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Lesson 3 (acts 4-5)
LuckDate: Friday, 09.10.2009, 23:38 | Message # 1
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The play “Pygmalion” is full of different humorous and satirical episodes. But most of all I like the scene when Eliza tells Higgins that she can work as a teacher. Of course Higgins is very surprised because he thinks that this girl is good for nothing, I mean that she is not educated, she is from low society and she can’t earn much money. But Eliza proves him that she is good at Phonetics, and that is what she can do - teach somebody else the same things that Higgins has taught her! I guess Higgins doesn’t expect such fighting mood from this “girl from the gutters”. Higgins doesn’t want Eliza to share his teaching methods and discoveries with somebody else. Perhaps he thinks that he is the best in this sphere, like God, and nobody can outbid him. But Eliza realizes that now she is as good at language as Higgins is, and this makes her stronger and more confident. I guess if I were an artist I would draw this scene. There would be Eliza and Higgins in the picture. Eliza is a real lady: well-dressed, good-looking and self-confident. Now she doesn’t sell herself short. Probably Higgins knows this and it makes him angry and scared at the same time. I think in the picture Eliza would look like a teacher and Higgins - like her pupil. Higgins would look quite scared and there would be panic on his face. Perhaps his mouth would be open as if he tried to explain or prove something. He is staring at Eliza as if he wants to kill the girl that he himself created, but can’t because he is too weak.
As for the last scene, I guess the author doesn’t give us all the answers here. But still we see that the main characters, I mean Higgins and Eliza, have opposite opinions about life, about people’s relationships. Eliza, being a poor girl, appreciates love, devotion and respect as the main values in life. She feels that Pickering treats her in a good way, and of course she respects him for this. She likes that he doesn’t divide people into the poor and rich. But Higgins is not like him. For instance, when Eliza tells him that she wants to marry Freddy, Higgins just laughs. He thinks that she is an idiot: what does she need Freddy for? He is a poor man, without money. But nevertheless Eliza loves him, because Freddy treats her like a real treasure in his life. Perhaps that is the difference between Higgins and Eliza: he thinks that the most significant thing in his life is linguistics, but she believes in love and good human relationships.
 
AsyaDate: Sunday, 11.10.2009, 18:50 | Message # 2
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I’d like to illustrate the very scene when Eliza hurls the slippers at Mr Higgins. So, Liza is on the left of the picture, Higgins – on the right. And the slippers are certainly in the middle, making their way to his face (they are flying one after another). Liza is furious. And one of her hands is high above her head: she’s just hurled the second slipper at Mr Higgins. Mr Higgins is astounded. He’s in perplexity. I’ve chosen this episode as it reflects some conflicts of the story: Eliza is not an alive doll but she’s treated like that, class stratification, previous Eliza and new Eliza. The slippers symbolize that behaviour of high society Liza wants to get rid of. She’s rejecting all those manners and accusing Mr Higgins of having become a slave.
As for the last scene, I must admit it’s one of the most important ones in “Pygmalion”. It’s rather long. And, to my mind, the least ironic. Higgins and Eliza are having a very serious talk, concerning Liza’s future. As far as I see it, Higgins fails to understand Eliza. He’s very egoistic and can’t admit she’s able to live without him. As for Liza, she manages to formulate her thoughts clearly but she doesn’t take the fact that Higgins simply wants her to stay with him into consideration. She wants him to treat her better. But he refuses this idea saying that he treats everybody like that. Higgins can’t understand that every woman wants to be treated with respect and some delicacy. And Eliza can’t accept Higgins with his impulsive character (though she’s very impulsive, too). So, as we can see, mutual misunderstanding takes place here. As for the author, I think he’s an objective observer and doesn’t take sides. And as far as I’m concerned, I tend to support Eliza
 
MissJaneDate: Sunday, 11.10.2009, 22:36 | Message # 3
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The whole IV act is full of satiric and humorous remarks but when we come up to the end of the act, we can’t help admiring Shaw’s ability to produce such a comical effect. Eliza and Freddy fall in love with each other so quickly and their feelings are represented as really irrevocable ones that it immediately reveals the author’s joke. Freddy’s ardent exclamations about his beloved sound really amusing. “Darling, dearest and loveliest” Eliza behaves as if this guy were her long-awaited prince. Shaw is very keen on shaping this scene into a kind of parody. The characters run away from the police like some heroes of a novel distractedly in love with each other. Freddy is desperate to do everything in the world for his lovely lady while this lady is ready to pay for the taxi. And, like truly romantic characters, they drive off from the city so that no one could find them. Thus, they go to the desolate suburbs of London.

This episode vividly illustrates Eliza’s flighty and inconsistent behaviour. But her feelings are deeply wounded and she just needs some understanding and a loving person. She has been treated like a puppet during all those six months of hard studies, and now that she has already performed her role perfectly, she feels no one needs her anymore. She notices indifference in every glance and utterance of her teacher and that is what makes her see red. Her disappointment gives rise to an uncontrollable burst of rage. The scene when Eliza throws a pair of slippers at Higgins is pretty suitable for making a sketch. Professor Higgins, standing in the doorway with the utmost surprise on his face, is going to have his head hit by a flying slipper. His astonishment is indescribable - he can’t account for this outbreak. He has never expected this flower girl from the gutters to show such a protest. Meanwhile, Eliza is holding the second slipper to hurl at Henry, her face contorted with anger and a deep-seated insult. Tears are running down her cheeks smearing her beautiful make-up all over her lovely face. The characters are standing looking at each other with detest and contempt. This picture could be a great illustration for the fever heat of the relationships between Higgins and Eliza. But the conflict was not provoked only by Higgins’ cue “Thank God it’s all over!” The causes of this emotional tension root much deeper. Higgins and Eliza see life and people differently. Their patterns of behaviour also differ. Henry is not used to dividing people into any groups and he prefers to treat them equally, that means with equal disdain. And Eliza is seeking for some justice but she seldom gets any respect or gentlehood from people. These two opposite points of view are supposed to collapse and, maybe, to give birth to some new feeling. Who knows?

 
TeacherDate: Monday, 12.10.2009, 02:16 | Message # 4
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So, we’re preparing an illustrated edition of the play. Imagine the room in Mrs. Higgins’s house. There we can see Mr. Higgins and Eliza. The young lady is beautifully dressed. She is standing near the table. Eliza behaves herself as a lady of the upper class. In front of her is Professor Higgins. He is in an unnatural stance. His suit looks untidy, his hair is disheveled. Higgins looks irritated, embarrassed and miserable. Professor and the young lady are quarrelling. Eliza is very calm. She looks even arrogant. Higgins is very agitated. His eyes are mad. We realize that our characters have changed their roles. The picture is divided into two parts. The part where Eliza is standing is colored and the part of Mr. Higgins is black-and-white.

Higgins and Eliza don’t seem to agree at all. They formulate their opinions clearly, but don’t hear each other. Higgins is a pragmatist. He thinks only about his profit. On the other hand Eliza cares for people’s feelings. They are different sides of one coin. For Higgins Eliza is a work of linguistic art. But he likes her. Maybe the professor even loves her, but in this case it’s a very strange love. Eliza should understand that Higgins helps her to break away from the gutter into a better world. But she needs not only physical support, but emotional intimacy. As far as we can judge, Shaw doesn’t take sides. He just shows us two different types of people, two different views on one life situation and gives us a chance to take the side that we prefer.

We can see several themes in the play. They are class stratification, love, people’s relationships, people’s fates, cultural norms and traditions, the link between the language and the culture. There are also some issues in the play such as social vices and injustice, mutual misunderstanding, a gap between the upper and lower class and, of course, misunderstanding between a man and a woman.


In Vino Veritas...
 
RinaDate: Monday, 12.10.2009, 11:40 | Message # 5
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I'd like to illustrate one scene that takes place in Mrs. Higgins' house. It's the moment when Eliza tells Mr. Higgins that she's going to marry Freddy. ("I will marry Freddy, I will, as soon as I'm able to support him"). Elisa is standing in the middle of the room, giving Mr. Higgis a piercing look. She is full of dignity and pride. It seems that she wants to say smth, to add smth, but at the same time she is waiting for Mr. Higgins' reaction. He is standing in front of her, with his eyes full of terror as if he has just heard smth terrible. He's ready to shout, even to scream, he's overwelmed by indignation. Mr. Higgins seems to be ready to catch Eliza and tear her into pieces.
Speaking about Mr. Higgins and Eliza's relationships, I want to say that I'd call them "complete misunderstanding". Really, these two people even don't want to understand each other. Remember, what Eliza is always talking about. She always repeats that Mr. Higgins is too rude, that he is absolutely indifferent towards her feelings. Eliza says: "It's got no feelings to hurt" or "And you don't care a bit for me" - these phrases are full of unspoken protest against Mr. Higgins's "carelessness". She reproaches him for it but at the same time she's unable to say openly what she really needs. She just can't let the words "I need you be kind with me" escape her lips. And she can't notice that Mr. Higgins can't say "I love you" either, notwithstanding that fact that it is true. this situation creates the misunderstanding between these two charachters and I regard it as one of the main conflicts of the story.


Message edited by Rina - Monday, 12.10.2009, 11:42
 
MegastarostaDate: Sunday, 03.01.2010, 19:26 | Message # 6
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I chose one very funny moment from act 4. It is the end of it and there we can see Eliza and Mister Higgins discussing Eliza's future. This scene illustrates the author's talent for humor and satire. So the acting took place in Eliza's room, she lying on the sofa and Mrs. Higgins opened the door in her room and asked about his slippers. In this moment these slippers smashed Mrs. Higginse's face. biggrin Higginse's mimicry will be astonished, he wanted to say something that moment but he couldn't. If we look at Eliza we can notice, that she would be angry and sad, because she understood that she didnt have cockney anymore and that made Higgins uninterested in her personality. Also it illustrates how uninterested was Mrs. Higgins to other people's problems.

Higgins: You won my bet! You! Presumptuous insect! I won it. What did you throw those slippers at me for?
Liza: Because i wanted to smash your face. I'd like to kill you, you selfish brute. Why didt you leave me where you picked me out of - in the gutter? You thank God it's all over, and that now you can throw me back again there, do you? (She crisps her fingers frantically)

In this play we have conflict between Eliza and professor Higgins. To my mind Eliza formulated her point of view very clearly, she just wanted to know what she need to do next, she thought that they became a real compainers, that they have something in common, but Higgins didnt think so. sad The author used such a word as "use". So, it's possible to say, that Higgins used Eliza for winning his net with Colonel Pickering. He will not think about Eliza when she goes away from his house and life. It was not a secret that Mrs. Higgins was cynic and he thought about himself and didnt notice others.

 
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