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Attitude toward language

 

            
             The musical , "My Fair Lady" was made into a movie in 1964, after nine years of Theatre performances. The movie had a setting of England, which was beautifully designed by Daniel Kozar and Rose Noice. This musical was adapted from George Bernard Shaw's 1914 book "Pygmalion" by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Learner. The story revolves around Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) , a cockney flower girl from Covent Garden, who agrees to take speech lessons from an arrogant phonetician Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) in order to fulfil her dream of working in a flower shop and to improve her standard of life. Henry Higgins makes a bet with a colleague, Colonel Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) to see whether Eliza could pass as a Dutchess at the Embassy Ball.
             When Higgins first encountered Eliza, his attitude toward her was disrespect and mockery because of the way she spoke, he formed an opinion: "A woman who utters such disgusting and depressing noises has no right to live. Remember that you"re a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech. Don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon." He also called her a lot of other insulting things such as, a "squashed cabbage leaf " and an " incarnate insult to the English Language." His attitude toward Eliza did not change when she showed up at his house asking him how to speak properly and how to be a lady. During her stay at the house, Higgins was ruthless in pushing Eliza. In addition to cleaning her up, teaching her how to behave in society, and instructing her about what to wear, he completely re-shaped her language skills. By depriving her of sleep and forcing her to repeat phrases like "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain," he hoped to rid her of her ghastly accent.
             Colonel Pickering's attitude towards dialect was far different from Higgins. He was polite and talked to Eliza respectfully although she spoke with the cockney accent.


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