Pygmalion (Shaw)
Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw based on Ovid's depiction of the Pygmalion material, which had its world premiere on October 16, 1913 in the Vienna Burgtheater in a translation by Siegfried Trebitsch .
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Shaw's comedy tells the story of Professor Henry Higgins, a high-handed linguist who bets he can turn a poor flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, into a duchess by teaching her to speak with the accent of fine London society. At an ambassador party, he successfully passed her off as a duchess. Since Higgins only treats her like a maid, she leaves him. The piece ends here.
Just as Ovid's Pygmalion loves his lifeless work of art, Higgins also loves his creation, but not the person Eliza himself, but only the linguistic work of art that he has created. Higgins does not reciprocate Eliza's love, ignores her human needs and does not see them as equals. (Pickering: Does it occur to you, Higgins, that the girl has some feelings? Higgins: Oh no, I don't think so. Not any feelings that we need bother about. German translation: Pickering: “Higgins, comes to you that the girl has feelings? "Higgins:" Oh no, I don't think so. Not any feelings that we have to worry about. ")
Act 1
Because of a heavy summer rain, many people have taken shelter under the portal of St Paul's Church in Covent Garden . Below is a lady with her daughter and son, all in evening attire. Like many others, you are waiting for a taxi to take you home. The young son accidentally runs into a young girl who is selling flowers, and the flowers fall to the ground. Out of decency, the mother pays the girl for the ruined flowers. A gentleman joins the crowd and starts talking to a man taking notes about the flower girl. This can determine the origin of a person based on the dialect: It is Professor Higgins, who devotes his life to phonetics. ("Simply phonetics. The science of pronunciation. My job and also my hobby.") He claims to turn the flower girl Eliza Doolittle, who visibly and audibly belongs to the poor social class, into a duchess within three months . Only the gentleman, Colonel Pickering, understands and believes the professor, for he is a linguist himself . They arrange to meet at Higgins the next morning.
Act 2
Eliza snows in unannounced at Professor Higgins, who is showing Pickering his office, and asks him for lessons. She wants to be able to work in a real flower shop and therefore learn proper English. Higgins is hesitant at first, but then sees an opportunity to prove his skills. Eliza now has to change clothes and wash thoroughly and experiences for the first time what a rich and luxurious life means ("They have running hot and cold water as much as you are hot."). In the meantime, Eliza's father - a garbage driver - shows up and demands payment for leaving his daughter to Higgins. After paying five pounds, he leaves the house.
Act 3
It is visiting day for Mrs. Higgins, the professor's mother. Her son bursts in unannounced and tells his mother that about a month ago he took "a simple flower girl" into his home and made a bet that her language and behavior would be socially acceptable. He invited Eliza to visit his mother as a test run. But first other guests arrive, the Eynsford Hills: mother, daughter Clara and son Freddy. It is the same family who sought shelter from the rain under the church portal in the first act.
When Eliza arrives, she initially talks skilfully about the weather, but then immediately tells of her suspicion that her aunt was "killed" and of her alcoholic father. Higgins describes her remarks as "a new kind of chat". When Eliza leaves, Freddy asks her if she is going for a walk in the park, to which she replies: “Going? I'll be a shit! I'll take a taxi. "(It is the most famous line of the piece, which caused a sensation because of the vulgar word" bloody "used. In the original it is:" Walk! Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi. ")
After Eliza and the Eynsford Hills leave, Higgins' mother worriedly asks what will happen to Eliza when the project is over. Neither the professor nor Pickering, who was also present, understood the question and brushed it off. Mrs. Higgins angrily calls after them, “Oh men! Men! Men!"
Act 4
Higgins, Pickering and Eliza have returned from a garden party. Eliza behaved like a lady of high society there, and Higgins won his bet with it. He lets his joy run wild at the end of the experiment: “Thank God, it's over!” Higgins and Pickering go to bed. When Higgins returns, Eliza loudly reproaches him. He only needed it for her experiment, but now it is worthless to him. Higgins tries to calm her down in a condescending way. You could get married or open a flower shop. He leaves the scene angry and slams the door back to bed.
Act 5
When they find Eliza's bed untouched the next morning, Higgins and Pickering rush to the professor's mother. Higgins would like to keep Eliza with him, not out of affection or emotion, but because she has become indispensable to his daily routine and order. Ms. Higgins accuses her son of looking for Eliza like a "lost umbrella".
Meanwhile, the visit of Eliza's father, Alfred Doolittle, is announced. Surprisingly, he shows up in splendid wedding attire and is angry with Higgins. When they met at the time, he was so impressed by his unorthodox ethics that he recommended him to the wealthy US philanthropist Ezra D. Wannafeller as the “most original moral preacher”. Wannafeller has now died leaving him, Doolittle, a pension of £ 3,000 a year. Thereupon Doolittle felt compelled to enter the middle class and to marry his partner (Eliza's stepmother). He was very unhappy about this and the fact that Hinz and Kunz wanted something from him.
Mrs. Higgins finally informs her son that Eliza is with her. Higgins is beside himself, but his mother doesn't let Eliza come until he has calmed down. Eliza's father will be sent out until then. Eliza enters, beaming and confident. Higgins triumphs, but Eliza is not impressed and speaks exclusively to Pickering. In contrast to Higgins, he always treated her well and humanely, only through his example did she learn to be a lady. Higgins is beside himself again. When her father suddenly returns, she briefly falls back in her gutter language, whereupon Higgins triumphs again. Doolittle explains his situation and asks Eliza if she is coming to his wedding. Pickering and Mrs. Higgins want to come too.
Before Eliza joins in, there is a long conversation between her and Higgins at the end of the piece. She denies Higgins' request whether she will come back after this action, since she will never get even a little friendliness from Higgins. Therefore she announces that she would rather marry Freddy, who writes her several love letters every day. Higgins dismisses this as unambitious, saying that it is below their current level. When asked what should become of her, she threatens to hire herself out as a pronunciation teacher, assistant to one of Higgins' competitors, Professor Nepean. She realizes that this threat hits Higgins; Higgins, in turn, triumphantly declares that he has thus successfully awakened their will to fight.
When Eliza finally leaves for the wedding, Higgins asks her to do some errands and ignores the conversation that has just been held. But Eliza says goodbye to him and rushes out. The piece ends with Higgins' laughter at Eliza's threatened marriage to Freddy: “Haha! Freddy! Freddy !! Hahahahaha !!!!! ”(after the modified ending that Shaw wrote in 1939 to make it clear that there could be no connection between Higgins and Eliza).
reception
The drama caused a scandal at the time because it used swear words excessively for the circumstances at the time . For example, Eliza once used the then vulgar word bloody ("damn"). Although Eliza can speak with a fine accent, she understands little of what is talked about in high society.
Max Paulsen and Lili Marberg played in the Vienna world premiere (directed by Hugo Thimig ) . Tilla Durieux and Albert Steinrück played in the Berlin production at the Lessing Theater on November 1, 1913 .
Film adaptations
The play was in 1935 with Jenny Jugo and Gustaf in the lead roles filmed and directed by Erich Engel . The premiere took place on September 2, 1935 in the Berlin Capitol. Shaw is named as the author.
Another film adaptation was made in 1938 with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller in the leading roles. Shaw was awarded an Oscar in 1939 with his co-writer Cecil Lewis for the script of this adaptation . The two main actors (Howard and Hiller) had also been nominated for an Oscar.
musical
In 1956, the play became the musical My Fair Lady and in 1964 the film was adapted from My Fair Lady .
Current issues
- George Bernard Shaw: Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series), Simon & Schuster, 2005, ISBN 1-4165-0040-5 (English).
- George Bernard Shaw: Collected Pieces in Individual Editions. Volume 10: Pygmalion. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1989, ISBN 3-518-38359-0 .
- George Bernard Shaw: Pygmalion. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-518-18928-3 .
literature
- Kurt Otten: George Bernard Shaw: Pygmalion. In: Horst Oppel (ed.): The modern English drama. Interpretations. 2nd Edition. Bagel, Berlin 1966, pp. 124-146.
- Heinz Edenhofer: Shaw: Pygmalion. In: Kurt Bräutigam (Hrsg.): European comedies, represented by individual interpretations. Diesterweg, Frankfurt 1964, pp. 155-174.
- Wolfgang Mielke: “Pygmalion” - or which circles a search for clues can lead to . In: Perinique . World Heritage Magazine. July 14 / August. Perinique, 2012, ISSN 1869-9952 , DNB 1000901297 , p. 43-60 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pygmalion (1935). On: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- ↑ The novel of a flower girl (1938) - “Pygmalion” (original title). On: Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
Web links
- Pygmalion in full text on Wikisource (English)