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Essay / Oppression of Women in the Victorian Era: Play Pygmallion
Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw explores the theme of the oppression of women by demonstrating the poor position of women in Victorian society under the influence of oppressive men and Victorian morality. Shaw achieves this by satirizing the oppressive nature of Victorian middle-class morality and the unfair beliefs and expectations that held sway over women in society. Likewise, this poster visually represents the above themes through a collective representation of key ideas and symbolic images related to the significant ideas of the piece, to create an effective representation of the theme of women's oppression while also making explicitly reference the text. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In the play, the overall theme of oppression is expressed through the identities of the key characters, illustrated by their context, beliefs, and experiences. The oppression of women is characterized by the Victorian class distinction, represented by the different roles, morals and actions of important characters, depending on their gender and social class. As with the play, this poster represents these themes comprehensively. The birdcage, the salient image of the poster, is a key representation of oppression. In Pygmalion, the birdcage is a symbol of Eliza being trapped by her society. In Act 1, she is trapped by her social class and poverty, and in Act 4, she is trapped by Higgins. Likewise, my poster indicates this oppression of Eliza, by depicting a girl who, in representing Eliza, is physically trapped by the manipulation of a privileged upper-class man, Henry Higgins (who appears at the top left of the page ). The birdcage was used to magnify its original meaning in the play, to effectively highlight how women were oppressed by upper-class Victorian morality, with their constant entrapment by men. The vector leads from the birdcage to Higgins describes his role in Eliza's oppression. His body language shows that he has trapped Eliza beneath his superiority as an upper-class man and, as the broken stairs suggest, prohibited her from progressing toward her dreams. This theme of oppression that I represented is also shown in Act 2 of the play when Higgins and Pickering turn Eliza into a duchess, rather than a woman capable of working in a flower shop, a whole family's dream. life that Eliza clearly establishes at the beginning of the act. Additionally, Higgins' position at the top of the poster shows that he is above everyone else, symbolizing upper-class authority. This indicates that oppressive upper-class men are at the top of the Victorian social hierarchy. Likewise, his dissociation from this oppression indicates his intellectual superiority. He does not sympathize with the oppression Eliza suffers, but rather objectifies her as a tool for entertainment and education, while telling Amier Al-Azam that he "helped her become more attractive to men”. This, implying that he is "playing a game of oppression" with Eliza because he ignored her rights as a human for her pleasure. This theme is evident in Higgins' misogyny in Act 2 of the play, where he says, "the women turned everything upside down." It alludes to the concept of middle-class marriages in the Victorian era, in which women were dependent on men for financial stability. Additionally, his bond with and position above Eliza expresses the upper-class identity he has unnaturally imposed on her, emphasizing the unrealistic expectations of women oftime, its language completely redefining its identity. An idea exemplified by the compelling character of Duchess Eliza, depicted in Act 3. Additionally, through Acts 2 to 4 of the play, Higgins gives Eliza the "manners and habits which prevent a good lady from earning her own life” without the income necessary to earn a living. do so, purely for the sake of his experience, a key example of his oppressive actions and misogyny.Similarly, this key example of oppression is represented on the poster through the two discolored bodies of each side of the woman in the birdcage. This image indicates that Eliza is stuck between two identities – middle class and lower class – depriving her of her independence. As the included quote shows, Higgins essentially rendered Eliza useless, demonstrating the oppressive nature of the Victorian social class distinction. The vector pointing towards Eliza's dreams, unlike her position in the cage, symbolizes the oppression of women in the Victorian era, indicating that her dreams cannot be realized due to the cruel actions of the men around her (Higgins in this text). case). This theme is clearly evident throughout the play (Acts 2-5 in particular), as we see the entrapment of Eliza - a representation of women at the time - under the influence of Higgins (a privileged man) and the construction of its Victorian society. Therefore, by displaying the key elements of this idea, my poster effectively represents the theme of women's oppression by highlighting the poor structure of the Victorian social hierarchy, as expressed through the identities of Higgins and Eliza . In Pygmalion, themes of oppression, social immorality, and the reality of women's lives are explored through characterization and change. The play depicts the character of Eliza Doolittle, a strong and independent lower-class girl who experiences extreme changes throughout the play. Her character, a strong representation of the position of women in Victorian society – particularly their inability to thrive and live independently – effectively demonstrates the oppression of Victorian upper-class morality. My visual representation captures the essence of this theme by reflecting key aspects of this overall concept. At the bottom of the poster, Eliza's position establishes her character as a lower-class girl in a sexist society. Her expression indicates that she must progress from such a low position in society, which, unlike Higgins, placed at the top of the page, emphasizes that she is inferior. This expresses Amier Al-Azam's theme of oppression, as Eliza is placed at the bottom of society, not for her intelligence, but for her social class and gender. This explicitly references the theme of the play, as her character is constantly depicted as inferior and is constantly surrounded by oppressive male figures, such as Higgins and Pickering, who rob her of her independence in her transformation through all the acts of the play . This is reinforced by the vector directed by Eliza's gaze at the bottom left of the poster, which symbolizes her life journey through the struggles of a lower class woman in an upper class dominated society. In this case, the theme of oppression is expressed through the nature of one's ambitions and dreams. Eliza's dreams challenge the normalized expectation of "the rise of success." Rather than wishing to lose her independence through marriage, essentially becoming a man's slave, she wishes to work in a flower shop, as shown in the aforementioned vector. Eliza represents the broad demographic of women who, during the Victorian era, wanted rights..