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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. Who is Henry Sweet?

2. For how long will Liza stay with Higgins as his pupil?

3. Which of the following first interests Higgins about Liza?

4. Which of the following does NOT describe the Flower Girl's appearance?

5. What can Higgins guess about people?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does Higgins feel about women?

5. Why does the English language need to be reformed, according to Shaw?

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

7. What does Liza likely mean when she says "I'm a good girl, I am"? Why does she say this?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the theme of nature versus nurture in the play Pygmalion.

Part 1) Henry Higgins transformsd Liza Doolittle. Does he really change her essential nature, or only the superficial aspects? Explain.

Part 2) Consider Pickering's statement, after the ambassador's party, that "Eliza was doing it so well. You see, lots of the real people cant do it at all: theyre such fools that they think style comes by nature to people in their position; and so they never learn." What does this say about Liza's natural sense of style?

Part 3) Consider how Liza was raised (reread Act 2 for her father's comments about how he raised her). Did Doolittle's nurture (or rather, lack of nurture) harm Liza? Is he to be blamed or credited for the way she is now?

Part 4) While Higgins changes Liza, is she able to do the same with him? Why, or why not?

Part 5) Consider this statement from Higgins: "I cant change my nature." Is this true? Can anyone really ever change his or her nature, or are all changes only superficial? Explain, using examples from the play.

Essay Topic 2

Critics of Shaw often comment that the servants in his plays have better sense than their masters. Write an essay in which you examine the role of Mrs. Pearce in the play, looking in particular at the way she argues with Higgins in Act 2 over what should be done with Liza. Does Mrs. Pearce have better sense than Higgins? Explain, using examples from the play.

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?

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