Pygmalion

(Paperback)

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`Not bloody likely' Ever since Pygmalion opened in London in April 1914 it has proved a very controversial play, from the (then) shocking language, to arguments about its correct ending. Critical interpretations have been similarly disputatious, encompassing views of the transformation of the impoverished Eliza Doolittle by phonetics expert Henry Higgins as either a story of economic and social liberation, or an example of the perpetuation of male control and self-interest. With subsequent film and musical adaptations and many stage revivals, Pygmalion remains one of Shaw's most engaging, provocative, and accessible plays. This new edition of Pygmalion includes Shaw's definitive text, with both Preface and Sequel, and provides the most comprehensive scholarly treatment of the play to date, containing: - a substantial introduction with biographical information on Shaw - detailed discussion of the genesis and sources of the play - varying interpretations, and a lengthy international stage history. - textual notes on each page explaining language, allusions, and staging - Appendices with Shaw's discarded scenes for the play, the British Censor's 1914 report, and texts of all stage and film endings of Pygmalion.

Reviews

'Compact but comprehensive...Students and general readers will find it both accessible and enlightening, Shaw scholars will regard it as an excellent resource, and directors of future productions of Pygmalion will wish they could hire Leonard Conolly as their dramaturg.' * Shaw: The Annual Bernard Shaw Studies (September 2009) *
'The prosicuity of shaw's drama of the fortunes of the cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle continues to coruscate.' * Sam Marlowe, The Times, 19.05.10 *
'Pygmalion is not just about accents or class. It is about the battle of the sexes, of control.' * Quentin Letts, Daily Mail, 19.05.10 *
'This is Shaw's most serious and politically provocative comedy, an elegant attack on a society at war with itself.' * John Peter, Sunday Times, 23.05.10 *
'It's no great stretch of the imagination to discern that the play's ingenious arguments about poverty, accent, education and identity hold good for multicultural Britain today.' * Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph, 26.05.10 *

Author Bio

L. W. Conolly is a leading authority on Shaw. He is Literary Advisor to the Shaw Estate, Vice-President of the International Shaw Society, a Corresponding Scholar of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and the author and editor of numerous essays and books on Shaw. Professor of English Literature at Trent University in Ontario, Dr Conolly is also a Senior Member of Robinson College, Cambridge, and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.