Free Essay

English- Pygmalion

In:

Submitted By money123
Words 817
Pages 4
English Essay Pygmalion Grade 9 The Transformation of Eliza

Transformation is a thorough change a person’s form of life or their appearance. In the play ‘‘Pygmalion’’ by Bernard Shaw he shows this by the transformation of Eliza. After professor Higgins corrects Eliza’s speech Eliza gains independence; in her marriage; she can now marry a middle class man, her choice of job; she does not need to be a flower girl anymore she can open her own flower shop and she gains confidence as she works her way up to the upper class. After the transformation Eliza is not in the upper class but she is in the middle class thus making her marriage life more attractable to men in the middle class that she would had never attracted before when she was in lower class such as Freddy. Before Eliza was a flower girl she couldn’t attract upper class men. The men would abuse her when she was a flower girl. Now since Eliza moved upped a class because of her speech Freddy is starting to fall in love with her: “ Oh,no,no darling: how can you imagine such a thing? You are the loveliest, dearest’’(Shaw, 82). This quote proves that Eliza is attracting middle class men such as Freddy who thinks Eliza is the most loveliest girl. With Eliza moving up a class she will now dress more flatteringly and the men of the upper or middle class will start to take notice: “They stop talking to look at her, admiring her dress, her jewels”(71). This quote shows that Eliza is dressing more fancy in the middle class thus making the men staring at her and getting attracted to her. Next the transformation gives Eliza the ability to get a better job. With the transformation Eliza can now open her own florist shop instead of being a flower girl on the street trying to sell flowers. Higgins says this to Eliza: “You will live here for 6 months and you will be able to speak beautifully like a lady in a flower shop. If you do pass you will start your life in a shop”(34). Higgins is telling Eliza by the end of me teaching you how to speak and at the end if you pass you will start your new life in a shop. When you are applying for a job the way you present yourself is a very crucial factor. When Eliza was a flower girl she would never be able to get a job because the way she would have presented herself would be awful by her clothes and speech. Now the transformation has given Eliza the chance to present herself well for a job with her new speaking ability that some say is better then the duchess. I can prove it by: “An old lady just told me I speak exactly like Queen Victoria’’(72). In other words this tells us that Eliza speech is better then some people from the upper class because the Queen is above the upper class. As Eliza is moving up in her status in the society she will get to know more people in the middle or upper class and become friends with them. This gives Eliza the opportunity to get a better job through connections in the class. Furthermore the transformation gives Eliza the confidence in what she never had in the beginning. “Ah-ah-ah-ow-ow-oo!”(27) is all Eliza can say in the beginning when Higgins is abusing and Eliza cannot say anything back besides those noises. Since Higgins perfected Eliza’s speech. Eliza can now speak back to Higgins and other people who abuse her: “You don’t care. I know you don’t care. You would [not] care if I was dead. I’m nothing to you-not so much as them slippers”(76). This shows how far Eliza has come. Before she would have never have stud up to Higgins but finally she expresses her feelings and stands up to Higgins by saying to him you do not care about me, you treat me as an object. Higgins gives Eliza the confidence to feel accepting and beautiful in the middle class. Higgin’s makes her accepting by with her new speech she can now talk to the middle or upper class without feeling discomfort. Beautiful by with her new apparel that she never had she feels in place with all the new items she has. From what has been said Eliza can now marry a man from the middle class such as Freddy who is in love with her, she can get a better job on the way she presents herself and with connections with her new status in the society and finally she gains the confidence to stand up for herself when she is being abused. The transformation helped Eliza to find her place in the society.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Pygmalion

...Pygmalion- George Bernard Shaw The play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is a play about social change as well as language. It takes place in London, England in the early twentieth century when speech and choice of words was an important factor in one’s social standing. Shaw reflects this in the two main characters, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. The character Eliza Doolittle is presented at first to the audience as ‘The flower girl’. She is a common girl who sells flowers down at Covent Garden, once known as London's main fruit, vegetable and flower market. She lives in poverty as during then, Covent Garden was a very poor area. At first, she is shown to the audience as quite a rude, smart-mouthed and loud girl. In the play she keeps on repeating “I’m a good girl I am” making people understand that she just sells flowers, and not herself; she is not a prostitute, as many would assume so. At the start of the play, we are also introduced to ‘The Note Taker’ soon known as Henry Higgins himself. Higgins is a professor of phonetics and the Pygmalion to Eliza. He is presented as a person who has a lot of power, is arrogant and careless about others. Moreover, Higgins is very wealthy, he is shown to the public his upper class status by the way he dresses “It’s aw rawt: e’s a gentlemen: look at his be-oots…” When he first meets Eliza he insults her and bullies her by calling her “a squashed cabbage leaf” and a “girl” when clearly she is a woman. This shows how he is also very...

Words: 1318 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

The Mouse

...Language Test (Project/Final Test) Name: _______________________ Date: ______ Course/Year: _________________ I. Encircle the correct answer that will complete each sentence in each item. 1. Ms. Santos with the faculty members ___ dancing gracefully. a. are b. is c. was d. were 2. Ana and Maria ___ to the park last night. a. go b. goes c. gone d. went 3. Basketball ___ my passion. a. are b. is c. was d. were 4. I ___ her once. a. love b. loving c. loved d. has love 5. Yesterday ___ a blast! a. was b. were c. is d. are 6. Tomorrow is the ___ of everything. a. started b. starts c. starting d. start 7. I will be ___ for good. a. forget b. forgot c. has forget d. forgotten 8. To be ___ guilty is a dead end. a. find b. finding c. found d. have finding 9. ___ is waiting for the meeting to start. a. All b. Several c. Everyone d. Everything 10. The person ___ is accused was not the criminal. a. who b. which c. that d. whom 11. ___ birthday is tomorrow. a. My b. Mine c. We d. You 12. The documents scattered ___ the floor. a. over b. throughout c. past d. since 13. The water ___ the earth is clean. a. underneath b. over c. under d. toward 14. The man ___ the house is tall. a. to b. outside c. round ...

Words: 797 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

My Fair Lady

...Lady in Pygmalion My Fair Lady is compared to Pygmalion My Fair Lady, directed by George Cukor, re-creates George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion on the big screen. Both stories are told in their own unique way, yet still bare the same story. Both stories tell the story of a young Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who wishes to improve her English language with hopes of working as a clerk in a flower shop one day. In the beginning, the girl meets Higgins, an unkind, condescending gentleman while trying to hide from an unexpected rainfall. Higgins takes the girl into his home and teaches her how to become a lady. By the end, the girl learns everything about how to be a well brought-up young lady, and peruse her dream to work in the flower shop. While My Fair Lady follows Pygmalion’s storyline, the film is a musical production that really livens up the story with its upbeat singing and dancing. George Cukor (1899-1983) was born in New York City and moved to Hollywood in 1929 to begin his career as a dialogue director. Cukor's first big hit was "Little Women" in 1933. He continued to direct films for over fifty years. In this time period, he directed another big success, My Fair Lady, which he won an Oscar award for in 1964. George Barnard Shaw (1856-1950) lived in Dublin, Ireland, before moving to London in 1876. Shaw wrote music and literature regularly, but struggled financially. In 1895 he began writing plays, creating over 60 scripts, including Pygmalion, directed...

Words: 1088 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Eliza Doolittle

...Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is from the play “Pygmalion” who’s written by George Bernard Shaw. She is the main character in this play, and is known as a sassy, smart-mouthed flower girl with deplorable English. She is known for being an east-end girl who is very poor and is uneducated because she didn’t attend school. Although she is uneducated, this does not mean she is not smart, quick and clever. She uses her tactical thinking to pretend to whine and moan to make people believe or help her in different ways. She is very ambitious seeing as she will suffer lessons with the rude Mr. Higgins to become a flower shop girl. Eliza is shown to be an attractive person. She is around eighteen to twenty, hardly older. She wears a little sailor hat of black straw that is dirty from dust. Her hair needs washing badly. It has a mousy color and can hardly be natural. She wears a shoddy black coat that reaches nearly to her knees and is shaped to her waist. One of the styles she wore described was a brown skirt with a coarse apron. Her boots are much the worse for wear. She’s cleaner than what she can afford to be, but compared to the ladies she is very dirty. “Her features are no worse than theirs; but their condition leaves something to be desired; and she needs the services of a dentist,” as it’s described in Act 1. She is described as a lady with a cockney accent and awful dress sense. Eliza Doolittle is very poor and did not attend school. Although she is uneducated...

Words: 624 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

"My Fair Lady" Analysis

...My Fair Lady Film Analysis CHARACTERS: * Eliza Doolittle: A cockney flower girl from Lisson Grove working outside Covent Garden. Her potential to become “a lady” becomes the object of bet between Higgins and Pickering. * Henry Higgins: British, Upper Class professional bachelor who is a famous phonetics expert, teacher and author of “Higgins’ Universal Alphabet.” * Colonel Pickering, Higgins's friend and fellow phoneticist who is a retired Brisiths officer with colonial experience and the author of “Spoken Sanskrit”. * Alfred P. Doolittle: Eliza's father, an elderly but vigorous dustman. * Freddy Eynsford-Hill: Upper Class young man who becomes completely smitten with Eliza. * Mrs. Higgins: Higgins's socialite mother * Mrs. Pearce: Higgins's housekeeper * Zoltan Karpathy: Higgins's former student and rival SETTING: "My Fair Lady" is set in Edwardian London, sometime between 1901 and 1910, which is the period covering the reign of King Edward VII. The costumes in the 1964 movie version of "My Fair Lady," such as the peach colored outfit Eliza wears after the ball, when she meets her father on the way to his wedding, and the type of automobiles seen indicate the year 1912. This would be the time just before the start of World War I, during the reign of King George V - just after the end of the Edwardian era. PLOT: * Introduction: Higgins hears Eliza shouting in her harsh ‘Cockney’ accent in Covent Garden. He says to his new acquaintance...

Words: 1227 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Human Relations

...Positive human relations functions are the basis for leadership success. Success for positive interactions in human relations is based on strong communication skills (GCU, 2014). Employee human relations and organizational human relations are developed at work. Therefore, human relations can be defined as the study of human behavior at work and an effort to take action in operating situations in order to produce better results. However, the art and science of human relations was not formally dealt with until the second half of the 19th century. Workers’ needs were beginning to be addressed at that time. Development of the human relations theory happened in six stages. The stages are classical thinking, systematic development, teaching and practice, refinement, decline, and evolving (Razik & Swanson, 2010). Stage 1 or the Stage of Classical Thinking happened Pre-1930’s. This stage states that human behavior is determined by economic needs and goals. Incentives contribute to the necessities of life and replenishment in the workforce. It is also thought that human problems are what stand in the way of productivity (Razik & Swanson, 2010). In today’s schools, teachers are incentivized by higher wages and benefits. Additionally, teachers are sometimes paid stipends for work with students after hours. Stage 2 or Systematic Development took place between the years of 1930-1950. The majority of modern human relations theory and practice developed during this...

Words: 1515 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Pygmalion

...The Pygmalion Effect There is a tale from Ancient Greece of how a prince turned a statue from ivory to life and married her. It is the story of Pygmalion. Remarkably, the principles of this story are relevant to modern techniques of leadership. Read this article to find out how. [pic] Enlarge Image A team does as well as you and the team think they can. This idea is known as "the self-fulfilling prophecy". When you believe the team will perform well, in some strange, magical way they do. And similarly, when you believe they won’t perform well, they don’t. There is enough experimental data to suggest that the self-fulfilling prophecy is true. One unusual experiment in 1911 concerned a very clever horse called Hans. This horse had the reputation for being able to add, multiply, subtract, and divide by tapping out the answer with its hooves. The extraordinary thing was that it could do this without its trainer being present. It only needed someone to put the questions. On investigation, it was found that when the questioner knew the answer, he or she transmitted various very subtle body language clues to Hans such as the raising of an eyebrow or the dilation of the nostrils. Hans simply picked up on these clues and continued tapping until he arrived at the required answer. The questioner expected a response and Hans obliged. In similar vein, an experiment was carried out at a British school into the performance of a new intake of pupils. At the start of the year,...

Words: 672 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

...Topic : The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Organisational Behaviour 1. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy was coined by Robert Merton in 1948, describing it as how (1) an expectation may evoke a behaviour of an individual therefore increasing the chances of it becoming true. Merton concluded that (2) a belief eventually leads to a result as it influences the individual to change their behaviours to match your initial expectations. Example: My coach expects me to do well and he spends more time with me preparing for my competition. I performed well and got a gold medal. 2. Introduction More often that not, the outcomes of events that occur in a person’s life is the product of the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy. In this article, we will address these questions as follow. First, we present the definition of the self-fulfilling prophecies. Second, we will look at the process of the self-fulfilling prophecy and how it is applied in our everyday life. We subsequently identify the effects of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Fourth, we will discuss the relation of self-fulfilling prophecy to stereotypes. Finally, we will conclude by weighing up the pros and cons of the self-fulfilling prophecy and how it can be fully utilised in an organisation. 3. Applications of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Three steps are involved in the self-fulfilling prophecy process (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2012). Process begins when Stage (1) ...

Words: 2554 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Pygmalion in Management

...Pygmalion in management The Pygmalion effect is based on the fact that people often live up to the high expectations of other individuals whether their managers, teachers or relatives. Others expectations often lead people to transcend their own abilities and talents and cause self-fulfilling prophecies. J Sterling Livingston, in this article, explores the various facets of this effect in management by looking at the results of different experiments related to it. In one of the examples of the Metropolitian Life Insurance Co., an experiment was carried out in which employees were divided to groups on the basis of previous performance and assigned managers of commensurate ability. As expected, the people of the superior performance group lived up to their expectations and performed admirably; on the other hand, the productivity of the lower performance group declined. However, the anomaly was the average performance group which performed beyond expectations the reason being the manager in charge of the group having a more positive image of her than the perception held by her superiors and the subsequent rub off this image and self-expectation of greater performance onto the entire group. The Pygmalion effect can also be observed in medical science in the form of placebo effect when a non-existent drug administered to patients by physicians who reinforce the efficacy of the same in their recovery often leads to miraculous results. Communication is however a critical factor...

Words: 473 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Similarities Between The Makeover And Pygmalion

...When comparing the play Pygmalion and the Hallmark movie The Makeover, there are numerous similarities and differences that are revealed between the characters and general story line. Pygmalion takes place in London, England around the beginning of the 20th century where The Makeover is placed in Boston, Massachusetts during modern times. Both story lines follow the general theme of the Hallmark movie’s title, a makeover. However, this makeover doesn’t occur under the same circumstances. Pygmalion’s main character, Eliza Doolittle, first appears on the streets selling cheap flowers to passersby’s. Eliza quickly becomes acquainted by another man on the streets, Henry Higgins, who starts rambling on about how important education and proper English is for society. Eliza dreams of opening a flower shop where she can enjoy herself and make some money. The only problem though is that she doesn’t have enough money to open a flower shop nor does she speak properly enough for people to understand her. At last, Henry states that he could turn Eliza into a totally different person,...

Words: 805 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

... ”Our current system has been built upon myths of autonomy and independence and thus fails to reflect the vulnerable as well as dependent nature of the human condition” –Martha Albertson Fineman (Laws & Ethics in the Business Environment) We must constantly re-educate and re-invent ourselves “SHOW ME SOMEONE WHO IS HUMBLE ENOUGH TO ACCEPT AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS/HER CIRCUMSTANCES AND COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO TAKE WHATEVER INITIATIVE IS NECESSARY TO CREATIVELY WORK HIS/HER WAY THROUGH OR AROUND THESE, AND I’LL SHOW YOU THE SUPREME POWER OF CHOICE. I am the creative force of my life! We find ourselves in the “thick of thin things” Live with focus and integrity around your priorities Paradigms and Principals Pygmalion Effect- a study of expectancy theory and self-fulfilling prophecy If you want to change your situation, you first have to change yourselves; and in order to change yourselves effectively; you first have to change your perceptions. Character vs Personality In order to accomplish being effective as a leader in the...

Words: 483 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Hawthorne Studies

...Background During the early part of the century, American businesses were swept by Scientific Management, a school of thought largely developed by Frederick Taylor. He pioneered the use of time and motion studies, in which management would carefully break down tasks into simple chunks, then work out the best way for a worker to execute the chunks (all the way down to how long a step to take, how often to break, how much water to drink, etc.). The worker then executed their jobs exactly as they were told, like automatons. As part of the Scientific Management regime, companies routinely studied the effects of the physical environment on their workers. For example, they varied the lighting to find the optimum level of light for maximum productivity. They piped in music, varied the temperature, tried different compensation schemes, adjusted the number of working hours in a day, etc. The Hawthorne studies were carried out by the Western Electric company at their Hawthorne plant in the 1920's. Initially, the study focused on lighting. Two things emerged from the initial studies: (1) the experimenter effect, and (2) a social effect. The experimenter effect was that making changes was interpreted by workers as a sign that management cared, and more generally, it was just provided some mental stimulation that was good for morale and productivity. The social effect was that it seemed that by being separated from the rest and being given special treatment, the experimentees...

Words: 253 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Pygmalion Effect

...INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT OF ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR AND LEADERSHIP Submitted To: Mr. Madan Lal Pradhan (Course Instructor) Submitted By: Manish Ratna Sakya MBAe IV ‘A’ 1. What is Pygmalion effect or self fulfilling prophecy? Ans: The Pygmalion effect is the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform. It also states that high achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectations. The belief of Pygmalion effect will lead people to perform closer to the expectations that they set for themselves. The studies of the Pygmalion effect are difficult to conduct. However, the results show a positive correlation between leader expectation and follower performance, but it is argued that the studies are done in an unnatural, manipulated setting. The paradox of the Pygmalion Effect is that having high expectations of people will produce better results, but it’s also more likely you’ll be disappointed. In business, managers, bosses, and corporate superiors can often influence the work and success of employees by expecting them to either rise or fall. The Pygmalion effect is very similar to the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes it to become true. The effect has both positive and negative outcomes — a person expected by his or her superiors to succeed will, but the opposite is also usually true. 2. What evidence of self...

Words: 548 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Pygmalion Effect in Management

...The Pygmalion Effect in Management J. Sterling Livingston’s article “Pygmalion in Management,” published in the September/October 1988 edition of the Harvard Business Review, details a bizarrely effective phenomenon known as the “Pygmalion Effect” and it’s effect on managed staff. In short, this effect is defined as employees responding to the expectations and attitude of their manager towards them by living up to said expectations and effectively transforming the employees into the persons the manager perceives them as. Livingston firmly believes in the existence of this phenomenon and explains into detail the inherent double-edged nature of the effect and how a manager can use it to his or her advantage. After studying Livingston’s findings and following up with research and experience of my own, I am compelled to agree with Livingston’s views on the effect and how they can be used to enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. To look further into the Pygmalion Effect, one must first understand the mythos of Pygmalion, of which the phenomenon is named. Pygmalion, a Cypriot sculptor, carved the image of a woman out of ivory to fill the void of a lover and companion in his life. As the days went by, he grew increasingly infatuated with the statue and obsessively wished for it to be an actual human being. The gods took pity on his plight and granted Pygmalion’s wish. As he returned to his love, Pygmalion realized that his creation had taken human form as he had constantly...

Words: 950 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Pinata Research Paper

...piñata is a decorated container of paper or clay that contains sweets, small toys, fruits, and nuts. It is the object of a game played in Mexico at children's birthday parties and at Christmas celebrations, in which blindfolded children take turns trying to break the piñata with a stick to release the treats. Yet the piñata has a long history. Piñatas are typically made of paper-mâché, and are attributed to China where paper originated. Marco Polo is believed to have seen Chinese paper figures of bulls and other animals covered with colored paper and filled with seeds. When struck with a stick, the seeds spilled out. As part of the ritual, the paper creation was then burned and its ashes gathered for good luck. Polo likely brought the idea...

Words: 342 - Pages: 2