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Jacques
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 10:49AM)
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rated it 4 stars
Dec 19, 2006 10:30AM
The story of Pygmalion is one of my favorites from antiquity. What was your paper about?
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Jacques...does the late 1800s constitute antiquity? :) Its been a while, but I think I wrote a paper about how Shaw uses dialects to differentiate between classes and I compared the play with the language in The Taming of the Shrew (??? I'm actually not sure which play it was now this was 7 years ago, it also might have been Othello). Shakespeare also does an amazing job of illustrating class through his writing. If you look at some of the grammar in his work and also at his use of Anglo-Saxon words versus Latinate language, you'll notice that Shakespeare also conveys class distinctions simply through grammar and word choice. Kind of cool really, especially if you an ex-English major!!!
No, you're right, 1800s isn't quite "antiquity", but Shaw borrowed the plot from the story in Ovid ("Metamorphoses", published around 8 AD) of the artist Pygmalion who falls in love with his sculpture, and brings it to life.Sounds like a fun project! You know, it's amazing to compare Shaw with someone like Synge (whom I've been reading recently), a comtemporary Irish playwright who really captures the turn-of-the-century lower class vernacular.
Ahh you nailed me there. Neat to think that Ovid started it all. Nothing is new anymore! I'll have to try Synge...
