Please take a moment to complete this survey below
Library's collection Library's IT development CancelGeorge Bernard Shaw accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926,
giving his prize money for the publication of translations of Swedish drama into
English. Pygmalion, one of his most popular plays, showed that phonetics
provides a way to social advancement. By reforming the speech of a flower girl,
Higgins, the hero, performs a heroic act: he reforms the girl's soul. Therefore, it
attracts me to analyze the changes of Eliza's attitudes toward 'happiness' and
'etiquette' in my thesis. I analyze the differences of Eliza's attitude towards
'happiness' and 'etiquette' when she was a flower girl compared to after she has
been a lady. In order to achieve the purpose in studying this topic, I use literary
approach such as characterization and conflict and the understandings of
'attitudes', 'happiness', 'pleasure', and 'etiquette' to compare Eliza's attitude
towards happiness and etiquette when she is a poor flower girl to her attitudes
toward them after she finishes Mr. Higgins's course in six months. I use
characterization by observing the speech of the characters and the character's
external actions since this play shows the differences of attitudes among the main
characters. I also use conflicts, the inner-conflict and outer conflict to analyze.
Finally from my analysis, I find out that there are several changes of Eliza's
attitude towards 'happiness' and 'etiquette' while she was a flower girl compares
to after she has been a lady. They are her change of belief in money and luxury, in
being a lady, in being loved and respected, and her understanding of the Standard
English, the way of speaking, and self-control.