The Protagonist's Struggle for Emancipation in G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion: A Critical Theory Approach
| Main Author: | Yugianingrum, - |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article PeerReviewed Book |
| Terbitan: |
Faculty of Letter Maranatha Christian University
, 2006
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://repository.maranatha.edu/1332/1/The%20Protagonists%20Struggle%20for%20Emancipation.pdf http://repository.maranatha.edu/1332/ |
Daftar Isi:
- This article presents a discussion on the protagonist's struggle for emancipation in G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion. The discussion uses an approach based on Critical Theory, which aims at emancipation and enlightment and is addressed to the members of disadvantaged and oppressed groups (Geuss, 1982: 55, 86). The protagonist is a flower girl who wants to be a flower shop lady but she thinks she is unable to realize her wish because of her bad language. Her struggle starts when she takes speech lessons from a professor of phonetics who boasts that he can transform her into a duchess by teaching her speech lessons. When she has finished the lessons and passed a test in an embassy party, she is diappointed to find that she has not really been transformed into a duchess. Not all people are willing to accept her as a duches since her good achievements have been valued differently by different people. The discussion is to show how a philosophical theory can help readers understand a literary work better and how a literary work can help readers understand a philosophical theory better.