How Have The Texts You Studied Explored Social Values?

The distinctive voices, characteristic in any text/s, can be deconstructed to develop an understanding which may validate, challenge or disprove society’s values and/or beliefs within a given context. Language, in all its forms, is a human thing, and allows the traces or imprints of human use, not inherently but in its use. A text may promote obvious distinction between the authorial voice and character's viewpoint. This can be seen in the play of Pygmalion in by George Bernard shaw and the film Pleasantville directed by Gary Ross. Both of these texts show distinctive voices through dialogue the use of dialogue which highlights the relationships and differences between characters.

Social stratification is "defined as a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy" (Macionis 209). Notwithstanding being a romantic movie, Pretty Women encapsulates the perfect definition of “social stratification “. Indeed the difference of social class is very much present since the beginning of the movie. In order to illustrate this aspect, director Garry Marshall uses many modalities such as dialogues and setting to emphasize the difference between these two worlds. The contrast begins with the opening scene , where the movie takes place in a party where all the guest are well dress , and where their discussion revolves around business matters. The scene focuses on Edward, the main character who leaves the party in an expensive car, all of which conclude that Edward is a member of the elite society. In the scene that instantly follows, Vivian’s world is shown. Her town is located in a dangerous district, with homeless people living on the floor and selling drugs. The director introduces Vivian in a small, messy and dirty apartment with her, searching for money. This scene allows the audience to understand the financial situation of Vivian, where she only uses cash instead of bank accounts, thus making her part of the lower class. Coming from different social classes, the two characters directly recognized their own culture to which they could relate. Thus, the beginning of this movie presents essentially the contrast of mentality and behavior in different cultures. In fact, during their first night together in the penthouse ,Vivian excuses herself to go to the bathroom, as soon as Edwards walks in he sees her hiding something behind her back, assuming it was drugs because she belongs to the lower class , but eventually the “drugs” where dental flaws. Pretty woman,

Bernard Shaw bases his play Pygmalion on the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. In the original Pygmalion myth, a sculptor creates a sculpture named Galatea, the two fall in love. In the first four acts, we see Shaw follow this structure. A girl transforms from a flower girl to a lady and we get shown a male lead who seems to fit the part of Pygmalion. The audience would expect the two to get to together.

American literature is great source for understanding how society defines gender roles and what drives the power struggles between men and women. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, deals with the limitations imposed on women by the political and social institutions of her time. “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, a short story by Ernest Hemingway, illustrate the difficulties men faced during the early days of feminism between the first and second world wars. American playwright Tennessee Williams’ famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire” tells a story of how the tensions of life and unconditional submission one women made her a victim of her own destiny. The conflicts between men and women described in these works of American literature are directly caused by the societal roles assigned to the genders.

George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion is about a girl named Eliza Doolittle, who works at a flower shop. One day, Eliza sees two men named Henry Higgens, a professor of phonetics, and Colonial Pickering to ask for English lessons. Pickering bets Higgens to turn Eliza into a well-mannered lady by the time on the ambassador’s ball and Higgens willingly accepts the challenge. As the play proceeds, Eliza begins to act more lady-like and turns into a respectful woman. In the myth, Pygmalion is a sculptor who never cared about falling in love and one day settling down. Pygmalion decided to sculpt his perfect woman, which he later falls in love with. One day, at the fest of Venus, Pygmalion asks Venus to convert his love into a real human. Venus grants his wish and brings his statue, Galatea, to life. The play is based on the myth because Henry Higgens is the sculptor and Eliza is his beautiful creation. In the play, Eliza is transformed into a beautiful and polite woman, while in the myth; Pygmalion’s sculpture is transformed into a real woman. Finally, in the play, Mr. Higgens is disgusted by the thought of woman and hates the idea of getting married in the future, just as Pygmalion is in the

Language ultimately defines humanity. The method of what and how we communicate in writing or speech can have profound impacts on the receiver. At its best, language is not only limited to communicating our deepest emotions but to also convey abstract concepts. Nonetheless, the use of language can contain deeper implications and may often be intentionally or unintentionally ambiguous. Words with positive connotations may conjure up feelings associated with joy, inspiration or even empowerment. On the other hand, words that convey a negative meaning may instill images of pain, sorrow or injustice. George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is an ultimate portrayal of the significance of language in society. More specifically, Shaw aims to critique his concurrent society’s exploitation of women and the working class via his renowned play. However, the irony lies in that though Shaw’s play seem to criticize gender and class inequality, the ambiguity by which he paints his characters may be misunderstood by untrained eyes as an reinforcement of society’s objectification of women and the working class.

In George Bernard Shaw’s didactic, Victorian play Pygmalion, Linguistics Professor Henry Higgins’s perceptive ears are offended by the sound of Eliza’s lowly, Cockney accent, so he wishes to change it into a flawless, pleasant voice that would blend in among high society. Higgins is a sarcastic and rude character who treats Eliza badly throughout most of the play, sometimes not even acknowledging her presence. This brings up the question of why she tolerates his rudeness. What drove Eliza to change? Change is desired when we face conflicts that must be resolved. Another question this play presents is: What does it mean to be high class? Is it as Henry Higgins says it is, that it is just the proper way of speaking? Can the “right”

In the platy Pygmalion Eliza Doolittle was just a poor flower girl who couldn’t speak proper English. One rainy day a young boy by the name of Freddy ran into Eliza, trampling her flowers. Eliza then goes into a fit of rage for the money she will lose over the flowers. That was the moment she was discovered by Henry, a scientist of phonetics and Pickering a linguist of Indian dialect. They men were intrigued by the way she spoke and Henry began to make fun and said that he could teach her proper English. Eliza then went to Henry’s home and took him up on his proposition. Henry and Pickering went on a six month journey to train Eliza to speak so proper that she could pass her off as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party. Once the six months

Different adaptations of Shaw’s drama Pygmalion (1914) that will be mentioned in this paper are: the black-and-white film Pygmalion (1938); the musical My Fair Lady (1956), and the color film My Fair Lady (1964).

On the surface, the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is a modernized, real-life spin off of the Greek myth of Pygmalion, in which a sculptor falls in love with a statue that he has carved. One can easily argue that Professor Higgins plays the role of the sculptor, as he molds Eliza, the statue, into something more desirable throughout the entirety of the play. However, when digging deeper into the text through the use of close reading, I found that the play itself outlined and symbolized the differences in social class hierarchies. In fact, I think that the text was a medium that the author used to display a social experiment, and highlight the advantages and disadvantages that the changing of social hierarchies is able to provide.

Humans are very adaptable, but it still takes time to learn and change old behaviors. In Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, the main character, Pip, suddenly finds himself taken from his humble, working class existence and brought into the world of the upper class gentleman by some unknown benefactor. Similarly, in Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, Eliza is brought from her poor, pathetic existence by a gift of money and knowledge, and dragged into high society. Pip’s benefactor seems to want to “own” a gentleman, while Eliza’s benefactor, Mr. Higgins, only agreed to teach her as part of a bet. Both stories feature a sudden, externally-controlled rise in social class that causes both Pip and Eliza to behave in the ways that they think

In Shaw’s play Henry Higgins, a professor of Phonetics, is the modern-day Pygmalion, and Eliza (Elizabeth) Doolittle, an uneducated girl who sells flowers in London Street is Gatatea. Shaw’s Pygmalion revolves around the transformation of this poor-ignorant flower girl into a cultured and aristocratic one. Professor Higgins, the Phonetician, had made phonetics as his profession and his hobby. His absorbing passion for the sounds of the language is revealed when he comes in contact with Eliza, who is an “incarnate insult to the English language”. (14) The play begins in a dramatic circumstance. It is 11:15 P.M. in London. Torrents of heavy rain bring various classes of people together in the portico of St. Paul’s Church. Among them is a young poor flower girl, a mother with her daughter and son, a note-taker and one colonel, picking by name. The bystanders present a cross section of London Life. As a flower girl Eliza, young but very dirty, bargains over prices, a bystander points out the presence of a note-taker among them – Professor Higgins. The bystanders are very suspicious and angry but Higgins calms them down by identifying the places to which each of them belongs through the way they speak. He declares that Eliza’s “Kerb stone English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days” then he also says; “Well, sir, in three months I could pass that girl of as a duchess at an

George Bernard Shaw lived in a time where there was a great divide between the upper and lower classes of England. The rich were becoming increasingly wealthier, while the poor dug deeper and deeper into debt. Similar to American society today, the upper class looked down upon the lower class for their outward appearance (the way in which they spoke and dressed). People such as antagonist Henry Higgins of Pygmalion, in fact, only focused on a person’s facade; they were completely ignorant to people’s true identities. As a social activist during the early 1900s, Shaw chose to introduce the incorrect judgment placed upon working class citizens to his wealthier audiences within his play Pygmalion. Henry Higgins finds poor flower girl Eliza and determines her a lost soul, deciding immediately he could better her as a person through phonetics and etiquette classes. What is unclear to Higgins, however, is that Eliza’s character is already built. In Higgins’ opinion, her accent and outfit of choice are undeniably inadequate. What he fails to recognize, though, is Eliza’s heart and intelligence-her true identity. He makes it his duty to play God, transforming Eliza into what he deems a respectable lady, but pays no mind to her inner self. Shaw uses Eliza’s outer-transformation and her static identity throughout the play to reveal to his wealthier audiences that appearance and identity are not directly correlated.

Pygmalion, a drama written by George Bernard Shaw is a discussion play that tackles and discusses a lot of social issues during the 20th Century. The play takes place in London and focuses on Eliza Doolittle a flower girl. Eliza represents the rare group of young, independent, and single girls. Due to this reason Eliza is constantly marginalized by people around her in her community which includes people who are close to her.

Values play a very important role in my life. They alter every single decision I make, whether it be big or small. Roy Disney said “ It’s not hard to make decisions once you know that you values are.” Knowing your values make the path to the right decision much more clear. I have three core values which mean the most to me. They are the values I want my children to know, and learn the true meaning of. My most important values would be responsibility, happiness, and my religion.