
language and translation of Shaw's
Pygmalion.
But the following essay will
discuss
the
social
and
natural
background,
changes
of
Elisa
and
different
causes
of
her
transformation from a different point
of view. The play demonstrates the process of
the
self-realization
and
spiritual
development
of
the
flower
girl,
thus
contributes
profound realistic significance to the
classical tradition. This essay will also discuss
the influence on Eliza's fate and the
society of Shaw's time.
1
1.
Analysis of the transformation of Elisa
Eliza
is
the
most
important
topic
in
the
work
of
Pygmalion
,
she
is
placed
in
the
center of
the theme. Since the appearance of this great
play, critics has been analyzed
the
phenomena of Eliza's transformation with great
interest, in the following part, we
will do the same thing in a deeper
level.
1.1 Former image of
Elisa
In
Act
I,
Elisa
appears
with
little
sailor
hat
of
black
straw
that
has
long
been
exposed
to the dust and etc. Her hair needs washing rather
badly: its mousy color can
hardly be
natural.
little
child,
and
the
most
important
thing
for
her
is
living.
She
has
no
time
and
no
condition
to
dress
up
herself.
She
wants
to
learn
how
to
talk
more
genteel
from
Higgins,
and
try
to
make
herself
clean
has
a
hat
with
three
ostrich
feathers,
orange, sky-blue, and red. She has a
nearly clean apron, and the shoddy coat has been
tidied a little.
it
is
still
horribly
dirty
in
Higgins's
eye.
The
first
impression
on
Higgins
is
terrible
anywhere
—
no right
to live.
1.2 New image of Elisa
In the
mythology of Pygmalion, it's the exquisite carving
skills that made the ivory
become a
beauty. This is the first transformation, and
similar to the changes of Elisa's
appearance in Shaw's
Pygmalion
. After Higgins's
six months training, the flower girl
becomes
a
princess.
The
clothes
can
easily
be
changed,
the
pronunciation
and
tone
can
be
fixed,
but
inner
temperament
and
education
need
a
long
term
nurture
and
accumulation. Though
they teach her how to choose clothes, play piano,
learn many
kinds of dialects, and go to
concerts, all of this make her princess when she
is chat
2
with people in the party.
1.2.1 Transformation
Under
Higgins's
training,
Elisa's
clothing,
conversation
and
comportment
has
changed a lot. After Mrs. Pearce helps
her to have a bath and change her clothes, she
becomes a
recognize
her
and
out
of
her
way
deferentially
and
apologizes
1925:
123).
In order to examine her learning,
Higgins brings her to his mother's at-home day.
Elisa,
is
exquisitely
dressed,
produces
an
impression
of
such
remarkable
distinction
and
beauty
(Shaw,
1925:
161),
is
not
only
not
recognized
by
Mrs.
and
Miss
Eynsford
Hill,
but
also
win
Freddy's
adore.
Later,
in
the
ambassador's
garden
party, Higgins wins the bet. Elisa
attracts everyone's attention in her splendid
dresses.
1.2.2 Disillusionment
In the myth of
Pygmalion, the second transformation from the
statue to a live lady
is a great
change, comparing with the first one. It is
animate and inanimate. We don't
know
whether
Galatea
has
her
own
mind
after
she
owns
life,
and
whether
she
has
courage and freedom to gain will. But
we know that Shaw gives us a clear description.
When
Elisa
is
confused,
she
chooses
to
be
strong
enough
to
gain
courage
and
determination to realize her dream.
From
the
talk
between
Elisa
and
Pickering
in
the
garden
party,
we
can
see
her
feeling about her change. She feels
like a dream and doesn't want to be wakened. She
knows it's just a dream, but she would
rather indulge in it. She is totally fed up with
the life of a flower girl. She was
turned out by her parents for they thought that
she
was big enough to earn her own
living when she was very young. From then on, she
lived in the house worse than pigsty,
sold flowers everyday. In Act I, there are many
words
like
up
terrified
She
wants
to
get
rid
of
her
3
terrible life, so she comes to Higgins.
She doesn't want to be a duchess but a lady in a
flower shop and has a stable income and
gain others' respect. From the very beginning,
Elisa has decided to live by herself
and will try her best once an opportunity comes.
She is an independent girl with pure
dreams and has affectionate feelings. She doesn't
want to wake up and expect it the
beautiful dream could last forever so that she
would
not worry about her back to a
flower girl.
However, the reality is cruel, which
breaks her dream relentless. If the ambassador's
garden party is an exciting triumph for
Higgins and Pickering, it is totally a torturing
for Elisa. She copes with the task with
all her heart and soul, like walking in the
desert.
After the dream comes to its
end, Eliza has to think about her future. She
realizes the
distance
between
the
current
life
and
her
ideal
life
finally.
The
difference
between
upper
class
and
lower
class
is
nothing
but
the
so-called
education
and
elegant
language. She needs something more real
and more essential to prove the existence of
herself. When she heard Higgins says
fervently
211), she flinches
violently. For those two gentlemen, it's just a
game; but Elisa put all
her best hope
of future life in it. She doesn't know what to do
next and can't see any
way
out
of
that.
The
game
is
over,
and
its
time
to
wake
up.
tries
to
control
herself and feel indifferent……Finally
she gives way and flings
herself
furiously on
the
floor,
raging.
1925:
215)
The
peace
she
tries
to
keep
is
breakdown,
she
him one after the other
with
all her
force
dose
of
fierce
medicine
that
she
has
to
wake
up
and
all
the
worries
emerged.
She
gives
a
suffocated
scream
of
fury,
and
questions
Higgins
to
become
of
me?
What to
become of me?
does it matter what
becomes of
you?
217) Higgins
answers. And this
makes
Elisa fully wake up. Higgins takes his control of
Elisa as a matter of course. At
the
same
time,
Elisa
chooses
to
leave
wisely
and
bravely
there
even
though
she
doesn't know what to do next just like
the moment she comes. She doesn't want to be
a wretch fooled by fate. She has
regarded Higgins and Pickering as her friends, but
finally realizes that they're not in
the same world. So she breaks with them and leaves
4
without hesitation. It's really a hard
time and a difficult decision for her, but she
made
it. She completes her
transformation and shows her persistence in the
establishment of
her
identity.
In
the
last
act,
the
discourse
initiative
has
reversed.
Elisa
is
self-possessed and giving a
staggeringly convincing exhibition of ease of
manner
Higgins is
outburst
what she wants to do and hopes
for, she is not afraid of life any more. She says
I did was not for the dresses and the
taxis: I did it because we were pleasant together
and
I
come
–
came
–
to
care
for
you;
not
to
want
you
to
make
love
to
me,
and
not
forgetting the difference between us,
but more friendly like.
points
out
her
desire
for
kindness,
but
because
of
their
difference
of
values
this
communication break up unhappily. Elisa
insists on her independence and never gives
up. At last, Higgins admits her mature
in his way; he says
will be three old
bachelors together instead of only two men and a
silly girl.
1925: 313)
2.
Analysis of
the c
auses of Elisa’
s
transformation
The causes of Eliza's transformation
can be include the external causes and internal
causes. Appearantly, Higgins is the
main cause of Eliza's change, but in a deep sense,
the social background is an
indispensable or unavoidable factor which deserves
our
attention. Besides, the desire of
Eliza herself and the the instincts of human being
can
not be ignored either. The
following part will talk about these aspects in
detail.
2.1 External causes
From
the
beginning
of
the
play,
Higgins
was
introduced
with
an
identity
of
an
excellent
linguist,
he
is
eager
to
make
an
experiment
to
prove
his
success
through.
After six months'
exercise, he created a new Eliza according to his
intention. This is
one of the external
causes of Eliza's transformation. Besides, the
social background is
another bigger
factor which deserves us to pay more attention to
it.
5
2.1.1 The influence of Higgins
Professor
Higgins
is
a
different
person
in
the
middle
class,
he
is
a
gadfly.
He
is
rebellious,
supercilious
and
a
duchess
as
if
she
was
a
flower
girl
He
is
so
straightforward
that
he
objects
to
the
communication
rules
and
refreshes
the
old-fashioned
nasty
ethos
followed
by
the
Bourgeois
society.
In
the
at-home
party,
Elisa
talk delightful
and quite innocent.
The new
trend of social intercourse in bourgeois
society is brought in by the marginal
man of middle class like Higgins.
Higgins
is
like
an
elf
that
exaggerated
Pygmalion's
suffocation
vitality.
Shaw's
negative
attitude
to
his
is
served
as
a
failure
to
show
the
life
of
his
So
Elisa
in
a
sense
is
the
opposite
of
Higgins.
Contrary
to
Pygmalion's
escape life and
reality, she is making the vision a reality.
According to Elisa's different
development of mind, we can divide it
into two parts: in the first three acts, Higgins
turns
a
flower
girl
into
a
duchess;
in
the
last
two
acts,
we
can
see
how
a
duchess
becomes
a
real
independent
female.
Elisa
gradually
realizes
the
suppress
vitality
of
her Pygmalion and she
gains her identity as well as her heart and soul.
Different from
Higgins's
pallid
idealism,
the
growth
of
Elisa's
mind
is
marked
by
the
control
of
reality tightly. The rebirth of her
soul is
also divided into two parts:
the first part is
characterized
by
Eliza's
strong
outburst;
the
second
part
is
represented
by
her
extraordinary
self-control.
From
the
beginning
of
Act
IV
,
Elisa
starts
to
feel
the
hollowness
of
social
situation
and
the
distance
between
the
reality
and
dream.
She
pursue
the knowledge and power of upper class only to
find that her former value is a
bubble,
and she needs more essential things to prove her
existence. The first thing she
has to
face is
her
emotion
towards Higgins.
She tries to
seek
a spiritual
sustenance
from her love to Higgins. For her, love
should be based on mutual care, she is eager
for close relationship and
interdependence, this is also her thoughts the
moment she
throws
away
Higgins
slippers.
However,
her
new
heart
is
deeply
hurt
by
Higgins's
indifference. She is irritated and even
loses control. Her outrage is not just because of
her rebirth heart. On the other hand,
she is still attached to Higgins and doesn't
realize
6