George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw used the same approach as Oscar Wilde, playwrights. In contrast to Oscar Wilde, Shaw’s playwrights had more drama. Another contrast between Wilde and Shaw is that Shaw incorporated more characters in one scene than Wilde did. Both writers did an outstanding job in their playwrights distinguishing the different social classes. In stating that, I want to focus on Pygmalion, Act 1.

Drama! Drama! Drama! Having all those characters was the drama. Just think back to the last drama in your life and think about whom all was involved! One drama was the mother and daughter demanding that the son go back into the pouring rain to find a cab then after the rain calms down, they go and get on the train! He returns with a cab and no women to pick up. Drama! The flower girl constantly crying at the portico, drama! The note taker in everyone’s conversation, drama!

Pygmalion, Act 1 was quite a piece of work. I really felt as if I was at the theatre looking at the play take place. You could clearly see the different social classes and I feel that was one of Shaw’s main purposes in his playwrights. Within this act, you had a daughter, mother, flower girl, gentleman (captain), bystanders, note taker, and more! You could clearly see that the mother, daughter, and Freddy were of the upper class. They were all nicely dressed. They also had money as showed on page 1009, “ The Daughter: Do nothing of the sort, mother. The idea! The Mother: Please allow me, Clara. Have you any pennies? The Daughter: No. I’ve nothing smaller than sixpence.” Sixpence sounds like me saying that I have nothing smaller than a twenty or hundred (very seldom that I have Benjamin in my hands)! The flower girl was the example of the lower class. She was out selling flowers to get by. The description of her home on page 1015 was enough to know that she was in the lower state of living. “[She picks up the basket and trudges up the alley…a small room with very old wall paper…A broken pane in the window is mended with paper…a wretched bed heaped with all sorts of coverings…Rent: four shillings a week.”

Another perspective I took from Pygmalion, Act 1 was the language. I understand that Shaw was trying to bring out the language and the different interpretations of writing it down on paper. I compared these languages with ebonics. Some people have a hard time understanding ebonics and likewise I had a hard time understanding some of the passages in Pygmalion, Act 1. For instance on page 1010, “The Note Taker: …”Cheer ap, Keptin; n’ baw ya flahr orf a pore gel.” Personally, I had to read this line 3 or 4 time to figure out that it was saying, “Cheer up, Captain; and buy a flower off a poor girl.” The first passage from the Flower Girl on page 1009, I can not translate. I only understood bits and pieces of it, “….better to spoil a poor girl’s flowers than ran away…Will you pay me for them?” That is all I could get from that. Shaw did an awesome job incorporating these passages into his playwright. I really wish I could have seen the play just to see if I could understand passages such as that on page 1009 as well as to see the drama!