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Modern drama.
Modern is new - contemporary.
Drama is a literary genre that deals with a play.
Play is a story acted on a stage for the audience to be seen not read.

Modern drama written in 19-20 century.

What is the difference between Elizabethan drama and the modern?

The main difference between them is the subject matter which means the
theme of drama or the play .

In modern drama usually we have realistic depiction or portrayal of life. It

draws the life in a real way.

Macbeth is not a realistic depiction because it have a supernatural

elements.

There are 3 school in modern drama which is the realism, symbolism and
naturalism .

The naturalism is the same as a realism, they are very connected .

If we portray the life as black and white this is realism because in a real life
this is the real way , but if we portray the life as a black it called naturalism
we focus in one side but it is a real story could happened in the life.
Realism is portray society in the literary work as it is .

Pygmalion by G.B show, it’s turned to a musical play called “My Fair Lady”.

Shaw: Irish playwright, Novelist and critic From Ireland he wrote more
than 60 plays when he was a playwright.

The second English playwright after Shakespeare is George Bernard Shaw

because he started a new movement in modern drama which is the new
school “realism”.
He is the main writer in the school of realism, that’s why many people
called him the Ultimates realistic playwright which means greatest realist
write.
Shaw wrote realistic drama because he wants to change the society.
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Pygmalion is a romantic comedy for that the hero + heroine should married
but they not. He wrote it in a realist way.

The story starts with a short scene = in a street of London - rainy day where
a group of people trying to find a shelter under a bridge.
The group of people are:
• a note taker “Higgins+upper class” = taking notes when the girl
speaks.
• Lady “upper class”.
• Daughter.
• Son “Freddy” = trying to find a cab + take order from his mother + a
weak person.
• Poor flower girl “Eliza +lower class” = trying to sell flower to the lady
and her daughter.

The mother prevented her daughter to talk with the girl = offend .
Also, the lady wandered the girl to take care for a man taking notes to her,
then the man said to her “ I can change you from a poor girl to a lady “. By
changing her language.

Eliza accept the offer from Higgins “ a professor of phonetic”.

Higgins and his friend Pickering took a challenge on Eliza.
Higgins: was responsible of her speech.
Pickering: was responsible of her manners.
Eliza’s father inherited a money and he became a member of middle class
and he decided a flower shop for her daughter.

One of the themes in the play: social class + gender discrimination.

Discrimination: when you mistreat someone according to a category

( religion, class , gender) .

Gender discrimination: when different gender mistreat each other,

normally men to women ( how Higgins mistreat Eliza).

Shaw   —-> Shavian = Adj (taken from his name to describe his style.)
Shavian character = character written in Show's style.
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Gender discrimination:
• Shaw viewed women as equal to men. "Sexes wear different boots
bonnets not different souls."

• "A mind in parley masculine cannot create more than a mind who is
feminine."

The features of Shavian females characters:

 The woman believed they are equal to men.
 female characters are intelligent and they have free will and they chose
their future and what they want to do. (being a female character does
not mean be a weak.)
 Shaw against with the sentimental heroines. Women should not be
emotional they decide by their mind not the heart, Eliza not a
sentimental heroine, she refuses to marry Higgins and chose to marry
Freddy.
 being equal to men does not mean to be a masculine, “Shaw want to
change Eliza into a lady”.
 Not angles, females characters are human can make mistakes because
Shaw called for a realistic play.

Why Shaw did not give a role to Higgins mother for the transformation of
Eliza?
 Social change can’t come from women alone, men should support.
 Miss. Higgins knew the reason for this transformation “challenge“,
they treat Eliza as a doll she refused to be a part in this game.

The seen number five (slipper scene) is very important, many critics
regarded this scene as the most feminist scene of the play. Why?
Because Eliza protests against the control of Higgins .

 What is the most important point in the play? The end.

He didn't end it in the typical romantic way because it is realistic and
women should not be emotional.

The play's end:

1- Opening her own flower shop.
2- Marrying Freddy to Eliza.

The most important scenes? The end + slipper scene.

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Class division & language:

 In the first scene there was a class division because the lady refused
her daughter to speak Eliza as a flower girl but in the end she allowed
her son to marry Eliza.
 The note taker despited be interested in the way Eliza speaks still he
disrespect her because she is a flower girl.
 Freddy did not care to say sorry for Eliza when he dropped her flower.
 The class division is obvious in the first scene.

In England class determine by birth and Middle class are poor but rich.

Shaw wants to say that we could escaped the boundaries of education

through education. Eliza passes to middle class when she knows how to
speak.
Eliza is well mannered even when she in the lower class, she respects
everyone but the others not.

Why Shaw did not use names in the first scene?

To catch the attention to what they are doing and how they treat the flower
girl .

Language is one of the features of appearances though which you could

judge or mistreat someone. Also, language is important tool for Eliza to
pass a class into the other.

Myth of creation:

Myth is "a traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural

beings, or heroes that serve as a fundamental type in the world view of a
people by explaining aspects of the natural world or drawing the
psychological, customs or ideas of society." 

Pygmalion is a Roman myth written by Ovid, also it was an epic poem in 15

books around 11,995 lines.
He wrote many stories one of them called Metamorphoses.

Metamorphoses: is a Roman word which means transformation.

It is the story of sculptor called Pygmalion and he made ivory statutes of
very beautiful girl called Galatea, he went to a goddess called Venus during
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their festival to give the life to this ivory statues, the goddess agreed his
request and transformed Galatea to a woman, after times he fell in love
with this women and got married.

After this myth, many versions of Pygmalion were written.

Rewrite: when the writer wants to take an old story and reproduce it for the
readers in a different shape, but he depends in the names or incidence on
something old.

Usually the writers rewrite the myth does not reproduce except
Pygmalion – Tawfiq al-Hakim, it reproduce into Arabic and similar to the
original.

Reproduce is an ideal exact image of the myth but rewrite with some
changes.

Versions of Ovid myth:

 Victorian comedy in 1871 called (Pygmalion & Galatea) it is written in
a blank verse, similar to the origin but Galatea decided to return as
ivory statues because her life as an object better than a mistress of
married man.
 Shakespeare - The winter’s tale, in the Elizabethan age.
 Pinocchio.
 Shaw’s Pygmalion.
 Pygmalion – Tawfiq al-Hakim.

Shaw chooses Pygmalion as title to draw the attention’s reader to Ovid

Pygmalion for connection that he rewritten version of Pygmalion Ovid, but
it is very far reach.

How Shaw change it? with a massage behind the myth.

Similarity between Show and Ovid:

• The idea of transformation.

Differences between Show and Ovid:

 The end.
In Ovid myth ended with married and it was romantic, but Shaw’s
Pygmalion was realistic unconventional end.
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 Shaw’s play is realistic but Ovid is myth.

In the Ovid myth there was a supernatural elements like the Goddes.
 The reason of creation:
The reason for the ivory statues was love, but Eliza was for challenge.
 The focus in myth was for the creator “Pygmalion”, but in Shaw’s play
for the creation itself “Eliza”.
 The attitude of characters:
Higgins didn’t love his creation; the transformation was out of challenge
not love. But Pygmalion loved his creation, he put all his emotions and
ideas to create the perfect wife for him.

Realism: it is a school of litreture that devolped at the end of 19 century and

it was a reactoin to Romanticism.

The aim of realism: it aimed to social and political reforms.

The father of realism: Henrik Ibsen was a norwegian playwrite and his
famous plays are "A Doll's House" and "Ghosts".

The factors of development of realism?

 Sociology: science of society.
 Marxism theory: Is a political and social movement by Karl Marx, all
the people should be in one class.            
 Darwinism theory: Charles Darwin, said "survival is for the fittest".

The most realistic scene in Pygmalion? The beginning.

"I sold flowers I did not sell myself. Now, you have made a lady of me I
am not fit to sell anything, I wish you left me where you find me".

Eliza said these words after the party when she knew that everything was a
challenge. This quote is about the transformation in herself , class division
and the manners of lower class. The manners of lower class it doesn't mean
if she is a lower class she can sell herself. She was a lower class and lived the
mentality and manners of lower class. Nothing is changed in Eliza except
her appearance. when she lives as upper class she lived in the manner and
mentality of upper class so now she could not sell anything because she is a
lady. The message that show want to give audience appearance is
despiteful. Higgins did not care what will hapened after the party, he cared
only about the succssfull of his transformation.
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"I shell always be a flower girl to Higgins, because he always treats me as

a flower girl but I know I can be a lady to you because you always treats
me as a lady."

Eliza says these lines for Pickering. It is about class division and the
differences between Higgins and Pickering. Higgins is mistreat her because
she is a poor flower girl but pickering treats her as a lady.

"I think a woman fetching a man's slippers is a disgusting sight: I never

fetch your slippers? No use slaving for me and then saying you want to be
cared for: who cares for a slave."

Higgins says these lines for Eliza in the slipper scene. It is about equality
and gender relationship. Higgins said that she considered herself a slave so
she can't expect from other people to respect her. The message that Show
want to say it to his female audience is if they want others to treat them as
free human, they must consider themselves and act as a free human. Now,
Eliza became a shaivan female charater to make mistakes and has a free
will. This qote summarizes all the besic ideas of feminism.
 

Death of the salesmen.

Arthur Miller:
One of the essays that he wrote about drama is “Tragedy and the common
Man”. He speaks about tragedy and how he will change the concept of
tragedy to fit the modern audiences and characters.

It is a family tragedy:
willy: an old man.
Linda : the supportive wife.
Biff and Happy: their sons.
Ben: Willy’s brother and his son Charley.

Arthur Miller called his play " The inside of his Head". Later on, he changed
it into "Death of a salesmen".
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Technieqes or themes of Arthur Miller's plays, inculding this play?

The characters are result of the society, it affected how the characters are
behave. Almost his plays about the same subject.

Ideas that Willy believed?

 If he is well-liked , then he is a successful salesmen. Also, he tries to
get his philosophy into his boy. "Be will-liked and your life will be
good". Which is wrong you should be a hard worker.
 Willy believed that if he killed himself he would compensate for all
the gulit that he has done for his family.

Why Arthur Miller choose this title "The inside of his Head"?
 The play is about one character and what he has done to effect in the
whole family.
 Willy is a self-centerd that appear when he used flashback.

Why he said "Death of a salesmen" instead of the?

Because Willy Lowman represents the whole society not only salesmen but
all the American society at that time.

Themes?
 Willy Loman is Modern tragic hero.
 The play is cycle of denial and contradiction.
Denial: He believes himself as a great husband or father.
Contradiction: He all the time keeps wondering why his family destroyed
despite he is responsible for all that.
 Order versus disorder: in the play, the mother is responsible for the
order of family she tries to connect the two sons and made them
more closer to their father, also she supported her husbend. While the
disorder comes from the father because he destroyed his family.

Lowman =Low man, a man who is low still he believed that he is successful.

Willy Loman as a modern tragic hero?

 Tragic flaw: denial, Contradiction and having relationship outside
marriage.
 Internal and external conflict: he struggles inside himself because he
knows that his sons are failure but still believe they are good. Another
hand, his son lost his scholarship and refused the job.
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 Ends with the death of the hero.

 The audience should feel sympathy for the hero.
 The hero should be of the upper class, but Willy is a common man.

Arthur Miller changed the traditional concept of tragic hero to fit a modern
character.

American dream is a national ethos of USA, a set of ideals in which

freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity & success, an upward
social mobility achieved through hard work.
Willy was not a hard worker and for him American dream like a mirage,
you should be well-liked.

Willy as a victim of society.

 He never tells his children about morals.
 Society effects on what he believed, like being well-liked effects in his
life.
 He is a victim of the American dream.
 One of the reasons for his failure is society: He forced to go another
city to sell goods and when he asked to stay in his city he fired +
Killed himself to take his own money.

Flashback.
It means when something is narrative in the story as a part of memory.

Why Arthur Miller used flashback in the play?

 To connect between the past and present of the whole family. The
present is a result of something that happened in the past.
 To tell information, without flashback we don't have details.
 Tragic flow (denial what happened in the past), (self-centered man
because lives all the time in his own mind or dreams).
 To maintain time unity. The play is about the last 24 hours of Willy,
so we must know what happened before and later by flashback.
 Escaping reality = denial because most his flashback a happy past.
 A flashback about Ben lost chance to have wealth & fame. Willy saw
his brother as wealth and fame, so he regrets.
 Linda = she is the only connection between the past and present to
Willy, she is a flat character because she did not change.
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Is Linda a passive character?

No, because maybe her sons will leave their father if she was not there. She
has an important role in the family.

Naturalism Realism

Represents the dark side in the Represents the dark and happy in the
society. society.
Represents the society objectively, Represents the society subjectively,
logically and depend on facts. fiction or romantic.
Part of Realism. -

Detachment in which the writer

maintains impersonal point of view. -
Determinism: in the first we feel that -
Willy should die. \ free-will.
Setting + character is believable and The setting & character is every day,
real. believable and real.
The dialogue is every day. The dialogue is every day.

Working class of society. Upper + lower class.

The focus of plot in the characters. The focus of plot in the characters.

Characters ( helpless + victims). Characters ( have power of choice).

Emile Zola = French writer. Ibsen

August Strindberg = Swedish writer.

Both of them are school of modern drama & represent the society.