https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d Final Project en-us 2016-12-19 15:25:53 UTC 2025-10-05 23:48:44 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Hearts.png 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144327886 Author: George Bernard Shaw]]> 2016-12-19 15:28:20 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144327886 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328573 Eliza Doolittle: She's a poor girl that has made a living by selling flowers on the streets. She's always wanted to work in a flower shop, but her bad speaking has gotten in the way. With Higgins help this improves, though. Eliza is independent, a little sassy, and also a quick-learner. She learns that she deserves better than what she's being treated at Higgins' place and, after aiming to please him for so long, leaves him.

Henry Higgins: He's a bachelor that's a genius when it comes to phonetics. He's known for teaching others how to speak correctly and has multiple recordings of different ways of speaking, making it so he's able to place anyone around London to the precise location they live. Higgins isn't much of a gentleman and doesn't have the manners he's supposed to, but I do think he means well, even if he doesn't act like it. He can definitely be rude and more of a bully.

Colonel Pickering: Pickering is a kind man that definitely knows how to correctly treat a woman, unlike Higgins. He's a bachelor as well, although slightly older, and also has a fondness for language. He came from India to meet Higgins. Pickering was always treating Eliza with respect and she greatly appreciated it.

Mrs. Pearce: Being the housekeeper for Higgins, she knows him very well. Because of this, she was able to somewhat mediate what he was doing to Eliza and was sort of a motherly figure considering she bathed her, dressed her, and took care of her overall. Mrs. Pearce was quite kind and helped mold Eliza into a proper woman.

Alfred Doolittle: He's Eliza's father and is a very poor man. However, he doesn't mind it, and actually quite likes being able to be lazy and whatnot. He's kind of a gold-digger and mooches off of other people to get money for his drinks, but also never takes more than he thinks he needs. He's not the best father and also doesn't want to be tied down, even though it eventually happens. When he's pushed into the middle class because of Higgins, he hates it.]]> 2016-12-19 15:31:17 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328573 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328771 One evening in London's Covent Garden, there were multiple people seeking cover underneath an overhang on St. Paul's Church due to the rain. A flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, soon ends up there as well. She has a very thick accent, one that isn't very good or understandable. It turns out there's a man taking notes on her and she freaks out, believing he's a police officer. However, a gentleman is able to calm her down, and the note taker reveals he's just writing what she's saying. It turns out the note taker is a man named Henry Higgins and the gentleman is known as Colonel Pickering. They both know each other, and they're both known for being extremely interested in phonetics. Higgins goes on about how he could make a duchess out of Eliza in a few months if he had the chance before the two of them walk away. The next day, Eliza shows up at Higgins' house, wanting her speech to improve so that she can work in a flower shop. Pickering says he'll pay the costs of this experiment if Higgins is able to actually make her speak and act like a duchess in a couple months. With help from Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper, Eliza is taken to be bathed and dressed properly. Just a little afterwards, Alfred Doolittle appears at Higgins' house, wanting money for his daughter. Finding Alfred humorous, Higgins gives him 5 pounds and sends him off. After quite a bit of learning, Higgins decides to bring Eliza to his mother's house to see her progress. While there, she speaks very good English, but the topics she brings up are quite unusual. They do catch the attention of a boy named Freddie who soon develops an interest in her, but the others are quite dumbfounded at what she's saying. They're intrigued, of course, but Henry's mother says that she's definitely not ready to actually go out in public. After even more work has been done on Eliza's speech and overall character, her final test comes and she's taken to the Ambassador's ball. She does absolutely wonderful and was easily passed off as a duchess. However, Higgins and Pickering only talk about how well they did, never once congratulating Eliza on all of her hard work and dedication paying off. She soon grows angry, throws Higgins' slippers at him, and asks him what belongs to her so that she's not accused of stealing when she leaves. Higgins doesn't understand why she's so angry, but Eliza has no idea what she's supposed to do now, and in the morning she's gone. Higgins is very surprised in the morning and makes Pickering call the police. Going to his mother's house, he's complaining and still confused. Alfred Doolittle walks back into the scene cursing Higgins for telling a wealthy man to leave a huge sum of money for him. He hates being considered middle-class and now is getting married because of it. Eliza walks down, having been at Mrs. Higgins house the whole time, and tells her dad she'll be at the wedding. Mrs. Higgins and Pickering also agree. When Higgins and Eliza are alone for the final time, he tries to get her to return to his house, but she refuses because she knows he won't treat her any differently even if he admits he's going to miss her and her presence. She wants respect and he won't give it to her, so she leaves, finally saying goodbye.]]> 2016-12-19 15:32:12 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328771 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328919 One major conflict in the story is that Eliza can't speak very well and isn't able to get a higher job than a mere flower girl because of it. She wasn't raised in an environment that cared a whole lot about how you sounded when you talked, so she never learned properly. She can also be hard to understand at times. This conflict is resolved when Higgins eventually teaches her correct English. Even if she didn't like the process a whole lot, it paid off in the end, and she was able to speak beautifully. At the very end of the play, it also says she opened up her own flower shop, so I suppose being able to speak well really did get her a better job than just selling flowers on the street.

Another conflict in the story is that Higgins isn't the nicest man in the world and doesn't treat Eliza like he should. As his mother said, he treats her more like his own little doll than a real person. He works her hard for hours on end, makes her try to prove herself at large gatherings, and also threatens her a few times towards the beginning. When she finally is able to show great results and fools everyone at the Ambassador's ball, him and Pickering take all of the credit, not once telling Eliza she did a great job. This conflict isn't ever fully resolved because Higgins won't ever treat her better than a flower girl. However, I guess you could say that her getting up and leaving solves something, because she won't have to deal with him anymore, whether he likes it or not. ]]> 2016-12-19 15:32:48 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328919 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328948 In relation to the Greek Myth, the play has quite a few similarities. Pygmalion was a bachelor that wasn't interested in getting married whatsoever, just like Higgins. When it came to the point in which he was being forced, he spent his time crafting the perfect woman, a replica of Galatea herself. He made her as perfect as he could and loved the results he received. In fact, he loved them so much, he insisted on marrying his statue. Henry was kind of the same way, the only difference being he still never got married. He had Eliza, a poor girl who couldn't speak correctly whatsoever, and spent his time crafting this speech into something wonderful. He made sure everything about it was perfect, just like Pygmalion had spent all of his time making his statue beautiful. Henry was very proud of what he did and the results he got out of it.]]> 2016-12-19 15:32:55 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144328948 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144329006 This story took place in London during the early 1900's. This is significant because throughout the whole story, people are supposed to be very proper and posh. At least, in order to be invited to the parties and gatherings, that was the case. There were also high expectations for women to be all pretty and whatnot because of the time this play was set in. Another significance of this setting was that Henry Higgins claimed he could figure out where anyone was from, as long as the place was located closely around London, just by the way they spoke. This kind of caught Eliza's attention, and after he boasted he could turn her into a duchess by changing her speech, the story was completely set into motion.]]> 2016-12-19 15:33:10 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144329006 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144329058 Henry Higgins - Rude and ignorant. These traits lead him to be a sort of bully to others. He's definitely not very nice to Eliza and continuously treats her like a mere flower girl, even if she's turned into something much more throughout the time with him. He also constantly complains about how women are irrational and enraging, yet he doesn't realize he's the same exact way. Higgins also doesn't realize what Eliza is so upset about after she did so well at the Ambassador's ball. He's completely ignorant and also treats her rudely because of it.

Colonel Pickering - Kind and gentle. Colonel Pickering was always the one to treat Eliza with respect. He spoke to her softly and kindly, much different to what Higgins would do. Because of this, she says he was the one that taught her how to more lady-like and proper. He always treated her like a duchess and with the respect she deserved. Pickering was also sympathetic for her at the end after he finally realized why she was upset. He was quick to comfort her because of it as well.

Eliza Doolittle - Independent and smart. Eliza has had to fend for herself for almost her whole life. Because of this she's very poor and has had to earn herself money by selling flowers. When she gets the opportunity, she immediately takes the chance to better herself, hoping to improve her life and wanting to work in a flower shop instead. She does whatever she has to in order to get the job done. Although it may not seem like it, Eliza is also smart. She quickly picks up on what Higgins is trying to teach her. Because of this, her speech quickly improves and she's able to prove herself to Higgins and plenty of others. ]]> 2016-12-19 15:33:24 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144329058 17mcostello https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144329132 I thought that this play was pretty interesting. It definitely wasn't something that I thought I would enjoy, but it was actually a lot better than I had expected. I know it's not something that I would have ever thought of reading had we not in class, but that's alright with me. I liked seeing how Eliza developed as the story went on, and I'm glad she was able to finally realize that although Higgins had taught her to speak, she didn't need to stick around for him. He was never the nicest guy to her, or anyone for that matter. Nevertheless, I'm glad that there was a little character development for him as well, because it made the story even more interesting to read. It may have gotten a little confusing at times and I didn't exactly know what was going on, but it was pretty easy to sort out as I continued on reading, so it wasn't the biggest issue. Overall, I would give the play 3 out of 5 stars.]]> 2016-12-19 15:33:46 UTC https://padlet.com/17mcostello/nah6qtpjm06d/wish/144329132