Pygmalion (Classic Edition)
Description:... Pygmalion (1913) is a play by George Bernard Shaw loosely inspired by the Greek myth of the same name. In Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw radically reworks Ovid's tale with a feminist twist: while Henry Higgins successfully teaches Eliza Doolittle to speak and act like a duchess, she adamantly refuses to be his creation. First produced in 1914, it remains one of Shaw's most popular plays. Pygmalion uses wit and insight into England's 1800s arrogant class system to show that class is not bred, but made, and the highest class of people see no class at all, being humble enough to know we are equals. Shaw's "Pygmalion" was not written just to add to his wallet with its publication, but to influence society, much the same as Charles Dickens "Oliver Twist" and "David Copperfield" have. From the plot of whether or not a pauper can made a princess to the subplot of love and true romance, the story is intertwined with memorable characters, delightful banter and intriguing thoughts. Pygmalion tells the story of Professor Henry Higgins, who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl as a refined society lady by teaching her how to speak with an upper class accent and training her in etiquette. In the process, Higgins and Eliza grow close, but she ultimately rejects his domineering ways and marries Freddy Eynsford-Hill - a young, poor, gentleman. The word Pygmalion finds its origins in Greece. The story of a slave (Artuss Pygmalius) turned prince after his true blood lines were discovered.
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