I introduction II. Chapter 1

2.1 About and history of the Portrayal of Victorian Society and Its Values in Pygmalion
In Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Shaw attacks the relations between Victorian era classes by exposing their wretched treatment of the lower class, as seen in the flower girl, by the higher classes, upper and middle, iconified in Higgins and Mrs. Pearce, respectively. These characters’ condescension towards Eliza, exhibited by Higgins’ objectification and Mrs. Pearce’s rejection, reflect their negative, biased, and condescending feelings towards Eliza, and thus, the lower class. Shaw critiques this by juxtaposing these ideals against Eliza’s claim that she is just like any other gentlewoman of the upper class and deserves treatment as such, voicing Shaw’s opinion that these prejudices against the poor are unfounded and persuading the audience to feel the same.

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At the beginning of the scene, Shaw features a conversation between Higgins and Pearce about Eliza, the flower girl. Pearce tells Higgins that a young woman, Eliza, wants to speak with him, but she calls the girl “common”, “queer”, and her accent, “dreadful.” Even though Mrs. Pearce lets Eliza in, there was obvious reluctance in doing so. Pearce’s prejudiced jibes at Eliza, specifically about her appearance and wealth, exemplify the condescension towards the lower class through their negative connotations. On the other hand, Mrs. Pearce’s use of the word dreadful could also have been meant to describe Pearce’s own inability to interpret what Eliza was saying, considering the stark difference in dialect of the two. Pearce later goes on to doubt Eliza’s financial standing by considering her, “a foolish, ignorant girl” for considering herself able to “afford to pay Mr. Higgins.” Shaw portrays Pearce in this light in order to urge the audience, who most likely have similar predispositions as Pearce, to abandon such prejudices and judge a person based on their qualities, not class.

Higgins, after Pearce leaves, furthers the degradation of Eliza before she even enters the scene, by completely objectifying her. Rather than seeing her as a person with thoughts and feelings, Higgins sees her as a tool to create another of his phonetic records, something to turn on “as often as you like.” Higgins does not see Eliza as an equal. Her class makes her so “low” that she is not even considered an individual but an object. Eliza is considered undesirable, and thus, should not be there. However, one could argue that Higgins is pressured by society to participate in the common practice of verbal invective against the lower class. He mostly likely knows no other way to interact with the lower class than this cruel one which has been modeled for him since birth. Thus, one could see Higgins actions as not the fault of himself, but the fault of societal expectations of the upper class and how these expectations force people to mold to them.

Higgins even goes so far as to say he has enough of the “Lisson Grove lingo”, meaning she is not a unique individual, but can be replaced by any other who speaks similarly, like the interchangeable parts of the Industrial Revolution. Higgins’ disrespect of Eliza is continued once she enters, when he furthers his objectification of her by saying, because she is of no use, she should be turned away. Higgins eventually goes so far as to call Eliza “baggage.” This disregard of Eliza and treatment iconifies the upper class disregard of the impoverished, even to the point of complete objectification of the class, that was so prevalent in Victorian Era society. Through further observation, Shaw uses Higgins as an attempt to show the cruelty of these practices in order to have the audience sympathize with the poor Eliza and encourage them, in turn, to sympathize with the poor and not merely objectify or ignore them.

Eliza, once on stage, voices her opinion, in effect, Shaw’s opinion, on their treatment, Pearce’s and Higgins’, of her. She quite feistily states she will pay for her lessons, foiling the stereotype of the lower class always looking for a handout. She wishes for them to treat her like a lady, which she is, but everyone seems incredulous to the idea, reflecting the upper class view of lower classes being crude and uncultured. However, Eliza firmly states that she is “like any lady.” Eliza is reflecting the idea that class does not reflect a person’s character and should not. She voices the idea of Shaw that all are equal, no matter their class or creed. Shaw is attempting to persuade the readers to side with Eliza and believe the epithet that all deserve to be treated as are the upper class.

On the other hand, it is just as terrible of Eliza to be so quick to judge Higgins at the end of the passage, when she accuses him of being drunk. This accusation seems unfounded, and poses the idea that even the lower class, again exemplified through Eliza was also prejudiced. This may be Shaw continuing his attack of prejudices and stereotypes, believing that no one should have them, not even the lower class whom most prejudices are aimed towards. Eliza could also be a representation of the contradictions of the Victorian era. She in a way, contradicts herself, by wanting to be treated like an upper class woman, yet she is prejudiced of the upper class. This reflects the how many in the Victorian era, like today, held contradictory beliefs. This includes the idea of pitying the poor, but blaming them for their poverty and despite high intolerance for crime, many were involved in criminal activities, such as prostitution and domestic abuse. Shaw is critiquing the absurdity of these positions.

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Shaw uses the objectification of Higgins, the condescension of Pearce, and the assertions of Eliza to communicate an important message to his readers that the society in which they live, Victorian society with its social hierarchies and prejudices is wrong and should be dismantled. He persuades the audience to do this by encouraging sympathy for Eliza and attacking both Higgins’ and Pearce’s treatment of her. Shaw wants the audience to reform themselves and judge people based on attributes, not class, a very egalitarian point of view.

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was the first English monarch to see her name given to the period of her reign whilst still living (1). The Victorian Age was characterised by rapid change and developments in nearly every sphere from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to changes in population growth and location. Over time, this rapid transformation deeply affected the country's mood: an age that began with a confidence and optimism leading to economic boom and prosperity eventually gave way to uncertainty and doubt regarding Britain's place in the world. Today we associate the nineteenth century with the Protestant work ethic, family values, religious observation and institutional faith.
For the most part, nineteenth century families were large and patriarchal. They encouraged hard work, respectability, social deference and religious conformity. While this view of nineteenth century life was valid, it was frequently challenged by contemporaries. Women were often portrayed as either Madonnas or whores, yet increasing educational and employment opportunities gave many a role outside the family.
Politics were important to the Victorians; they believed in the perfection of their evolved representative government, and in exporting it throughout the British Empire. This age saw the birth and spread of political movements, most notably socialism, liberalism and organised feminism. British Victorians were excited by geographical exploration, by the opening up of Africa and Asia to the West, yet were troubled by the intractable Irish situation and humiliated by the failures of the Boer War. At sea, British supremacy remained largely unchallenged throughout the century.
During the Victorian heyday, work and play expanded dramatically. The national railway network stimulated travel and leisure opportunities for all, so that by the 1870s, visits to seaside resorts, race meetings and football matches could be enjoyed by many of this now largely urban society. Increasing literacy stimulated growth in popular journalism and the ascendancy of the novel as the most powerful popular icon.
The progress of scientific thought led to significant changes in medicine during the nineteenth century, with increased specialisation and developments in surgery and hospital building. There were notable medical breakthroughs in anaesthetics - famously publicised by Queen Victoria taking chloroform for the birth of her son in 1853 - and in antiseptics, pioneered by Joseph Lister (1827-1912). The public's faith in institutions was evident not only in the growth of hospitals but was also seen in the erection of specialised workhouses and asylums for the most vulnerable members of society.
Whilst this brief overview can only partially summarise some characteristics of the nineteenth century, it does illustrate that society was disparate and that no one feature can serve to give a definitive view of what it meant to be "Victorian". Rather, it is better perhaps to consider the multifarious and diverse research that has evolved in recent years and make up your own mind. This History in Focus may serve to begin that process.
Criticism of Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge^[1] includes secondary literature on a broad variety of topics, such as character and fate, past and present, Social Darwinism, as well as feminist approaches to Hardy’s work, in which “[…] class, gender, and their interrelationship […]” are central.^[2] Moreover, critics assign Hardy’s fiction both to the Victorian and the modern period because Hardy can be considered a “[…] ‘transitional’ novelist, serving as a link between George Eliot and D. H. Lawrence.”^[3] Though, critics demoted Hardy’s art because of his tendency to sensationalism, melodrama, and pessimism (cf. Widdowson 11). This term paper focuses on the topic of gender and the investigation of Hardy’s portrayal of women as it emerges from the novel.
In order to prove my thesis, I will reflect to what extent Hardy follows major trends of Victorian fiction in The Mayor of Casterbridge. Next, I will depict the Victorian ideal of women with regard to fiction and society. Finally, I will prove my claim that Hardy’s ambivalent view of women, which embraces both conventional and modern ideals, is valid for The Mayor of Casterbridge, because it portrays women both as inferior and superior. Accordingly, I will show that Hardy’s heroines deviate from the prevalent Victorian ideal of women. Therefore, I will analyse crucial aspects like Hardy’s authorial point of view as well as Henchard’s relationship to Susan, Lucetta, and Elizabeth-Jane, in the novel.
My thesis matters because “[…] the appeal of Hardy as a novelist […] has long been vital, increasingly so in recent years […]”.^[4] Besides, “[t]he tension […] of Hardy’s representation of women […] makes his work one of the richest and most complex sources of feminist commentary in the realist novel”.^[5] Recent criticism of Hardy focused on Marxist and feminist theories by reassessing Hardy’s novels as revolutionary (cf. Widdowson 97). This issue remains important because women have been oppressed for centuries, while Hardy’s fiction contributed to the women’s struggle for emancipation.
As for Hardy’s life and career, he was born in Dorset, in 1840, grew up in rural Wessex, and worked as an architect in London, but settled down at Max Gate, in 1885, where he spent the rest of his life until 1928. He was wedded to Emma Gifford until her death, in 1912, and married Florence Dugdale after that.^[6] Hardy wrote fourteen novels that centre on femininity, of which The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure count to his ultimate testimonies (cf. Widdowson 8). He subdivided his novels into categories, such as “Novels of Character and Environment”, namely the Wessex novels like The Mayor of Casterbridge.^[7] In 1896, Hardy abandoned prose fiction to compose “poetry and other forms of pure literature”, whereupon it was assumed that his novels merely served financial purposes.^[8] He considered himself primarily a poet because “verse remained throughout his favorite means of literary expression”.^[9]