Abstract: George Bernard Shaw, a dramatist who is good at describing and shaping female images, has paid a lot of attention to the fate of female in his dramas. Pygmalion is one of his representative works. The play mainly describes how the heroine grows up to an independent lady from a humble flower girl. Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl, tries to realize her dream by changing her utterances, appearance and manner with the experiment of a linguistic professor, but Eliza fails to match her language with her self-identity. After a series of efforts, she finally succeeds. This paper tries to analyze Eliza’s transformation from her own identity construction, intends to analyze how Eliza acquires her decent life with her awakening of self-consciousness, and arouses people’s attention to female problems, which still exists in the world. 

  Key words: Pygmalion; Eliza Doolittle; identity construction; transformation

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

  1.1 George Bernard Shaw and His Pygmalion-2

  1.2. Pygmalion in Greek Myth-2

2. The Identity Construction Process-4

  2.1 Eliza as a Poor Flower Girl-5

  2.2 Eliza as a Lady in Good Manners-6

  2.3 Eliza as an Independent Woman with Self-Esteem and Dignity-8

  2.4 Choose How She Wants to Live Her Lives-10

3. Reasons for Seeking to Change-11

  3.1. Family Background and Personal Character-12

  3.2. Typical Language Eliza Use-Cockney-14

4. The Realistic Significance of Pygmalion-15

5. Conclusion-16

References-18