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Pygmalion (Penguin Classics) Paperback – February 4, 2003

by George Bernard Shaw (Author), Dan H. Laurence (Editor), Nicholas Grene (Introduction)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,088 ratings
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Exclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of Shaw’s brilliantly witty exposure of the British class system—part of the official Bernard Shaw Library

A Penguin Classic

Shaw wrote the part of Eliza Doolittle—“an east-end dona with an apron and three orange and red ostrich feathers”—for Mrs. Patrick Campbell, with whom he had a passionate but unconsummated affair. From the outset the play was a sensational success, although Shaw, irritated by its popularity at the expense of his artistic intentions, dismissed it as a potboiler. The Pygmalion of legend falls in love with his perfect female statue and persuades Venus to bring her to life so that he can marry her. But Shaw radically reworks Ovid’s tale to give it a feminist slant: while Higgins teaches Eliza to speak and act like a duchess, she also asserts her independence, adamantly refusing to be his creation.

This Penguin Classics edition is the definitive text produced under the editorial supervision of Dan H. Laurence, with an illuminating introduction by Nicholas Grene, discussing the language and politics of the play. Included in this volume is Shaw’s preface, as well as his “sequel” written for the first publication in 1916, to rebut public demand for a more conventionally romantic ending.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Classics
  4. Publication date
    February 4, 2003
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    7.72 x 5.04 x 0.35 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0141439505
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0141439501
  9. Lexile measure
    NP0L
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

“[Shaw] did his best in redressing the fateful unbalance between truth and reality, in lifting mankind to a higher rung of social maturity. He often pointed a scornful finger at human frailty, but his jests were never at the expense of humanity.”—Thomas Mann
 
“Shaw will not allow complacency; he hates second-hand opinions; he attacks fashion; he continually challenges and unsettles, questioning and provoking us even when he is making us laugh. And he is still at it. No cliché or truism of contemporary life is safe from him.” —Michael Holroyd
 
“In his works Shaw left us his mind. . . . Today we have no Shavian wizard to awaken us with clarity and paradox, and the loss to our national intelligence is immense.” —The Sunday Times
 
“He was a Tolstoy with jokes, a modern Dr. Johnson, a universal genius who on his own modest reckoning put even Shakespeare in the shade.” —The Independent
 
“His plays were superb exercises in high-level argument on every issue under the sun, from feminism and God, to war and eternity, but they were also hits—and still are.”—The Daily Mail

About the Author

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) is one of the world’s greatest literary figures. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he left school at fourteen and in 1876 went to London, where he began his literary career with a series of unsuccessful novels. In 1884 he became a founder of the Fabian Society, the famous British socialist organization. After becoming a reviewer and drama critic, he published a study of the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen in 1891 and became determined to create plays as he felt Ibsen did: to shake audiences out of their moral complacency and to attack social problems. However, Shaw was an irrepressible wit, and his plays are as entertaining as they are socially provocative. Basically shy, Shaw created a public persona for himself: G.B.S., a bearded eccentric, crusading social critic, antivivisectionist, language reformer, strict vegetarian, and renowned public speaker. The author of fifty-three plays, hundreds of essays, reviews, and letters, and several books, Shaw is best known for Widowers’ Houses, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Arms and the Man, Caesar and Cleopatra, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, and Saint Joan. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.

Nicholas Grene (introducer) was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and the University of Cambridge. He is now a professor of English literature at Trinity College, as well as a senior fellow. His books include Synge: A Critical Study of the Plays, Bernard Shaw: A Critical View, and The Politics of Irish Drama.

Dan H. Laurence (series editor; 1920–2008) was series editor for the works of George Bernard Shaw in Penguin. Formerly a New York University faculty member, Mr. Laurence left his tenured position in 1970 to dedicated his life to the collection and curation of Shaw's life, work, and letters. He served as the official literary advisor to Shaw's estate and published four volumes of his correspondence.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; Revised edition (February 4, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141439505
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141439501
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ NP0L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.87 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.72 x 5.04 x 0.35 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,088 ratings

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  1. Arthur Atwood

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Top reviews from the United States

Reinold F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Could be love, could be need and craving. (AmazonClassics edition)
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2019
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As an sculptor Higgins works the language and social skills of Eliza, a humble flower girl donned with innate talents. Amazing as Higgins is as a professional he is quite flawed as a social or romantic man. This social clumsiness is bittersweet as makes quite funny parts in the story, but sadly means too that he is not aware of his mistreatment towards his master work. There are no learned lessons: this play, as life, simply happens.

If you like U.K. literature (my favorite period is the 19th century) Pygmalion should be in your list to enjoy. Maybe one of the last original examples of the literature from that fantastic country. The more you advance in time, according to the books I've read, the more you see a rather passive literature, one that waits to see what is done in U.S., or creating but for a U.S. audience. In 19th century literature you can feel London as the center of a vast world empire, in Pygmalion you feel London as a neighborhood, but it has to me the same degree of enjoyment and originality as the period I love more in the U.K. literature history.

About the AmazonClassics edition is maybe the best edition possible for kindle if you want to enjoy for first time the reading of Pygmalion, or if you are a purist that want to experiment a book without the intrusions of scholars. The only addition is a short biography put, in good taste, at the end of the book. The format is clean, the typography is modern, there are not detectable mistakes, and all AmazonClassics edition have X-Ray, what makes them helpful to check mentions of characters and cultural details that are not that evident in our modern world. So highly recommended edition : )
4 people found this helpful
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Jazminnlee Llamido
4.0 out of 5 stars Good and quick read
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2018
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Great classic!
Was an easy read as it was a play so there was little struggle with the language of the time, although Eliza's initial dialect proved challenging to understand, however I found reading it aloud helped decipher what she was saying. Fabulous descriptions of the set from Shaw allowing a reader to really captivate the reality of the location and draw up a setting and acting as a great baseline for directors and set designers. Simple but interesting storyline. Short book and a great quick read!
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Lara Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Eliza shines here vs My Fair Lady
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2018
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** Spoilers***
I don't often write reviews with spoilers, but I can't really explain why I like this book so much without talking about the ending. As with many of my reviews of classics, I find that I must review this book in comparison with the movie that I had seen first. The musical "My Fair Lady" is based off of this play to the point that many scenes are even word-for-word. The differences between the musical and this book, though, is huge in my opinion.

The story for both "Pygmalion" and "My Fair Lady" is about both Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. Professor Higgins is a linguist who forms a bet with Pickering to covert Eliza from a poor flower girl to a duchess just by cleaning her speech.

The musical really focuses on the character development of Professor Higgins. Eliza tries to exert her independence, but she ends up coming back to Higgins like an abused wife comes back to a pouty abusive husband. The costumes and music are so beautiful that we try to believe that Higgins is actually in love with Eliza even though there is absolutely no proof of it. I thought the actors were great in this movie, but I found the story disturbing. The lesson was very male-centric and Eliza's independence meant nothing in the end. She came back to fetch his slippers. Nothing changed for her.

From the moment "Pygmalion" was written reader tried to create this sort of love sort between Eliza and Higgins. This caused Mr. Shaw to write a long epilogue explain why a romantic ending such as this was impossible. I completely agree with Mr. Shaw in this.

"My Fair Lady," portrays inconsistent characters and demeans women. "Pygmalion" is much more consistent and, for a book written by a man, one of the best depictions of women I have ever read.

In "Pygmalion," Eliza is actually the focus. Higgins thinks of himself as the perfect Victorian gentleman who is creating a piece of art like in the Greek story of Pygmalion. What we learn in the end, though, is that Eliza was always a person of value even before Higgins came around. Eliza learned to be a lady from Pickering because he treated her like a lady from the beginning. Higgins treated Eliza horribly from the beginning and never stopped. It wasn't Eliza's speech that made her a lady, because we find out she had a fantastic ear for both speech and music, instead, it was actually how she was treated that matters. Higgins never learns this. His horrible manners and rudeness separate him from good society, while Eliza shines wherever she goes. With all the characters of this story, from Freddy to Eliza's father, we learn that there is very little difference between high society and they gutter other than money.

Eliza in the end of "Pygmalion" chooses to marry Freddy who loves her. This is as it should be. When being loved and appreciated is so important to Eliza, why would she choose to go back to the horrible treatment of Higgins? Freddy and she open a flower shop with the help of Pickering. Eliza does stay close to Higgins as she does her own awful father, but she has learned self-respect. Once a person learns to value themselves, they can't allow another person to take that away.

I know many people who think that this ending is a shame. They like Higgin's bullying ways. I find these are the same people who read romance novels in which male character rapes the female character under the name of "romantic". Even though I like James Bond novels, I most certainly do not agree with his horrible treatment of women. I can like Higgins for who he is, but I am very grateful he chooses to stay a bachelor.

Eliza's character has learned to rise up and make her own choices. This isn't a Cinderella story as so many people want it to be. Eliza's soul is still the same. She is a survivor and a fighter. It takes a very strong woman to stand up to a man like Higgins who can twist and turn words to get his way. She is what a woman should be and even gets the support of Higgin's mother in her battle for independence. Mr. Shaw understood well what a woman wants and values. Eliza doesn't try to become a man to fight back. She just fights back.

This review may have ruined "My Fair Lady" for you, but I find I can still enjoy the music and costumes just fine. After reading this book, I can even watch the musical with the satisfaction that Eliza doesn't stay in that abusive situation for long. I honestly can enjoy the movie more now after having read the book. Higgins is not Pygmalion even though he wanted to be. Eliza instead is able to show that she always was alive and had value from the very beginning. This is as it should be.

I recommend this book to young adults and older. I wish, especially, that women would read this and learn to expect more from their relationships. I wish that woman would look at this portrait of a strong female character and see that you don't have to marry the bully just because you can care about him. Love is more than compassion. I wish that woman would stop writing "romantic" novel based off of abusive relationships. Mr. Shaw is a man who understood women better than many women understand women.

One line from "My Fair Lady" that you will never read in "Pygmalion" is "why can't a woman be more like a man?" In many ways, Mr. Shaw actually asks Higgins "why can't you humble yourself enough to learn from Eliza?"
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Quentin Cole
5.0 out of 5 stars Works perfectly
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2024
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I use push button locks everywhere. I used to buy schlegs only, but of the 8 schleg locks I've bought, four of them have failed within a couple of years. This lock seems to work just as well and it's 1/4 th
the price
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fra7299
3.0 out of 5 stars Some charm, but I think it is slightly dated.
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2020
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George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, a social commentary and comedy about the transformation of a poor flower girl (Liza Doolittle) has been presented on stage and screen in various ways since its first publication. The title is in reference to the Greek legend of Pygmalion, a sculptor who literally fell in love with his creation. In Shaw’s play, it is Henry Higgins, a professor in phonetics, who tries to literally sculp Liza into the proper lady.

For some reason, I had a hard time getting invested in this one, and I think it stemmed from the characters and the dialogue. The characters were not very redeeming or sympathetic to me, and it was hard to identify with or care about any of them. I think this is because the dialogue is a bit scattered and flat; it seems like the character exchanges had a little too much cantankerous and obnoxious banter back and forth. In another sense, this play seems like it really has not aged well, and is a tad dated. So, while I can see how some people might find some charm in this satire, I did not find it particularly compelling.

I think that seeing this on stage or on film might actually be a more engaging experience than reading it because I think that those who perform it could give their own take or interpretation to Shaw’s dialogue. I can see how Shaw’s play would be a big hit on stage and would have big production value.

At any rate, I am glad I finally read it, but over all a so-so reading experience with this one.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jaime A.
5.0 out of 5 stars Ok
Reviewed in Spain on October 16, 2023
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Ok
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stuart mead
5.0 out of 5 stars As expected
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2023
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Enjoyably reading
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Chiara Addis
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro scolastico
Reviewed in Italy on September 24, 2023
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Comprato quando andavo al liceo, arrivato in condizioni ottime. Consigliato per chi studia lingue e letteratura.
Approvato e consigliato!
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Bianca
5.0 out of 5 stars Challenge accepted!
Reviewed in Brazil on March 8, 2021
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É a coisinha mais linda e tem uma linguagem muito coloquial na língua inglesa que vai ser desafiado, mas eu amei demais!!!!
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Didi-Morgan
5.0 out of 5 stars Tellement drôle !
Reviewed in France on February 25, 2020
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Le colis est arrivé dans les temps et en bon état.
Cette pièce de Bernard Shaw est un vrai chef-d'oeuvre, très facile à lire : l'histoire est vivifiante, la pièce est juste trop drôle, les personnages sont merveilleux... une lecture à la fois détendante et enrichissante ! L'adaptation de la pièce en film, dans My Fair Lady avec Audrey Hepburn, rend compte de manière très intelligente de toutes ces caractéristiques de la pièce. Engagée et drôle à la fois, c'est un mélange explosif par un écrivain génial !
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