I introduction II. Chapter 1

2.2.Analysis and discussion of the Portrayal of British society in Victorian era in the play Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw.
George Bernard Shaw was a playwright known for his art that served as social and political commentary. Like his contemporaries, Shaw aimed to provide the stage with realistic characters that appealed to his middle-class working audience. Shaw's characters were more introspective, thoughtful, and intellectual than others during the same time period. The plays he produced had moral and philosophical undertones that aimed to question the social standards of his time. Pygmalion (1913) deals with the notion of upward mobility in society and challenges the typical male and female roles. Do you think someone that helps to teach, improve, or mold another human being should have the power to control them?
Pygmalion is a comedy. In the dramatic sense, a comedy is a play that uses humor as a vehicle to examine the self and society. For the Greeks, a comedy was a play that ended happily. Although Shaw's comedy, Pygmalion ends without death, the future of the characters, and whether Eliza will return to Higgins, are left unanswered. The central conflict of the drama is the tension between Higgins and Eliza, and whether she can now navigate successfully through society given her new linguistic abilities, which results in a comedy.

Subtitled as "A Romance in Five Acts", the drama can't be categorized as one in the traditional sense, as the heroine, Eliza, and the hero, Higgins, do not marry. Eliza's transformation from flower girl on the streets to a lady is romantic and idealized, but still may not qualify as a classic romance. Many argue that the relationship between Eliza and Freddy, although mostly off stage, is the central romance, while others feel that Mr. Dolittle's common law marriage constitutes the romance. Because Shaw is not a traditional writer, it can be argued that the true love story is the lesson Eliza learns in loving herself. She has gained her own self respect, and is independent and free to make her own decisions.

Pygmalion is a play based on Ovid's 15 book poem "Metamorphoses" (8CE). In Book X, the protagonist, Pygmalion, is an artist who creates a statue of Galatea, the perfect woman. He become enamoured with his creation. The Goddess Venus pities the artist, and brings Galatea to life.

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Pygmalion Summary
Pygmalion is about Henry Higgins, a linguist and professor, who is inspired by a bet with his colleague to teach a flower girl from the streets how to speak and behave properly in order to navigate the upper class. Eliza Dolittle, a strong-willed and ill-educated girl that sells flowers on the streets for money, becomes the subject of their bet and social experiment. An act-by-act summary is the best way to understand the actions of the drama as they unfold.