ipl-logo

Language And Social Class In Pygmalion

853 Words4 Pages

PREFACE

Pygmalion, a play which focuses on a variety of issues in contemporary society, is rich in ideas. Pygmalion is a play written for both the rich and the poor, a play written to provoke thought. In this manifesto the most important ideas will be identified and explained.

SOCIAL CLASS

There is a profound connection between language and social class, a connection so direct where language determines social class. By changing how she speaks, Eliza tricks royalty into thinking that she is a duchess. Language is so powerful and so diverse that people are easily separated by it. In the opening scene of Pygmalion, the reader is introduced to several characters speaking in a variety of different dialects. The different use of language causes confusion, for instance, Eliza calls a man whom she does not know Freddy; Mrs. Eynsford Hill is not aware that this is a manner in which those who are of a lower class address each other, so she is led to believe that her son and Eliza know each other. This shows that despite speaking the same language the language which is being spoken may be completely foreign to those from a different social class. Another instance where language differentiates people in the play is when Mrs. Eynsford Hill confuses the lower-class slang which Eliza uses as a new form of small talk. By displaying several different versions of the same language using dialect the audience is led to ask themselves the following question: is one particular dialect of

Show More
Related

  • Death Be Not Proud: An Analysis Of Margaret Edson's 'WIT'

    302 Words  | 2 Pages

    The article, “Death Be Not Proud: An Analysis of Margaret Edson's WIT” by Madeline M. Keaveney, begins by depicting who Margaret Edson, the author of “WIT,” and how she came up with the inspiration of her play “WIT.” Edson’s inspiration for her play came from her work as clerk in an AIDS-oncology unit. The article goes on to compare the play itself to the HBO TV movie of the play. Keaveney states that the two are both similar in the impression of the central message, which is how language helps everyone better, understand the meaning of life.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By Jamila Lyiscott

    553 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States is made up of some of the most diverse and interesting cultures in the world. Jamila Lyiscott proves this by showing her different dialects and how they are all equally important. Lyiscott believes that the way she speaks towards her parents, towards her friends, and towards her colleagues are all one in the same.  Throughout the entirety of her speech, Lyiscott changes up her vocal patterns and dialects so that the audience can understand first hand what each of these dialects are. When she talks about her father, Lyiscott uses her native tongue, when she talks to her fellow neighbors and close friends she switches it up to a more urbanized dialect, and when she is in school she masks the other two dialects with a professional sounding language.

    Read More

  • Lizabeth's Voice In Marigolds

    503 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, when the narrator says “‘Y’all children get the stones, I’ll show you how to use ‘em’” (Collier, 27) and “‘I’m going out. If you want to come, come on.’” (Collier, 48) she is trying to act tough and strong. In addition to the narrator using diction, so do other characters.

    Read More

  • Classism In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

    3890 Words  | 16 Pages

    Oscar Wilde wrote his plays against the backdrop of the Victorian English society. It therefore helps to discuss the salient aspects of the Victorian society. Victorian England is known for many paradoxes -- glaring contrasts between the rich and the poor, insistence on morality on the one hand and the practice of cynicism on the other, blooming creativity pitted against blatant constriction, imperial grandeur since Britain was then ruling almost one fifth of the total surface of the earth and domestic squalor since the majority of people did not have decent means of livelihood, and finally collectivity dictated by tradition opposed to the rapidly developing individualism. The class system denied the talented members of the lower classes access to social and economic advancement. The upper classes alone had the privilege of working in the government, the armed forces, and the church, while trade was monopolized by the rising middle class.

    Read More

  • Out Of All Them Bright Stars Literary Analysis

    1175 Words  | 5 Pages

    At first she refers to him as “it”, but once she realizes there is no barrier to communication her comfort level increases. Nancy Kress uses one of David Seed’s themes: language to show how it can comfort us. Seed states, “When novelists began to address the problem of other languages, they tended to draw on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that our worldview is shaped by our language and also to show how language could be caught up in power play. ”(Seed 44)

    Read More

  • Class System In Twelfth Night

    857 Words  | 4 Pages

    The rigid class system in Middle Age Europe was a primary factor that determined the course of events. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, there are underlying issues throughout the plot involving classes of the characters, and their roles within their class. While for the time period, it was common for those in lower classes to be looked down upon, Shakespeare uses many mediums to slyly challenge this idea. Throughout the play, Shakespeare makes the class differences obvious, yet creates certain character dynamics which challenge preconceptions. Twelfth Night is centered around a distinct and rigid class system, yet Shakespeare comments on its negative impacts, and yearns for a more fluid system, in order to create a more just and fair world.

    Read More

  • Dialect Awareness

    596 Words  | 3 Pages

    I will do so, by highlighting the idea of dialectal density that is discussed in the article. I will also use this article to support my claim that dialect awareness is essential within the education system. Garrity, April W., and Oetting, Janna B. "Auxiliary BE Production by African American English-Speaking Children with and without Specific Language Impairment. " Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 53.5 (2010): 1307-320. Print.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Glass Menagerie

    891 Words  | 4 Pages

    As showcased by Amanda’s regimented beliefs, The Glass Menagerie demonstrates how society’s gender roles objectify women. The mother and widow of the play, Mrs. Wingfield is no pushover, yet her parenting is a product of gender roles preset by society . The first scene of the play features her at the dinner table nagging the narrator, Tom, to not “push with his fingers... And chew — chew!... A well cooked meal has lots of delicate flavors

    Read More

  • Feminist Roles In Pygmalion

    2825 Words  | 12 Pages

    Pygmalion (…through a Feminist Lens) “Pygmalion was written to challenge the class system, traditional stereotypes and the audience’s own views.” Pygmalion is a play which is written as a Romance in Five acts by an Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. The name of this play is taken from a Greek story named ‘Pygmalion’ where the main character Pygmalion sculpts a woman figure and falls in love with her and later staring her statue becomes his only motto of life when the Greek Goddess Aphrodite impressed by Pygmalion’s devotion to that woman figure, magically transforms the sculpture into a living being naming her ‘Galatea’. In this play, the role of Pygmalion is played by Higgins (someone who is the creator, the God, the father) and that of Galatea by the flower girl- Eliza (who is child, the weak and the one being corrected.) (The play was first presented to the public in the year 1912.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Satire Analysis

    1876 Words  | 8 Pages

    While many have been familiar with the title of the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, one should also pay attention to its subtitle, ‘trivial comedy for serious people’. The play is a satire that ridicules the upper class to point out its fault (Kreuz and Roberts 100).The aim is to ridicule the ‘serious people’, members of the upper class in Victorian society. The characters were too attentive to social propriety and etiquette, which were as trivial as the comedy suggests in the eyes of Wilde. As they were too stubborn to alter the behaviour, the propriety and etiquette became superficial and meaningless. Their idleness and hypocrisy are other points at which Wilde recurrently mock in the play.

    Read More

  • Essay On Language And Identity

    878 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dialects are not just accents but also grammar, vocabulary, syntax and common expressions used. One is able to identify and distinguish between different people, different ethnicities and races as people speak different languages. Each human belongs to a community which makes them speak a specific language and dialect that represent their community and differentiates them from others. Language connects people to their community as they are connected to people that speak the same

    Read More

  • The Dramaturgical Approach Of Erving Goffman

    1690 Words  | 7 Pages

    Outline and assess the dramaturgical approach of Erving Goffman. In your answer you should consider how Goffman’s ideas could be applied to an everyday situation of your choice. We are all social actors according to Erving Goffman. In everyday life, in every situation, we are continuously portraying ourselves in a certain way. We want to be perceived in a certain way, so we have different ‘masks’ for each social interaction we have.

    Read More

  • Essay On Chinese Culture

    1243 Words  | 5 Pages

    Although this huge population not really share same dialects or language, but in general we could still have a harmonious relationship between different ethnic groups. Doubtless, Han is the main population in China, however, it does not mean that only Han culture is important, in opposite, a variety of dialects could be also a tool to maintain this harmonious condition and to keep different areas’ local culture which constructed our nation 's’ diversity. Dialect is an expression in cultural heritage, it carries regional culture, cultural characteristics of the area it is also the root of the folk culture. Therefore, government agencies and linguists should take active and effective measures to rescue endangered dialects and protect them so that they can inherit regional culture and promote social stability at the same time. Dialect should be cherished and protected, it constructed our beloved

    Read More

  • Language In Society: The Relationship Between Language And Society

    1268 Words  | 6 Pages

    Language is an important part of our life. Language and communication cannot separate. People use the language as a means of communication to express their ideas and feelings. They communicate either with each other using language in every social interaction; communicate with others directly or indirectly in the spoken and written form. Therefore, language is an important thing of communication in social life.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Standardization Of English Language

    1762 Words  | 8 Pages

    Finally, for mainly historical reasons, certain English dialects or varieties have been viewed more positively than others. Thus, Standard English, because of its association with being the national English language, has been perceived as the most prestigious of English varieties. However, the fact that some dialects and accents are seen to be more prestigious than others is more a reflection of judgements based on social, rather than linguistic, criteria. As society changes, so too do attitudes towards dialect, accent and variational use of English generally.

    Read More

More about Language And Social Class In Pygmalion

Open Document