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Androcles And The Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion

Good Essays

Joseph Murnane
Shaw, George Bernard. Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion. New York: Brentano, 1916. Print.
In Pygmalion, language is used as a mark of distinction between the various characters. Elizabeth desires greater language proficiency as a means to achieve a better career. In contrast, Professor Higgins, a distinguished and scholarly gentleman who used language as a career, did not speak kindly to others. Finally, Elizabeth’s father, an eloquent garbage man, is forced into the middle class when he gives speeches. The experiences of these characters demonstrate that language does not define one’s character.
Elizabeth wants more comfort in her life. After seeing a glimpse of prosperity after Professor Higgins gives her enough …show more content…

Her shame is so great that the professor is banned from her calling hours because he “offends all [her] friends” (158). She refuses to take him to Mr. Dolittle’s wedding, claiming that he will “make remarks out loud… on the clergyman’s pronunciation” (208). Clergymen are typically respected, but not even the church is immune to Professor Higgins’ own brand of manners. However, Professor Higgins is at least a little religious. He shows religious guilt when he offers Eliza, a common flower girl, a generous lump of money after hearing a church bell. In addition, Professor Higgins has an interest in Mr. Doolittle’s newfound life, being indirectly responsible for his newfound wealth and present …show more content…

The moment he learned where his daughter was, he dashed over to see if he could sell her, claiming, “as a daughter she’s not worth her keep” (149). His speech shows that he is a disreputable character, and would sell his daughter “to oblige a gentleman” (150), though not a common man. It could be that this is his method of making sure that she has a stable home with success. Conversely, he could be trying to tap her later for money, as he replies to an aghast Colonel Pickering that he “can’t afford” (148), manners. Higgins, however, admires Doolittle’s rhetorical skill, which is praise indeed from the professor. Just as the professor promised his daughter, Higgins claims that he can make him a middle class man, offering him a choice between “a seat in the cabinet and a popular pulpit in Wales” (151). Doolittle declines, however, claiming that he would not want to be a member of the middle class and be tied with morality. Surprisingly, he also desires only five pounds, rather than ten pounds, as neither he nor his wife would ever want to spend such a sum. As a joke, Higgins recommends Doolittle as an original

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