Abstract

 George Bernard Shaw, a famous British dramatist, composes one of his representative plays, Pygmalion, referring to the elements of Greek mythology. Different from the original myth, the play reveals Shaw’s exploration of female self-creation, through which a new woman image, who is rebellious and calls for independence and equality, is brought to light. Besides, this play serves as an embodiment of heroine’s intense awareness of women’s rights. Up to now, there have been many academic discussions on it from different perspectives. This paper aims to analyze the heroine, Eliza Doolittle, in the light of feminism. This thesis examines the process of her external change(language, clothing, behaviour) and internal awakening，and at the same time, explores the reasons of her self-awareness from the perspective of family background, individual character as well as the social factor. Thus, this paper will promote our deep probe into the process of female arousal of self-consciousness and provide the evidence for the research and introspection of modern woman’s social status and their living conditions.

Key words: Pygmalion, feminism, transformation and awakening

摘  要

英国著名的戏剧作家萧伯纳，撷取希腊神话的元素，创作了其代表作之一《皮革马利翁》。剧本以不同于原神话的创新，展现了作者对女性自我塑造进行的探索，创作出一个勇于反抗、追求独立，平等的全新的女性形象，体现了女主人公强烈的女性意识。迄今为止，许多学者都从不同的角度对这部戏剧进行了探讨。本文则从女性主义视角出发，以女主人公伊莉莎为研究对象，从外在的蜕变（语言、穿着、行为）和内在心灵的觉醒两个方面入手分析其转变的过程，同时从家庭、个人、社会三个角度，审视其女性意识觉醒的原因。这有利于我们更好的去探索女性自我意识觉醒的历史发展过程，为现代女性的社会角色以及生存状况的研究和反思提供依据。

关键词：皮革马利翁 女性主义 转变与觉醒

Chapter One  Introduction
1.1 A brief introduction to Shaw and Pygmalion
George Bernard Shaw, an Irish dramatist and literary critic, is considered as a leading figure in the 20th century theatre. In terms of his dramatic accomplishments, he ranked just behind William Shakespeare. During his 60 years’ writing career, Shaw composed 5 novels, 52 plays, and a large number of literature reviews and letters. He is the only person who has been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature and an Oscar, for his contributions on literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion, respectively. In a word, he played a significant role in both the revival of English theater of the late 19th century and the development of western modern culture.