Monday, January 3, 2011

Write briefly about the themes of Pygmalion.

One of
the themes you might like to consider is the fluidity of identity. On the face of it, it would
appear that Eliza Dolittle's identity is fixed. She's a humble Cockney flower seller who looks
set to remain in this lowly condition for the rest of her days. And yet Eliza, as a result of
Higgins's experiment, is able to morph into a lady of quality and is able to take her place
among the upper echelons of society without arousing the least soup§on of suspicion.


This stunning transformation would appear to suggest that identity is anything but
fixed. On the contrary, Eliza's experience shows how it's possible for someone to put on a new
identity and leave behind one's former self in the past. It's by no means an easy task, to be
sure, and there are lots of bumps in the road along the way. But the very fact that someone from
Eliza's humble background can become, to the outside world, a lady of refinement, bears eloquent
testimony to the fluidity of identity in a society where appearance is
everything.

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