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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. How much money does Doolittle demand from Higgins in exchange for his daughter?

2. Why can't Liza read what Higgins writes?

3. What does Higgins say when he finds that Liza is not married?

4. What surprises Mrs. Pearce?

5. Which of the following describes the Gentleman (later identified as Pickering)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Freddy do at the beginning of Act 1 that shows poor manners?

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

3. Describe the Flower Girl.

4. Who are some of the most important people in England, according to Shaw? Why do you think this is so, again, according to Shaw?

5. What does Higgins think of the Flower Girl's accent? What humorous hyperbole does he use in speaking to her?

6. How are Clara and her mother different?

7. What does Higgins's housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, think about the plan? Who seems to have a more sensible view of the situation, Higgins or Mrs. Pearce?

8. Describe Higgins's laboratory. What does it reveal about his character?

9. What are three methods of phonetic shorthand that Shaw mentions in Pygmalion, and what are they used for?

10. How does Higgins feel about women?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Read the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. How is Higgins like Pygmalion? What other stories, movies, or television shows can you think of that are modeled on this same general plot? Why do you think people are fascinated by the idea of transformation or makeovers?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining the theme of manners in Pygmalion.

Part 1) Evaluate Higgins's statement from Act 5, "The secret is not having good manners or bad manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another." What does he mean by this? Do you agree with him?

Part 2) Do you think Shaw agrees with him on the subject of manners? For instance, is there something honest about the rude way Higgins behaves, and something hypocritical about the "polite" manners of other people in the play?

Part 3) Which characters in the play behave the same to everyone, and which characters treat people differently depending on the class they belong to? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the theme of language in Pygmalion. At the end of the play, Alfred Doolittle says that he expects now he's going to have to learn to speak middle-class English instead of the "proper English" he normally uses. What is ironic about his statement? Is there really one "proper" way to speak English, in your opinion? What do you think Shaw's opinion is? If everyone speaks Doolittle's low-class English, would it be just as well as if everyone speaks like duchesses?

(see the answer keys)

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