Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion - Essay Example

Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion Introduction An epilogue occurs as either a speech or section in a novel or play that occurs at the endand serves to explain the conclusion of the plot. Bernard Shaw ends his play, Pygmalion in an epilogue. In the section, the author adopts a commentary approach as he explains the vital occurrences in the conclusion of the play. Such is a strategic conclusion to the play given the fact that it ends in a suspense. The epilogue just as the name suggests is not part of the play but serves to explain the intricate features of the conflict as the play ends.

Shaw therefore wrote the epilogue to justify the complex nature of the play’s plot. He provides detailed commentaries on the conflicts in the play thereby making it possible for his audiences to understand the play as the discussion below portrays. In the epilogue, Shaw explains his feelings on some of the vital features of the plot and some of his personality features that justify the conflicts in the play. He for example scoffs at the customary “happy endings” of romance as portrayed in most literature.

In doing this, he therefore justifies the fact that the heroine in his story does not marry the hero as the play concludes. The relationship between Eliza and Higgins is vital in the plot with the ensuing conflict between them influence the nature of the plot. In his epilogue, the author explains the disheartening occurrence when Eliza fails to marry Higgins. He explains that the decision was significant and a result of a well thought after decision. He explains that the decision shows that women have the right to choose and influence their relationships with men.

Eliza was an intelligent and beautiful woman and could therefore choose whom to marry. She is under no pressure to marry anyone and therefore does not marry Higgins but does not also end her relationship with him. This way, the author of the play explains that the action typifies the freedom and the influence that women have in their romantic relationships (Bernard, 2014). Shaw strategically ends his epilogue by harmonizing the relationship between the Colonel, Eliza and Higgins, three of the most significant characters in the play.

The explanation is important since it serves to resolve the conflict in the play, which ends with an immense suspense. He explains that Eliza understood that Higgins did not like him a feature that informed her decision. According to Shaw, Higgins indifference to Eliza is more profound and deeper than common infatuations. Eliza fantasizes over Higgins but appreciates that such are mere fantasies since in real life; she likes Freddy and the colonel but detests Doolittle and Higgins. In retrospect, ending the play in an epilogue is an important feature that Shaw realized as he ended the play.

Ending the play in a suspense is a strategic feature that portrays Shaw’s artistic genius. However, the author of the successful play acknowledges that he may not continue the play and therefore provides a detailed commentary in which he resolves all the conflicts and justifies the personality traits and decisions of most of his characters. This way, the epilogue does not form part of the play but enhances the comprehension of the conflict. ReferenceBernard, S. G. (2014). Pygmalion. New York: Brain Food.