Lena Spiekermann

"You squashed cabbage leaf" - How the main characters view and treat each other in Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion" Lena Spiekermann

Essay from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, Ruhr-University of Bochum, language: English, abstract: "I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me as a lady, and always will" (152). In this quotation the female main character of Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion", Eliza, evalutes how she is treated by the two male main characters Higgins and Pickering. But her opinion is only partly correct and apart from that she speaks from a one-sided point of view. This essay will try to be more discriminating by looking closer at the view and treatment of Eliza towards Higgins and Pickering. It will also take the attitude of the two towards Eliza into consideration by examining the relationships always from both sides to show how the main characters view and treat each other in the play.