Pygmalion Book Review
This summer I read the book Pygmalion written by Bernard Shaw. The genre of the book is fiction and realism. Pygmalion is about a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who meets Henry Higgins, who is a professor. Eliza hears Higgins bet Colonel Pickering, Higgins friend, that he could pass Eliza off as a duchess at a party. Eliza takes up his offer and learns how to speak English perfectly. Many complications come along the way as the story progresses. In the end, Eliza leaves Higgins house and marries Freddy Hill. Although Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is well liked by many people, I myself did not like how they treated women in the book, the format, and the ending.
In the book, I did not like how they treated women, especially Eliza Doolittle. One of the people that mistreated Eliza in Pygmalion was Eliza’s own father, Alfred Doolittle. Mr. Doolittle was rude and did not care for Eliza, his own daughter, and sold her off to Mr. Henry Higgins. If Eliza was going to be a part of any experiment, Mr. Doolittle wanted something out of it. Mr. Doolittle hardly ever saw Eliza. “So help me Governor, I never did. I take my Bible oath I aint seen the girl in two months past” (pg. 49). I did not think Mr. Doolittle was a good father for Eliza. Mr. Doolittle was not the only one who mistreated Eliza. Henry Higgins was also mean and rude to Eliza. He rarely treated her with respect. From the beginning of the book, Henry Higgins showed no respect for any woman, especially Eliza. “A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere-no right to live” (pg.18). I kept hoping Higgins would change his outlook for women because of Eliza, but he never did.
In Pygmalion, I did not like the format of the book. The format was hard to understand and to comprehend. The language used in the book was hard to understand. “Ow, eez, ye-ooa san, is e? Wal, fewd dan y’d-ooty bawmz a mather should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gels flahrzn than ran awy athaht pyin” (
In the book, I did not like how they treated women, especially Eliza Doolittle. One of the people that mistreated Eliza in Pygmalion was Eliza’s own father, Alfred Doolittle. Mr. Doolittle was rude and did not care for Eliza, his own daughter, and sold her off to Mr. Henry Higgins. If Eliza was going to be a part of any experiment, Mr. Doolittle wanted something out of it. Mr. Doolittle hardly ever saw Eliza. “So help me Governor, I never did. I take my Bible oath I aint seen the girl in two months past” (pg. 49). I did not think Mr. Doolittle was a good father for Eliza. Mr. Doolittle was not the only one who mistreated Eliza. Henry Higgins was also mean and rude to Eliza. He rarely treated her with respect. From the beginning of the book, Henry Higgins showed no respect for any woman, especially Eliza. “A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere-no right to live” (pg.18). I kept hoping Higgins would change his outlook for women because of Eliza, but he never did.
In Pygmalion, I did not like the format of the book. The format was hard to understand and to comprehend. The language used in the book was hard to understand. “Ow, eez, ye-ooa san, is e? Wal, fewd dan y’d-ooty bawmz a mather should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gels flahrzn than ran awy athaht pyin” (