Pygmalion Essay, Research Paper

Discrimination

Society has been split apart since renossance England. The novel Pygmalion written by Bernard Shaw demonstrates that proper speech and a fake appearance can easily fool the upper class English. Different levels of society are usually seperated because of money, appearance and speech, and attitude. Pygmalion satirizes the snobbery of the upper class English society. Money is always the major cause of class separation, which leads to class discrimination.

Eliza arrives at Mr. Higgens house in a taxi. She emphasizes her arrival by taxi because she wants to impress Mr. Higgens and his guest. ?Did you tell him I come in a taxi?? (37). She questions Mrs. Pearce about informing Mr. Higgens about her arrival in a taxi because she wants to reinforce her financial status to Mr. Highness. She does not want to give off the impression of a lower class flower girl. She feels because she can afford to pay him for his assistance, she should be accepted into his upper or middle class society. Mr. Higgens counter?s by calling out large sums of money to make her feel uncomfortable unwelcome. Mr. Doolittle enforces the role of money in both classes. His begging shows the lack of money his class possesses. ?…Is it fairity to take advantage of a man like this? The girl belongs to me. You got her. Where do I come in?? (54). Doolittle feels because Eliza is his daughter, he should receive some money. He is so desperate for money that he does not care how it comes into possession. Dolittle uses every trick to get what he wants, money which is usually, money. Money is not the only thing that the upper class holds dear. Without a gleaming appearance, all the money in the world will not be acceptable in the upper class society. A respectable appearance goes well with a large sum of money.

Upon arrival at Mr. Higgens house, Eliza is treated as gutter trash. Even though she deserves to be treated like a lady, Mr. Higgens and Mrs. Pearce ignore that fact because of her appearance. The society of England is based upon proper appearances and proper speech. When she enters the house Mrs. Pearce dislikes her because of her improper use of the English language. ? Has she an interesting accent? Oh something dreadful, sir, really?(36). Mrs. Pearce shows that she disapproves of Mr. Higgens decision to socialize with Eliza because of her corrupted grammar. Professor Higgens is astounded by her grammar and he constantly offends her because he feels that she does not belong among his class. When her training is complete, everyone except professor Higgens treats her like an upper class lady. The jewelry, clothes, and proper speech, which are all, a cover up fools everyone living in upper class England. Having the right attitude is also another key quality associated with the upper class.

Mr. Higgens has an overconfident attitude. He believes he is better then Eliza only because he is from a wealthier class. His attitude is snobbish, over confident and arrogant. Eliza is lucky because she revived the best of both worlds. She has learned the good from each class and the bad. When she is selling flowers to the mother and her daughter in the beginning, the daughter did not want to socialize with her because she is a flower girl. The daughter has a snobbish and disrespectful attitude towards Eliza because of her class standard. ?Do nothing of the sort, mother. The idea! Make her give you change mother. These things are only a penny a bunch?(17). The daughter is extremely rude towards Eliza because she is a common flower girl. To live with in the upper class, Eliza would have to become rude, obnoxious, overconfident, and arrogant. That is the attitude upper class England carries about.

Even though Eliza made an amazing transformation from a poor flower girl to a lady, in the end she is still treated as gutter trash by Higgens. The fancy clothing and fake smiles fooled others who did not know. The clothes and language fooled the upper class. Higgens knew what she was before he transformed her therefore he has no respect for her. She is not any happier then she used to be as a flower girl. The upper class has a lot more to worry about then the lower class.