The Relationships between Culture and Social Identity in Pygmalion and Educating Rita - Coursework Example

The relationships between culture and social identity in, ‘Pygmalion’ and ‘Educating Rita’ Modern Irish dramatist Bernard Shaw’s play ‘Pygmalion’ andthe modern British dramatist Willy Russell’s ‘Educating Rita’ are much discussed and compared literary pieces due to their similarity in the presentation of the themes. Both the plays can be regarded as the masterpieces of the dramatists, especially when regarding the theme and the way of treatment. It was from the Greek mythology Shaw selected the title for his play ‘Pygmalion’ in which the dramatist portrays how Higgins, a professor of Phonetics with the help of his friend, Colonel Pickering, transforming the uneducated Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle to a sophisticated and cultured lady. The ‘Pygmalion myth’ was a favourite subject for the Victorian play wrights where Shaw was not an exception. Will Russell’s ‘Educating Rita’ is, to a certain extent, thematically similar to Shaw’s play ‘Pygmalion.’ The central figure of this play is Susan, who calls herself as Rita, hairdresser from Liverpool who has decided to get an education, not to seek for s new job but to explore an entirely new world which she has never experienced before. She selects an Open University English Literature course and joins the world of Professor Frank, an alcoholic. Though she was determined and completed her studies, she could not either receive or reject her new state. A comparison of both the plays unveils that both the dramatists have effectively used culture and social identity as a means to makes the readers aware of the ill-effects of class distinctions and certain other factors. The play [Educating Rita] is a searing assault on our rigid class distinctions, and culture of ignorance and misunderstanding, aggravated by inequalities in wealth and education (Educating Rita, 2010). “In retrospect, Educating Rita is a personal success story and one of hope, at least at the time it was written” (Aguilar, C. M J p.29). One can see a similar theme in ‘Pygmalion’ where Eliza is in search of her personal identity and it advocates the decisive role of culture in moulding one’s identity. The proposed study is conducted on the grounds that culture has a predominant role in forming one’s social identity or social milieu. Culture and social identity have a reciprocal relation akin to the relation between individuality and social identity. It is common knowledge that the seeds of one’s individuality lay in one’s culture, that is, the social set up figures out a person’s individuality. This is crystal clear when observing the first appearance of Eliza as a flower girl in ‘Pygmalion.’ The local dialect, Cockney, she uses is expressive of her individuality and it makes things easier for Professor Higgins to identify her locality and other details. This scene also throws light to the characters; Prof. Higgins, an unconventional man, ‘who goes in the opposite direction from the rest of society in most matters’ (Sparknotes: Pygmalion: characters, 2010) and Colonel Pickering, an always ‘considerate and a genuinely gentleman’ (Sparknotes: Pygmalion: characters, 2010). The play, “Educating Rita” also presents two cultural extremes, the uneducated hairdresser Rita and the professor Frank. But when it comes to “Pygmalion” it is between Higgins and Eliza. Both the plays bring out the significance of education and depict tutorial lessons aimed to sophisticate the unlettered—Eliza and Rita. Analysing the character of Eliza as a flower girl, it is observable that it was the family background; the alcoholic father and the poor social set up made her selling flowers and be the possessor of a bad conduct. A proper treatment; the phonetic lessons from Higgins and the good manners from Colonel Pickering, transform the street girl to a Duchess. If she would copy the character of Higgins, it is certain that there will not be any refinement in her state. Now it is crystal clear that culture has a decisive role in moulding one’s individuality. Regarding the influence of culture “Educating Rita,” one can notice that it was the lessons Rita imbibed from Frank opened her way to the vast realm of knowledge. Here also, as seen in “Pygmalion,” culture influences individuality, which is the essential quality required to attain social identity. While reading through the play it is interesting to note that Frank is dissatisfied with his life and is despised with his culture. His failure as a poet leads him to have a low opinion of himself and in an attempt to escape from the world and frustration; he seeks refuge in alcohol by putting on a cynical, ironic facade. It is the honest, continuous and sincere effort from the part of Rita brings him back to life and it provides him as sense of purpose or fulfilment in teaching. This also brings to our mind the fact that context largely determines the activation of personal or social identity. “Social identity comprises the parts of a person’s identity that come from belonging to particular groups, including age, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and socio economic status” (Center for Creative Leadership & Hannum, 2007 p.6). To make it clear, one can say that it is the different traits in one’s character, influenced with the above mentioned dynamics, provide him/her social identity. Identifying social identity of a person is a difficult task as it involves the previous mentioned factors. Considering the social identity in the given plays, one has to keep in mind the fact that it is the social identity that informs the characters how they lead. Therefore, it is evident that it is the social identity of Eliza in “Pygmalion” and Rita in “Educating Rita” making them aware of their present state. In the case of Eliza, she was only a tool for experimenting Higgins. But for Rita, she had already realised her real social status and it the same that allows her to take an audacious decision to join for an Open University course. Both the plays present the total change in the social identity of their characters. A critical evaluation of the character of Eliza exposes that the factors like gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status play a vital role in moulding her character. Gender is a dominant factor in the play where Higgins is a symbol of male chauvinism, keeping a suppressing mentality to Eliza. Ethnicity or the society plays a decisive role in shaping Eliza, a flower girl at first and a refined lady at the end of the play. Sexual orientation is also taking place with Eliza as she fell in love with Freddy whom she later receives as the partner of her life. The socioeconomic status, especially the poor family background and the drunken father are other aspects that promote the personal as well as social identity of Eliza Doolittle. Thus, it leads to the inference that Prof. Higgins, Pickering, Doolittle and lover Freddy can be regarded as the other social identities that shape the sophisticated Eliza. It is also certain that the words of Higgins that education as ‘a means of acquiring cultural capital’ (Schor & Weed, 2007 p. 77) may also have influenced Eliza. The character of Rita was also formed with the impact of certain factors as seen with Eliza. Along with those factors, the particular groups she belongs—the group of hairdressers and the uneducated make her aware of her personal identity and she resolves to create an entirely different social identity. Here also, other identity or personality, especially Frank’s (and vice-versa) character has a drastic impact on her character. As the research advances, it is understood that Eliza and Rita, the principal characters of the given plays are subjected for identity change in the course of the stories (Comparing language and identity in Pygmalion and Educating Rita, n. d). They have the identity crisis or they feel difficulty to come out by breaking the shell of their first identity. As they are entering to a male-dominating society, they feel it difficult to wear the borrowed robes. Dinkgräfe (2003 p.20) has rightly observed it when he compared both “Pygmalion” and “Educating Rita.” Dinkgräfe’s words are quite noteworthy when he said: “like Pygmalion, Educating Rita stages a world in which it is taken more or less for granted that hegemonic social and cultural authority is most naturally is vested in a male figure...” While reading through Dinkgräfe’s words, it is pretty sure that Higgins and Frank are the admirers of male chauvinism, and are responsible for the lost identity of their disciples. The complementary relation between culture and social identity is brought out when evaluating the conflicts occurring in Rita’s family. When Rita was in search of new identity, it is quite logical for her husband to think that he will lose control over his wife. It is this mentality that prevents him from supporting her in educational career and decides to obstruct her studies in every possible ways. Rita’s father accusations also can be estimated on these grounds where he chides her for not giving him a grandchild. This crisis kindles when Rita’s husband in a rage burns her books and warns her that she should either pack in her studies or he will kick her out of home. Rita’s husband fears that when Rita becomes a refined lady, naturally he will lose his identity. This again reaffirms the bond between culture and social identity. The conflict found in Pygmalion and Educating Rita is the inner conflict of the central characters; Eliza and Rita. The real conflict is between their present identity and the ‘lost’ identity. The words of Crawford are perceptible when he said: “The central core of Shaw’s Pygmalion project is this tension between the fiction of reality and the fiction of the fictive. As far as Higgins is concerned, Eliza’s “reality” is merely her voice—initially “guttersnipe,” eventually “duchess”—a diametrically opposed duality” (Crawford, 2005 p.76). This is acknowledging the observation of Mrs. Higgins when she accused her son Higgins and Pickering for looking upon Eliza as a ‘live doll.’ The acute predicament of the loss of social identity and frustration has been expressed in Eliza’s words to Higgins. Eliza says, ‘We were above that at the corner of Tottenham Court Road...I sold flowers. I didn’t sell myself. Now you’ve made me a lady of me I’m not fit to sell anything else’ (Shaw B., Laurence H. D., & Grene N., 2003 p. xvi). Only after marrying Freddy, Eliza adapts with the new identity and realises that she has the freedom to take decisions alone. The same feeling has been expressed in Rita, who fells confidence to face life after Frank leaving for Australia, in such a way, one can say, her education is completed. The study leads to the conclusions that culture and social identity are in a mutual or in a complementary relation. Culture has a decisive role in forming one’s individuality or personality which can be recognised as the stepping to stone to social identity. One’s social identity is formed as an outcome of the different perceptions with regard to religion, ethnicity, race, and so on. The two plays given for the present analysis have clearly exposed the link between culture and social identity. Identity crisis is the serious issue discussed in both the plays. The dramatists have succeeded in their endeavour to bring out the real inner conflicts of the principal characters who entertain a new identity, disregarding their previous identity. Though this conversion totally changes their status in the society, it is a great task for them to put up with it. Therefore, the study leads the researcher to the inference that culture and social identity are mutually related and one cannot stand without depending on the other. References Aguilar C.M.J., 2000, Culture and power: challenging discourses, Universitat de València. Center for Creative Leadership, Hannum K., 2007, Social Identity: Knowing Yourself, Knowing Others, Center for Creative Leadership. Comparing language and identity in Pygmalion and Educating Rita, n. d., 123HelpMe.com, viewed 25 Sep. 2010, < http://www.123helpme.com/assets/3379.html> Crawford K., 2005, Shaw: the annual Bernard Shaw studies, illustrated edition, Penn State Press. Educating Rita, 2010, Daily information Ltd, viewed 24 Sep. 2010 Meyer-Dinkgräfe D, 2003, The professions in contemporary drama, Intellect Books. Pygmalion: characters, 2010, Sparknotes LLC, viewed 24 Sep. 2010 < http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pygmalion/characters.html> Shaw B., Laurence H. D, Grene N., 2003,Pygmalion: a romance in five acts, Ed. Laurence H.D, illustrated edition, Penguin Classics. Schor N., Weed E., 2007, Difference: reading with Barbara Johnson, illustrated edition, Duke University Press. 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