Pygmalion Response 2

Well, having finished the play, it's interesting to look back on my first post and to see how many things I've figured out since then. Firstly, that Shaw is writing in a time where public schooling did exist, how ever crude and generally unavailable it was, a slight difference from what I wrote previously. Secondly, I found out why Shaw includes the mother and daughter in the opening scene, as they play a key role in Act III. The mother and daughter, who we now know as Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill, are (ironically) present at Liza's, "first appearance in London society of the professional class."

Having made my peace with my previous post, I'll move on to the rest of the book. One of the first things from Act III that I became aware of is a sense of knowing how beautiful Liza looks like without having actually seen her at the reception. As a reader, I need not see a picture of what Liza is wearing as she walks through the room or see a video of her walking through the crowd to know how stunning and elegant she looks because as I reader, I know all about Liza and how hard she has worked for this. I hardly need a description to know that she looks absolutely gorgeous, because Shaw has done a marvelous job revealing this character to the audience. Also worth noting, Shaw is able to skip the entire 6 month process of Liza's learning and still is able to convey that Liza has worked as hard as possible and even before her first appearance in higher London society, we know that she will be a lady. I think it's amazing that Shaw can develop a character such that we know her so well that we can infer about the present results of past actions and even about future actions.

And my final word on the play is how Shaw chooses to the play. He leaves the future in so much question. The dialogue between Professor Higgins and Eliza leaves me as a reader wondering whether or not Eliza is ever coming back. As a reader, I am unsure whether or not Eliza is being serious or sarcastic, and I guess we'll never know how it turns out. I find that very intriguing and at the same time extremely frustrating that Shaw ends the play this way.