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  • Essay / Shaw's Didactic Purpose in Pygmalion

    Years before becoming the greatest living comedy writer, Shaw was an ardent social reformer. "My conscience," he once wrote, "is the real pulpit; it annoys me to see people at ease when they should be; and I insist on making them think..." Shaw's socialism never won many converts, but his wit shocked people and made them think. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayIn "Pygmalion", he finds a spokesperson in the very original character of Alfred Doolittle, a chimney sweep, who admits to being one of the “undeserving poor” and openly prides himself on it. Just because he doesn't deserve it, Doolittle demands that Professor Higgins pay him 5 pounds for using his daughter Eliza for phonetics experiments. “I need no less than a deserving man: I need more.” To the suggestion "Why don't you marry your wife", Doolittle responds "I'm ready. It's me who suffers. I have no control over her. I have to be nice to her... I am this woman's slave." Higgins is so amused by this paradoxical logic that he gives 5 pounds to Doolittle, who Shaw used detailed stage instructions to maintain some control over the performance. Unless a play has some "usefulness", it has no value. There is a recognized didactic function. Shaw put forward the idea of ​​the "sugar-coated pill". the focus is much better defined by Shaw, the idea comes first, and then the plot comes Pygmalion takes on fascinating themes, not the least of which is female emancipation Higgins himself admires independence. but, in making Eliza a model woman, he creates a creature incapable of standing alone. As a flower girl, Eliza had independence and a job, however modest; as a woman, her options are considerably narrower. Shaw highlights the function of the environment. It shows that class distinction is based on varied environmental situations rather than lineage. At the beginning of the play we see how Higgins commits to placing any person from the way he speaks. In Eliza's case, when her cockney-accented manner of speaking is replaced by ladylike eloquence, her status is automatically elevated. The play Pygmalion also deals with the futility of social barriers. The very challenge Higgins takes on in making the uneducated Eliza... become duchess in six months renders this conception of social barriers unfounded. Shaw mocks this weak social demarcation that can be easily overcome in such a short time. Eliza's ambitious nature and zest for life ultimately bring her success. With her perseverance, Eliza finally climbs the social ladder, suggesting the vulnerability of social distinction. Moreover, Alfred Doolittle is a licentious man, enough to sell his daughter for the meager sum of five pounds. Our conventional morality is shaken when he explains why his wife prefers to remain his mistress rather than become his wife. This is a scandalous commentary on the very institution of marriage. Shaw brings out the mindset of the people of his time. Shaw highlights some social issues that explain how unfair discrimination is inflicted on the poor. Doolittle calls himself an "unworthy poor man", a caustic remark on his miserable condition. He is a victim of the unjust means of the social system. Shaw denounces the social system which fails to encourage the moral and financial improvement of the poor. Instead.