Meaning of the Title and Shmoop Study Guide
Full Text of the Play via Gutenberg Project
One reason this play is so important to study is to show the CHANGE that can occur when one knows how to code-switch (change the register of language used based on the situation or context of a conversation).
Everyone has felt "out of place" or unwelcome due to their social status before. This play conquers the timeless nature of such a debacle. Professor Henry Higgins is so disgusted with the way people take for granted the English language, he uses it as a vehicle to show the power of language via its effect on upward social mobility. Essentially, he proves that code-switching is the way to make an unwelcome flower girl fit in as a duchess.
Eliza is able to change because of the language she learns to use. The new clothes don't hurt either. This "ugly duckling" archetype is such because human nature really does not change. The one constant is our desire for change for the BETTER. We all want more than what came before us, especially if we are the first in our family to have a taste of this "good life."
For this week's blog comment, I want you to find another story with a similar theme as Pygmalion / My Fair Lady and then explain the parallels. Be sure to include a link to your example (via YouTube or the internet).
BELOW: "My Fair Lady" film adaptation with Audrey Hepburn as Eliza (before and after) as well as the sculpture Pygmalion creates by Jean-Leon Gerome (it is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC).