Pygmalion and Society at the Time Essay - 1756 Words

Pygmalion and Society at the Time In this essay I will be discussing Bernard Shaws representation of Edwardian Society in Pygmalion. Shaw was a member of the Fabian Society; a collection of middle class people who believed that capitalism had created an unjust and unfair society. They were concerned about the unreasonable and imbalanced class system of the time and wanted to reconstruct society, creating an equal and fair civilisation with no class divide, which was so blatantly obvious due to the ignorance between classes. The rich lived lifestyles of luxury; the men would earn livings through land and property they owned and through careers such as scientists, lawyers and accountants.†¦show more content†¦Mrs. Higgins drawing room is decorated with expensive paintings by brand name artists and high-priced furniture. This is a far-cry from Elizas depressing and dreary surroundings. There was a lot of ignorance between the two classes, not only the rich taking no notice of the poor and their desperation, but also of the uneducated poor who were not familiar with the rich luxuries for example, Eliza did not realise that Higgins bath tub was a place to wash people, not clothes, Gawd! whats this? Is this where you wash clothes? Funny sort of copper I call it. Shaw wished to eliminate both types of ignorance in society; not only make the rich notice the poor and their deprived living conditions but also educate the poor to help them to help themselves. The rich minded their own businesses, disassociating themselves from the poor and their wants and needs. Shaw wanted the middle class to notice the deprived working class; much like Charles Dickens did, and wanted to eradicate the class divide and ignorance between the two. Pygmalion is a story similar to Dickens A Christmas Carol and it too is a persuasive piece of writing aimed at the advantaged upper classes encouraging them to consider the appallingShow MoreRelatedRelationship between Pygmalian and its appropriation SHes all that and their respective context and how it provides insight into how values have been maintained and changed1291 Words   |  6 PagesTexts reflect the context of the time in which they are composed as well as the culture their respective society possess. This is evident in Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw and its appropriation She s All that, a film directed by Robert Iscove. In these two texts, the same Pygmalion myth is approached from two di fferent viewpoints to reflect distinctly the context of the time in which each was written. 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