Abstract

Pygmalion, the famous play written by George Bernard Shaw, mainly tells a story about how a cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, is transformed into a spiritually independent woman with self-respect. This thesis aims to analyze the major dramatic conflicts, which include inner conflicts of Eliza, relational conflicts between Eliza and other characters, societal conflicts between Eliza and different social groups, and situational conflicts, leading to Eliza Doolittle’s pursuit of self-identity. The final conclusion is that the combined influences of these different kinds of dramatic conflicts incite the awakening of Eliza Doolittle’s self-awareness and her brave pursuit of self-identity.

Key words: Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle, dramatic conflicts, self-identity

摘 要

    乔治•萧伯纳的著名戏剧《皮格马利翁》主要讲述了女主人公伊莉莎•杜立特尔如何从一个卖花女转变为内心真正独立的女性的过程。本论文旨在分析促使伊莉莎勇于追求个人身份的各种戏剧冲突，包括伊莉莎这个角色内在的冲突，伊莉莎与其他角色的冲突，伊莉莎作为个人与各种社会群体之间的冲突以及特定场景下的冲突。最终得出结论：正是多种多样的戏剧冲突的综合作用才导致了伊莉莎•杜立特尔的自我意识逐渐觉醒，并开始勇于追求其个人身份。

关键词：《皮格马利翁》；伊莉莎•杜立特尔；戏剧冲突；个人身份
 
1. Introduction:
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is an outstanding Irish realistic dramatist, literary critic, a socialist spokesman, and a leading figure in the 20th century English theatre. He is considered to be the greatest playwright in Britain since William Shakespeare and was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925. Shaw, as is generally known, is a champion of women’s liberation as well. He created a galaxy of strong and independent female protagonists. He wrote 51 well-known plays, and his drama has been generally acknowledged as the mainstream in the 20th century English theater.
Pygmalion has been one of Bernard Shaw’s most popular plays since its original production. Not only have there been numerous stage productions of the play, but also a film made in 1938 and the overwhelmingly successful musical comedy adaptation of the 1950’s My Fair Lady gives evidence of its great vitality. Today people are probably more acquainted with Pygmalion than with any other play by Shaw. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully transform a cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a refined society lady by teaching her how to speak with an upper class accent and training her social etiquette.