In the second act it describes a scene that Eliza Doolittle comes to Henry Higgins’ home to ask him for help even paying him in order to learn better English than before and to be a lady in a flower shop。 At that time, Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering are talking about problem of pronunciation in the laboratory。 With the coming of Eliza, the quiet scene is broken。 Higgins recognizes her with unconcealed disappointment because of getting enough records he wants of Lisson Grove Lingo, but Pickering is very interested in what Eliza says about the purpose of learning better English and how does she pay for Higgins。 Therefore, Pickering makes a bet by the way that if Higgins could pass the flower girl off as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party, he will admit the fact that he is a greatest phonetician in the world, and be willing to pay the high lesson price。 Higgins is very excited in this idea which makes a duchess out of a ragged cockney girl。 He accepts this challenge and believes that he only needs six months or even three months to take her anywhere and pass her off anything, and Eliza becomes the bet goal of the Higgins and his friends actually。 From then on, Higgins begins to improve Eliza’s cockney accent to make her become an elegant lady。 论文网

    The third act describes a scene that Eliza slowly develops into an elegant lady and she is brought into an at-home of upper class to practice her oral English。 Although in the role of duchess, her behavior is like a mechanical doll。 Between the third act and forth act Eliza is finally successfully regarded as a princess with royal blood at an ambassador’s party。 

When it comes to fifth act that when the great day of trial over, Eliza does this wonderful thing for two bachelors without making a single mistake, however the two men sit there and never say a praise word to her, and talk with each other how glad they are about what happening tonight, meanwhile bored with the whole thing。 A conflict occurs because of being overlooked among them, Eliza is so angry that she tries to enrage Higgins by returning him with the hired jewels, then the conflict occurs and Eliza leaves home in the middle of night。 The next morning, Eliza appears at Higgins’ mother home。 Being more assertive and more self-reliant, Eliza refuses to keep on staying with the two bachelors, and begins to think over what to do next by herself。 Then, the drama Pygmalion is over。 But I think that won’t be the end for Eliza, but the beginning of the whole new strand of the future。

Studying the drama Pygmalion, each character is portrayed vividly, especially main character Eliza, who is a poor flower girl in the beginning and then becomes a beautiful well-spoken duchess。 She is a girl with happiness, the place she lived is dirty and crowed, but she never complains。 What’s more, she seizes the opportunity to create a confident life。 Henry Higgins, another main character, a typical English wealthy and defiant bachelor, who has the unenviable task of turning Eliza Doolittle into a real lady in six months。 Colonel Pickering, another important character, he is a real gentleman, and it is he who let Eliza know how ladies and gentlemen really behaved。 

2。2 Critical Remarks on G。B Shaw and His Drama Pygmalion 

George Bernard Shaw, known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was a famous Irish dramatist, critic and debater whose influence on Western dramatic art, culture and politics spread from the 1880s to his death and beyond。 He began to create play in 1892 and wrote more than sixty dramas, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1912) and Saint Joan (1923), in which his wit and satire have been reflected by a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory。 Shaw became the leading playwright among his contemporaries, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925。 Then, in 1938 he provided the film script for a film-making of Pygmalion for which he received an Academy Award。 What’s more, He was also regarded as the best-known English playwright since Shakespeare。 Thematically speaking, most of his play can be termed as problem plays。 He wrote about the relations between husband and wife and children; the problems of conscience, character and disposition; the problems of inpidual and society。 These all made his play more famous and acceptable and he opened a new page in the history of English drama。