7. Much is made of “middle class morality” in Pygmalion. To what extent is this phrase an oxymoron? What is Shaw suggesting about the rules and traditions of his class?
Middle class morality is defined as the way a person is supposed to think and behave when they are a part of the middle class. In the play Pygmalion, a character named Mr. Doolittle is transformed from a garbage man on the streets into a middle class man, and then is angry about his overwhelmingly good luck because he now has to have ‘middle class morality’. Doolittle was very content being lower class because then nothing was expected of him.
Mr. Doolittle’s bewildering opinion on the good fortune that came to him is in itself satirizing the distinctions among social classes. It is almost laughable that a man should not want to find himself in a greater deal of money and off of the streets. Doolittle explains this by saying that he wants money, but does not want the responsibility that comes along with it. For example, when Mr. Higgins offers Doolittle ten pounds, he refuses it because he doesn’t want to have to feel guilty for spending it all, “No, Governor. She wouldn’t have the heart to spend ten; and perhaps I shouldn’t either. Ten pounds is a lot of money: it makes a man feel impudent like; and then goodbye to happiness. You give me what I ask you, Governor: not a penny more, and not a penny less (Shaw59).” Doolittle believes that once you are responsible for something and can’t live recklessly, then you lose your happiness and freedom. Once he becomes a middle class man and has to abide by his ‘middle class morality’, he complains that the people from the class that he once was from now come to mooch off of him, “A year ago I hadn’t a relative in the world except two or three that wouldn’t speak to me. Now I’ve fifty, and not a decent week’s wages among them. I have to live for others and not for myself; that’s middle class morality (Shaw116).” This is making a statement on how once you come into money, people change completely and you are suddenly more valuable to them.
The character of Mr. Doolittle in Pygmalion is an important character to the plot, because he signifies a rejection of society’s norms. His explanation of ‘middle class morality’ actually delves into a much deeper truth about the expectations of different social classes and how people treat one another. Mr. Doolittle does an excellent job of explaining the flaws of what comes with wealth, and what actually makes people happy in life.
Middle class morality is defined as the way a person is supposed to think and behave when they are a part of the middle class. In the play Pygmalion, a character named Mr. Doolittle is transformed from a garbage man on the streets into a middle class man, and then is angry about his overwhelmingly good luck because he now has to have ‘middle class morality’. Doolittle was very content being lower class because then nothing was expected of him.
Mr. Doolittle’s bewildering opinion on the good fortune that came to him is in itself satirizing the distinctions among social classes. It is almost laughable that a man should not want to find himself in a greater deal of money and off of the streets. Doolittle explains this by saying that he wants money, but does not want the responsibility that comes along with it. For example, when Mr. Higgins offers Doolittle ten pounds, he refuses it because he doesn’t want to have to feel guilty for spending it all, “No, Governor. She wouldn’t have the heart to spend ten; and perhaps I shouldn’t either. Ten pounds is a lot of money: it makes a man feel impudent like; and then goodbye to happiness. You give me what I ask you, Governor: not a penny more, and not a penny less (Shaw59).” Doolittle believes that once you are responsible for something and can’t live recklessly, then you lose your happiness and freedom. Once he becomes a middle class man and has to abide by his ‘middle class morality’, he complains that the people from the class that he once was from now come to mooch off of him, “A year ago I hadn’t a relative in the world except two or three that wouldn’t speak to me. Now I’ve fifty, and not a decent week’s wages among them. I have to live for others and not for myself; that’s middle class morality (Shaw116).” This is making a statement on how once you come into money, people change completely and you are suddenly more valuable to them.
The character of Mr. Doolittle in Pygmalion is an important character to the plot, because he signifies a rejection of society’s norms. His explanation of ‘middle class morality’ actually delves into a much deeper truth about the expectations of different social classes and how people treat one another. Mr. Doolittle does an excellent job of explaining the flaws of what comes with wealth, and what actually makes people happy in life.