A Feminist Approach to Eliza’s Search for Identity in Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion从女性主义视角解读萧伯纳作品《皮格马利翁》中伊莱莎的身份探求文献综述

 2022-01-05 07:01

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文献综述

1.Introduction1.1 Research background George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an outstanding realistic dramatist in modern England and a world-famous language master, good at humor and satire. Shaw's literature began with novel creation, but his plays demonstrated his outstanding achievements. He wrote 52 plays in total and major plays included Widowers Houses (1892), Mrs. Warrens Profession（1893）, Man and Superman（1903）, Major Barbara（1905）, Heartbreak House（1919）, Saint Joan（1923）, and The Apple Cart（1929）. He was the only one to be awarded both the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 for his contributions to literature and Oscar in 1938 for his work on the film Pygmalion. Shaw advocates Ibsen's realistic drama, thinking that writing should talk about social problems, and opposes Oscar Wilde's art for art. From his literary works, we can see the different human nature, the problems of the times and his thoughts on social reform. Apart from a strong and distinct critical spirit, he has a pioneering and innovative spirit in literature and art. In support of women's rights, Shaw calls for fundamental changes in the electoral system and advocates income equality and abolition of private property. His representative play Pygmalion narrates the miserable experiences of the bottom of the society, objectively revealing the social problems of Britain in the early 20th century. Eliza is beautiful and intelligent, but she comes from a humble family. She goes to the streets every day, selling flowers to support herself. One day, Eliza's vulgar accent attracts the attention of the linguist Professor Higgins, who boasts that the flower girl can become an elegant lady after his training. Eliza feels what the professor said is an opportunity, so she takes the initiative to pay the tuition. Then the linguist and his friend bet that he will train this uneducated flower girl to be a duchess of elegant manners in the next six months. Six months later, Higgins confidently takes Eliza to a reception hosted by the Greek ambassador. Eliza performs gracefully and is mistaken for a Hungarian princess. However, when she returns home, Higgins only cares about celebrating the success of gambling with his friend. The linguist succeeds in his training experiment, but Eliza begins to resist his arrogance and domineering. She decides to be independent and seeks freedom and equality. The work was published in 1912 and immediately made a hit. It was adapted into a stage play and performed on Broadway in 1956. In 1964, Director George Chucker adapted it into the film My Fair Lady, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1964. The development of feminism in England is solid, steady and has been advancing. With the gradual loosening of humanistic shackles in Europe, the feminism movement began to sprout. The original intention of feminists was that nature, law and the creator were fair to men and women. Women had the same rights in life as men and can also pursue freedom and happiness. British feminism could be roughly divided into two stages. The feminist movement in the first stage was softer, aimed to arouse women's independent consciousness through rallies, parades and distribution of brochures, which shocked the British society as men could not believe that the angel in the house had changed so much. Although having made some progress, feminist groups had not fundamentally addressed women's demands. Therefore, women had to change their ways of seeking equality, from the relatively moderate to the more radical. Feminists in this stage adopted more radical methods, such as exerting pressure on the government by interfering with elections. The feminist movements of this period brought a lot of spiritual inspirations to British women.At the end of the 19th century, women's literature emerged in the literary world. Novels and drama introduced a number of new women to readers. Bernard Shaw insists on the equality between men and women, believing that women should be more concerned and respected by the society than men. He sympathizes with women's repressed social status and encourages them to resist the family shackles and strive for their own independence and personality development. In Pygmalion, Eliza is bound by her family at the beginning, and then earns a living by selling flowers. After meeting Higgins, she wants to change her words and deeds to get higher social status. But after the success of disguise, she finds that she loses herself and is trapped by gorgeous clothes. Finally, she gets rid of these external factors to pursue her own value and gain the real freedom. This thesis will analyze from the perspective of feminism theory the process of Eliza's identity search and the relevant reasons.1.2 Literature reviewAccording to CNKI, there are over 300 articles about Pygmalion by the end of 2020 in China. The relevant research mainly focuses on its characters and language features.Deng (2010) focuses on Elizas bewilderment and awakening. He thinks that the reason for the continuous development of her identity is her confusion about her ethical identity. Eliza eventually becomes a lady of the upper society through her hard work, and the play also embodies Shaw's proposal that society will eventually develop in a fairer direction. Xing (2017) studies Elizas personality, finding that she is a strong, brave, self-respecting woman who dares to pursue equal rights from the very beginning and represents the freshness, nature and tenacity of women at the bottom of society. As different personalities often lead people to make different choices, Eliza's identity transformation is largely determined by her independent character and inner strength. R. L. Zhang (2019) divides the characterization of the heroine into three stages: self, internalization and double self, and explores the transformation of her character under the influence of Professor Higgins. Z. H. Zhang (2018) analyzes the internal and external factors of Eliza's transformation from the perspective of Bergson's creative evolution. He believes that her active and strong demands internally result in her transformation while the external factor is her desire for the improvement of her own economic conditions. X. Zhang (2004) explores many similarities between Higgins and the mythical heroine Pygmalion: Pygmalion is obsessed with his own sculpting world and falls in love with his own work, while Higgins who is just a crazy linguist merely deems Eliza as his subject. Higgins is an extremely selfish and indifferent person, who transforms Eliza just for the sake of a bet. When he successfully disguises Eliza as a princess, he refuses to undertake the responsibility for her future life. From the perspective of psychoanalysis, Xin (2017) discusses Higgins' narcissistic tendency, which is manifested in the following aspects: showing excessive fantasy of success and honor; being self-righteous and reacting strongly to others' criticism; being self-centered and lacking sympathy and understanding.In terms of language features, M. Yu (2015) analyzes the language variance in the play, focuses on the heroine's language features, including pronunciation, intonation, choice of words and grammar, and summarizes the main features of Elizas vulgar accent as a flower girl. In H. F. Yus (2017) opinion, the artistic charm of language is fully demonstrated in Pygmalion. On the one hand, in the dialogue of characters, the author's choice of language is accurate, and the social class and personality characteristics of different characters are interpreted incisively and vividly. On the other, the use of language is ironic and humorous. According to Springer, there are over 500 articles on Pygmalion. Foreign scholars mainly pay attention to its themes and characters. From the angle of themes, Porten (2006) interprets Pygmalion from a mythological perspective, thinking that the main purpose of the play is to promote equality of educational opportunities and solve the injustice in our society. In Relevance of life force in the plays of G B Shaw: Candida and Pygmalion, Rao (2011) propounds the theory and concept of Life Force. He points out that Life Force makes Eliza think independently and helps her become a polite woman. With the help of the idea of Life Force, Bernard Shaw tries to endow women with equal rights and status.From the perspective of characters, Nienhuis (1993) proposes that had it not been for the existence of Elizas father, Alfred Doolittle, Pygmalion would not have achieved such a huge success. Through the dramatic appearance of Alfred, Shaw expresses his views on social classes. Berry (2004) analyzes the relationship between Higgins and Eliza, claiming that the division of social classes is a major obstacle to social mobility. As a teacher, Higgins shows indifference to others, women in particular, and only regards Eliza as an experimental object. As a capitalist, Higgins is willing to teach Eliza only because he makes a bet with Colonel Pickering who will pay for everything. Thadani (2016) believes that Higgins lacks passion for life. No matter what changes have taken place in Eliza's appearance, language or behaviors, Higgins merely regards her as a low-class flower girl. This causes Eliza to resist his indifference under the drive of life force. Scholars at home and abroad have made great contributions to the analysis of Pygmalion. However, most of the previous studies focus on character analysis and language features, some attributing the transformation of Eliza's identity to the social environment and her self-reliance. Little attention has been paid to the reasons for her identity exploration from the perspective of feminism. Furthermore, most studies ignore Eliza's further awakening of female consciousness in her search for identity. Therefore, this paper intends to interpret Eliza's search for her identity from the perspective of feminism and explore its significance. 1.3 Need of the studyThe study has practical value. The constant transformation of Elizas identity in Pygmalion shows that the development of female consciousness is a continuous process, during which she inevitably encounters challenges. Her pursuit for independence and freedom can inspire todays women to quest for self-identity. It can also provide a new perspective for the study of Pygmalion. Previously, scholars have used some theories to analyze the transformation of Elizas identity. However, the materials the author of this thesis has collected show that no study has been conducted on Eliza's search for identity from the perspective of feminism. This study can contribute to readers further understanding of Shaw's skilled characterization of Eliza.2.The theory of Feminism2.1Definition and developmentThe word feminism first appeared in France, and then spread to European countries. Feminism is intended to support the legal equality and political rights of men and women. With the awakening of the self-awareness of female groups, its definition is also divergent. In a broad sense, feminism is a social theory and political movement, whose goal is to eliminate all forms of oppression of women. In a narrow sense, feminism is a methodology to analyze problems from a gender perspective.Generally speaking, the history of feminism is divided into three waves. The first wave of feminism (around 1850s-1900s) is characterized by clear goals: Women demand the same economic and political rights as men. The second wave (between the 1900s and the 1960s) is the most important part for the development of western feminism. Feminists find that although the struggle for equality in the political and economic fields achieved obvious success, the unequal status of women in social life had not been fundamentally improved. During the third wave (also called post-structuralist feminism), feminism is further developed. Feminists believe that women are oppressed because of their class, race and culture.2.2Different schoolsIn the development of feminism, the collision of different ideas has also formed a variety of different schools: liberal feminism, radical feminism, socialist feminism, ecological feminism, cultural feminism, postmodern feminism, etc. But the common goal of these schools is to fight for women's legal rights and status. In view of using the feminism theory as the theoretical framework of this thesis, liberal feminism, radical feminism and social feminism will be reviewed in detail.The theoretical basis of liberal feminism is didacticism. It attaches great importance to justice and equal opportunities, opposed to emphasizing gender differences. The main representative are Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir. In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft (1995) criticizes Rousseau's view of women, believing that the moral standards of both sexes are the same, and both can make rational choices about morality. She approves that men and women are equal, and the inequality between them results from women's lack of education. In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir claims that One is not born a woman, but becomes one (2011: 225). She analyzes the gender domination of a patriarchal society from the perspective of existentialism, and criticizes traditional philosophy's view on determining the subject in opposition. The reason why women remain silent is that they have never existed as a whole, for being scattered in different spaces and divided by different classes, races and cultures. After hearing what Higgins said in the street, Eliza longs to become a lady in a flower shop by changing her accent. This idea of trying to improve her life through education coincides with the ideas of liberal feminism.Radical feminism advocates that individual issues are politics-oriented, with women being the oppressed class. Radical feminists believe that the way to eliminate social inequality is to break the division of gender roles. Milletts Sexual politics is a representative work of this school. Millett (1973) starts with gender differences and uses deconstruction to ensure the importance of rereading the text and re-recognizing gender identity in the reproduction of female images, thereby breaking the previous man-centered creation and the standard of criticism. She analyzes the works from the perspective of women's unique life experiences, aesthetic ideas and criticism, and constructs a feminist way of interpretation and criticism. In the patriarchal society, Eliza is driven out of the house by her stepmother, but she does not lose herself. Instead, she chooses to make a living by selling flowers and achieves economic independence, which breaks the rigid role division that women can only stay at home rather than take part in the division of labor in the society and is therefore consistent with the gender roles radical feminism aims to break.Socialist feminism is deeply influenced by Marxism, but its purpose is to integrate the ideas of feminism with various other schools. Socialist feminism emphasizes that the oppression of women stems from the capitalist patriarchy, which is a joint force of system and gender. In Women: the longest revolution, Mitchell (1966) proposes that the basis of discrimination is education. If women want to enjoy equal social and family status with men, to obtain the right to education, knowledge and skills are assets that can help them find their own value. This paper will combine the ideas of liberal feminism, radical feminism and socialist feminism to analyze the reasons why Eliza is determined to seek her own identity.2.3Feminism and identityIdentity refers to one's origin, status, or qualification, and is also one's self-awareness. Identity can not only bring us a sense of belonging but also help us find our own value and significance. With the development of society and the emancipation of the mind, women fight for more rights by clarifying their own identity.The fundamental driving force for the development of feminism has always been womens pursuit of their own freedom. The key to this problem lies in how womens identities are determined, how women find their own value and how to get rid of the shackles of society.In the beginning, women were confined to the family and lacked communication with the outside world, especially married women who were not legally recognized as having independent personalities and identities. With the development of the Industrial Revolution, women began to participate in the division of labor in the society and broke the boundaries of the division of labor between the sexes in society. Obtaining independent sources of income helped them discover their own value. But with the development of the times, feminists found that economic independence alone could not change womens social status, so they fought for the right of receiving education because education could improve their minds and cultivate their abilities. After receiving education, womens demands for rights and the concept of independence and equality became clearer. The education right was an issue of great concern for feminists in the nineteenth century. Later, feminists set up a brand-new image, called the new woman. New women had independent pursuit and strong will. They believed that each woman was free enough to strive for individual equal rights and interests. New women tried their best to optimize their status in the family and society. They realized that as attributes of men and women were naturally distributed, women must face these physiological characteristics and conform to the laws of nature. Both men and women were the driving force for social development.Womens search for their own identity has been developed with the progress of society, reflecting the enrichment of society and humanistic care. With her identity changing from a flower girl to new woman, Eliza finally wins independence and gets freedom, which is reflective of the early 20th-century women's constant search for their own identity and desire to get rid of the attribute of being regarded as accessories. What Eliza does can have a definitely enlightening effect on modern women.ReferencesBeauvoir, S. (2011). The second sex. NY: Vintage Books.Berry, P. (2004). Teachers, capitalists, and class in Pygmalion and The millionairess. Independent Shavian, (4), 51-59.Millett, K. (1970). Sexual politics. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. Mitchell, J. (1966). The longest revolution. New left review, (4), 11-37.Nienhuis, T. (1993). George Bernard Shaw. In F. N. Magill (Ed.), Masterplots II: Juvenile young adult biography series. London: Salem Press. Porten, L. (2006). The metamorphosis of commodities in Shaws Pygmalion. A journal of feminist cultural studies, (3), 69-86.Rao, A. S. (2011). Relevance of life force in the plays of G. B. Shaw: Candida and Pygmalion. IUP journal of English studies, (6), 168-174. Thadani, D. (2016). Eliza-Higgins relationship in Pygmalion. An international journal of English studies, (2), 238-255.Shaw, G. B. (2007). Pygmalion: a romance in five acts. London: Penguin Books Ltd.Shaw, G. B. (2012). The intelligent womans guide to socialism, capitalism, sovietism and fascism. London: Alma Classics.Waddell, M. (2010). Psychoanalysis and feminism. British journal of psychotherapy, (1), 81-84.Weintraub, R. (2006). 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