Clark Teng (488200606)

Andy Chang (488200723)

Herbert Kao (488200668)

David Chou (488200486) 

A: When we carefully read the play, Pygmalion, we see the different socialstatus among Mr. Freedy, Colonel Pickering and Professor Higgins. The former was lack of a title and the other two had been in high reputation due to good titles. (Colonel Pickering & Professor Higgins) From this viewpoint, we unanimously agree that Freedy belonged to the middle class. In other words, Freedy was simply like an ordinary man who was richer. This can possibly be dated back to the 19^th century during the Industrial Revolution when many people earned great amounts of money by working hard. These people were called " middle-class people." They could appreciate fine arts in museums and attended concerts; they had the right to do the same thing as those upper-class people. Hence, we come to a conclusion that Freedy was in middle class instead of upper class because of his lack of title.[TOP]

A1:In ActⅠ, when situations were against Eliza, she would scream and shout to assert her rights and show her disapproval of those people belonging to upper class. In the following two examples are quoted from the play in ActⅠ:

★Ex 1: When one of the bystanders told Eliza that a note taker was taking down everything she said to Colonel Pickering. Eliza felt terrified and claimed hysterically that this was her right to do what she wanted to.

★Ex 2: Eliza was unwilling to be called a person with mendacity. When Colonel Pickering and Professor Higgins were about to leave, Eliza grabbed the last chance to ask Pickering to buy flowers and proclaimed her short lodging. This made Higgins become suspicious of Eliza because Eliza had said she could change half-a-crown. To protect herself, Eliza acted like a bad-temper child flinging her basket at Higgins to show strong remonstrance. [TOP]

A2(Ⅰ): The characterization skills for three classes Bernard Shaw used here can be discussed from 3 different aspects, containing costume, behavior and the use of language.

★Costume: Eliza's (lower class) clothes were shoddy, coarse and out of fashion. Even some parts of her costume had been torn for long periods of time. In contrast, Colonel Pickering and Professor Higgins were dressed in suits. However, it's quite difficult to tell the middle class only from how they wore because both upper and middle classes dressed themselves in similar ways.

★Behavior: It's no denying that Eliza behaved most rudely among these three classes. Eliza was not elegant in nature and often uttered wicked words to defend herself against others' bad treatment to her. Both middle and upper class people ever received education, so most of them were aware of how they themselves talked or acted. At least they behaved better than Eliza.

★Use of Language: In this part, we can see big contrasts among different social classes. Surely, everyone knows that Eliza used English with disgrace and when she was angry or was sweeping, English would become terrible and disgusting. As for the middle-class people, we suppose some of those bystanders belonged to this social class. Like one bystander, claiming that " The note taker aint a tec. He is a blooming busybody: that's what he is. I tell you, look at his boots. " In this sentence, we have no difficulty finding out which social class this man was involved in. He was not as bad as Eliza was, but some words in his sentence revealed this guy might not be really well educated. The upper-class man, Colonel Pickering, spoke in a polite way and also acted as a gentleman. In conclusion, the use of language among three classes helps readers to uncover the real identity for each character. [TOP]

A2(Ⅱ): For more detailed explanations, please look at the chart below first ~

The Upper Class/ The Middle Class /The Lower Class

Senior Students Junior Students Primary Students

The relationship among them based on Shaw's characterization in Act Ⅰ can be seen from above, telling us a possible way Bernard Shaw described their relationship. First of all, the upper class is representative of senior high school students while the lower class is representative of primary school students. As it was shown in the play, when the upper class held lower class in great contempt and spiritually treated them badly, the lower class would often talk back and scream to show their disapproval. In ActⅠ, the conversation between Professor Higgins and Eliza was typical of relationship mentioned above. Furthermore, it's the same when comparing this with students in different grades. Primary school students may cry and shout if they are treated like Eliza in Pygmalion, but still they do nothing about the unfair treatment from high graders. Secondly, the middle class in ActⅠdidn't look down upon the lower class so much as the upper class. As we know, Clara's attitude towards Eliza might be a living example for showing despise. Nevertheless, at least Clara was not so keen that she quarreled with Eliza in spite of her unpleasant response. Probably we can change another way to explain the differences. Middle class people also once lived with less money and no titles throughout their lives, like lower-class people. Thanks to constant effort during a period when Industrial Revolution developed prosperously, these people finally gained certain positions in society and were able to compete with upper-class people. Understanding the feeling when one suffers from contempt from others, they felt sympathetic for lower-class people at times. This may be the biggest difference shown in ActⅠabout relationships between the upper class and the lower class as well as that between the middle class and the lower class.[TOP]

A3: The common thought we have for this question is that among all characters, Eliza (lower class) came off best. Actually, we find it interesting to see how Bernard Shaw depicted Eliza in the play, Pygmalion. In ActⅠ, Eliza's behavior resembles a type of human nature all of us must have before receiving secondary education. Namely, Eliza was like a child who would naturally show self-defense or cry out when obstacles are standing in her/his way. For more description, Eliza seemed enjoying in her own world. For example, as it was shown in the last stage direction of ActⅠ, Eliza felt extremely satisfied and happy about getting money in a childlike way. Despite the rudeness, poor English and social status, it is quite fun to see how Eliza's behavior naturally reacted to her life! This was unlike those upper-class people who might be full of prudery just for a good, highly-respected reputation. [TOP]