摘 要

萧伯纳（1856-1950）是英国现代杰出的现实主义剧作家之一，同时还是一个积极的社会主义者和女权主义者。他在其众多的优秀戏剧作品中批评了19世纪末20世纪初英国不公平的社会和政治状况。世纪之交的英国政治腐败，社会存在极大不公，女性地位低下，这些情况使得萧伯纳创作了一系列现实主义剧作塑造了不同于以往的女性主义形象，揭露并抨击了不公的社会现象。

本文借用女性主义叙事学的角度对《卖花女》（1912）中的主要人物形象以及人物之间的冲突进行了分析，对女主生动形象的描述的表达了萧伯纳的女权主义观点以及其对女性地位的肯定。作品中的人物形象刻画表现了新时代女性的女权主义思想，其中女性的理想和女性作为社会变革者的存在体现了萧伯纳“创造进化论”的哲学观。该戏剧中对伊丽莎和希金斯主要人物的描绘不仅体现了作者对当时社会中对女性性别误解的关注，还展示了女主作为女权主义的代表如何克服维多利亚时代价值观的限制和性别偏见等问题并最终实现了人格独立和其所追求的两性平等。

关键词：女性主义；《卖花女》；萧伯纳；性别偏见；女性观

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………...1

2. Demonstration..……………………………………………………………………………………………………2

2.1. An Introduction of the Main Characters in Pygmalion……….………………………………………2

2.2. Analysis of the Heroine in Pygmalion……….…………………………….……..…………..…3

2.2.1. The Heroine in Pygmalion…………………………………….…………………………………………3

2.2.2. Transformation of Eliza in Pygmalion………………………………………………………………3

2.3. Analysis of the Hero in Pygmalion…………………………………………………………………5

2.3.1. The Hero in Pygmalion……….……………………………………………………………………………5

2.3.2. Male Chauvinism: Higgins………....………...…………………………………...…………..........6

2.4. George Bernard Shaw’s Feminist View………………………………………………………..……..7

1. Conclusion………………………………………….………………………………………………………...........8

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………………………..............9

Bibliography………………………………………………………………….…………………………….............10

A Study of George Bernard Shaw's Feminist View Through the Analysis of the Characters in Pygmalion

1. Introduction

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is considered as one of the greatest playwrights in British theatre for his remarkable literary works both in the field of social criticism and in his efforts to promote theatrical reform. Shaw is one of the representative personages of Fabian Society, a British socialist association whose objective is to achieve gender equality. The principles of this Socialism are similar with the principles of the First-Wave Feminist movement that primarily aimed for women’s suffrage. These social and political movements share the same interest in human equality which offers more concerns on education, suitable profession, financial independence and social status of women. The movements of Feminism also evoke people’s concern on the conventional female roles influenced by Victorian values. Feminist thinkers consider that these values and conventions are worked to prevent women from pursuing freedom and equality in the patriarchal society of Victoria Era.

Female characters described in nineteenth-century literature are mostly portrayed as helpless female images dominated by male characters and these female roles are featured as old clichés as well as conventional sexual morality in Victorian. By the last decade of the century, the new women images became popular in modern literature. Many novelists and playwrights including Hardy, Ibsen, Strindberg decided to write novels and plays set in Victorian era. The female characters they created are depicted with feminism and "heroine" is different from the traditional female role because those females choose to work for living independently which challenges the existing ideas on marriage and maternity at that time. Thus, it was commonplace that the “heroine” is firmly identified by readers and reviewers as “New Women” in the works of both major and minor writers. (Cunningham, 1978:3).

Unlike other modern playwrights who criticized the unfairness in society by describing tragedy, Shaw chose to express his thought on feminist and criticism against society by describing comedy. Pygmalion is one of the most famous and popular comedy plays written by George Bernard Shaw. The title of this play is taken from the myth of Pygmalion. In this story, Pygmalion scorns all the women around him and makes a sculpture of his ideal woman. The sculpture is so beautiful that he falls in love with it and it comes to life with the help of the goodness of love. By naming the play with Pygmalion, Shaw aims for calling more attention on feminism and gender equality. As Pygmalion sculpts his ideal woman, so Higgins and Pickering build the image that Eliza is a perfect lady. These two narratives show that women don't have the same equality and independent personality as men and that how unrealistic and even unnatural the expectations of women in society are. By the end part of the play, Higgins believes that Eliza has to make choice among living with Higgins, living with her father, or marrying with a nobleman, because in the opinion of Higgins, the destiny of women is to take care of their family with relying on men.

1. Demonstration

2.1. An Introduction of the Main Characters in Pygmalion