ANALYZING LITERATURE THROUGH SHIFTS

• Your Name: Kylie McCalmont, Blake Nissen, Austin Woodruff, Alex Chung, Jordan Grollmus
• Title & Author of the Piece: Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
• Topic: Transcending Classes and Pickering’s Treatment of Liza (Act V)
• Task to Accomplish: To Analyze shifts in the scene for a deeper analysis

• What is happening in the first few lines? Eliza is questioning where she stands with Pickering
• What is your first impression of the speaker's TONE? Inquisitive, (depressed) seeking comfort and consoling
• What is your evidence from the text? “...but I owe so much to you that I should be very unhappy if you forgot me. (Shaw)”
• What are your observations about the speaker or situation based on the TONE and evidence? Pickering is catering to Liza’s saddened state, where Higgins sees through her facade, the tone is very caring and close until Higgins speaks and he injects tension into the scene and furthering the tearing down of Liza.

Shift:

• Liza takes control, tone switches to playful or mocking tone directed at Higgens.
• Liza shows her feelings for Higgins and Pickering by changing her tone against Higgins
• Evidence: Before Liza asks Pickering to call her Eliza, after the shift she asks that Higgins call her Miss Doolittle (Quote)
• Observation: This switch shows Liza’s feeling towards Higgins in an isolated fashion, separating her feelings for the two characters for one of the first times in the play.

Shift:

• Liza breaks from her brashness, tone switches to a reflective tone
• Liza contemplates where she was and what she has become, knowing she can’t return to a life where she would swear back at Higgins.
• Evidence: 

PICKERING [laughing] Why don't you slang back at him? Don't stand it. It would do him a lot of good.

50        LIZA. I can't. I could have done it once; but now I can't go back to it. Last night, when I was wandering about, a girl spoke to me; and I tried to get back into the old way with her; but it was no use. You told me, you know, that when a child is brought to a foreign country, it picks up the language in a few weeks, and forgets its own. Well, I am a child in your country. I have forgotten my own language, and can speak nothing but yours (Shaw Act 5).

• Observations: While the tone itself is self reflective, Liza still manages to put herself above Higgins, now in a slightly more polite way but she still shows her superiority and how much she has grown due to Pickering’s teaching not Higgins.

Shift:

• Liza loses her control, Higgins feels victorious
• Liza slips back into the slang she swore she could not go back too upon seeing her father, returning control to Higgins momentarily
• Evidence:

LIZA. No: Not now. Never again. I have learnt my lesson. I don't believe I could utter one of the old sounds if I tried. [Doolittle touches her on her left shoulder. She drops her work, losing her self-possession utterly at the spectacle of her father's splendor] A—a—a—a—a—ah—ow—ooh!

69        HIGGINS [with a crow of triumph] Aha! Just so. A—a—a—a—ahowooh! A—a—a—a—ahowooh ! A—a—a—a—ahowooh! Victory! Victory! [He throws himself on the divan, folding his arms, and spraddling arrogantly] (Shaw Act 5).

• Observations: While Higgins appears victorious, his outburst makes him childish and, again, gives the edge to Liza. The scolding he receives from Liza’s father, who then dominates the rest of the scene, further pushes Higgins away from the emotions of the scene. Further depreciating his character.

Chunky Paragraphs

        In the play Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, Colonel Pickering’s humanistic actions contrast Henry Higgins’ stubborn brutality. Although they belong to the same class, Higgins’ classlessness delineates social boundaries beyond established social constructs. Pickering’s morality establishes the distinction between moral class and the British social class system.

        Pygmalion takes place in London in the early twentieth century. It is easily distinguished who is part of the upper class, whether it be their job, clothes, manners, or the way they speak.

        This scene in act 2 contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole because it shows how Liza has made the full transformation, not being able to return to the ways of her life in the gutter. “I can't. I could have done it once; but now I can't go back to it.” (line number) At this point Liza credits Pickering to her success while she down plays Higgins due to his cursing and overall rude behavior towards her, while Pickering exemplifies a gentleman. (Quote about Higgins being checked by Pickering).