《高中外研版英语教材选修9课文》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《高中外研版英语教材选修9课文（39页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、Module 1Part 1: Pygmalion the PlayThere is a classical Greek myth in which a king, Pygmalion, carves a statue of a beautiful woman. The statue comes to life, and the king falls in love with the woman he has created and marries her. Shaws most famous play, Pygmalion, is based on this myth.Pygmalion i
2、s a comedy about a pronunciation expert called Professor Henry Higgins. Higgins, as a kind of experiment, tries to make a lady out of an uneducated girl called Eliza Doolittle, who sells flowers in the street. He bets a friend called Pickering, that he can not only teach the girl to speak well, but
3、also to behave in a refined way, so that those who meet her believe she is a real lady. He decides to do this because he wants to prove that social class is about “appearance” only. Higgins believes that class is not connected with your true character, it is connected with how you appear to others,
4、how you talk and behave. Eliza goes to stay with Higgins and his friend Pickering, and helps to look after the house while receiving lessons from Higgins in how to speak correctly. She slowly changes, becoming a beautiful and charming young woman. Higgins introduces Eliza to polite society, which ac
5、cepts that is a “body”, and the professor wins his bet.However, Higgins is domineering in behaviour towards Eliza, and does not treat her well. The girl is half in love with Higgins, but to the professor, Eliza is more like a daughter or servant whom he needs and has become fond of. Eliza rebels aga
6、inst Higgins, who finally has to accept that she has become a strong and independent young woman. Realising that Higgins will never really love her, Eliza leaves the house and marries a young man who she knows cares a lot for her. They start a flower shop, helped by Higgins and Pickering, with whom
7、she remains good friends.As well as the theme of class. Shaw explores relationships between men and women. It is clear that Higgins treats women as objects. Eliza, however, insists that Higgins respect her and the story ends with her winning his respect. A famous film called My Fair Lady was made fr
8、om the play in 1964.Part 2: Extract from PygmalionPICKERING: gently What is it you want, my girl?ELIZA: I want to be a lady in a flower shop instead of selling on a street corner. But they wont take me unless I can talk better. He said he could teach me. Well, here 1 am ready to pay him and he treat
9、s me as if I was dirt.MRS PEARCE: How can you think you could afford to pay Mr Higgins?El IZA: Why shouldnt I? I know what lessons cost as well as you do; and Im ready to pay.HIGGINS: How much do you suggest you pay me for the lessons?ELIZA: Oh, I know whats right. I wont give more than a shilling.
10、Take it or leave it.HIGGINS: You know, Pickering, if you consider a shilling, not as a simple shilling, but as a percentage of this girls income, its a great deal of money. Its enormous! Its the biggest offer 1 ever had.PICKFRING: Higgins, Im interested. What about the ambassadors party? Ill say you
11、re the greatest teacher alive if you can take her to it, and make people believe shes a lady. Ill bet you that you cant do it. And Ill pay for the lessons.ELIZA: Oh, you are real good. Thank you, sir.HIGGINS: Shes so wonderfully dirty!ELIZA: Ah-oooo! I m not dirty! I washed my face and hands before
12、I come, 1 did. Im a good girl, I am.PICKFRING: Youre not exactly polite to her, Higgins.HIGGINS: becoming excited What is life but one challenge after another? The difficulty is finding them. Never lose a chance: it doesnt come every day. I shall make a queen out of this street girl!ELIZA: Ah-oo!HIG
13、GINS: Yes, in six months Ill take her anywhere and pass her off as anything. Well start today now! This moment! Take her away and clean her, Mrs Pearce.Bernard Shaw, perhaps more than most dramatists, used the characters in his plays to express his ideas. However, he often succeeded in creating very
14、 real characters, and Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins are two of Shaws most delightful creations.What is most interesting about Eliza is the way that she develops, both in appearance and personality. In his first description of her, Shaw describes her as “not at all an attractive person”
15、. He says that “she needs . a dentist”, and that “compared to the ladies she is very dirty”. Six months later, she looks very different. Her pretty complexion and sophisticated clothes make her appearance so beautiful that when she enters a room, everyone stands up!Eliza, taught by Henry Higgins, le
16、arns to speak correctly and to act like a lady. But what Higgins does not expect is the deep changes that take place in Eliza. When we first meet Eliza she has no manners, but says whatever comes into her head, without thinking. At the same time, she is unable to express herself. For example, when Higgins is rude lo her, she cries “Aa-oo” rather than make an actual reply. However, by the time o
