‘My Aunt died of influenza, so they said… but it is my belief they done her in’.
Higgins explains away Eliza’s inappropriate remark by saying that it is the new ‘small talk’. Shortly afterwards, he gives the signal to Eliza that she should leave. When asked by Freddy if she is walking, she replies with the best remark in the play: ‘Walk! Not bloody likely. Im going in a taxi’. She departs, much to the shock of the genteel folk. The conflict in this exchange is between Eliza’s ‘perfectly elegant diction’ and the crude adjective that she uses. This example of ‘Lisson Grove lingo’ or ‘kerbstone English’, when spoken in an upper-class accent, sounds incongruous and creates uproarious laughter.
When we next catch up with Eliza, she has made a successful transformation from a ‘flower girl… as clean as she can afford to be’ to a ‘princess … in opera cloak, evening dress, diamonds, fan, flowers and all accessories’. She is at her final test, an International party at ‘an Embassy’ in London. Neppomuck, Higgins’ first student, attends, working as an interpreter:
‘I speak 32 languages... You place a man anywhere in London,
I place any man in Europe’.
The hostess of the party instructs Neppomuck to use his skills on Eliza:
‘I have found out all about her, she is a fraud’.
As Higgins thinks that he has failed and it is all over, Neppomuck reveals:
‘She is of Hungarian origin and of Royal blood. She is a Princess!’
Higgins, as is shown, has succeeded in his mission to transform Eliza’s speech from that of a ‘common flower girl’ to that of an ‘aristocrat’. Later, when Eliza asks Pickering if she had won his bet, he replies:
‘Won it my dear, you have won it 10 times over’.
This speech by Colonel Pickering makes Eliza feel successful and when, after the party, Higgins makes an entirely selfish analysis of the ‘ordeal’ through which Eliza has been going, (‘No more artificial duchesses. The whole thing has been simple purgatory’) she passes moral judgement on him (’you selfish brute’). When we see Eliza at Mrs. Higgins’ house we are shown that neither Higgins nor Pickering has any concept of mental cruelty, for they think that the way they have treated Eliza (who is ‘naturally rather affectionate’) by ignoring her and saying how glad they are that it is all over, is perfectly acceptable.
In Act Five, Eliza realises that her ‘real education’ is not in phonetics but in manners. Eliza explains how she acquired ‘self-respect’ and has ‘risen in the world’. Shaw then puts in her mouth a political speech critical of class-differences in England in 1916:
‘The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves
but how she’s treated’
This declaration brings us on to discussing Our Country’s Good and Governor Phillip.
At the heart of Governor Phillip’s educational theory is the belief that, if the convicts are treated as talented individuals, they will acquire self-respect. Arthur Phillip has been made ‘governor-in-chief’ of a penal colony in 18th century Australia. The criminals have been transported – a form of punishment at that time – on a convict ship to Australia, which was the most frequent destination. Excluding the convicts, there are several other men, of various ranks, with Phillip. Among these are Captain Watkin Tench and Judge David Collins, both of whom lack sensitivity. Phillip is a humanitarian and thinks it unnecessary to ‘cross fifteen thousand miles of ocean to erect another Tyburn’?: that is, to go to the other side of the Earth to hang people who could have been hanged in Britain. Tench, on the other hand, thinks that the convicts ‘laugh at hangings’ and it is ‘their favourite form of entertainment’. Phillip wishes to be humane and considers lashing as an alternative, but because the punishment is ‘unobserved’, Collins deems it useless for it ‘will not serve as a sharp example’: that is, it will not deter the other convicts. Tench agrees with him by saying that ‘justice and humaneness have never gone hand in hand’. When the discussion turns to plays and preferred authors, Phillip has the idea of the convicts putting on a play ‘for the good of the colony’. This is our first notion of the differences between Governor Phillip and Professor Higgins; Higgins is teaching Eliza for his own ‘good’, to improve his reputation, not for her benefit nor ‘our country’s good’. The only play they have is George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer (1706), which is a Restoration comedy.
In Act One Scene Five, Phillip asks Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark to organise the play.
He doesn’t really want to do it and to begin with is not very enthusiastic, but he is hopeful of promotion and so does it to please the Governor. He hears that a convict called Mary Brenham can read and write, so he roots her out. She is with her friend, Dabby Bryant, when he comes to talk to her. When he asks her questions to discover if she can read and write, Dabby interrupts and tells him:
‘She used to read to us on the ship. We loved it.’
This disclosure reveals Mary’s human potential; it reveals also that some convicts are sensitive to those who have been desensitised through brutal treatment. When Dabby says, ‘Mary wants to be in your play’, she is telling us that Mary wants something to look forward to, something to anticipate. When Ralph Clark starts reading some lines with her from the play, she reads the line:
‘Whilst there is life, there is hope’
This is a perfect example of a syntactically balanced ‘sentiment’. This proverbial saying comments exquisitely on their situation within the colony.
In Act One Scene Six, ‘The Authorities Discuss the Merits of the Theatre’, Major Robbie Ross shows his contempt for the play (‘we’ll all be struck with stricturing starvation – and you – you – a play!’) Ross is a reactionary figure; he adopts a hostile manner towards the idea that the convicts may be capable of ‘sentiment’ and rehabilitation. He believes that they are incorrigible, beyond redemption; he has no confidence in the redemptive power of Farquhar’s language. Ross wastes no opportunity to vituperate against the convicts (‘vice ridden vermin!’), especially the women, whom he considers lower forms of life (‘Filthy, thieving, lying whores’). He scoffs at the fact that they are allowed to perform a play of ‘fine language, sentiment’ (‘Plays!’). In the same scene as Ross’ accusations, we find that these are actually civilised men:
‘The sky of this Southern Hemisphere is full of wonders. Have you looked at the constellations?’
Astronomy seems to be a reasonably intelligent pursuit. Phillip now shows his enlightened position--
‘We are indeed here to supervise the convicts who are already being punished by their long exile. Surely they can also be reformed?’
--retorting to Ross’ statement:
‘The prisoners are here to be punished and we’re here to make sure they get punished’
Major Ross just wishes to inflict misery on the convicts. Captain Tench then accuses the convicts of recidivism (‘criminals seem to have been born that way. It is in their nature’).
He says that they are irredeemable and will revert to their old ways. On the contrary, Phillip likes to think that the convicts will
‘become members of society again, and help create a new society in this colony. Should we not encourage them now to think in a free and responsible manner?’
He believes in civic virtues and thinks that the convicts are entitled to personal, civilised enjoyment. He tries to persuade the others to see that the theatre is ‘an expression of civilisation’:
‘The convicts will be speaking a refined, literate language and expressing sentiments of a delicacy they are not used to. It will remind them there is more to life than punishment’
This is where this particular dramatic piece ceases to be a mere play and becomes a versatile vehicle of entertainment. After a heated discussion, it is agreed that the play is to go ahead and may even ‘do some good’. Collins thinks that it will prove a ‘most interesting experiment’ which is reminiscent of Higgins’ ‘experiment in teaching’ in Pygmalion.
In Act One Scene Eight, we find Liz, Mary and Dabby learning their lines. Mary is ‘teaching’ Dabby her lines and she is taking pride in learning them. When they speak the lines, they inhabit their roles: that is, they become the characters whom they are portraying, dignified members of the upper class, speaking ‘fine language’.
In Act One Scene Ten, ‘John Wisehammer and Mary Brenham exchange words’, the convicts are beginning to put Governor Phillip’s educational theory into practice, as this dialogue shows:
MARY What does indulgent mean?
WISEHAMMER How is it used?
MARY (reads) ‘You have been so careful, so indulgent to me’ –
WISEHAMMER It means ready to overlook faults.
Mary is taking joy from learning ‘fine language, sentiment’ and is refining her sensibility. In this scene, Wertenbaker has chosen well the words for Mary and Wisehammer to discuss, such as ‘lonely, loveless’, ‘abject: a man without hope’ and ‘injustice…the ugliest word in the English Language’. These words relate to both the situation and the emotions of the convicts.
In Act One Scene Eleven, ‘The First Rehearsal’, Robert Sideway uses the ‘theatrical form of address’ and calls Dabby ‘Mrs Bryant’. She responds with ‘Who’s Mrs Bryant?’ because she is not used to being called by a title. When Colonel Pickering calls Eliza ‘Miss Doolittle’ in Pygmalion, she is delighted and utters her trademark expression ‘Aw-ah-ow-oo’. This delight illustrates the redemptive and transforming effect of linguistic courtesy on her sense of self-respect. When the rehearsal starts, we witness Sideway’s self-motivation:
’No need, Mr Clark, I already know it’.
He has already learned his lines and has aspired to a higher level of achievement.
When a woman is acting, she has to get into character: 'Imagine you’re her’. Drama is socially useful; it enables us to see the world from somebody else’s point of view and assists social cohesion. Liz Morden has begun to speak the language of the play from her own mouth:
‘Thank you, Lucy, I do much appreciate your effort’
No quotation-marks indicate how Liz has begun to adapt the language of the Restoration play. Duckling Smith then complains:
‘How will they know I’m here? Why does she get all the lines? Why can’t I have some of hers?’
She is jealous. Suddenly, the convict actresses become competitive in the process of self-improvement.
In Act Two Scene Two, ‘His Excellency exhorts Ralph’, Phillip speaks of a ‘slave boy’ who is the equivalent of the ‘flower girl’ in Pygmalion. He believes in the ‘the innate qualities of human beings’. In the case of John Arscott, who has been given two hundred lashes for trying to escape, Phillip says, ‘It will take time for him to see himself as a human being again’. Governor Phillip can see that the man has been treated like an animal. He is an enlightened humanitarian. His view of Liz Morden, however, is very much to the point: ‘Lower than a slave, full of loathing, foul mouthed, desperate’. He wants her to be ‘made an example of’, but not by hanging, ‘by redemption … I am speaking of redeeming her humanity’. Ralph is sceptical of his plan, but Philip tells his lieutenant to ‘try a little kindness’. The Governor does not want to rule by tyranny, but by co-operation. He hopes that his ‘colony of wretched souls’ can be transformed into ‘responsible human beings’ by putting on a play.
In Act Two Scene Five, ‘The Second Rehearsal’, we see Liz, Sideway and Caesar begin to show signs of camaraderie when they ‘stand together’ at the edge of the stage. We see further examples of this togetherness later in the scene when the tyrannical sadists, Ross and Campbell, ritually humiliate Clark’s cast. They make Sideway show his lashing scars and Dabby go down ‘on all fours’ and behave like a dog. The worst humiliation is of Mary who has a tattoo high up on her leg. They want her to show them her tattoo. As she reluctantly lifts her skirt, the actors come to the rescue:
‘Sideway turns to Liz and starts acting boldly’.
However, Ross retorts and commands Campbell to ‘start Arscott’s punishment’. Liz carries on bravely, but loses her lines and the scene ends in silence save for the beating and Arscott’s cries.
In Act Two Scene Seven, ‘The Meaning of Plays’, John Wisehammer kisses Mary Brenham. Ralph Clark is angry and jealous because a convict has access to Mary. Wisehammer defends his kiss by passing literary judgement: ‘ It’s right for the character of Brazen’. The play has educated him. Just as when Mary says:
‘I like playing Silvia. She’s bold, she breaks the rules out of love for her captain and she is not ashamed’.
She sees a role model in Silvia, just as Arscott sees an escape from himself in playing Sergeant Kite: ‘When I speak Kite’s lines, I don’t hate anymore’. In the same scene, when Dabby asks ‘Why can’t I play Kite?’ we see her great expectations. She wants to better herself, just like Eliza, in her role as an actress, let alone as a human being. She also examines the role of Melinda (‘All she does is marry Sideway, that’s not interesting’) and in doing so persuades Dabby to look at her own identity. She has decided that she does not like Melinda because she is content to marry a man and sacrifice her identity to become a trophy wife.
In Act Two Scene Ten, ‘The Question of Liz’, we hear Phillip state that ‘the play seems to be having a miraculous effect’. He wants Liz to speak up for herself and for ‘the good of the colony’ against the allegations that she stole food from the colony stores. When she finally speaks, she becomes involved in the process of justice. It is also in this scene that Liz utters an equivalent to Eliza’s ‘How do you do?’ in Pygmalion:
‘Your Excellency, I will endeavour to speak Mr Farquhar’s lines with the
elegance and clarity their own worth commands’.
Now we can hear that the process of amelioration is complete and that the educational theory of Governor Phillip has been proved in practice. I believe that this is where Higgins went wrong, for central to any educational theory is the giving of ‘confidence’ and ‘encouragement’ which the Professor, unlike the Governor, makes no effort to give.
