Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Pygmalion: 2nd Response
The sequel is undoubtedly my favorite part of this play. While I appreciate the movie versions, I have to say that I found the Eliza and Higgins romance aspect to be unrealistic, at best, and I am extremely happy with the way Shaw explains this away in his true ending. I can also understand how frustrating it must have been for him to deal with the seemingly unalterable opinion of the public that every "romance" must absolutely end with the main characters falling for one another. This kind of staid, formulaic opinion of performance and literature is what I most abhor about the "Hollywood-izing" of popular culture. I applaud literature that goes against the formula, and Shaw not only does this, but does it well and in a way that makes sense, not simply for the sake of rebellion. You can romanticize it all you want, but all feelings aside, Higgins would make a deplorable husband. Whether or not you believe Eliza really loves Freddy, it's easy to see that her life with him would be much more emotionally stable. Granted, he might not be intellectually stimulating, and certainly not rich, Eliza was guaranteed to get all the argumentative intellectualism she wanted simply from being around Higgins, and with the promise of financial assistance from Higgins and Colonel Pickering, I think that her choosing the guy who obviously adores her is the only logical choice.
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Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI, too wrote a bit on my blog about how popular culture has (like you said) "Hollywood-ized" and the public is now expecting a happy, easily digestible ending in all their sources of entertainment. It's refreshing to read something that, in my opinion, seems more realistic to me than a sugar-coated ending.
It is interesting to note that both of the authors in which we have read this semester go against the happy and predictable romantic ending, although perhaps just a little more macabre in the case of Wuthering Heights. I never thought about how hard it must have been for Shaw to see his brilliant work butchered by Hollywood like that. I'm glad you brought it up.
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