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Pygmalion

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 36,434 ratings · 745 reviews

When George Bernard Shaw wrote "Pygmalion" more than a half century ago, no one could have predicted his play would eventually be converted into one of the great musicals of our time -- "My Fair Lady" -- and an Academy Award3-winning motion picture. Generations of readers and theatergoers have found relevance in Shaw's story of speech therapist Henry Higgins, who successfu...more

Mass Market Paperback, 203 pages

Published July 15th 1973 by Pocket Books (first published 1912)

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Aug 20, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-childhood-bookshelves, favorites, awesome-kickass-heroines, excellent-reads, plays, i-also-saw-the-film, 2012-reads

"Eliza has no use for the foolish romantic tradition that all women love to be mastered, if not actually bullied and beaten,"¹ says G.B.Shaw in the afterword to his famous play.

¹By the way, I think this quote should be memorized and repeated on the daily basis by the contemporary authors, especially in the YA genre, who attempt to create female characters. Really. Maybe I can start a campaign encouraging authors' awareness of this quote. Hmmmm...

This was one of the first plays I've ever read, an...more

"Eliza has no use for the foolish romantic tradition that all women love to be mastered, if not actually bullied and beaten,"¹ says G.B.Shaw in the afterword to his famous play.

¹By the way, I think this quote should be memorized and repeated on the daily basis by the contemporary authors, especially in the YA genre, who attempt to create female characters. Really. Maybe I can start a campaign encouraging authors' awareness of this quote. Hmmmm...

This was one of the first plays I've ever read, and to this day is one of my favorites. The combination of Shaw's wit and satire with creating an amazingly strong heroine was a treat to read! The play is brilliant, as witnessed by its continuing success - but it's the afterword from the author that ultimately made it into a five-star read. The afterword that takes this story and makes it wonderfully and firmly grounded in reality (even if it's a reality with somewhat outdated early 20th century reasoning).

The many faces of Eliza Doolittle.

Most people know this story, right? If not from reading the play then from seeing the classic Hollywood's production of My Fair Lady musical, right? The 1912 story of a simple London Cockney flower girl Eliza who learns how to speak like a proper British lady from a renown phoneticist (and, honestly, a rather miserable person) Henry Higgins. Both Higgins and Eliza have remarkably strong characters and no wonder that problems ensue (well, because of that and because of the fact that a well-mannered British woman in the early 20th century seemingly did not really have that many choices besides finding herself a man). According to the famous movie, sparks also fly between Eliza and Higgins. But do they, really? In the words of Shaw himself,

"Nevertheless, people in all directions have assumed, for no other reason than that she became the heroine of a romance, that she must have married the hero of it."

And that's where the Audrey Hepburn movie lost me. After all, haven't the movie makers read the famous afterword by Shaw himself (and I honestly think that it's just as interesting as the play itself!), where he painstakingly details the future lives of his characters and destroys every notion of the happily ever after for Eliza and Higgins - the ever-after that was already clearly doomed in the play itself:

"LIZA [desperate]: Oh, you are a cruel tyrant. I can't talk to you: you turn everything against me: I'm always in the wrong. But you know very well all the time that you're nothing but a bully. You know I can't go back to the gutter, as you call it, and that I have no real friends in the world but you and the Colonel. You know well I couldn't bear to live with a low common man after you two; and it's wicked and cruel of you to insult me by pretending I could. You think I must go back to Wimpole Street because I have nowhere else to go but father's. But don't you be too sure that you have me under your feet to be trampled on and talked down. I'll marry Freddy, I will, as soon as he's able to support me."

After all, it would not be in character for Eliza, who is not really a romantic character but a strong, pragmatic, and independent young woman who would not settle for a life of bringing Higgins his slippers (oh, that awful last line of the movie!!!) and being ignored; a woman who is not beyond a well-aimed slippers throw to the face:

"This being the state of human affairs, what is Eliza fairly sure to do when she is placed between Freddy and Higgins? Will she look forward to a lifetime of fetching Higgins's slippers or to a lifetime of Freddy fetching hers? There can be no doubt about the answer. Unless Freddy is biologically repulsive to her, and Higgins biologically attractive to a degree that overwhelms all her other instincts, she will, if she marries either of them, marry Freddy.
And that is just what Eliza did."

No, Eliza Doolittle is not a woman to be ignored. She is a strong, independent and level-headed heroine who has guts and self-worth even before her 'magical' lady-like transformation. She knows what she wants, and she determinedly sets out on the path that she thinks would lead her to her dream - working in a flower shop. She may be comical and pathetic in the beginning - but she knows she's not nothing (unlike the view of her that Henry Higgins has). She stands up for herself even when she is clearly in an unfavorable situation - a woman vs. a man, a social nothing vs. a respected gentleman, a physically weaker creature vs. a physically more intimidating one:

"I won't be called a baggage when I've offered to pay like any lady."

And from the afterword:

"Even had there been no mother-rival, she would still have refused to accept an interest in herself that was secondary to philosophic interests."

And her feeling of self-worth only increases as the horizons of the society open up more for her. She refuses to play second fiddle even to a powerful and intimidating Higgins. The thing is - Higgins, contrary to his belief, did not "create" Eliza, like the famous literary Pygmalion created his Galatea; he merely gave her more power to achieve what she wants. And what she wants does not include being ignored and fetching him his bloody slippers. He is a strong man - well, she is an equally strong woman who will have what's best for her. And even if in the end - the afterword - Eliza's independence is not complete and she continues to owe a lot to the duo of Higgins and Pickering - but again, somehow on her own terms.

"But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person's thumb are two different things."

This was my first time reading this play in English, and reading it in the language it was intended to be read in highlighted even more the brilliance of Shaw as a playwright and the exquisite humor of it. Shaw skillfully deconstructs the notions of the British class system - and does it with easily felt pleasure and enjoyment, and continues to do so in the afterword, which I enjoyed so much. In the end, it's not about Eliza becoming a lady on Henry Higgins' terms; it's all about the shrewd future florist/greengrocer Eliza, and that's the awesomeness of it. It is an excellent read, a timeless one, thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking. Easy 5 stars!

"Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable."

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Apr 05, 2008 Sera rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Sera by: RGBC

Shelves: classics, own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 31, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jonathan by: The musical - My Fair Lady - sort of

Shelves: books-with-films, classic-literature, classic-challenge, humorous, plays, personal-favourites

This is the last book I will finish in 2012 as there are only 6 hours remaining in my day. It is certainly a fitting book (or rather play inside a book) to end the year on. For Pygmalion is a story about new beginnings and about transformation. What better book to symbolise the changing of the year, I say!

The classic musical My Fair Lady is perhaps my favourite musical film that I have seen. The acting is superb, the plotting excellent and all the music serves to add to the humorous feel of the...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Mandy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pygmalion is a story that’s been adapted time and time again in various forms. Of course we have My Fair Lady, both the stage and screen versions. There’s Pretty Woman and She’s All That and a few other obscure film and television installments. I’ve always loved Pretty Woman and My Fair Lady is such a classic that when I saw the original play at a local used book sale, I knew I had to have it. This story has some sentimental meaning to me as well: my best friend played Henry Higgins in our high...more Pygmalion is a story that’s been adapted time and time again in various forms. Of course we have My Fair Lady, both the stage and screen versions. There’s Pretty Woman and She’s All That and a few other obscure film and television installments. I’ve always loved Pretty Woman and My Fair Lady is such a classic that when I saw the original play at a local used book sale, I knew I had to have it. This story has some sentimental meaning to me as well: my best friend played Henry Higgins in our high school’s production of My Fair Lady and the story will always remind me of him (he was fabulous, by the way, and I don’t just say that because I’m biased!).

For those not familiar with the story, Pygmalion is about phonetics professor Henry Higgins who makes a bet that he can transform Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a lady that would pass for a duchess at an ambassador’s party. Higgins, along with friend and fellow phonetician Colonel Pickering, spends months training Eliza to speak and act like a proper English lady. A romantic comedy at its core, the story is also a commentary on British upper-class versus lower-class society and women’s independence. (If you’re interested in Pygmalion of Greek mythology, Wikipedia has a nice explanation.)

So much of the play revolves around Henry’s obsession with phonetics and his goal to teach Eliza to speak properly. Shaw chose to write much of Eliza’s lines phonetically so the reader could get a true understanding of how she spoke, though it was sometimes tough to understand her Cockney, especially as an American reader. While I enjoyed reading the play and was reminded of many scenes from the movie, I wish we’d got to see more of Eliza’s speech lessons. These scenes from My Fair Lady are some of the funniest and (I think) most important. This is where Eliza’s Cockney background and frustrations with Higgins trying to change her are most obvious. Unfortunately, we only got a minor glimpse of this in the original play.

Check out the rest of my review on www.thenerdyreader.com.(less)

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Oct 17, 2011 Ekaterina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

That is a beautifully written play. I have watched this play recently in the theater, and I thought it was magnificent. Eliza was simply adorable and Henry Higgins made me laugh so hard. I will not spoil the book by blabbering about its content and the flow of events, but I just wanted to comment and give my opinion about the ending. I love endings like the one in this story. It is like the author is giving you the chance to create your own ending, thus letting you develop your imagination. I us...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Dave Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is fun to read out loud in crazy English accents while stomping around your apartment. The neighbors might not like it but screw 'em.

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Nov 03, 2012 Harry Boyd rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays, favourites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 06, 2013 Momina Masood rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays-drama

I couldn't help visualizing Audrey Hepburn, even to the last moment. This play has made me appreciate and admire the actress and her craft even more than before. And, yes, I loved My Fair Lady, and I must confess that in the beginning of the play, I was hoping, even wishing, that Eliza would break into a song like in the musical. *tee hee*

Where the play was concerned, it didn't really seem like the traditional play to me, being so detailed and expansive than any I've read. I might have not given...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Dawayr marked it as كتاب_مفتوح · review of another edition

تعتبر من أشهر مسرحيات جورج برنارد شو و تعتبر أيضا السبب الأساسى فى أنه الوحيد الحاصل على جائزة نوبل فى الأدب و أوسكار فى نفس الوقت . تدور أحداث القصة فى بريطانيا حيث يعيش أحد أشهر أساتذة الفونتيكس فى العالم ، الأستاذ هنرى هيجينز . و تبدأ أحداث القصة بوقوفه صامتا وسط مجموعة من الناس فى محاولة أن بدون ملاحظات عن طريقة نطقهم للكلام حينما تأاى اليزا بائعة الورود فى محاولة منها أ تبيع له و للواقفين بعض الورود . و كان ضمن الواقفين الكولونيل بيكرنح أستاذ الفونتيكس الذى أتى من الهند الى بريطانيا فقط ليق...more
تعتبر من أشهر مسرحيات جورج برنارد شو و تعتبر أيضا السبب الأساسى فى أنه الوحيد الحاصل على جائزة نوبل فى الأدب و أوسكار فى نفس الوقت . تدور أحداث القصة فى بريطانيا حيث يعيش أحد أشهر أساتذة الفونتيكس فى العالم ، الأستاذ هنرى هيجينز . و تبدأ أحداث القصة بوقوفه صامتا وسط مجموعة من الناس فى محاولة أن بدون ملاحظات عن طريقة نطقهم للكلام حينما تأاى اليزا بائعة الورود فى محاولة منها أ تبيع له و للواقفين بعض الورود . و كان ضمن الواقفين الكولونيل بيكرنح أستاذ الفونتيكس الذى أتى من الهند الى بريطانيا فقط ليقابل هيجينز و سرعان ما أكتشف بالصدفة أنه بالفعل يقف بجانب هيجينز ، و يخبره هيجينز أنه هو الأخر كان يخطط للسفر الى الهند ليراه . و أثناء حديثهم يخبره هيجينز بأنه يمكنه أن يعلم بائعة الورود هذه كيف تتحدث بلهجة أفضل و شكل منسق و طبقت صوت أفضل فيجعل منها سيدة راقية . لاقت هذه الكلمات أهنمام بائعة الورود فهى بالفعل تريد أن تتغير و يكون لها حياة و شخصية أفضل حنى لو كان هذ فقط يعنى لها أن تكون مؤهلة للعمل فى متجر للورود .

و فى صباح اليوم التالى عندما كان هيجينز يعرض لبيكرنج بعض أجهزة و معدات الفونتيكس خاصته دخلت السيدة بيرس مدبرة منزل هيجينز لتخبره بأن هناك فتاه فىالخارج تريد أن تراه . و عندما دخلت الفتاه وجد أنها اليزا بائعة الورود التى قابلها فى اليوم السابق و عرضت عليه أن يعلمها مقابل أن تدفع له . و لكنه لم يظهر أى أهتمام ، فبدأت تذكره بما قاله سابقا أنه يمكنه أن يجعل منها سيدة راقية . حينها قرر بيكرنج أن يراهن هيجينز و قال أنه سيدفع لدروس اليزا اذا نجح هيجينزفى تعليم اليزا خلال 6 شهور . فوافق هيجينز و قبل الرهان . و تتوالى أحداث القصة فى سياق درامى و مشوق حيث تنقلب حياة هيجينز رأسا على عقب فى محاولات التعامل مع أليزا و التأقلم مع وجودها وتحدث العديد من الصراعات بينهما و لكنها تؤدى الى تغيير حاة كل منهما بشكل كامل.
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Jan 06, 2013 The Goon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: enjoyed, plays, classics

A professor of phonetics named Henry Higgins is so confident of his abilities to teach proper English, that he offers to turn a "draggle-tailed guttersnipe" into a duchess.

What I mean is, he makes a bet that he can train a flower selling, low class, dirty street urchin by the name of Eliza Doolittle to speak so well that she can be passed off as a duchess.

Because I’m an American, I feel as though this story is not at all outlandish. I was raised to believe that anyone can receive an education...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've always been a huge fan of the musical My Fair Lady, so I decided to finally read the source material, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. It is actually a play but I read it in book form courtesy of the local used book sale. It's a short story - over half of the book was backup and supporting material and it reads fast. I do admit that while I was reading it I did have pictures of Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in my head as they are the ones that star in the musical My Fair Lady, which is p...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Katsumi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, humour

George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion is a story based on two completely different people and their primary wants. Eliza Doolittle is a flower girl, who has always wanted to be accepted in society and be loved. Henry Higgins is a linguistics professor, who has no respect for women and his main goal is to prove his knowledge to others and make them aware of his existence. Henry Higgins takes Eliza off the streets in order to give her what it is she wants; teaching her the English language and ways...more George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion is a story based on two completely different people and their primary wants. Eliza Doolittle is a flower girl, who has always wanted to be accepted in society and be loved. Henry Higgins is a linguistics professor, who has no respect for women and his main goal is to prove his knowledge to others and make them aware of his existence. Henry Higgins takes Eliza off the streets in order to give her what it is she wants; teaching her the English language and ways while he is set on turning her into a duchesse. Throughout this process of transformation and the play, there are demonstrations of differences between social groups and gender equality existing in society, and Shaw did a fine job of showing this through Henry and Eliza's actions. Henry Higgins is disrespectful towards Eliza, forcing her to do his daily tasks and complete his lessons. Eliza just does what she is told, for she feels it is the only way for her to be accepted in society. This abuse towards Eliza (Shaw's showing of discrimination against women) continues throughout most of the play, with Eliza doing nothing about it. Pygmalion is a perfect example of society in the early 1900s.

Pygmalion doesn't turn out to be just an average story of a man taking advantage of a woman. Most would think that Eliza lets the disrespectful ways of Henry to continue and take over. But no, taking the ways of society that she has learned and self confidence and understand that she has gained, she goes against Henry and lets him know how she feels and what she truly wants; to be appreciated and loved. Shaw demonstrates perfectly the effects of one's actions (Henry's) and the true emotions of Eliza. In the end, Eliza has finally gained enough knowledge and understanding to survive on her own, and finds what she desires, true love, in a respectable man named Freddy.

Shaw's Pygmalion is a story that is original, quite entertaining and contains characters that have true recognizable personalities.(less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Raquel Curvacheiro rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A história, baseada no mito grego de Pigmaleão, relatava a história de um homem que, tendo decidido levar uma vida de celibatário, por não concordar com o papel que as mulheres representavam na sociedade e, mais particularmente, nas relações, acaba por se apaixonar, no mito, por uma estátua por si feita e que representava o ideal da perfeição feminina. No filme a estátua fora substituída pela beleza perfeita de Audrey Hepburn, no papel de uma pobre e pouco culta vendedora de violetas.
Em termos l...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Frances rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll summarize the plot by saying that this is the play upon which "My Fair Lady" was based. It's funny, although Henry Higgins comes off as quite a jerk. You can also read this subtext into it: Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering are a gay couple who have just moved in together and they keep Eliza around so that the public's suspicions will be piqued by the idea that Higgins is taking advantage of a poor young woman and ignore the fact that he has a male live-in lover. If there is any love stor...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A few weeks ago, I showed a friend a DVD of the "My Fair Lady." My friend, who is trying to improve her English as a second language, hadn’t seen the movie before. Watching the acclaimed 1964 film, I wondered how the 1956 Lerner and Lowe musical, upon which the movie was based, differed from the 1912 play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw upon which the musical was based.
I picked up a $1 Dover edition of the play from the Oakland Public Library and quickly read it. The play and Shaw’s afterwa...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, drama

Here is the plot as explained by Henry Higgins, who is such a satisfying and hilarious brute.

"There! Thats all you get out of Eliza. Ah-ah-ow-oo! No use explaining. As a military man you ought to know that. Give her her orders: thats what she wants. Eliza: you are to live here for the next six months, learning how to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist's shop. If you're good and do whatever you're told, you shall sleep in a proper bedroom, and have lots to eat, and money to buy chocolat...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Marion Martineer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a standard issue at school. I loved it then as I do now. George Bernard Shaw had the notion that epilogues were unnecessary but for the benefit of some unimaginative people put one in. I didn't like his ending but apreciated his willingness to add in an epliogue. I have been a fan of epilogues ever since!
For those who do not know the story, it is about Eliza Doolittle a common flowergirl in London. Henry Higgins a linguist was taking notes on her horrible accent, which ignited a public...more

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Jul 23, 2011 David Sarkies rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modernist

Pygmalion, is Shaw's piece de resistance. It is his masterpiece. While I can simply leave it at that, I am compelled to say a lot more about this play, but first, the plot.
Two English gentlemen (and when I read this book I wondered if it was implied that they were homosexual) bet as to whether they can take a street urchin and turn her into a lady by teaching her how to speak proper English. They do and the experiment is successful, and he wins his bet. However, the problem is that the woman,...more Pygmalion, is Shaw's piece de resistance. It is his masterpiece. While I can simply leave it at that, I am compelled to say a lot more about this play, but first, the plot.
Two English gentlemen (and when I read this book I wondered if it was implied that they were homosexual) bet as to whether they can take a street urchin and turn her into a lady by teaching her how to speak proper English. They do and the experiment is successful, and he wins his bet. However, the problem is that the woman, Eliza, is left in a difficult position as despite the fact that she is now educated, she is still a woman, and has all the rights of a woman, which is none. So, while Henry Higgins has proven that he can turn a street urchin into a lady, she is still a lady and is left in the situation that she cannot do anything with the education that she now has.
This play is an attack upon education and upon the status of women in early 20th Century England. They simply had no rights, and while they could learn and theyEssays Montaigne could appear to move among the gentry, the fact that they were women relegated them to a second class status. It is said that the system of education was one of the areas that Shaw attacked in his plays, and in this play we see how despite Liza having an education, she knows that she can do nothing with it, and is not recognised has having an education.
This play has spawned a lot of duplicates, one of them being a play by Willy Russell called Educating Rita. I read that book in year 11 when I returned to high school, and my English teacher loved it because he believed that it showed us how an education can change us. After reading Pygmalion I believed that that play was left for dead (and still do). However there are differences, namely that the status of women in the mid-twentieth century had changed dramatically. However, the theme is still the same, in that a woman from the working class, through education, was able to bring herself out of the working class.
Another spawn would be an Eddie Murphy movie called Trading Places. Here two increadibly wealthy men make a bet that they could turn a bum into a successful Wall Street Trader, and turn the successful Wall Street Trader into a common criminal. Like Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, they succeed, but further, they have no understanding of the power of education, because after turning the bum into a successful trader, they realise that they cannot simply send him back to the streets. He has become educated, and in becoming educated, he has the power to fight back, which he does so successfully.
It is a shame that Shaw has disappeared into relative obscurity. I do not see any of his plays being performed (though being stuck in the little backwater that is Adelaide means that we see very little in the way of good theater, or more correctly, what I consider good theater). Still, beggars can't be chosers, but the educated have the world at their doorstep.(less)

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Mar 16, 2011 Lisa N rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“My Fair Lady” is one of my very favorite musicals. I have avoided reading anything by GBS because I don’t care for his political views and because he was critical of Shakespeare. I actually enjoyed reading this play. It was very close to the “My Fair Lady” script, probably because Shaw also wrote the screenplay. (He was the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award.) The ending of “My Fair Lady” has always been a little unsettling for me. The mythical Pygmalion was a sculptor...more “My Fair Lady” is one of my very favorite musicals. I have avoided reading anything by GBS because I don’t care for his political views and because he was critical of Shakespeare. I actually enjoyed reading this play. It was very close to the “My Fair Lady” script, probably because Shaw also wrote the screenplay. (He was the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award.) The ending of “My Fair Lady” has always been a little unsettling for me. The mythical Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with his statue, Galatea. Aphrodite brought Galatea to life and Pygmalion married her. Higgins represents Pygmalion and he feels Liza is his creation, but they do not get married.

Shaw wrote an epilogue that continues where “My Fair Lady” leaves you hanging. It has a strange twist: Higgins does not love his “Galatea,” but his mother.

“If an imaginative boy has a sufficiently rich mother who has intelligence, personal grace, dignity of character without harshness...she sets a standard for him against which very few women can struggle.....The word passion means nothing else to them.....We cannot help suspecting that the disentanglement of sex from the associations with which it is so commonly confused, a disentanglement which persons of genius achieve by sheer intellectual analysis, is sometimes produced or aided by parental fascination.” Interestingly, Shaw was married to Charlotte Payne-Townshend for over years 40 yet never consummated the marriage.

“Eliza’s instincts tell her not to marry Higgins.” She marries Freddy. Colonel Pickering sets her up in a floral shop. Freddy becomes a greengrocer. They struggle for years, Colonel Pickering bails them out from time to time, they take some business classes, and eventually make a go of it. “Eliza still manages to meddle in the housekeeping at Wimpole Street.” She realizes she is “no more to him than them slippers....Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable.”

The epilogue was highly disappointing. I don’t think I will be able to watch “My Fair Lady” without looking at Higgins as some type of Shaw-ish/Nietzschean/Freudian freak.

Eliza Doolittle, on the other hand, is a delightful character: Strong, pragmatic, feisty.

A side note, Shaw pays homage to Shakespeare: {Higgins}. “Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible...”

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Mar 11, 2011 Dhruva rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Audiobooks are a blessing. Seriously. I can stick my headphones into my ears any time I want and start listening. They go at a speed much slower than my reading rate-- but that's a good thing, because I invariably end up glossing over lines if I start reading too fast (which, again, I invariably end up doing) The first audiobook I listened to this year was Pygmalion, from librivox.org

Honestly, I love My Fair Lady. It's a simply delightful film-- funny, romantic, musical, satirical. I wanted to e...more
Audiobooks are a blessing. Seriously. I can stick my headphones into my ears any time I want and start listening. They go at a speed much slower than my reading rate-- but that's a good thing, because I invariably end up glossing over lines if I start reading too fast (which, again, I invariably end up doing) The first audiobook I listened to this year was Pygmalion, from librivox.org

Honestly, I love My Fair Lady. It's a simply delightful film-- funny, romantic, musical, satirical. I wanted to enjoy Pygmalion, the basis for the movie as much as I did the film. I did, I swear. But I found it, sadly enough, quite difficult to get through the book. The character of Eliza Doolittle is, at the beginning, wonderful. Her lower class speech (portrayed perfectly in this audiobook!), her mentality, her worrying about money, her intense distrust of everything and everyone around her portrayed a wonderful contrast to Henry Higgins-- who has money, who enjoys it and is an utterly repulsive human being. However, as the play progressed, she degenerated into something that I hated. >.< Her whining melodrama and constant need for attention honestly grated at my nerves.

On the subject of Henry Higgins, I found that the movie's Rex Harrison had a greater impact on me, with his biting sarcasm and wit. Rex Harrison will always be Henry Higgins to me, and I found that in the book, Henry Higgins wasn't nearly that good. Having said that, I think I might be slightly jaded by the fact that this was an audiobook-- it was read out by people, and it wasn't just words on paper, it was an actual person acting as Henry Higgins. I really do hope that I'm not critiquing the actor who read out Henry Higgins' part than the character itself.

The lovely scenes where Higgins teaches Eliza English, the methods of phonetics that he employs are all not present in the original play, as is the scene where Eliza, after months of hard work, pretends to be a duchess and fools everyone (I believe this scene was added in some versions of the stageplay, but it wasn't present in my audiobook, nor is it in the Project Gutenberg version). These scenes, I think, truly added to the movie.

But perhaps these scenes might have detracted or distracted from the messages of the book. Every scene and every character drives in Shaw's ideals of feminism, of "middle class morality" or the distinctions between the various classes, and so on and so forth. In doing that, I suppose, Shaw was succesful. But in terms of entertaining me, the book disappointed. (less)

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Mar 08, 2011 Alexander Arsov rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: shaw, favorites

George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion
A Romance in Five Acts

Penguin Classics, Paperback, 2003.
8vo. xx, 122pp. Preface by Shaw A Professor of Phonetics [pp. 3-7]. Introduction by Nicholas Grene, 2000 [xiii-xviii].

Written, 1912.
First produced in German [Hofburg Theatre, Vienna], 1913.
First produced in English, 1914.
First published in English, 1916.
The film first produced, 1938.
Revised version with several sequences from the film, 1941.
This version first published by Penguin, 1941.
First published in Penguin...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Kris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What! Eliza married Freddie?!?! I've heard people mention the "My Fair Lady" movie ending enraged many people of the day because it was different than George Bernard Shaw's original ending, and thus having a meeker Eliza return to Prof Higgins with his slippers made for a less than satisfactory end, but I have to confess shock at the real ending. GBS refuses to let "Pygmalion, A Romance in Five Acts" end romantically. The last few moments of the play, all the important characters are in the home...more What! Eliza married Freddie?!?! I've heard people mention the "My Fair Lady" movie ending enraged many people of the day because it was different than George Bernard Shaw's original ending, and thus having a meeker Eliza return to Prof Higgins with his slippers made for a less than satisfactory end, but I have to confess shock at the real ending. GBS refuses to let "Pygmalion, A Romance in Five Acts" end romantically. The last few moments of the play, all the important characters are in the home of Professor Higgins mother and Prof Higgins tells Eliza to buy him ham and stilon cheese, reindeer gloves, and a tie, whereupon Eliza addresses him disdainfully and says, "Buy them yourself."

Mrs Higgins says, "I'm afraid you've spoiled that girl, Henry. But never mind, dear: I'll buy you the tie and gloves."

Higgins (sunnily) Oh, don't bother, She'll buy 'em all right enough. Goodbye."

They kiss. Mrs Higgins runs out. Higgins, left alone, rattle his cash in his pocket; chuckles; and disports himself in a hightly self-satified manner. THE END

*That's* how he ends a romance? GBS has to explain in the next page that he considers this a romance because Eliza is transormed into something better than she was before. But before that explaination he has to reprimand his readers for needing him to explain the rest of the story in the next 15 pages (My Fair Lady 2, anyone?). "The rest of the story need not be shewn in action, and indeed, would hardly need telling if our imaginations were not so enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of "happy endings" to misfit all stories...People in all directions have assumed, for no other reason than that she became the heroine of a romance, that she must have married the hero of it. This is unbearable, not only because her little drama, if acted on such a thoughtless assumuption, must be spoiled, but because the true sequel is patent to anyone with the sense of human nature in general, and of feminine instict in particular." Aww, come on GBS, give the poor kid a better ending than a realistic one.

He goes on telling what happened next. Eliza married Freddie and Colonel Pickering supports them, setting up and funding a flower shop/green grocers complete with competent employees to manange the overall operation so Eliza and Freddie are free to drive about the Countryside in Colonel P's motor car whilst Prof H and Colonel P foot the bill for their hotels. "...Eliza herself swanked like anything."

"That is all. That is how it has turned out. It is astonishing how much Eliza still manages to meddle in the housekeeping at Wimpole Streeet in spite of the shop and her own family. And it is noteable that though she never nags her husband, and frankly loves the Colonel as if she were his favorite daughter, she has never got out of the habit of nagging Higgins that was established on the fatal night when she won his bet for him. She snaps his head off on the faintest provocation, or on none. He no longer dares to tease her by assuming an abysmal inferiority of Freddy's mind to his own. He storms and bullies and derides: but she stand up to him so ruthlessly that the Colonel has to ask her from time to time to be kinder to Higgins; and it is the only request of his that brings a mulish expression into her face...She knows that Higgins does not need her, just as her father did not need her. The very scrupulousness with which he told her that day that he had become used to having her there, and dependent on her for all sorts of little services, and that he should miss her if she went away...deepens her inner certainty that she is "no more to him than them slippers"; yet she has a sense too, that his indifference is deeper than the infatuation of commoner souls. She is immensely interested in him. She has even secret mischievous moments in which she wishes she could get him alone, on a desert island, away from all ties and with nobody else in the world to consider, and just drag him off his pedestal and see him making love like any common man. We all have private imaginations of that sort. But when it comes to business, to the life that she really leads as distinguished from the life of dreams and fancies, she likes Freddy and she likes the Colonel; and she does not like Higgins and Mr Doolittle..."

I sense GBS realizes we all would have liked Higgins to be kinder and more contrite and deserving of Eliza, and Eliza to retract her claws and cherish Higgins, but he insists on keeping his characters flawed and lifelike, and therefore separate for as long as ink remains on the page and the last copy of Pygmalion is on a shelf.

This book is certainly a different beast than the movie. GBS paints his characters with an unsympathetic brush but with complete psychological honesty. We may be able to change our language, clothes and deportment, but how many people are capable of changing their very nature and temperment?

My Fair Lady took the play, changed the organization, made the characters loveable, and romanced the whole thing with beatiful clothes, memorable music and the ending where the heroine gets the hero. I think GBS would not have approved.

(less)

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Apr 08, 2013 Dexter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pretty good stuff, really reminds me of how influential it is. Basically, a girl "from the gutter" in London, a mere flower seller, is taken in by a professor of phonetics and his friend to see if they can make her a "lady" and pass her off as a Duchess at a garden party. It's comical, funny, and charming--Eliza Doolittle is a bit feisty, but at core, really just wants to do well.

I was hoping there was more romance, but yes, there is enough of it in here. This play also has enough regional accen...more

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Jan 03, 2010 Alana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, mythology, classic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The story of Pygmalion has always been one of my favorites, and I quite like the musical My Fair Lady - which is based on Shaw's play. So I decided now was as good a time as any to read Shaw's (loose) interpretation of the myth.

The play opens with Henry Higgins, a professor of linguistics, at Covent Garden sheltering with a crowd from the pouring rain. He amuses himself by taking down people's accents and telling them where they're from - much to their irritation and the fascination of Colonel P...more The story of Pygmalion has always been one of my favorites, and I quite like the musical My Fair Lady - which is based on Shaw's play. So I decided now was as good a time as any to read Shaw's (loose) interpretation of the myth.

The play opens with Henry Higgins, a professor of linguistics, at Covent Garden sheltering with a crowd from the pouring rain. He amuses himself by taking down people's accents and telling them where they're from - much to their irritation and the fascination of Colonel Pickering. At one point as he leaves, Higgins tells Pickering that if he had a month or so, he could turn flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a duchess. But no one could be more surprised when she decides to take him up on his offer.

The later musical, My Fair Lady, is actually remarkably faithful to its source (aside from all the singing, of course), except for one crucial thing. The ending. In Shaw's play, Eliza is very much aware that Higgins takes her for granted and shows her no real kindness. And thank goodness, in this version when Higgins tells her to run errands for him, she tells him to do them himself. The author even appends an essay to the end of the play explaining the many ways that it is impossible for Eliza and Higgins to have any sort of romantic happy ending. All I have to say to that is Thank Goodness.

My favorite part of the musical has always been Freddy. Particularly Freddy's "On the Street Where You Live". Higgins' "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" really just doesn't cut it in comparison. Besides, Eliza always seemed to have so much more gumption than to knuckle under to Higgins self-centered self-assurance. And I'm quite glad to have to author of Pygmalion in my corner on this one!

The play itself is a quick read, especially since most of the scenes are familiar from My Fair Lady. My favorites are the ones involving Higgins' mother - the only one who sees both the drama and the outcome in advance. She takes Eliza under her wing and does her best to set her son straight. Besides it is at Mrs. Higgins' tea that we see Eliza's disastrous (though perfectly pronounced) first venture into society. Both funny and hinting at deeper truths - the play is well worth a read. And don't leave out the essay at the end!(less)

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Nov 16, 2012 Fabian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Pygmalion” G. B. Shaw. 11/16/12

SPOILER!

A fountainhead of inspiration for countless projects, Pygmalion is actually not about love, and, this being a Shaw play, is all about social classes, manners and, what? phonetics. Also about humanity—about the power-play inherent in all types of relationships. Higgins, undeniably a gay man completely up to give the Betty a total overhaul, is not loveable, not even likeable. He is a tyrant—but he is written o-so-well, with British wit to spare. He is the pr...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Karina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Surprisingly unsentimental and utterly hilarious. I love every single character. Yes, even Freddie.

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May 19, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved the movie adaption of Pygmalion (not My Fair Lady) also called Pygmalion. Mr. Shaw worked on that adaption and it shows. The movie is almost word for word the play, but for some interesting additions.

There weren't any big surprises reading the play for me. It was the introduction by Shaw on the man Henry Higgins was loosely based on and the epilogue that I was really interested in.

*spoilers*

The introduction was interesting and I would like to find out what happened to the hopelessl...more

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May 26, 2011 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-contemporary, favourites

I watched 'My Fair Lady' with Audrey Hepburn first, and I absolutely loved it. Being a kid when I first watched it, I didn't know it was a play, nor did I know there was a script for it. But of course, with growing up, come the discovering of things. I found this. Pygmalion the play behind 'My Fair Lady' written by George Bernard Shaw is more linguistically motivated than the movie.

I enjoyed the play as much as I enjoyed the movie, keeping in mind that though they are both the same thing essent...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Neha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, ebook

When you read a classic, you have a lot of expectations, because you have heard so much about it, movies or musical plays made on it. You also feel it would be long & would use ‘the perfect’ British English with heavy words thrown around, forcing you to use dictionary. I also started reading Pygmalion with high expectations, and it turned out to be far better than my expectations. It was short & quick, funny & sarcastic, light & classy, intellectual & romantic, drama & co...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Smcleish rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published on my blog here in May 1998.

Pygmalion is a play which is concerned with Shaw's ideas about society and class in much the same way as Saint Joan is concerned with his ideas about religion. Pygmalion doesn't have a useful introduction like Saint Joan's, so the ideas have to come from the narrative in the play.

The play is rather unusual in its appearance; it is set out as though it were a novel with dramatised speech, which can be a little bit disconcerting (and is certainly ir...more

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About George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems, but...more

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“What you are to do without me I cannot imagine.” — 63 people liked it

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