The reflection of social problems in the play "Pygmalion"

Upstarts, social climbers, and class-consciousness. Early in the play, Henry Higgins declares, “This is an age of upstarts. Men begin in Kentish Town with £80 a year and end in Park Lane with a hundred thousand”. His words accurately describe the changes overtaking British society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although, in theory, society continued to be as rigidly hierarchical as ever, in reality, wealth and power were no longer exclusively held by the landed aristocrats.

Although, in theory, society continued to be as rigidly hierarchical as ever, in reality, wealth and power were no longer exclusively held by the landed aristocrats. Fortunes had been made in the 1800s by the spread of the railway, the conversion of sailing to steamships, the construction of factories, and the discovery of distant markets for products. Many of these rich industrialists became favorites of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, who found his mother’s social circle— royal relatives from Europe and a few members of the old nobility—dull and staid. In contrast, the newly wealthy could entertain Edward VII in the lavish style that he favored, thus cementing their popularity with him. It is not to be supposed that the English aristocracy was pleased by the influx of nouveaux riche into what had formerly been regarded as elite social circles. Many aristocratic families became increasingly obsessed with demonstrating their superiority—in birth, breeding, and social graces—over these extravagant newcomers. According to historian Ronald Pearsall, “Arrogance and irritability marked many of the old gentry in both town or country. It was as if they were aware they were a dying breed. In the women there was a note of petulance when confronted with the changed conditions”. He goes on to quote some aristocrats, namely, the Countess of Cardigan and Lancaster. “The lavish expenditure and the feverish pursuit of pleasure that constitute Society do not appeal to me any more than the restaurant life, which did not exist in my day. Nowadays money shouts, and birth and breeding whisper!”. Given this class-conscious attitude, it is not surprising that formal occasions such as dinner parties and country- house visits often became social battlefields. Wealthy social climbers sought to prove themselves worthy of inclusion in the upper ranks of society. On the other hand, those born to upperclass status continued to emphasize the importance of qualities that could not be bought and proved quick to snub or patronize newcomers who did not measure up to their aristocratic standards. Even the domestic staff of a great estate could enter into the game of social one-upmanship: “At one great country house, a footman kept a meticulous record of all the bad English and "ignorance" he heard while waiting at table, and related the choicer items, with names and dates, to the servants of later visitors” .

In Pygmalion, Higgins attacks the artificiality and snobbery that he sees reflected in the British class system by teaching Eliza Doolittle, the lower-class flower girl, to look, act and, even more importantly, speak like a duchess. Higgins explains to his astonished mother, “But you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It’s filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul” . Later, after being criticized by Eliza herself for his rudeness and bad manners, Higgins lends a retort that reveals his true feelings about class distinctions: “The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners and good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls. The question is not whether I treat you rudely, but whether you ever heard me treat anyone else better”.

Bernard Shaw paid much attention to the problems of language. He advocated the creation of a new alphabet, which is more would correspond to the sounds of the English language than the existing, and which would facilitate the task of learning the language to children and foreigners. To this problem Shaw repeatedly returned throughout his life, and according to his testament large sum was left to them to research designed to create a new English alphabet. Shaw, perhaps, was the first to recognize the omnipotence of language in society, his exclusive social role, which indirectly in the same years, said psychoanalysis. In "Pygmalion" Shaw joined his two equally exciting topics: the problem of social inequality and the problem of the classical English language. He believed that the social nature of man is expressed in various parts of the language: in phonetics, grammar, vocabulary.

While Eliza emits such vowels as "ah-ah-ah-ow-ow", she does not like correctly notes Higgins, no chance to get out of the street environment. Therefore all his efforts are focused on changing the sound of her speech. What grammar and vocabulary of the language of rights in this regard are not equally important, demonstrates how the first major failure of both phonetician in their efforts to re-education. Eliza’s excellent attempt to introduce her into society as a lady fails. Eliza's words: "And that's where her straw hat, new, which was I get one? Stolen! So I say, who stole his hat, he and his aunt bump off “ - even with perfect pronunciation and intonation are not English-for the ladies and gentlemen. Higgins acknowledges that Eliza along with the new phonetics must also learn new grammar and new Dictionary. And along with them and a new culture.

One of the theses of the play states that human nature is determined set to the identity, linguistic relationships are only its part. In the play this thesis is concretized by the fact that Eliza, along with learn more language lessons and rules of conduct. Consequently, Higgins it explains not only how to speak the language of a lady, but, for example, how to use a handkerchief. Actually she is a little bit impolite girl. It can be seen from Higgins’ reproof when she cries and rubs her nose with her sleeve. [Фридхельм Деннингхаус “Театральное призвание Бернарда Шоу” Москва “Прогресс” 1978г. Стр. 132.]

Eliza: What’s that for?

If Eliza did not know how to use a handkerchief, and if it resists a bath, then any viewer should be clear that it also requires a substantive change in its everyday behavior. Extralinguistic relations between people of different classes so states the thesis, no less diverse than their speech in form and content, combination of behavior, i.e, form and content of speech, image opinions and thoughts, habitual behavior and typical responses adapted to the conditions of their environment. Subjective and objective world being correspond to each other and mutually penetrate each other. From the author be costly dramatic means to convince each audience. Shaw found a means to systematically applying a kind of alienation effect, forcing his characters time from time to act in a foreign environment, to then step by step back them in their own environment, artfully creating initially false presentation about their real essence. Then it seems gradually and methodically changed. Character of Eliza in a foreign environment is the impact that it is ladies and gentlemen in the audience seems incomprehensible repulsive, ambiguous and strange. This impression is reinforced by reaction ladies and gentlemen on the stage. Thus,

Shaw makes Mrs. Einsford Hill visibly excited when she watches as unfamiliar florist in a chance encounter on the street calls her son Freddie as "my dear friend . The end of the first act is the beginning of "the process of re-education" biased audience. She seemed to be merely points to mitigating circumstances that must be taken into account when sentencing the defendant Eliza.

Thus in «Pygmalion» Shaw masterfully has connected two themes equally exciting him: a problem of a social inequality and a problem of the classical English language. Act by act, word by word we understand that the set of behavior, that is the form and the speech maintenance, a manner of judgment and the thoughts, habitual acts and typical reactions of people are adapted for the conditions of their environment. The subjective being and the objective world correspond each other and mutually penetrate each other.

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