Pygmalion Middle Class Analysis

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The sole topic of the eating habits and food in general, if discussed from the perspective of Pygmalion's middle-class gives a broad perspective of the actual life of the whole society. All things considered, the quality of food and eating manners to a large extent determine the style and the quality of life, while the stereotypes and the unconscious habits create the so-called 'big picture' of the situation in London. Therefore, in order to have a grasp of a more specified approach towards the matter, it is worth to focus firstly on the stereotypes occurring within the middle class with respect to the lower classes. The attitude is extensively limited to patronizing, with a clear barrier being built between both of the social groups. In the …show more content…

From the very beginning they are marked as the sign of pleasure connected to the general prosperity of the middle class. As said by Higgins, p. 44, Liza is being tempted by 'boxes, barrels, every day'. This already creates a vivid picture of financial well-being of the phoneticist, being contrasted with the poverty of the girl being 'tempted' by merely one chocolate. However, even though used as a incentive, showed in the perspective of the possible spoiling of the unaccustomed girl, it does also raise the other point of view on the social barrier between the classes. According to the external sources, at 1913 the five thousand women who operate London's telephone exchanges received an official warning to look out for the 'drugged candy'. While the later Higgins' behavior disproves him as a potential offender, it does still show the importance of the issue, since it was common enough to be mentioned by Shaw in his novel. Nevertheless, the approach in Pygmalion is rather limited to the connotations with the simple prosperity, or, returning to the patronizing attitude, p. 65, a means to cheer up or reward the girl during her lessons, 'What the devil are you crying for? Pickering, give her a chocolate.' Still, by means of chocolates there are introduced more vivid the in-between-classes