Pygmalion & Other Plays

Pygmalion follows Henry Higgins, an arrogant phonetics professor, who deludes himself into believing he can pass off a Cockney florist as a duchess merely by transforming her speech, a pointed examination of accents and social performance of identity. Comparatively, Major Barbara is sharper and unsettling – a Major in the Salvation Army is confronted with personal evils that conflict with heridealism, painting a poignant portrait of the tussle between one’s religious conscience and the brutal realities of capitalism. Finally, Androcles and the Lion – partly meant as a challenge to J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, which Shaw felt went over children’s heads and appealed more to adults – is his rendition of the ancient folktale. In it, Shaw examines blind religious devotion in contrast to conscious defiance thereof, with courage lying at the heart of the play’s moral inquiry.