Name: Pygmalion
ISBN: 9781623959753

George Bernard Shaw

Read the play that became the film My Fair Lady “I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me I'm not fit to sell anything else.” ― George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion In George Bernard Shaw's classic drama, Pygmalion, Professor Henry Higgins transforms a low-class flower-seller into a lady, all through changing the way she speaks. This funny, romantic and thought-provoking play is a classic work that should be read by all fans of Eliza Doolittle. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

Pygmalion

Jasmine

sharkie

The rest of the story need not be shown in action, and indeed, would hardly need telling if our imaginations were not so enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-makes and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of "happy endings" to misfit all stories.

"Eliza has no use for the foolish romantic tradition that all women love to be mastered, if not actually bullied and beaten."

Bernard Shaw

One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion was a rousing success on the London and New York stages, an entertaining motion picture and a great hit with its musical version, My Fair Lady. An updated and considerably revised version of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea, the 20th-century story pokes fun at the antiquated British class system. 
In Shaw's clever adaptation, Professor Henry Higgins, a linguistic expert, takes on a bet that he can transform an awkward cockney flower seller into a refined young lady simply by polishing her manners and changing the way she speaks. In the process of convincing society that his creation is a mysterious royal figure, the Professor also falls in love with his elegant handiwork.
The irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, together with Shaw's brilliant dialogue and splendid skills as a playwright, have made Pygmalion one of the most popular comedies in the English language. A staple of college drama courses, it is still widely performed.
(back cover)

Sarah Sammis

This play was of course the inspiration for My Fair Lady.

I remember reading this book at the mall while I waited for my organ lessons.

Ned Summers 

Katherine Yang

Vividly witty and charming. Higgins is frustratingly disagreeable at times, but this only serves to drive the sharp satire home. 

Read the postscript!

Prashanth Srivatsa

Classic in its true sense. Touching on Britain's early 20th century social nature with a free stroke of humour and prose. A really short and enjoyable read.

brianna

lol this was for class but it was ok kinda funny

The musical is absolutely amazing and so I decided to read the play to which it was based upon and thought it was absolutely marvelous. The ending, though different from the movie was also fantastic in it's own way.

Eliza Doolittle is one of the strongest females I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. One cannot help but applaud her efforts to be seen as more than just a flower girl. She has a strong sense of who she is and who she wants to be. 

Professor Higgins may be a tyrannical, bossy human being, but that's one of the things I love about the relationship he has with poor Eliza. They are both strong characters that could never be together because no matter how different they each proclaim they are, they really aren't. 

The saying "opposites attract and like forces repel" holds true. Eliza and Higgins are both very stubborn characters, fighting to maintain their independence.

Анастасия Розова

*Read for class.

 
  "Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable."


Is Higgins an annoying bastard? Yes. Does Eliza gets humiliated a lot? Yes. Did I like the play anyway? Also yes.

I liked the way she changed and the way she dared! Not gonna make examples, but you probably know what I mean if you've read it.

Also the last paragraph (I quoted it) of the book about Galathea and the whole myth on it's own... Marvelous.

adria

Simply delightful. Disarmingly funny and surprisingly honest, this play captured me from the first page. The conflict between Eliza and Higgins amused me to no end. Their constant banter is bound to remain in my memory for quite some time, and I shall remember it fondly.

Gabriela Roxana 

This is truly one of the best plays I have ever read. 💖

Pygmalion both delighted and scandalized its first audiences in 1914. A brilliantly witty reworking of the classical tale of the sculptor Pygmalion, who falls in love with his perfect female statue, it is also a barbed attack on the British class system and a statement of Shaw's feminist views. In Shaw's hands, the phoneticist Henry Higgins is the Pygmalion figure who believes he can transform Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower girl, into a duchess at ease in polite society. The one thing he overlooks is that his 'creation' has a mind of her own. Adapted into the Oscar-winning musical film My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in 1964, Pygmalion

This is the definitive text produced under the editorial supervision of Dan H. Laurence, with an illuminating introduction by Nicholas Grene, discussing the language and politics of the play. Also included in this volume is Shaw's preface, as well as his 'sequel' written for the first publication in 1916, to rebut public demand for a more conventially romantic ending.
(back cover)

Jane Krauss

Katerina Thorson

I found this play really interesting! A victorian age where you must wonder what Shaw was truly trying to get across. 

I found myself analyzing the text and noticing a hint of feminism; however, it isn't as noticeable as in most plays during this age. It's interesting how Mr. Higgins believes his ideas are more right than anyone else's - he believes that he is "helping" however, he is just making a photo copy of himself whether that was intended or not. 

It was great!

Mal 

shev

felicity hu

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

Pygmalion

Reviews

Highlights