PYGMALION Play (1913) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The play is set in London. On a summer evening, the rain pours like a bucket. Passers-by run to Covent Garden Market and to the portico of St. Pavel, where several people have already taken refuge, including an elderly lady and her daughter, both of them are in evening dresses and are waiting for Freddie, the lady's son, to find a taxi and come for them. Everyone, except for one person with a notebook, peers into the streams of rain. Freddie appears in the distance, who has not found a taxi, and runs to the portico, but on the way runs into a street flower girl, hurrying to shelter from the rain, and knocks a basket of violets out of her hands. She breaks out in abuse. A man with a notebook is hastily writing something down. The girl laments that her violets have disappeared, and begs the colonel, who is standing there, to buy a bouquet. He, to get rid of, gives her a change, but does not take flowers. Someone from the passers-by draws the attention of a flower girl, a slovenly dressed and unwashed girl, that a man with a notebook is clearly scribbling a denunciation on her. The girl starts to whimper. He, however, assures that he is not from the police, and surprises everyone present by the fact that he accurately determines the origin of each of them by their pronunciation.

Freddie's mother sends her son back to look for a taxi. Soon, however, the rain stops and she and her daughter go to the bus stop. The Colonel takes an interest in the abilities of the person with the notebook. He introduces himself as Henry Higtins, the creator of the Universal Higgins Alphabet. The colonel turns out to be the author of the book "Spoken Sanskrit". His last name is Pickering. He lived in India for a long time and came to London specifically to meet Professor Higgins. The professor also always wanted to meet the colonel. They are about to go to dinner at the Colonel's at the hotel, when the flower girl again starts asking to buy flowers from her. Higgins tosses a handful of coins into her basket and leaves with the Colonel. The flower girl sees that she now owns, by her standards, a huge amount. When Freddie arrives with the taxi he finally caught, she, instead of his departed mother and sister, gets into the car herself and, with a noise slamming the door, leaves.

The next morning Higgins demonstrates his phonographic equipment to Colonel Pickering at his home. Suddenly Higgins' housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, reports that a very simple girl wants to talk to the professor. Enter yesterday's flower girl. She introduces herself as Eliza Dolittle and says that she wants to take phonetics lessons from the professor, because with her pronunciation she cannot get a job. She had heard the day before that Higgins was giving such lessons. Eliza is sure that he will gladly agree to work off the money that yesterday, without looking, he threw into her basket. Talking about such amounts, of course, is ridiculous for him, but Pickering offers Higgins a bet. He instigates him to prove that in a matter of months he can, as he had assured the day before, turn a street flower girl into a duchess. Higgins finds the offer tempting, especially since Pickering is willing, if Higgins wins, to pay the entire cost of Eliza's tuition. Mrs. Pierce leads Eliza to the bathroom.

After a while, Eliza's father comes to Higgins. He is a scavenger, a simple man, but amazes the professor with his innate eloquence. Higgins asks Dolittle for permission to keep his daughter and gives him five pounds for it. When Eliza appears, already washed, in a Japanese robe, the father at first does not even recognize his daughter.

A couple of months later, Higgins brings Eliza to his mother's house, just on her adoptive day. He wants to know if it is already possible to introduce the girl into secular society. Mrs. Higgins is visiting Mrs. Ainsford Hill with her daughter and son. These are the very people Higgins stood with under the cathedral's portico the day he first saw Eliza. However, they do not recognize the girl. Eliza at first both behaves and speaks like a lady, and then switches to such street expressions that everyone present is only amazed. Higgins pretends to be the new secular jargon, thus smoothing out the situation. Eliza leaves the audience, leaving them in utter delight.

After the guests leave, Higgins and Pickering vying with each other, enthusiastically tell Mrs. Higgins about how they study with Eliza, how they teach her, take her to the opera, to exhibitions, and dress her. Mrs Higgins finds that they are treating the girl like a living doll. She agrees with Mrs. Pearce, who believes that they "think of nothing."

A few months later, both experimenters take Eliza to a high-society reception, where she has a dizzying success, everyone takes her for a duchess. Higgins wins the bet. Arriving home, he enjoys the fact that the experiment, from which he has already managed to get tired, is finally over. He behaves and speaks in his usual rude manner, not paying the slightest attention to Eliza. The girl looks very tired and sad, while she is dazzlingly beautiful. It is noticeable that irritation is accumulating in it. She ends up shooting Higgins with his shoes. She wants to die. She does not know what will happen to her next, how she will live. After all, she became a completely different person. Higgins assures that everything will work out. She, however, manages to hurt him, throw him off balance and thereby at least a little to avenge herself.

Eliza runs away from home at night. The next morning, Higgins and Pickering lose their heads when they see that Eliza is not. They even try to track her down with the help of the police. Higgins feels like no hands without Eliza. He does not know where his things are, or what he has appointed for the day. Mrs. Higgins arrives. Then the arrival of Eliza's father is reported. Dolittle has changed a lot. Now he looks like a wealthy bourgeois and in indignation lashes out at Higgins for the fact that, through his fault, he had to change his lifestyle and now become much less free than he was before. It turns out that a few months ago, Higgins wrote to a millionaire in America who founded branches of the Society for Moral Reforms around the world that Dolittle, a simple garbage man, is now the most original moralist in all of England. He died, and before he died, he bequeathed to Dolittle a share in his trust for three thousand annual income, on the condition that Dolittle would give up to six lectures a year in his league of moral reforms. He laments that today, for example, he even has to officially marry someone with whom he has lived for several years without registering a relationship. And all this because he is now forced to look like a respectable bourgeois. Mrs Higgins is delighted that the father can finally take care of his changed daughter the way she deserves. Higgins, however, does not want to hear about "returning" Dolittle Eliza.

Mrs Higgins says she knows where Eliza is. The girl agrees to return if Higgins asks her for forgiveness. Higgins doesn't agree to do this at all. Eliza enters. She expresses her gratitude to Pickering for treating her like a noble lady. It was he who helped Eliza change, despite the fact that she had to live in the house of the rude, sloven and ill-mannered Higgins. Higgins is amazed. Eliza adds that if he continues to press her, she will go to Professor Nepin, a colleague of Higgins, and become his assistant and inform him of all the discoveries made by Higgins. After a surge of outrage, the professor finds that now her behavior is even better and more dignified than when she looked after his things and brought him home shoes. Now, he is sure, they will be able to live together no longer as just two men and one stupid girl, but as “three friendly old bachelors”.

Eliza goes to her father's wedding. Apparently, she will still stay in Higgins' house, since she managed to become attached to him, as he did to her.

Yu. A. Dmitriev - "PYGMALION" BY BERNARD SHOW
From the book “Academic Maly Theater. Chronological sketches, performances, roles. 1945 - 1995 ".

In 1943 it was decided to play the comedy "Pygmalion" by Bernard Shaw.

This choice surprised many. Why during the war years it was necessary to stage this, albeit talented, albeit filled with witty paradoxes, but still, as it seemed to many, a salon comedy? This is how it was played in 1924 at the Moscow Comedy Theater (formerly Korsh). In 1938, Pygmalion went to the Moscow Theater of Satire. And although the role of Higgins was played by the brilliant comedian P.N. Paul, the performance was not very successful.

However, all fears were dispelled literally on the day of the premiere, which took place on December 12, 1943. The performance was a huge success. Looking ahead, let's say: on February 19, 1945, his hundredth performance took place, on January 19, 1949 - four hundredth, on March 27, 1950 - five hundredth.

The play was translated by N.K. Konstantinova, the artist was V.I.Kozlinsky, the music was written by Yu.A. Shaporin. One of the reasons for the selection of the play was the recommendation of the governing bodies, which, in the conditions of the war, “cared” about developing cultural ties between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Moreover, Shaw many times expressed friendly feelings towards the Soviet people.

Zubov said: in the fall of 1943 “we lived hard. The harsh Moscow of the war years. Thoughts about the front, the first victories, obtained with great blood. The choice of a play these days was a serious and responsible matter. And suddenly, at this time, we were advised to create a comedy performance, to stage a play by The Pygmalion Show. It was unexpected, only later, in meetings with the audience, we realized that our performance is especially necessary for them in these harsh days, that it pleases with its kind and clever thoughts and sincere fun. "

The director understood that he was staging a comedy, but tried to show the serious through ridiculous circumstances - how the human personality grows stronger, grows, improves. Zubov wrote: "In" Pygmalion "I, as a director, was interested, of course, not so much the amusingness of the plot as the sharp satirical, ideological orientation of the play, clothed in a lively witty comedic form."

A few words about the director. Konstantin Aleksandrovich Zubov (1888-1956) joined the troupe of the Maly Theater in 1936. In his youth, he studied in France at a technical school and at the same time at the history-philological faculty of the University of Paris. Then Zubov studied at St. Petersburg University, while also studying at the St. Petersburg Theater School, where his teacher was the great artist V.N. Davydov. Having become a professional dramatic actor, Zubov played in large provincial cities, as well as in Moscow - in the Korsh Theater and in the Revolution Theater. At the Zamoskvoretsky Theater, he was not only an actor, but also an artistic director and staged several interesting performances here.

As an actor, Zubov was famous for his masterful dialogue, brilliant ability to give remarks, so that the essence of the character of the one who uttered it immediately became clear. Most of all he succeeded in the role of smart people, and at the same time ironic, even cynical. His characters always looked a little downward at the interlocutors. The well-mannered heroes of Zubov involuntarily forced them to admire their manners, the subtlety of their treatment, which often hid disrespect for the interlocutor, mental callousness.

As a director, Zubov first of all cared to put the actors in the most favorable conditions, believed that a good performance of the entire ensemble of characters is the highest that a director can and should achieve. At rehearsals, he, himself a great actor, giving the performers a general idea of ​​the image, helped to solve this or that scene, the role in general and in detail, making extensive use of the show. For Zubov, the verbal duel of the characters was the main essence of the play, through this, first of all, the characters and relationships of the characters were revealed. At the same time, the director was not afraid of eccentric episodes and even loved them, but in these cases he always sought the logic of behavior of one or another hero of the play. So, in "Pygmalion", playing Professor Higgins, he decidedly did not notice a person in a street vendor in flowers, he saw in her only an object for experiment and drove her ... to the piano. Zubov explained this: “The key to the image was the words of Higgins from the last act:“ To create life means to create anxiety ”. This suggested the temperament, the imperious character of the creator, egoistic, reckoning with no one. He gives no one peace with his ideas, becomes unpleasantly straightforward and even rude. "

In the play, Eliza Doolittle with D.V. Zerkalova experienced a metamorphosis and became an extraordinary person, capable of fighting for her dignity and happiness. And Higgins learned a thing or two from Eliza, realized that besides him, there were other people with their own joys and sorrows. Pygmalion and Galatea seemed to switch places, and Eliza, in turn, made Higgins experience a metamorphosis.

And at the same time, in her human qualities, Eliza turned out to be higher than Higgins.

In Shaw's play, it all turned out that Eliza had to marry Freddie, a sweet but rather colorless young man. The author of the play wrote about this in the afterword. But the development of events in the play led to the fact that Eliza would be Higgins' wife. This did not contradict the play, but it revealed it deeper.

Eliza was in the center of the play. The fact that in a short time the street grubby became a "duchess" was Shaw's mockery of the aristocratic chic passed off as genuine culture. "Zerkalova knew how to show the soul of her heroine, her sincerity, spontaneity, honesty, self-esteem." When Eliza first appeared, when she was selling flowers near the theater entrance, this girl seemed ugly: stooped, with ridiculously spread arms, waddling, somehow jumping up and down, and all the time she was wiping her nose and chin. Her transitions from deafening laughter to shrill crying cut her ears.

In the second act, Eliza visits Higgins to take pronunciation lessons from him. Now she is dressed up: a straw hat on her head, gloves on her hands, although they are different. Her tone is independent. She is willing to pay for lessons, but demands respect for herself. With the back of her hand, Eliza often wipes her mouth, as older women of the people do. It bears the stamp of early adulthood, this is a consequence of living in a cruel environment: always drunk parents, poverty, hunger. Her coming to Higgins is not accidental, he is forced, as a means of struggle for existence, she wants to become a saleswoman in a flower shop. "There is no scoffing here, but this is a comedic solution, a struggle for a piece of bread." Eliza's gestures and words can be rude, but in general, throughout the entire performance, the image remains poetic and charming. Higgins drives her under the piano, and there, crying, blowing her nose into the hem of her dress, she still manages to maintain her dignity.

After washing her face in a white coat, Eliza is frightened and confused. And once in Mrs. Higgins's salon, she looks like a charming young woman, but in her manner, as in conversation, there is a touch of artificiality. She speaks words too clearly and distinctly, but knows how to maintain meaningless small talk.

In the end, Higgins achieved his goal: Eliza in high society impressed with her upbringing. The experiment is now over. The professor is tired and wants to sleep. Eliza no longer interests him, and she realized that she served him only for his experiments. “Pale, wide-eyed Eliza is on the stage, facing the audience. Elegant evening dress, furs and diamonds - tinsel that does not belong to her.

No, this is not the "duchess" Higgins tried to foster. He is a proud person protesting against the humiliation of his dignity. "

Eliza gazed at Higgins in silence, and in this dramatic silence, combining restrained anger and noble indignation, that woman who Higgins could not subdue and who retained her dignity. And, as a result of indignation, shoes fly at him. But very soon Eliza pulls herself together and directly expresses to Higgins what she thinks of him. "Zerkalova performed her task with a virtuoso skill, combining depth of content with a poignant comedic form."

As for Professor Higgins, Zubov emphasized comic features in him: awkwardness, rudeness, the fact that Higgins's science ate everything, turning him into an egoist. He stopped thinking about those around him, was ready to sacrifice everyone, including Eliza, to his experiments.

In the first picture, Higgins, leaving the theater, lingered under the portico because of the rain and amazed those around him that he guessed who was from where, barely uttered a few phrases. “Zubov had here the passion of a scientist-researcher, who had gone into his own research for a year. He hardly noticed the hostile curiosity that was gathering around him, and in general he hardly noticed who was around him. For him, everyone who comes across on his way was just an incident, a little phonetic riddle that is interesting to solve. "

Zubov boldly painted this role with comedic colors, not being afraid to endow it with sharp-character features. He listened to Eliza, and there was a mixed sense of indignation and delight in front of the barbaric sound in his lines. Confident of Eliza's hopeless stupidity, Higgins cut the girl off and switched to the language of orders, while at the same time standing at attention. And this was the highest form of disregard for another person.

Another performer of the role of professor - M. Tsarev acted in the same way as Zubov. But his character turned out to be extremely absent-minded, which deprived the image of pedantry. Tsarev gave Higgins good-natured lyricism, emphasized the unconsciousness of his egoism.

E.P. Velikhov played the very difficult role of Colonel Pickering perfectly. Difficult because the colonel was constantly resonating. But the artist managed to create a convincing image. The gentleman he introduced turned out to be endowed with the typical British composure, tact, and at the same time he was benevolent, sociable, witty. The role of Mrs. Higgins, the professor's mother, was played by E.D. Turchaninova. She wore pale fawn lace, a huge, but not flashy hat, and all of it was the embodiment of elegance against the background of a luxurious pavilion consisting of air grilles and tulle. In this pavilion Mrs. Higgins sat on a curved couch with a cup of tea in her hand and listened to Eliza's chatter. "She is balanced in English, ironic in Show." And she looks sadly at Eliza, she does not at all like those experiments of training a person that her son conducts. The mise-en-scenes were built in such a way that Mrs. Higgins-Turchaninova was sitting all the time, and nevertheless the actress managed to create a clear and interesting character. A condescending smile towards everything that happened played on her lips. Having experienced passions herself and knowing how they end, she is not going to give advice to anyone, for she understands perfectly well: rarely does anyone in his youth want to listen to old age. Turchaninova as Mrs. Higgins was a real lady. At the same time, the actress did not change the manner of her usual stage behavior at all. But she became an Englishwoman from the inside out. And not generally an Englishwoman, but a representative of that class, that age, those views that Shaw prescribed to her. Let us cite here an interesting remark of the writer VE Ardov: "I assert that the role of Mrs. Higgins should have been designated by two names: Shaw-Turchaninov, similar to what Bach-Busoni or Mozart-Liszt write." Eliza's father, Mr. Dolittle, played by V.A. Vladislavsky, was a scavenger, but he was distinguished by self-confidence and humor. Featuring a rich scavenger, the actor fell into an over-the-top vaudeville tone.

N.O. Grigorovskaya was convincing in the small role of housekeeper. "This Mrs. Pearce pronounced the word 'sir' with such solemnity and such an English accent that Henry Higgins, an implacable phoneticist, would probably have recognized it as typical."

Freddie performed by M.M. Sadovsky is a light, cheerful, but unnecessarily stupid person, he looked almost like an operetta character. The artist's work deserves to be discussed separately. A London street on a rainy evening was convincing in the first act. There was nothing in Higgins' office to indicate his scholarly pursuits. It was a business man's room, and in this sense it characterized its owner.

On the whole, "Pygmalion", staged by the Maly Theater, turned out to be a truly comedic performance, that is, light, but by no means thoughtless - it affirmed human dignity. The performance acquired a serious meaning especially at a time when fascism preached misanthropic theories, became not only an outstanding artistic phenomenon, but also an important social event. Hence his great success, the support he received from the press, the public, the general public, and as a result - a long stage life.

The work of Bernard Shaw "Pygmalion" tells the reader about how people's lives are changing thanks to education. Characters: Eliza Doolittle, poor flower girl; her father, a scavenger; Colonel Pickering; young man - scientist Henry Higgins; Mrs Hill with her daughter and son Freddie. The events take place in London.
... On a summer evening, it rains like a bucket. People run to the portico of the church, hoping to shelter there from the rain. Among them are an elderly lady, Mrs. Hill and her daughter. The lady's son, Freddie, runs to look for a taxi, but on the way comes across a young girl, street flower girl Eliza Dullittle. He knocks the basket of violets out of her hands. The girl scolds loudly. Someone is writing down her words in a notebook. Someone says this man is a police informer. It is later revealed that the man with the notebook is Henry Hingins, author of The Universal Higgins Alphabet. Hearing this, one of those standing at the church, Colonel Pickering, is interested in the personality of Hingins. For a very long time he wanted to get to know Hingins, as he himself is fond of linguistics. At the same time, the flower girl continues to lament over the flowers that have fallen to the ground. Higgins throws a handful of coins into her basket and leaves with the Colonel. The girl is sincerely glad - by her standards, she now has a huge fortune.
The next morning Higgins demonstrates his phonographic equipment to Colonel Pickering at his home. The housekeeper reports that "a very simple girl" wants to talk to the professor. Eliza Dolittle appears. She wants to take phonetics lessons from the professor, as her pronunciation does not allow her to get a job. Higgins wants to refuse, but the Colonel offers a bet. If Higgins can "turn a street flower girl into a duchess" in a few months, Pickernig will pay for her full tuition. Higgins finds this offer very tempting, and he agrees.
Two months pass. Higgins brings Eliza Dolittle to her mother's house. He wants to find out if it is already possible to introduce the girl into secular society. The Hill family is visiting Higgins' mother, but no one recognizes the flower girl who came. The girl at first speaks like a high society lady, but then turns to street jargon. The guests are surprised, but Higgins manages to smooth the situation: he says that this is the new secular jargon. Eliza delights the audience.
A few months later, both experimenters took the girl to a high-society reception. Eliza has a dizzying success there. Thus, Higgins wins the bet. Now he doesn't even pay attention to Eliza, which annoys her. She throws her shoes at him. The girl thinks that her life has no meaning. At night, she escapes from Higgins' house.
The next morning, Higgins discovers that Eliza is not there, tries to find her with the help of the police. Without Eliza Higgins is "like no hands": he cannot find where his things are, and on what day to schedule things. Higgins' mother knows she can be found. The girl agrees to return if Higgins asks her for forgiveness.
As a result, Eliza Doolittle returns to Higgins' house, and now she is by no means considered a stupid girl, but is appreciated and respected as a person.
This is how B.Shaw's work "Pygmalion" ends.

Having sheltered from the rain, an elderly lady and her daughter, dressed in evening dresses, are waiting for Freddie, the lady's son, to find a taxi and pick them up. Freddie appears, unable to find a free taxi. On the way, he runs into a street flower girl and knocks a basket of violets out of the girl's hands. The flower girl is upset because her violets are missing. She asks the colonel standing next to her to buy a bouquet. He hands her the change in his pockets, but does not take the flowers. Someone from the passers-by pointed the flower girl at the gentleman who was writing something in a notebook, perhaps a denunciation of her. The man assured everyone that he was not from the police. He amazed people with his ability to determine the origin of each by pronunciation.

The colonel showed interest in his abilities. This is the creator of the Universal Higgins Alphabet, Henry Higgins. And Colonel Pickering turns out to be the author of the scientific book Spoken Sanskrit. The man lived in India for a long time, and came to London in order to meet Higgins. When the girl once again asks to buy flowers from her, Higgins throws coins into her basket and leaves with his new acquaintance.

At home, Higgins demonstrates his most interesting phonographic equipment to the colonel. Yesterday's flower girl comes to him, introducing herself as Eliza Dolittle. She wants to take phonetics lessons from him, because with her pronunciation she can not get a suitable job. The Colonel challenges Higgins to prove that he can turn a flower girl into a duchess in a few months. Higgins also finds the offer tempting.
After a couple of months, he brought Eliza to his mother's house to determine if she could already be introduced into secular society.

Mrs. Higgins was visiting Mrs. Ainsford Hill that day with her son and daughter. It was they who then stood under the portico of the cathedral when they first saw Eliza. They never recognize the flower girl. Eliza talks and behaves like a high society lady, but when talking about her life, she uses such expressions that everyone around is simply amazed.

Both experimenters, the colonel and the professor, finally take Eliza to a high society reception, where she has great success. Everyone takes the girl for the duchess. Ultimately Higgins wins the bet. First of all, he enjoys the fact that this experiment, from which he managed to get very tired, is over. He pays no attention to Eliza and her state of mind. Eliza looks tired, she is sad, not knowing what will happen to her next.

She runs away from home at night. Higgins and Pickering contact the police to track down the fugitive. Without Eliza, Professor Higgins feels like he has no arms. Eliza's father arrives and reproaches Higgins that he had to radically change his life. It turns out Higgins wrote to the American millionaire who founded Moral Reform League affiliates everywhere that a simple scavenger, Dolittle, is the most original moralist in England. So he bequeathed Dolittle before his death an impressive share in his trust, if he would lecture in his League.
Eliza agreed to return to Higgins if he asked her forgiveness. The professor decided that now the girl behaves more dignified than when she carefully watched his things, brought him home shoes.
Most likely, Eliza will live in Higgins' house, since she managed to become very attached to him, and he to her, and everything with them will go the same way.

Please note that this is only a summary of the literary work "Pygmalion". Many important points and quotes are missing in this summary.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright, philosopher and novelist and the most celebrated - after Shakespeare - playwright, writing in English.

Bernard Shaw had a great sense of humor. The writer said about himself: “ My way of joking is to tell the truth. There is nothing funnier in the world«.

Shaw was quite consciously guided by the creative experience of Ibsen. He highly appreciated his dramaturgy and at the beginning of his career followed his example in many ways. Like Ibsen, Shaw used the stage to promote his social and moral views, filling the plays with poignant, tense discussions. However, he not only, like Ibsen, posed questions, but also tried to answer them, and answer as a writer full of historical optimism. According to B. Brecht, in Shaw's plays "the belief in the endless possibilities of mankind on the path to improvement plays a decisive role."

The show-playwright's career began in the 1890s. The Independent Theater also staged Shaw's first drama, The Widower's House (1892), which began a "new drama" in England. She was followed by Volokita (1893) and The Profession of Mrs. Warren (1893-1894), which together with the Widower's Houses formed a cycle of Unpleasant Plays. The plays of the next cycle, Pleasant Plays: Arms and Man (1894), Candida (1894), The Chosen One of Fate (1895), Let’s Wait and See (1895-1896), were just as witty-theatrical.

In 1901, Shaw published a new cycle of plays, Plays for the Puritans, which included The Devil's Apprentice (1896-1897), Caesar and Cleopatra (1898), and The Conversion of Captain Brassbound (1899). Whatever topics Shaw raises in them, be it, as in Caesar and Cleopatra, the distant past of mankind or, as in Captain Brassbound's Address, the colonial policy of England, his attention is always riveted on the most burning problems of our time.

Ibsen portrayed life mainly in dark, tragic colors. The show is derisive even where it is quite serious. He has a negative attitude towards tragedy and opposes the doctrine of catharsis. According to Shaw, a person should not put up with suffering that deprives him of "the ability to discover the essence of life, awaken thoughts, educate feelings." The show values ​​comedy highly, calling it "the most sophisticated art form." In the work of Ibsen, according to Shaw, she is transformed into a tragicomedy, "into an even higher genre than comedy." Comedy, according to Shaw, denying suffering, fosters in the viewer a reasonable and sober attitude towards the world around them.

However, preferring comedy to tragedy, Shaw in his artistic practice is rarely kept within the boundaries of one comedy genre. The comic in his plays easily gets along with the tragic, the funny with serious reflections on life.

"A realist is the one who lives by himself, in accordance with his ideas about the past."

For Shaw, the struggle for a new society was inextricably linked with the struggle for a new drama that could raise the pressing questions of our time before readers, could tear off all the masks and veils of society. When B. Shaw, first as a critic and then as a playwright, introduced a systematic siege of 19th century drama, he had to contend with the worst of the current conventions of theater criticism of the time, convinced that there was no place for intellectual seriousness on stage, that theater Is a kind of superficial entertainment, and a playwright is a person whose task is to make harmful sweets out of cheap emotions.

In the end, the siege was crowned with success, intellectual seriousness prevailed over the confectionery view of the theater, and even its supporters were forced to stand in the pose of intellectuals and in 1918 Shaw wrote: “Why did it take a colossal war to inspire people for my works? "

Shaw set out to create a realist positive hero. One of the tasks of his drama, he sees in the creation of images of "realists", practical, restrained and cold-blooded. Show everywhere and always tried to tease, anger, the audience, using his Chauvian method.

He was never an idealist - his proposals were not of a romantic-pacifist, but of a purely practical nature and were, according to the testimony of contemporaries, very sensible.

In Mrs. Warren's Profession, Shaw outlined his idea of ​​the real position of women in society, said that society should be arranged so that every man and every woman could support themselves with their labor, without trading their attachments and beliefs. In "Caesar and Cleopatra," Shaw offered his view of history as a calm, healthy, ironic, not chained to death to the cracks at the doors of the royal family.

The artistic method of Bernard Shaw is based on paradox as a means of overthrowing dogmatism and prejudice - (Androcles and the Lion, 1913, Pygmalion, 1913), traditional performances (historical plays Caesar and Cleopatra, 1901, pentalogy Back to Methuselah , 1918-20, St. John, 1923).

Irish by birth, Shaw has repeatedly addressed in his work the acute problems associated with the relationship between England and "John Bull's other island", as his play is titled (1904). However, he left his homeland forever as a twenty-year-old boy. In London, Shaw became close to the members of the Fabian Society, sharing their reform agenda with a view to a gradual transition to socialism.

Contemporary drama was supposed to evoke a direct response from the audience, recognizing situations in it from their own life experience, and provoke a discussion that would go far beyond the particular case shown from the stage. The collisions of this drama, in contrast to Shakespeare's, which Bernard Shaw considered obsolete, should be of an intellectual or socially accusatory nature, distinguished by an emphasized topicality, and the characters are important not so much for their psychological complexity, as for the features of the type, manifested fully and clearly.

The main problem that Shaw skillfully solves in "Pygmalion" is the question of "is a person a mutable being." This position in the play is concretized by the fact that a girl from the East End of London with all the traits of a street child turns into a woman with the traits of a lady of high society. To show how radically a person can be changed, Shaw chose to go from one extreme to another. If such a radical change in a person is possible in a relatively short time, then the viewer must tell himself that then any other change in the human being is possible.

The second important question of the play is how much speech affects human life. What gives a person the correct pronunciation? Is it enough to learn how to speak correctly to change the social situation? Here is what Professor Higgins thinks about this: “But if you knew how interesting it is to take a person and, having taught him to speak differently from what he said, until now, make him a completely different, new being. After all, this means - to destroy the abyss that separates the class from the class and the soul from the soul. "

Shaw, perhaps, was the first to realize the omnipotence of language in society, its exceptional social role, which psychoanalysis spoke about indirectly in those same years.

Undoubtedly, "Pygmalion" is B. Shaw's most popular play. In it, the author showed us the tragedy of a poor girl who knew poverty, who suddenly finds herself among high society, becomes a true lady, falls in love with the man who helped her get to her feet, and who is forced to give up all this, because pride awakens in her, and she realizes that the person she loves is rejecting her.

The play "Pygmalion" made a huge impression on me, especially the fate of the main character. The skill of B. Shaw, with which he shows us the psychology of people, as well as all the vital problems of the society in which he lived, will not leave anyone indifferent.

All of Shaw's plays meet the most important requirement of Brecht's modern theater, namely: the theater should strive to “portray human nature as amenable to change and dependent on class. How much Shaw was interested in the connection between character and social status is especially proved by the fact that he made a radical restructuring of character even the main theme of the play "Pygmalion".

After the dramatic success of the play and the musical My Fair Lady based on it, the story of Eliza, who was transformed from a street girl into a socialite by Phonetics Professor Higgins, is perhaps better known today than the Greek myth.

Man is created by man - such is the lesson of this, by Shaw's own admission, "intensely and consciously didactic" play. This is the very lesson that Brecht called for, demanding that "the construction of one figure should be carried out depending on the construction of another figure, because in life we ​​mutually form each other."

It is widely believed among literary critics that Shaw's plays, more than those of other playwrights, promote certain political ideas. The doctrine of the mutability of human nature and dependence on class affiliation is nothing more than the doctrine of the social determinism of the individual. The play "Pygmalion" is a good textbook in which the problem of determinism is considered (Determinism is the doctrine of the initial determinability of all processes occurring in the world, including all processes of human life). Even the author himself considered it "an outstanding didactic play."

The main problem that Shaw skillfully solves in Pygmalion is the question of "is a person a mutable being." This position in the play is concretized by the fact that a girl from the East End of London with all the traits of a street child turns into a woman with the traits of a lady of high society. To show how radically a person can be changed, Shaw chose the transition from one extreme to another. If such a radical change in a person is possible in a relatively short time, then the viewer must tell himself that then any other change in the human being is possible. The second important question of the play is how much speech affects human life. What gives a person the correct pronunciation? Is it enough to learn how to speak correctly to change the social situation? Here is what Professor Higgins thinks about this: “ But if you knew how interesting it is to take a person and, having taught him to speak differently from what he said, until now, make him a completely different, new being. After all, this means - to destroy the abyss that separates class from class and soul from soul«.

As shown and constantly emphasized in the play, the dialect of the London East is incompatible with the being of a lady, just as the language of a lady cannot be matched with the being of a simple flower girl from east London. When Eliza forgot the language of her old world, the way back there was closed for her. Thus, the break with the past was final. Eliza herself is clearly aware of this in the course of the play. Here's what she tells Pickering: Last night, when I was wandering the streets, a girl spoke to me; I wanted to answer her the old way, but nothing came of it«.

Bernard Shaw paid a lot of attention to language problems. The play had a serious task: Shaw wanted to draw the attention of the English public to questions of phonetics. He advocated the creation of a new alphabet that would be more consistent with the sounds of the English language than the existing one, and which would facilitate the task of learning this language for children and foreigners. Shaw returned to this problem many times throughout his life, and according to his will, a large amount was left to him for research aimed at creating a new English alphabet. This research continues to this day, and just a few years ago the play "Androcles and the Lion" was published, printed with the signs of the new alphabet, which was selected by a special committee from all the options proposed for the prize. Shaw, perhaps, was the first to realize the omnipotence of language in society, its exceptional social role, which psychoanalysis spoke about indirectly in those same years. It was Shaw who said about this in the poster-edifying, but no less ironic-fascinating "Pygmalion". Professor Higgins, albeit in his narrow specialized field, nevertheless outstripped structuralism and poststructuralism, which in the second half of the century will make the ideas of "discourse" and "totalitarian linguistic practices" their central theme.

In Pygmalion, Shaw combined two themes of equal concern to him: the problem of social inequality and the problem of classical English. He believed that the social essence of a person is expressed in various parts of the language: in phonetics, grammar, in vocabulary. As long as Eliza emits vowel sounds like "ay - ay - ay - oh - oh", she has no, as Higgins correctly notes, no chance of getting out of the street environment. Therefore, all his efforts are concentrated on changing the sounds of her speech. That grammar and vocabulary of human language are equally important in this respect is illustrated by the first major failure of both phoneticians in their reform efforts. Although Eliza's vowels and consonants are excellent, the attempt to introduce her into society as a lady fails. Eliza's words: “ But where is her new straw hat that should have been mine? Stole! So I say, whoever stole his hat killed his aunt"- even with excellent pronunciation and intonation are not English for ladies and gentlemen.

Higgins recognizes that Eliza must learn new grammar and new vocabulary as well as new phonetics. And with them a new culture. But language is not the only expression of the human being. Going out to see Mrs. Higgins has only one mistake - Eliza does not know what they say in society in this language. “Pickering also acknowledged that it was not enough for Eliza to be fluent in lady's pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. She must also develop in herself the characteristic of a lady's interests. As long as her heart and mind are filled with the problems of her old world — the straw hat killings and the favorable effect of genie on her father’s mood — she cannot become a lady, even if her tongue is indistinguishable from that of a lady. ” One of the theses of the play says that human character is determined by the totality of the attitude of the individual, linguistic relations are only a part of it. In the play, this thesis is concretized by the fact that Eliza, along with language lessons, also learns the rules of behavior. Therefore, Higgins explains to her not only how to speak the lady's language, but, for example, how to use a handkerchief.

If Eliza does not know how to use a handkerchief, and if she is reluctant to take a bath, then it should be clear to any viewer that changing her being also requires changing her daily behavior. Non-linguistic relations of people of different classes, so the thesis says, are no less different than their speech in form and content.

The totality of behavior, that is, the form and content of speech, the way of judgment and thoughts, habitual actions and typical reactions of people are adapted to the conditions of their environment. The subjective being and the objective world correspond to each other and mutually permeate each other. It took a lot of dramatic funds from the author to convince every viewer of this. Shaw found this means in the systematic application of a kind of alienation effect, forcing his characters from time to time to act in a foreign environment, then, step by step, to return them to their own environment, skillfully creating at first a false idea of ​​their true nature. Then this impression gradually and methodically changes. The "exposure" of Eliza's character in a foreign environment has the effect that she seems incomprehensible, repulsive, ambiguous and strange to ladies and gentlemen in the auditorium. This impression is reinforced by the reaction of the ladies and gentlemen on stage.

So, Shaw makes Mrs. Ainsford Hill noticeably worried when she watches a flower girl, whom she does not know, when she accidentally meets her on the street, calls her son Freddie a "dear friend." “The ending of the first act is the beginning of the 're-education process' of the prejudiced spectator. It seems to indicate only mitigating circumstances that must be taken into account when convicting the accused Eliza. The proof of Eliza's innocence is only given in the next act, thanks to her transformation into a lady. Those who really believed that Eliza was obsessive due to innate baseness or venality, and who could not correctly interpret the description of the environment at the end of the first act, will open their eyes to the self-confident and proud performance of the transformed Eliza. How carefully Shaw takes into account prejudice in re-educating its readers and viewers can be attested to by numerous examples.

The widely held opinion of many wealthy gentlemen, as you know, is that the inhabitants of the East End are themselves to blame for their poverty, because they do not know how to "save". Although they, like Eliza in Covent Garden, are very greedy for money, but only in order to waste it again at the first opportunity on absolutely unnecessary things. They have no intention of using money wisely, for example, for vocational education. Shaw seeks to reinforce this prejudice, as do others, at first. Eliza, barely getting some money, already allows herself to go home by taxi. But it immediately begins to clarify Eliza's real relationship to money. The next day, she is in a hurry to spend them on her own education. “If a human being is conditioned by the environment and if the objective being and objective conditions are mutually consistent with each other, then the transformation of the being is possible only by replacing the environment or changing it. This thesis in the play "Pygmalion" is concretized by the fact that in order to create the possibility of transforming Eliza, she is completely isolated from the old world and transferred to the new one. " As the first measure of his reeducation plan, Higgins orders a bath in which Eliza is freed from her legacy.
East End.

The old dress, the part of the old environment closest to the body, is not even put aside, but is burned. Not the slightest bit of the old world should connect Eliza with him, if you seriously think about her transformation. To show this, Shaw enacted another particularly instructive incident.

At the end of the play, when Eliza, in all likelihood, has completely turned into a lady, her father suddenly appears. An unexpected check takes place, giving an answer to the question of whether Higgins is right, considering it possible for Eliza to return to her former life: (Doolittle appears in the middle window. Throwing a reproachful and dignified look at Higgins, he silently walks to his daughter, who sits with her back to the windows and therefore does not see it.) Pickering. He's incorrigible, Eliza. But you won't roll, will you? Eliza. No. Not anymore. I learned my lesson well. Now I can no longer make such sounds as before, even if I wanted to. (Dolittle puts his hand on her shoulder from behind. She drops her embroidery, looks around, and at the sight of her father's splendor all her self-control immediately evaporates.) Higgins (triumphantly). Aha! Exactly! Ooh-ooh-ahhhh-ooh! Ooh-ooh-ahhhh-ooh! Victory! Victory!".

The slightest contact with only a part of her old world turns the restrained and seemingly ready for exquisite behavior of the lady for a moment again into a street child who not only reacts as before, but, to his own surprise, can again pronounce, it seemed like the already forgotten sounds of the street. By carefully emphasizing the influence of the environment, the viewer could easily have the false impression that the characters in the world of Shaw's heroes are entirely amenable to the limitation of the influence of the environment.

To prevent this unwanted delusion, Shaw, with the same thoroughness and thoroughness, introduced into his play a counter-thesis about the existence of natural abilities and their significance for the character of this or that individual. This position is concretized at once in all four main characters of the play: Eliza, Higgins, Doolittle and Pickering. "Pygmalion" - it is a mockery of the fans of the "blue blood" ... each of my plays was a stone that I threw at the windows of Victorian prosperity ",- this is how the author himself spoke about his play.

It was important for Shaw to show that all the qualities Eliza reveals as a lady can already be found in the flower girl as natural abilities, or that the qualities of the flower girl can then be found again in the lady. Shaw's concept was already contained in the description of Eliza's appearance. At the end of a detailed description of her appearance, it is said: “Without a doubt, she is clean in her own way, but next to the ladies she definitely looks like a dirty trick. Her features are not bad, but her skin condition is poor; besides, it is noticeable that she needs the services of a dentist. "

Dolittle's transformation into a gentleman, just like his daughter into a lady, must seem like a relatively external process. Here, as it were, only his natural abilities are modified due to his new social position.

As a shareholder of the Stomach Friend cheese-making trust and a prominent speaker of the Wannafeller World League for Moral Reform, he, in fact, even remained in his real profession, which, according to Eliza, even before his social transformation, consisted of extorting money from other people. using his eloquence. But the most convincing thesis about the presence of natural abilities and their significance for creating characters is demonstrated by the example of the Higgins-Pickering pair. Both are gentlemen in social status, but with the difference that Pickering is also a gentleman in temperament, while Higgins is prone to rudeness. The difference and commonality of both characters is systematically demonstrated in their behavior towards Eliza.

Higgins from the very beginning treats her rudely, impolitely, unceremoniously. In her presence, he talks about her "stupid girl", "stuffed", "so irresistibly vulgar, so blatantly dirty", "nasty, spoiled girl" and the like. He asks his housekeeper to wrap Eliza in a newspaper and throw her into the trash bin. The only way of speaking with her is the imperative form, and the preferred way of influencing Eliza is the threat. Pickering, a natural gentleman, on the other hand, treats Eliza from the very beginning with tact and exceptional politeness. He does not allow himself to be provoked to an unpleasant or rude statement either by the obsessive behavior of the flower girl, or by Higgins' bad example. Since no circumstance can explain these differences in behavior ,. the viewer must assume that, perhaps, there is still something like an innate tendency to rude or delicate behavior.

To prevent the false conclusion that Higgins' rude behavior towards Eliza is due solely to the social differences between him and her, Shaw makes Higgins behave visibly harsh and impolite among his peers as well. Higgins is not particularly trying to hide from Mrs., Miss and Freddie Hill how little he considers them and how little they mean to him. Of course, Shaw provides an opportunity for Higgins' rudeness to manifest in society in a significantly modified form. For all his innate inclination to speak the truth unceremoniously, Higgins does not allow such rudeness there, which we observe when he treats Eliza. When his interlocutor Mrs. Ainsford Hill, out of her limitations, believes that it would be better "if people could be frank and say what they think," Higgins protests with an exclamation, "God forbid!" and the objection that "it would be indecent." The character of a person is determined not directly by the environment, but through interhuman, emotionally colored relationships and connections through which he passes in the conditions of his environment. Man is a sensitive, receptive creature, not a passive object that can be shaped into any shape, like a piece of wax. The importance Shaw attaches to this very issue is confirmed by placing it at the center of the dramatic action.

First, Eliza is for Higgins a piece of dirt that can be wrapped in a newspaper and thrown into a garbage bin, at least a “dirty, dirty little guy” who is forced to wash like a dirty animal, despite her protests. Washed and dressed, Eliza becomes not a person, but an interesting experimental subject on which a scientific experiment can be performed. In three months Higgins made Eliza a Countess, he won his bet, as Pickering puts it, it cost him a lot of stress. That Eliza herself was involved in this experiment and as a human being was highly obligated, his consciousness - and indeed Pickering's as well - does not reach the point of open conflict, which forms the dramatic climax of the play. To his great surprise, Higgins must conclude by stating that between him and Pickering, on the one hand, and Eliza, on the other, a human relationship has arisen that no longer has anything to do with the relationship of scientists to their objects and which can no longer be ignored, and can only be resolved with pain in the soul. “Aside from linguistics, it should first of all be noted that Pygmalion was a fun, brilliant comedy, the last act of which contained an element of true drama: the little flower girl coped well with her role as a noble lady and is no longer needed - she just has to go back to the street or go out marry one of the three heroes. "

The viewer understands that Eliza became a lady not because she was taught to dress and speak like a lady, but because she entered into a human relationship with the ladies and gentlemen in their midst.

While the entire play, in countless details, suggests that the difference between a lady and a flower girl lies in their behavior, the text asserts something exactly the opposite: "A lady differs from a flower girl not in how she behaves, but in how she behaves with her." ...

These words belong to Eliza. In her opinion, the credit for turning her into a lady belongs to Pickering, not Higgins. Higgins only trained her, taught her the correct speech, etc. These are abilities that can be easily acquired without outside help. Pickering's polite treatment produced the inner changes that distinguish a flower girl from a lady. Obviously, Eliza's assertion that only the manner in which a person is treated determines his essence is not the basis of the play's problematics. If dealing with a person was a decisive factor, then Higgins would have to make all the ladies he met as flower girls, and Pickering would have to make all the flower girls he met as ladies.

The fact that both of them are not endowed with such magical powers is quite obvious. Higgins does not show Pickering's sense of tact, either towards his mother or towards Mrs. and Miss Ainsford Hill, without causing the slightest change in their characters. Pickering, in Acts 1 and 2, treats the flower girl Eliza with not very sophisticated politeness. On the other hand, the play makes it clear that behavior alone does not determine the essence either. If only behavior was the deciding factor, then Higgins would have long since ceased to be a gentleman. But no one seriously disputes his honorary title of gentleman. Higgins also does not cease to be a gentleman because she behaves tactlessly with Eliza, just as Eliza cannot turn into a lady just because of her lady-worthy behavior. Eliza's thesis that only the treatment of a person is the decisive factor, and the antithesis that human behavior is decisive for the being of the individual, are clearly refuted by the play.

The instructiveness of the play lies in the synthesis - the determining factor for the human being is his social relation to other people. But social attitude is more than one-sided human behavior and one-sided treatment of him. Social attitudes involve two sides: behavior and treatment. Eliza goes from being a flower girl to a lady because, at the same time as her behavior, the treatment she felt in the world around her also changed. What is meant by social relations is clearly revealed only at the end of the play and at its climax. Eliza realizes to herself that despite the successful completion of the language classes, despite the radical change in the environment, despite the constant and exclusive stay among recognized gentlemen and ladies, despite the exemplary treatment of her by a gentleman and despite her mastery of all forms of behavior herself , she has not yet turned into a real lady, but has become only a maid, a secretary or an interlocutor of two gentlemen. She makes an attempt to escape this fate by flight.

When Higgins asks her to come back, a discussion ensues that reveals the meaning of social relations in principle. Eliza believes she is faced with a choice between going back to the street and submitting to Higgins. This is symbolic for her: then she will have to serve him shoes all her life. Just what Mrs. Higgins had warned against had happened when she drew the attention of her son and Pickering to the fact that a girl who speaks the language and manners of a lady is not yet a real lady if she does not have an appropriate income. Mrs. Higgins saw from the very beginning that the main problem of turning a flower girl into a society lady could be solved only after the completion of her "re-education."

An essential attribute of a "noble lady" is her independence, which can only be guaranteed by income, independent of any personal labor. The interpretation of the Pygmalion ending is obvious. It is not anthropological, like the previous theses, but of an ethical and aesthetic order: it is not desirable to transform slum dwellers into ladies and gentlemen, like Dolittle, but to transform them into ladies and gentlemen of a new type, whose self-esteem is based on their own labor. Eliza, in her striving for work and independence, is the embodiment of the new ideal of the lady, which, in essence, has nothing to do with the old ideal of the lady of an aristocratic society. She did not become a countess, as Higgins repeatedly announced it, but became a woman whose strength and energy are admired.

Significantly, even Higgins can't deny her attraction - disappointment and hostility soon turn into the opposite. He seems to have even forgotten about the initial desire for a different result and the desire to make Eliza a countess. “I want to boast that the play“ Pygmalion ”enjoyed the greatest success in Europe, North America and here. Its instructiveness is so strong and deliberate that I delightfully throw it in the face of those self-righteous sages who, like parrots, insist that art should not be didactic. This confirms my opinion that art cannot be anything else, ”Shaw wrote. The author had to fight for the correct interpretation of all his plays, especially comedies, and oppose the deliberately false interpretation of them. In the case of Pygmalion, the fight centered around the question of whether Eliza would marry Higgins or Freddie. If Eliza is married off to Higgins, then a conditional comedic ending and an acceptable ending are created: Eliza's re-education ends in this case with her “bourgeoisie”.

Anyone who passes Eliza off as a poor Freddie must at the same time acknowledge Shaw's ethical and aesthetic theses. Of course, critics and the theater world were unanimous in favor of the "bourgeois solution." So the ending of the play remains open. It seems that the playwright himself did not know what to expect now from the transformed Eliza ...

Shaw's 1912 play Pygmalion is based on the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion and his beautiful creation. Wit, originality and touching upon acute social problems made the work of Bernard Shaw popular in many countries of the world.

main characters

Henry Higgins- Professor, Phonetics Specialist.

Eliza Doolittle- a young flower girl, uneducated and ill-mannered.

Other characters

Mrs. Ainsford Hill- an elderly lady, an impoverished representative of high society.

Freddie- a young man of twenty, the son of Mrs. Ainsford Hill.

Clara- the arrogant and narcissistic daughter of Mrs. Ainsford Hill.

Pickering- an elderly colonel with a keen interest in phonetics.

Alfred Doolittle- Eliza's father.

Mrs Higgins- Henry Higgins' mother, an elderly lady, kind and fair.

Action one

A sudden summer downpour causes that under the portico of the church of St. Pavel is attended by the most motley crowd, including a smartly dressed elderly lady with her daughter and son, a street flower girl, an army colonel, and a man with a notebook who "hastily makes some notes."

The young flower girl is young and not bad-looking, but compared to “the ladies around her, she looks like a real mess,” and her speech and manners leave much to be desired. Someone in the crowd concludes that the man with the notebook is the policeman watching the flower girl.

Frightened, the girl begins to cry and lament loudly, attracting everyone's attention, but it soon turns out that this man is the famous professor Henry Higgins, a phonetics specialist. By pronunciation alone, he can easily determine where a particular Englishman is from.

After talking with Colonel Pickering, the author of the acclaimed book "Spoken Sanskrit", the professor is surprised to learn that he specially "came from India to see" him. Fascinated by a common idea, new friends go to dinner together, leaving the flower girl a rather impressive amount of money, by her standards.

Second action

The next day, Higgins invites the Colonel to his apartment on Wimpole Street to display the richest collection of phonetic records. Pickering is shocked by what he has heard, and was about to leave the professor, when a maid comes in and announces the arrival of a certain poor girl.

She turns out to be yesterday's flower girl who, in an absurd outfit, enters the room with "naive vanity and the air of an important lady" and introduces herself as Eliza Dolittle. Dreaming of a job as a saleswoman in a flower shop, she asks the professor to teach her to "express herself in an educated way," otherwise she will have to trade violets on the street all her life.

Higgins treats the guest's request as a ridiculous incident, but the colonel is imbued with Eliza's difficult life situation, and invites his friend to make a bet. Pickering is ready to recognize the professor as the best teacher in the world and, moreover, to take all the costs on himself, if he succeeds in passing the dirty flower girl “for the duchess at the embassy reception” in six months. Higgins, anticipating an experiment interesting from all points of view, agrees to the bet.

Act three

After several months of fruitful studies, Higgins decides to test his ward, and invites her to his mother's house on her adoptive day. To Mrs Higgins' fears of being in an awkward position, the son reassures that the flower girl "is strictly ordered to deal with only two topics: the weather and health."

Meanwhile, the maid reports on the arrival of guests, including Colonel Pickreating, Mrs. Ainsford Hill with her daughter Clara and son Freddie.

Eliza enters, striking those present with her "beauty and elegance." At first, he communicates with the guests by memorized phrases, "with pedantic purity, a pleasant musical voice", but soon he is inspired by the effect produced, and switches to the more familiar street jargon. Wanting to save the day, Higgins informs those present that these are new-fashioned secular expressions.

After the guests leave, the professor and the colonel share with Mrs. Higgins the successes of the former flower girl. However, the lady cools their ardor, pointing out the girl's obvious mistakes. Eliza's training continues with these mistakes. Meanwhile, young Freddie Hill, amazed by the girl's beauty, shoots her with love letters.

Act four

Tired but very pleased, Pickering and Higgins share their impressions of the embassy reception. Eliza met all their expectations, brilliantly portraying the duchess. The colonel assures his friend that the work he has done is "a complete triumph", and he recognizes him as the greatest educator of our time.

However, Eliza, “in a luxurious evening dress and diamonds,” does not participate in the conversation. She is worried and very annoyed: the bet is over, and she is completely unaware of her future. Higgins does not immediately understand the change in the mood of his ward, but, realizing what the matter is, does not show any interest in Eliza's emotional experiences.

Stung by his indifference, Eliza leaves the house where she lived for six months, learning correct speech and refined manners.

Fifth action

Finding the disappearance of Eliza, Higgins comes to his mother, and, not finding her girlfriend, intends to seek help from the police. Mrs. Higgins dissuades this son, arguing that the girl is not a "thief or a lost umbrella."

Eliza enters the living room: she is "in perfect control of herself and carries herself with complete ease." The professor, in an orderly tone, orders her to return to his house immediately, to which Eliza does not pay the slightest attention to him.

Higgins is outraged at how the "rotten cabbage stump" is playing a true lady in front of him. Eliza expresses her gratitude to Colonel Pickering for teaching her good manners and rules of conduct in society. She complains to him about the disgusting attitude towards her on the part of Higgins, who continues to see in her only an uneducated flower girl.

When Eliza and the professor manage to be left alone, an explanation occurs between them. The girl reproaches him for heartlessness, to which Higgins confesses that he "does not need anyone." However, he will miss Eliza and asks her to stay with him.

Eliza goes to the wedding ceremony of her father and stepmother. Higgins afterwards instructs her to buy home gloves, a tie and cheese, to which Eliza contemptuously replies "Buy it yourself", and the professor "with a sly grin tinkles in his pocket with a change."

Conclusion

In his play full of dramatic conflicts, Benard Shaw raises the issue of social inequality, how it can be overcome and its further consequences.

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