ipl-logo

Similarities Between The Awakening And Pygmalion

964 Words4 Pages

Both Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” and George Bernard Shaw’s ”Pygmalion” use conflict to illustrate how a parent’s attitude can affect the morals and individuality of women in society.
Conflict between father and daughter is prominent in Shaw’s “Pygmalion”. Eliza’s father Alfred Doolittle is a dustman who gives “vent to his feelings without reserve” and is not constrained by middle- class morality. Doolittle goes to the house of Professor Higgins seemingly to get his daughter back, but instead brings her luggage and does not want to be the man “to stand in my girl’s light”. Doolittle brought Eliza’s luggage as his duty as a father to check up on her after two months of not seeing her but rather does it because he knows Eliza is in the company …show more content…

If you dont you’ll be sorry for it after. If you do, she’ll be sorry for it after; but better her than you, because you’re a man, and she’s only a woman and don’t know how to be happy anyhow.” Doolittle is cunning and disregards Eliza as if she is some other woman besides his daughter. He does not care for her well being, but rather has this notion that all women are the same and that men are slaves to women and their needs. The unmistakable tension between Eliza and Doolittle is revealed when in Act 2 when Eliza says, “… You don’t know my father. All he come here for was to touch you for some money to get drunk on.” Eliza is very familiar with her fathers drinking habits and has come to terms with her fathers inability to change. Doolittle replies, “Well, what else would I want money for?” which solidifies that he has no intention to become a different man and refuses to be constrained by society, and even his daughter. Louis Crompton similarly comments on the relationship of Eliza and Doolittle stating, “Eliza yearns above all things to join the respectable lower middle class. Doolittle, finding that his job

Show More
Related

  • Fever 1793, By Laurie Halse Anderson

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    Towards the very end of book Mattie wants to open up a coffeehouse with Eliza. She thought it would be the best to make money for the family or at least what was left . Mattie and Eliza started talking about what was best but at first Eliza wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Thank god she did in the end. “Eliza I want you to be my partner.”

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of El Stacey Letter To Eliza Stacey

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    To achieve this, she primarily focuses on the impact George's absence has had on the family. In this section specifically, Eliza uses repetition of the rhetorical question to appeal to her Father in Law's emotions, which is the art of pathos. Despite their debt, her family had also had to pay almost 80 extra pounds for legal fees and interest regarding the case, and without a man's income, there was no plausible way for Eliza to pay this off herself. Eliza pleads, "How can I survive?" (52), "How can I now do it?"

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of 'The Argument' By Eliza Stacey

    844 Words  | 4 Pages

    She does this at the beginning of her letter after stating that the man her husband was indebted to borrowed their horse and killed it. She and her husband thought that” the 12 pounds George owed him would serve the hire and loss of our horse.”(20) This would convince her father-in-law because it is completely reasonable why they believed the debt would have been paid, therefore the blame is not on them and they are not responsible for her husband being incarcerated. Additionally, Eliza Stacey and her husband did not feel any remorse or guilt for the unpaid debt as the whole predicament was due to an” unscrupulous rogue. ”(15)

    Read More

  • What Happened To Doodle's False The Narrator?

    790 Words  | 4 Pages

    “ The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind...” Throughout the story, the young narrator shows mixed emotions when it comes to Doodle. When Doodle was first born, his brother was upset at the fact that Doodle would never live up to be the brother that he wanted so he planned to kill him out of hate.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst Character Analysis

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    He felt selfish when he realized this was mostly for him and not for Doodle. He was being self-centered, and only think of the benefits for himself rather than

    Read More

  • Selfishness In The Scarlet Ibis

    878 Words  | 4 Pages

    Doodle would have been content being himself and didn't yearn to impress Doodle continues to adore his brother neglecting the emotional abuse because Doodle

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques Used In Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever 1793

    565 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Eliza says, “ I’m not going to die. I have too much work to do,” it shows that she wants her life to be for doing her work and helping others (176). The sentence shows how she feels about helping people and how it affects her in her life. Life is an important thing and she would take that up just to do what is right and to do her duties. Using emotions and feelings is not the only author’s craft that Anderson uses to describe the theme.

    Read More

  • Night By Elie Wiesel Theme

    1010 Words  | 5 Pages

    On page 67 he asks, “Blessed be God’s name? But why would I bless Him?” This quote is coming from the same person, who when asked why he prays, he replied with why do we breathe. Eliza was once a strong follower in Judaism, and although he questioned God, and the religion itself, his faith in God never truly went away. Once he was put in the traumatic situation of the Holocaust, his relationship with God was challenged, and

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier's Attitudes Toward Motherhood In The Awakening

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    This novel, The Awakening, is about a woman named Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an independent human being. Also, Edna Pontellier refuses to obey against the social norms by leaving her husband Leónce Pontellier and having an affair with Robert Lebrun. Kate Chopin describes societal expectations and the battle of fitting the mold of motherhood in the Awakening by how Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle contribute to their family in different ways. Edna Pontellier’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is not a perfect mother-women. Adele Ratignolle’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is a perfect mother-women.

    Read More

  • Outward Conformity In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    825 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period. Edna outwardly conforms to society’s expectations by marriage.

    Read More

  • Ocean Symbolism In The Awakening

    925 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1800’s, the societal niche of married women was clearly defined: they were meant to devote every aspect of their lives to their husbands and children. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, struggles to adhere to these standards, and eventually rebels against them. The harsh standards placed on Edna and other women in the novel are like the cages around the metaphorical birds Chopin uses to represent them. Edna's unhappiness in her societal role is realized in the ocean, which symbolizes this awakening and her attempt to escape the gender roles of the nineteenth century.

    Read More

  • Conformity In The Awakening

    849 Words  | 4 Pages

    Often times when a person is forced to outwardly conform while questioning themselves it leads to a struggle between their inner selves and what is expected of them. Outward conformity often oppresses a character’s true feelings of loneliness and being misunderstood. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, leads a dissatisfactory life. She is stuck in a loveless marriage, and has children, all in an attempt to conform to the social norm of the Victorian woman. However, she inwardly questions whether or not she should try to break free from this life to find her own independence and happiness.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Doodle Character Traits

    465 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Doodle is a fragile character in the whole story, and doesn’t have a major change. His body represents a fragile bird, the Scarlet Ibis, who can parrish easily. James pushes and pushes Doodle throughout his life and Doodle’s delicateness killed him in the end. If James didn’t leave him, he could have had a chance to live. But James’s bad side came out and left him all on his own.

    Read More

  • Adele And Edna Pontellier In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    519 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Madame Ratignolle’s character possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast the characteristics and behavior of Edna Pontellier. Despite being close friends within the novel, Adele and Edna have contrasting views and behaviors that illuminate the theme of female freedom and the tradition of female submission and male domination. Madame Ratignolle and Edna Pontellier are close friends, but their views toward raising children differ fundamentally. Madame Ratignolle would sacrifice her identity to devote herself entirely to her children, household, and husband, whereas Edna would not. Besides their views towards raising children, how they raise their children also differs.

    Read More

  • Henry Higgins Upper Class

    272 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whilst the Doolittles embody the subordinate class escalating to a higher class, Henry Higgins concretizes the attributes of the quintessential male of the upper class in the Victorian Era. Dominant and perceived as intellectually superior the high class men of the Victorian Era surpassed the women in various aspects, progressing to increased levels of education and receiving higher wages. Accordingly, Higgins is a man of brilliant intellect with regards to phonetics and treats those around him as though they are of lower stature, especially women. Discussing Eliza’s living conditions as she pursues his lessons, Higgins patronizes her stating, “She’ll only drink if you give her money... She’s incapable of understanding anything.”

    Read More

More about Similarities Between The Awakening And Pygmalion

Open Document