Pygmalion课文内容分析.ppt
《Pygmalion课文内容分析.ppt》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Pygmalion课文内容分析.ppt(29页珍藏版)》请在得力文库 - 分享文档赚钱的网站上搜索。
1、Historical ContextWorld War IColonialism and the British EmpireIndustrializationThe Rise of Women and the Working ClassesWorld War IBy the end of World War I (as it came to be known later), 8.5 million people had been killed and 21 million wounded, including significant civilian casualties. The war
2、constituted the most intense physical, economic and psychological assault on European society in its history; Britain was not alone in experiencing devastating effects on its national morale and other aspects of society It is ironic. To Shaw, the war only demonstrated more clearly the need for human
3、 advancement on an individual and social level, to reach a level of understanding that would prevent such tragic devastationColonialism and the British EmpireIn 1914 Great Britain was very much still a colonial power, but while victory in the First World War actually increased the size of the Britis
4、h Empire, the war itself simultaneously accelerated the development of nationalism and autonomy in the provinces. In addition to providing a symbolic unity to the Empire, the long reign of Queen Victoria (18371901) also gave coherence to British society at home, through a set of values known as Vict
5、orians. Victorian values revolved around social highmindedness (a Christian sense of charity and service), domesticity (most education and entertainment occurred in the home, but children, who should be seen and not heard, were reared with a strict hand) and a confidence in the expansion of knowledg
6、e and the power of reasoned argument to change society. By the time of Victorias death1914, the year of Pygmalion and the onset of the Great War, constituted a much different kind of break, and symbolic.IndustrializationThe growth of industrialization throughout the nineteenth century had a tremendo
7、us impact on the organization of British society, which had tradition of a landed aristocracy and a more hierarchical class system pyramid of descending ranks and degrees. Allowing for the growth of a merchant middle class, industrialization changed British society into a plutocracy aristocracy of m
8、oney more than land. Social mobility, however, still did not widely extend into the lower classes, propagating a lack of opportunity reflected in Lisas anxiety over what is to happen to her following Higginss experiment. Urban poverty remained a major social problem after the turn of the century. Py
9、gmalion suggests the subjectivity of class identity, and the rapid deterioration of many premdustrial social structures, but strict class distinctions of another kind nevertheless persisted. The Rise of Women and the Working ClassesDuring the decade which produced Pygalion, the political power of th
10、e working clasms increased greatly, through massive increases in trade union membership. A new political party, Labour, came into existence in 1893, advancing an eighthour work day and other workplace reforms. Meanwhile, reforms to laws concerning suffrage, the right to vote, further brought men (an
11、d later, women) of the working class into Britains evermore participatory democracy. Only after many years of political straggle by organizations of women known as suffragettes did women achieve the right to vote: first in 1918 for women over 30 who also met a requirement of property ownership, then
12、 extended in 1928 to all women over the age of 21 (as was already the case for men). Increased political participation further prompted a shift in sex roles: British society had already noted the phenomenon of the new woman, and was to see further changes such as increasing numbers of women in the w
13、ork force, as well as reforms to divorce laws and other impacts upon domestic life.The Myth Behind the PlayAccording to the Mythology Guide online “Pygmalion saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to abhor the sex, and resolved to live unmarried. He was a sculptor, and had made with wond
14、erful skill a statue of ivory, so beautiful that no living woman could be compared to it in beauty.It was indeed the perfect sem-blance of a maiden that seemed to be alive, and only prevented from moving by modesty. His art was so perfect that it concealed itself, and its product looked like the wor
15、kmanship of nature.Anne-Louis Girodet-TriosonPygmalion et Galate, 1819 Burne-Jones, Edward “Pygmalion and the Image Series: The Soul Attains” 1878While he stands astonished and glad, though doubting, and fears he may be mistaken, again and again with a lovers ardor he touches the object of his hopes
16、. It was indeed alive! The veins when pressed yielded to the finger and then resumed their roundness. Then at last the votary of Venus found words to thank the goddess, and pressed his lips upon lips as real as his own.IntroductionPygmalion is a comedy about a phonetics expert who, as a kind of soci
17、al experiment,attempts to make a lady out of an uneducated Cockney flowergirl. Although not as intellectually complex as some of the other plays in Shaws “theatre of ideas,”Pygmalion nevertheless probes important questions about social class, humanbehavior, and relations between the sexes.summary an
18、d analysis of act iiiThe setting is the flat of Mrs. Higgms, Henrys mother. Henry bursts in with a flurry of excitement, much to the distress of his mother, who finds him lacking in social graces (she observes that her friends stop coming whenever they meet you). Henry explains that he has invited L
19、isa, taking the opportunity for an early test of his progress with Lisas speech. The Eynsford Hills, guests of Mrs. Higgms, arrive. The discussion is awkward and Henry, true to his mothers observations, does appear very uncomfortable in company.Lisa arrives and, while she speaks with perfect pronunc
20、iation and tone, she confuses the guests with many of her topics of conversation and peculiar turns of phrase. Higgins convinces the guests that these, including Lisas famous exclamation not bloody likely! are the latest trend in small talk. After all the guests (includingLisaa) have left, Mrs. Higg
21、ins challenges Henry andPickenng regarding their plans; she is shocked that they have given no thought to Lisas wellbeing, for after the conclusion of the experiment she will have no income, only the manners and habits that disqualify a fine lady from earning her own living. Henry is characteristica
22、lly flip, stating theres no good bothering now. The things done. Pickering is no more thoughtful than Higgins, and as the two men exit, Mrs. Higgins expresses her exasperation.ThemesClassGentility and MannersMarriage and ProstitutionMyths of CreationLanguageProfessionalismGender Solidarity or Antago
23、nismClass The social hierarchy is an unavoidable reality in Britain, and it is interesting to watch it play out in the work of a socialist playwright. Shaw includes members of all social classes from the lowest (Liza) to the servant class (Mrs. Pearce) to the middle class (Doolittle after his inheri
24、tance) to the genteel poor (the Eynsford Hills) to the upper class (Pickering and the Higginses). The general sense is that class structures are rigid and should not be tampered with, so the example of Lizas class mobility is most shocking. The issue of language is tied up in class quite closely; th
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Pygmalion 课文内容 分析
限制150内