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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What city is the setting of Shaw's play?

2. At which university does Sweet teach?

3. What happened to Liza's parents?

4. What is one of Shaw's purposes in writing this play?

5. What does Higgins say about women?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is the note-taker, and what is he actually doing?

2. What should all great art be, according to Shaw? Do you agree? What does Shaw hope his play will teach?

3. Who are Alexander Melville Bell, Alexander J. Ellis, Tito Pagliardini, and Henry Sweet, and why are they heroes to Shaw?

4. What does Higgins boast that he can do for the Flower Girl?

5. What bet does Pickering make with Higgins? Why does Higgins accept?

6. What does Higgins do for the Flower Girl? What prompts him to do so? What does this act suggest about Higgins?

7. Why does the Flower Girl become upset at the note-taker? What is she most likely afraid of?

8. What makes some English people despise others? What can we infer would solve this problem?

9. How does Higgins feel about women?

10. Why does Liza's father come to see Higgins?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about symbolism in the play.

Part 1) One of Liza's treasured possessions is a birdcage. Consider what a birdcage symbolizes in Liza's life. For instance, what imprisons Liza, and when does she ultimately become free? Examine in particular her conversations with Higgins in Acts 4 and 5.

Part 2) Higgins has a dish of chocolates on the piano. In Act 4, Liza puts her ring into the dish. Why does she do this? What do the chocolates and the ring symbolize for Liza?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay describing the transformation of Liza Doolittle from common flower girl to lady.

Part 1) In what specific ways does she change, and why? Are the changes mostly superficial or deep changes?

Part 2) Consider Liza's statement at the end of the ambassador's party: "nothing can make me the same as these people." Is she now really transformed into a duchess? Why, or why not?

Part 3) When and how does Liza truly come into her own as a woman? What does she realize about herself at that point in the play?

Part 4) Does Liza's process of transformation have to do with the way she speaks, or does it have more to do with the way she views herself? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the theme of morality in Pygmalion.

Part 1) "I'm a good girl, I am," Liza repeats in Act 2 when Higgins tempts her with chocolates, clothes, and money. Later, in Act 3, she tells Higgins, "I sold flowers. I didnt sell myself. Now youve made a lady of me I'm not fit to sell anything else." What does she mean by these statements? What do the statements reveal about Liza's morals?

Part 2) Explain the irony in Liza's statement in Act 3. What does it say about the relative morality of low-class flower girls and high-class ladies?

Part 3) What does it say about the morality of upper and lower classes in general?

(see the answer keys)

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