The Superficiality of the Bourgeois in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion

Abstract

George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion presents the social conflict and class struggle between the two main classes in society: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Shaw suggests throughout the play that the bourgeois exploit members of the proletariat and treat them as worthless not because they are less intellectual or immoral, but because of their economic position. This paper opposes the idea that Shaw is a misogynist because he focuses on the relationship between the upper class phonetician, Higgins, and the flower girl, Eliza, and presents Higgins as morally bankrupt, who treats all members of the lower classes in the same disrespectful manner he treats Eliza. The poor girl, Eliza, and the dustman, Alfred Doolittle, reveal the superficiality and moral bankruptcy of middle class society after they arise in social standing. The play increases the consciousness of the lower classes through suggesting that the bourgeoisie should acknowledge their humanity and significant role in society.