皮格马利翁与伽拉忒亚

Have you ever heard of the “Pygmalion Effect ”? 心理学家莫顿(Robert Merton)将此

现象名之为“自我实现的预言”。这也就是在萧伯纳名剧《窈窕淑女》(My

Fair Lady)中为人所熟知的“皮格马利翁效应”(Pygmalion effect)。

The Pygmalion Effect is that people

tend to behave as you expect they will.If you expect a person to take responsibility, they probably will. If you expect them not to even try, they probably won’t.

This play by George Bernard Shaw (萧

伯纳) is an adaptation of a a classicGreek story. Do you know this story? Pygmalion, a gifted artist, makes a stone statue of a beautiful woman.

When he finishes the statue, he falls in love with it and goes to the

Greek goddess,Aphrodite, to ask her

to make the statueinto a real woman.

His wish is granted.

The author —— George Bernard Shaw An Irish dramatist, literary critic, a socialist spokesman, and a leading figure in the 20th century theater. Immaturity Widowers’ Houses Pygmalion His main works: Man and Superman (1902), Major Barbara (1905)

In Shaw’s play, Professor Higgins is a man who does not like women either and is very rude to them. For a bet he agrees to teach a poor young woman so that she can be passed off as a rich lady in high class society. So, like Pygmalion, Higgins creates a perfect young woman. Both the statue and Eliza depend on their creator for their new life.

My Fair Lady Have you seen the film? If you have, did you like it? Have a discussion

and give reasons.

Main charactersEliza Doolittle(E): a poor flower girl who is ambitious to improve herself. Professor Higgins(H): an expert in phonetics, convinced that the quality of a person’s English decides his/her position in society.

Colonel Pickering (P): an officer in the army and later a friend of Higgins’ who sets him a task.

Fateful meetings

Read the text quickly andcomplete its main idea.

The play is mainly about a poor 1. flower girl who is lucky to come _______ across a professor who might help her improve her life. to 2. ________

Read the text carefully and fill in the blanks. Eliza Doolittle ★ She is very poor and makes a living by 1. selling flowers and is 2. _____________ _________ ambitious to improve herself.

Eliza Doolittle

★ When she sees Professor Higgins 3. ____________, taking notes she feels worried because she takes policeman in him for a(n) 4. ___________ disguise who wants to catch her as a(n) 5. ______. thief ★ Her 6. ________ terrible English will make her live in the 7. _______ gutter all her life, according to Professor Higgins.

★ He is an expert in 8. phonetics who thinks that the Professor _________, Higgins quality of a person’s English position in decides his / her 9. ________ society. ★ He can know where a person is from by what he / she 10. says _____. ★ He thinks if taught by him to speak properly, Eliza Doolittle

Professor may

become a(n) upper class lady. Higgins 11. ___________ ★ He thinks Eliza Doolittle can be changed into a woman like a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party in 12. ______ three months, a lady’s maid or a shop assistant. India ★ He was going to 13. ______ to meet Colonel Pickering.