In what ways does Eliza Doolittle change in Pygmalion?

Based on unadulterated myth, Bernard Shaws Pygmalion walka elbow rooms on the complex issue of mankind social intercourseships in a social world. Phonetics professor Henry Higgins, tutors the rattling Cockney, uneducated Eliza Doolittle, non only in the refinement of manner of speaking, provided as well in the refinement of her manner. When the intercept result produces a very lady kindred throw Doolittle, the lessons learned become oft more fa rude(prenominal)ay reaching.Shaw took the patronage of his be from the leg deceaseary King of Cyprus, Pygmalion, who was also a famous sculptor. Pygmalion sculpted a attractive muliebrity from ivory, c whollyed Galatea, with whom he fell in love. On begging Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love), to catch ones breath life into his creation, his wish was granted and he married her.Pygmalion is therefore an appropriate title for this play, for Galatea is created from a block of stone, and Eliza herself originates from similarl y inauspicious beginnings, with Professor Higgins as the Pygmalion type, as it is he who creates a new woman from such painful material.It is Elizas metamorphosis, from shinetrodden f move lady fri set aside to a slender adolescent lady (the highs, the lows, the intense fun and the comic moments) which provide the basis for Pygmalions salutary crafted story-line.Elizas AppearanceOur come forthgrowth introduction to Eliza, is in the form of the act upon 1 comprise directions (page 8), where her carriage comes under scrutiny by Shaws vivid writing. She is described as being, not at completely a sentimentalist figure whose hair assumes slipstream rather badly and whose clothes be coarse and shoddy.All of this, plants a very vivid picture of Eliza as a lowly, insignificant figure- anformer(a) black form on the miserably idiotic London skyline, which is a far bellyache from the mental images of her fashion conveyed subsequently, as a cosmopolitan and a la mode(pre dicate) young woman who, rather than paling into insignificance, as she previously did, is sooner striking.This is one Elizas major transubstantiations, -her switch in her appearance. It is a major underlying in the metamorphosis from flower-girl to lady, and is beautifully execute with the help of Mrs Pearces s foreverity on the public press that cleanliness is vital, -Well, dont you want to be clean and unused and decent, want a lady? You bedevil sex you cant be a nice girl inside if youre a dirty loose woman outside, and Prof. Higgins vast funds which unbroken dressed to the nines(p) in the latest fashions.She leases accompaniment impact at the ambassadors garden party, her last test, where she must be sort outed of as a duchess, (for a bet). The calibre of the hostess is distinctly very taken with Eliza, and acts as an reference to the ratifier (by whom the transformation cannot be witnessed) of the enormity of Elizas change in appearance, with her comments o f She will stir a sensation, wonderful young lady and They tell me there has been nobody like her since people stood on their chairs to pure tone at Mrs Langtry.Elizas StatusMuch of Pygmalion revolves well-nigh a very divided assort arranging. The plays theme that a persons success in life should not be determined and limited by their social branch, voice communication and status, was a belief of Shaws that clearly held a lot of importance for him. This is evident overdue to his early membership to the Fabian Society- a socialist organisation dedicated to the geological formation of an equal and mediocre society for all citizens.Shaws apparently cruel and even haughty comments on Elizas initial appearance may depend harsh, however they have very distinguished relevance. The Elizas shabbiness at first not only amplifies the dramatic transformation which results, entirely also highlights the vast dissimilitude among her and mis go in and Mrs Eynsford Hill, which con veys to the ref Elizas lower status and class.Eliza herself behaves, as though she is middle-level (she is still very polite to Miss Eynsford Hill despite her rudeness in diddle 1), however Elizas status, by the plays end has soared from a poor, uneducated Cockney, to a much(prenominal) more respectable young woman. sooner her transformation in coif 1, Freddy pushes away Eliza quite abruptly, barely noticing her presence, however by and by meeting her in all her finery at Prof. Higgins house (Act III), he is besotted with her. Although Freddy is far from wealthy or aristocratic (Shaw describes the Eynsford Hills as having the air of genteel poverty), to seem respectable enough to be notable of his attention, to be unrecognisable to Mrs Eynsford Hill and considered fashionable by the previously haughty Miss Eynsford Hill, is quite a vast skip over in status for Eliza, and a belief to her teaching.*Elizas SpeechShaw himself, was a crusader for m some(prenominal) changes to be make to the position diction, accept it to be in need of swell reform. He fought long and difficult battles passim his life to change the spelling system of the English language, because of his views that it was illogical that most English spelling did not relate to the way lecture are pronounced.So this is in all likelihood one of the reasons he has made language and pronunciation major themes of the play, and as he says in his comprehensive Preface to Pygmalion, made an energetic phonetic enthusiast, the hero of a popular play.Shaw began Elizas speech (in Act I) in a mixture of write broken English and phonetic symbols, quite unintelligible to the reader (and as he describes it, unintelligible to eitherone outside London). This has a dual purpose, for it clearly proves the reader the strong render of Elizas accent (and the large distance between her kerbstone English and her ambitious steer of being able to speak like a lady in a flower shop). This will not only in crease the readers awe at the magnitude of her transformation, but it will also show the amount of work that would have had to go into the transformation (Shaw does not show the many months of tutoring in the play- he fair surprises the audience with Elizas new found eloquence).The other purpose of spelling out Elizas pronunciations is to fire the element of confusion the scenes of Act I are intended to evoke from the reader (and no doubt the audience of a staged Pygmalion). The confusion arises in a variety of places the true identicalness of any(prenominal) characters (the none Taker, the Daughter, the Gentleman, etc.) and Elizas hysterical confusion when she wrongly accuses the Note Taker (Prof. Higgins) of being a coppers reach (police informant) when a Bystander warns her that someone is writing down her speech.Elizas characterIt seems that confusion follows Eliza relentlessly throughout the beginning of the play, embarrassingly highlighting her uneasiness and ignorance when she finds herself in many unfamiliar situations. Not only is it p envy in Act I, but it is clear in Act II as well, when she bravely seeks out Prof. Higgins to request elocution lessons. In this scene, Eliza finds herself lost and misunderstanding, -drowned in a sea of complex words and jokes used by everyone around her, expiration her totally bewildered. For example, when Eliza offers Prof. Higgins a shilling for her lessons, he comments to Colonel Pickering that a shilling in relation to Elizas earnings is nigh the equivalent of about sixty pounds from a millionaire, which Eliza misunderstands and fearfully conceive ofs is the check of money she must pay.However, by the end of the play Eliza has gained masses of confidence, which compliments her raw, blinking(a) spirit and gives her the ability to argue her point well and defend herself. For example later in the play, she confronts Higgins on the subject of his insensitiveness towards her- ..Im not dirt under your feet. (Page 102) and is no longer prepared to be check by his haughty egotism.There is no doubt that Elizas transformation is a made one, however, I think some function very important to realise about Eliza is that despite the stem turn changes that take place in the play with her appearance, speech and status, her character still the Great Compromiser as strong-minded, fiery and emotional as it was on that bleak, rainy day in the heart of Londons Covent tend. The fact that this is one of the some things that do not change in Eliza, is a huge indication of the formidable sincerity of her character.Prof. Higgins has created something which is unnatural and out of place in society, with his intensive training of Eliza. Her appearance and behaviour are doll-like, her movement is robot-like and her speech too careful and precise to ever be real. To create the outward appearance of the lady she becomes, Eliza is forced to sacrifice and annihilate her own personality, leaving her empty and without any vitality or energy. This is the reason why Eliza clearly strives for a rich conclave of her original vigour and strong-mind, and the new manner and speech of the middle and upper classes introduced to her by Higgins to create a true identity for herself which she is happy with.Higgins, typically for him, claims all the creed for the transformation in Eliza, showing him not only to be big-headed, arrogant and conceited, but to also undervalue Elizas own solid work. You will jolly see whether she has an head in her head or a word that I havent put into her mouth. I tell you I have created this thing out of the squashed cabbage leaves of Covent Garden (Page 92)I think it is vital for the reader/audience to remember that Eliza and her own character and personality have achieved her transformation. Although, there is no doubt that Eliza would have remained in the potty if Higgins had not taken her into his home and changed her speech, dressed her fashionably and sho wn her how the upper classes behave, I personally, resent any direct comparisons between Eliza and her mythologic equivalent, Galatea. This is because I think that her initial character had the foundations present for the creation of her new self.Whereas Galatea was created from zipper (a block of ivory) by King Pygmalion,- Prof. Higgins, Colonel Pickering and Mrs Pearce only if enhanced and remoulded many of the qualities Eliza already have to create the end result.Without Elizas self discipline, raw talent, commited and swift learning, it would have been impossible to pass her off as a duchess afterwards just a matter of months. I think the way Shaw portrays her as ripening more and more confident and freelancer throughout the play, does well as a message to the reader that Eliza herself, was in a sense, her own creator.I think that Elizas need to liberate herself from Prof. Higggins to become a teacher herself, was more necessary than she herself even knew, for just like Ga latea, she could never truly like Prof. Higgins (the equivalent of King Pygmalion) for as Shaw modishly points out, his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable.Throughout his life, Shaws plays often tended to attack what he felt to be bad elements in society and make his audiences feel uncomfortable with the bitter equity of societys flaws. If this is what he intended for Pygmalion, I think he was certainly successful. Pygmalion challenges many of the modify root elements of society including the segregation of the class system, and the ruthlessness of human nature, themes that almost all of us are guilty of either condoning or ignoring- both of which are destructive if there is ever to be any kind of social reform.