2. What does Higgins mean when he says, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred”? Affirm, dispute, or qualify the validity of Higgins’s statement.
Teaching is a skilled art that requires a certain level of professionalism and distance in order to be successful. The delicate balance between teacher and pupil is like a scale that needs not be tipped one way or the other. The scale needs balance and respect in order for the student to remain ‘sacred’ and the teacher to remain professional. In Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, Higgins’s is careful not to disrupt the balance between teacher and pupil when he gives his beautiful student Eliza vocal lessons.
Higgins, as the artist or teacher to Eliza, treats her as a project that is to be molded and changed to his liking. He bullies her, teases her, and bosses her around, all changing and developing her character into a stronger and more outspoken person. Higgins’s harsh treatment of Eliza is monumental to her personal growth, and proves to be very beneficial to her. Regardless of him treating her this way, he is careful not to cross the line with Eliza into an inappropriate gray area. Higgins feels that the pupil must be sacred in order for him to teach them, and so he holds Eliza at an arms distance length. In a way, this fact is crucial. If Higgins and Eliza ever delved into a romantic relationship, her education and even transformation would have been severely compromised. The teacher and the pupil cannot be lovers if the pupil is to make monumental growth in their education, and in Eliza’s case, the entire reinvention of her identity. Even after the action of the play is over, Eliza and Higgin’s maintain a relationship, though not one of a romantic nature. He remains the ornery mentor to Eliza, to whom she is loyal to.
The relationship between a teacher and their students must be strict and distanced in order for it to be considered healthy and appropriate. Boundaries between them are of utmost importance. In conclusion, Higgins’s relationship to Eliza is kept at a respectable distance due to his philosophy that pupils must remain sacred in order for them to learn. Due to this ideal, Eliza’s learning is not compromised, and she makes the incredible transformation from a Flower girl on the streets to a royal duchess.
Teaching is a skilled art that requires a certain level of professionalism and distance in order to be successful. The delicate balance between teacher and pupil is like a scale that needs not be tipped one way or the other. The scale needs balance and respect in order for the student to remain ‘sacred’ and the teacher to remain professional. In Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, Higgins’s is careful not to disrupt the balance between teacher and pupil when he gives his beautiful student Eliza vocal lessons.
Higgins, as the artist or teacher to Eliza, treats her as a project that is to be molded and changed to his liking. He bullies her, teases her, and bosses her around, all changing and developing her character into a stronger and more outspoken person. Higgins’s harsh treatment of Eliza is monumental to her personal growth, and proves to be very beneficial to her. Regardless of him treating her this way, he is careful not to cross the line with Eliza into an inappropriate gray area. Higgins feels that the pupil must be sacred in order for him to teach them, and so he holds Eliza at an arms distance length. In a way, this fact is crucial. If Higgins and Eliza ever delved into a romantic relationship, her education and even transformation would have been severely compromised. The teacher and the pupil cannot be lovers if the pupil is to make monumental growth in their education, and in Eliza’s case, the entire reinvention of her identity. Even after the action of the play is over, Eliza and Higgin’s maintain a relationship, though not one of a romantic nature. He remains the ornery mentor to Eliza, to whom she is loyal to.
The relationship between a teacher and their students must be strict and distanced in order for it to be considered healthy and appropriate. Boundaries between them are of utmost importance. In conclusion, Higgins’s relationship to Eliza is kept at a respectable distance due to his philosophy that pupils must remain sacred in order for them to learn. Due to this ideal, Eliza’s learning is not compromised, and she makes the incredible transformation from a Flower girl on the streets to a royal duchess.