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There are various Marxist themes that are inserted throughout the novel, one of which is

Marxism. The whole character of Mr. Doolittle is an embodiment of Marxism as Mr. Doolittle
repeatedly criticizes societal traditions that are simply performed because it is social convention.
Mr. Doolittle decides to reject these traditions as he is too poor to afford them and hence, society
looks down upon him. However, in the end, when Mr. Doolittle obtains a job with a stable
income, he suddenly succumbs to society's conventions and marries his longtime partner. This
change in attitude brought by the influx of money supported the Marxist theory that society
should not be ranked and rather, there should be economic equality as people simply have
"morals" because they have something to lose. This notion is inherently incorrect and Shaw may
have emphasized this to support the Marxist perspective in that economic equality will allow
every citizen to be on the same social level and will allow true morality to reveal itself as citizens
will be moral to help each other, not because they need to. In addition the faults of the upper
class is further shown through Eliza. Eliza undergoes a superficial transformation, involving her
accent, clothes, and manner, so that she is able to mingle with the upper class unnoticed. The fact
that this lower class lady is able to trick others that she is from the upper class so easily reveals
that the difference between the upper and lower class is negligible. Hence, social status is nearly
useless, which encourages the notion of Marxism. Higgins also serves as a focal point of the
faults of the upper class as he is extremely childish and rude and yet he obtains respects from
many of his peers. If Higgins were to be a lower class, many people would ignore or perhaps
despise him for his behavior. However, because he has money and the bloodline, he is admired
and tolerated. The vast amount of evidence of Marxism does not overshadow another important
literary criticism of Pygmalion.
Feminism is also a very prominent theory throughout the novel. Mrs. Pearce is a huge
testament to feminism for even though, she is a "maid" to Higgins, she can easily overpower him
as shown when she scolded him for taking Eliza in so quickly without thinking of the
consequences. This trait is also seen in Mrs. Higgins as she serves as the matriarch of the family
and further scolds Higgins during their meeting with the Eynsford-Hills. Eliza is further support
for feminism as she undergoes a huge transformation during the narrative. However, along the
way she realizes that she traded in her independence for the mere satisfaction that she is in an
upper class. This comes to a crux the night after the ambassador's party as Higgins unconsciously
expects her to fetch his slippers for him. Eliza comes to the realization in that moment and snaps
at Higgins and Pickering for taking away her most valued possession, her freedom. As she
removes herself from Higgins' influence, she is able to find herself again and thus, she embarks
on her journey to her dream flower shop and prospers at it.
Shaw also uses the story of Pygmalion to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of a
pure logic mindset, as seen through Higgins. Higgins is a brilliant linguist and scientist but his
brute force attempt through life emanates a personality of overt frankness and rudeness. Hence,
Higgins is alone in life without a partner. In fact, his only company is Mrs. Pearce and Pickering,
the latter of which has just shown up in his life recently. This fact is further supported by the fact
that Eliza left Higgins. Eliza left Higgins because he treats everyone rudely and he does not fully
grasp the social concept of being compassionate or kind even if it may not always be easy.
Higgins only grasps the cold hard logic that he does not need to be kind as he has the skill and
money to emanate his personal power. This is a perspective that Higgins can not simply let go of.
However, he does eventually realize how much Eliza has become a part of his life as he attempts
to make up with her at Mrs. Higgins' home, but it is too little too late as Eliza has already
experienced the worst of his incorrigible attitude brought on by pure logic.

The fact that Pygmalion is able to portray all of these theories reveals how transcendent
the play is. It is able to portray various different themes through complex characters and
conflicts. There is no doubt that Pygmalion will continue to stay relevant due to its important
messages.

Annotated Bibliography
Baker, Priscilla. "Pygmalion." Multiple Critical Perspectives (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 23 May 2015.
<https://readpbn.com/pdf/Pygmalion-Multiple-Critical-Perspectives-SamplePages.pdf#>.
Baker supports the theory that Pygmalion has undertones supporting Marxism. Shaw's
criticism on the flaws of society, especially the upper class, specifically support this
theory as Shaw reveals that society is inherently flawed and artificial. This implies that
Shaw may have believed that a society without classes may have been more functional as
compared to contemporary society.
Lihua, Chen. "A Feminist Perspective to Pygmalion." Canadian Social Science 2.2 (2006): n.
pag. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/css/article/viewFile/j.css.
1923669720060202.008/258#>.
Lihua argues that Pygmalion is a narrative that Shaw created to encourage feminism. This
is clearly seen through all the female characters throughout the novel. These characters
range from strong matriarchs, such as Mrs. Higgins and Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, to wise
caretakers, mainly Mrs. Pearce, to independent young women, such as Clara and Eliza.
Eliza specifically stands out as she undergoes Higgins' treatment and she realizes that she
deserves better and she strives for her dreams and eventually achieves them by owning a
flower shop.
Morikawa, Hisashi. "Myths and Legends in Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 25
May 2015. <http://www.wakayama-nct.ac.jp/gakka/ippan/ippan-staff/morikawa/
GBS_Japan/ mythslegendsinPygmalion.pdf>.

Morikawa emphasizes that Pygmalion focuses upon Higgins' inability to connect with
other people in society. He is a brilliant detective, scientist, and linguist but due to his
unwavering attitude and demeanor, his frankness comes off as rude. Hence, no one
necessarily wants to be close to him, whether it be his mother or Mrs. Pearce. Pickering is
the sole person who can tolerate him. Even, Eliza, in the end, pushes him away as he will
never change and thus reveals the fault in a pure intellect demeanor.

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