Attitudes Of Billie And Eliza example essay topic

Shaw's play 'Pygmalion' and the movie 'Born Yesterday' both explore many of the same issues and characteristics. They are similar because they both portray that what other people think should not matter as much as what you think of yourself but, what show yourself to be is how people will think and view of you. This is shown by similarities between the characters Billie and Eliza and the combined attitudes of Harry and Paul to Henry Higgins. They also both share the plot of taking someone who does not belong and changing them to belonging.

Both pieces have quite similar themes. They both focus on the idea that the way you carry yourself and the way you speak shows to the outside world what type of person you are. They also explore that what you think of yourself should matter more then what others think of you. In 'Born Yesterday' Billie, played by Melanie Griffith, is viewed by her intellectual level and not for her soul. When her intellect grew so did her self worth. In her growth of self worth she began to carry herself confidently.

In exchange people treated her better. In 'Pygmalion', Eliza is also judged on superficial matters. Even though Eliza did not have much class she still had some pride in herself that kept her strong. But unfortunately, Higgins did not pay attention to her words.

He only paid attention to how she said them. He showed how he thought of her when he said, 'It's almost irresistible. She's so deliciously low, so horribly dirty. ' [p 26] Higgins never once says what a nice woman Eliza is only how irritating her voice is. In both stories, there is also the sub-theme that the lead female is misplace by the changes that are thrust upon them. Billie feels less happiness about all her old favorite things when exposed to knowledge. Eliza realizes that the truthfulness of her old life when she is exposed to the superficial way of high society.

This brings out the theme that ignorance is bliss and that we should not take anything we already have for granted. Eliza shows this point when she says, 'I an a child in your country. I have forgotten my own language and can speak nothing but yours. That is the real break off with the corner of Tottenham court road. ' [page 94] The characters in 'Born Yesterday' And 'Pygmalion' are uncannily similar to one another. The most obvious of these are the characters Billie Dawn and Eliza Doolittle. The most noteworthy comparison is the fact that they do not fit in with the higher class, and are in need of tutoring if they wish to fit in among these richer and smarter individuals.

The fact is, though, that neither of these ladies are any lees of a person then the high class people, but are made to think that they are. The one difference between Eliza and Billie is that Eliza is in need of a full makeover, including appearance, manners, and speech. While Billie simply needs to become more intelligent so that she can understand and take part in discussions that occur at these fancy parties thrown by the upper class. Or simply said by Harry in the movie,'s he needs to be smartened up!' The attitudes of Billie and Eliza are also similar. Both of them are very determined to succeed at their goal of fitting in and also very quick to pick up the qualities that they lack. Each women are also not afraid to face the men that dominate their lives, although Billie is apprehensive at first, she ends up gaining this trait when she confronts her boyfriend Harry about his suspicious dealings with the government.

You can see Eliza's strength from the beginning when she says to Higgins, 'You " re a great bully, you are. I wont stay here if I don't like. I wont let nobody wallop me. I I never asked to go to Buckram Palace, I didn't I was never in trouble with the police, not me. I'm a good girl. ' [page 32] All in all, both get what they are looking for, although it is happier for Billie than it is for Eliza in the end.

A big part of the woman's lives were the men who took care of them and taught them what they needed to know. The strange thing about this is that two men Paul and Harry are needed to create the same attitude as Higgins. Higgins had two major traits; he is a very intellectual man who is a genius at phonetics and a In conclusion, the plot, theme, and characters in 'Born Yesterday' and in 'Pygmalion' are very similar in many ways. Even though the pieces were written in very different time periods the writers still found a common idea of how you and others think about yourself and how much you really care about fitting in to make two great pieces of art. It is interesting how society still battles with labels and social levels.

When everyone in the world is treated equally that will be the end of plays like 'Pygmalion' and movies like 'Born Yesterday'.