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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Liza want to do after her bath?

2. How does Higgins make his money?

3. What does Shaw try to do for Sweet?

4. Of what does Mrs. Pearce warn Higgins?

5. What does Higgins say about women?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Liza likely mean when she says "I'm a good girl, I am"? Why does she say this?

2. Describe Higgins.

3. Why does the English language need to be reformed, according to Shaw?

4. Why, according to Shaw, is it important that people be trained scientifically to lose their accents, rather than simply learning by imitation?

5. What are three methods of phonetic shorthand that Shaw mentions in Pygmalion, and what are they used for?

6. What does Higgins think of the Flower Girl's accent? What humorous hyperbole does he use in speaking to her?

7. Why are shorthand methods inadequate for ordinary use?

8. Who are some of the most important people in England, according to Shaw? Why do you think this is so, again, according to Shaw?

9. What should all great art be, according to Shaw? Do you agree? What does Shaw hope his play will teach?

10. How does Higgins feel about women?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the character of Clara and her transformation in the play.

Part 1) How does Clara change in the course of the play, and why?

Part 2) How does Shaw satirize various foibles of society through Clara (for instance, snobbery and fads among young people)?

Part 3) How are we meant to view Clara? Is she a sympathetic figure, a ridiculous figure, or some mixture of both?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining the message about classism in the play.

Part 1) What does the play Pygmalion suggest about the relationships between the classes in England at the time of its writting (1916)?

Part 2) Which social classes are represented in the play, and how are they depicted?

Part 3) What makes Neppomuck, the ambassador, and others believe that Liza must be a princess, and what does that say about the artificiality of class distinctions?

Part 4) Who, according to the play, is a real lady, and who is a real gentleman? What makes a person a lady or a gentleman?

Part 5) What do you think Shaw ultimately wants to say about class divisions in society?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the theme of nature versus nurture in the play Pygmalion.

Part 1) Henry Higgins transformsd Liza Doolittle. Does he really change her essential nature, or only the superficial aspects? Explain.

Part 2) Consider Pickering's statement, after the ambassador's party, that "Eliza was doing it so well. You see, lots of the real people cant do it at all: theyre such fools that they think style comes by nature to people in their position; and so they never learn." What does this say about Liza's natural sense of style?

Part 3) Consider how Liza was raised (reread Act 2 for her father's comments about how he raised her). Did Doolittle's nurture (or rather, lack of nurture) harm Liza? Is he to be blamed or credited for the way she is now?

Part 4) While Higgins changes Liza, is she able to do the same with him? Why, or why not?

Part 5) Consider this statement from Higgins: "I cant change my nature." Is this true? Can anyone really ever change his or her nature, or are all changes only superficial? Explain, using examples from the play.

(see the answer keys)

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