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Literature Review

As a fruitful playwright with more than 60 plays and a critic of the 20^th century, GeorgeBernard Shaw (18561950) focused his attention on the social problems such as education, marriage and government. He was so committed to reflecting the inequality and darkness of the society and womens remorseless struggles as well as showing significant roles women could play in every walk of life that he was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1925 and an Oscar for his work on the film Pygmalion in 1938. As a language master, he is famous for good humor and irony and has been generally recognized as the most eminent playwright ever since Shakespeare.

Major Barbara and Pygmalion were two of Shaws masterpieces, which successively came out in 1905 and 1913. Both of the two plays main characters are heroines, who have left people a deep impression for their ceaselessly strenuous struggles in a patriarchal society. By describing the words and actions of the heroines, Shaw depicts two vivid women images. Though different in appearances and social experiences, they share some similarities: The rebellious spirits as well as the pursuit of freedom, equality and independence. Therefore, a comparison of Pygmalion and Major Barbara can help us get a birds-eye view of Shaws feminist thought.

1. Previous studies on Pygmalion

Pygmalion has drawn the public attention since it was first presented on stage in 1912. It has been adapted into a musical stage play, movies and other forms of work favored by thousands of people all around the world, which proves that it is a great success. Since then, many scholars have conducted quite a lot of researches on the play from different angles. Thematic concerns, artistic features and characterization are the most popular topics scholars would like to discuss.

Some scholars are more interested in the themes of Pygmalion. Martin Meisel (1963) pays attention to the class distinction between the nobility and the common people, regarding it as a strong hit towards class inequality. Yang Chunxia (2009) figures out that Pygmalion is more than a romantic love story, and what Shaw wants to expose is the hypocrisy and arrogance of the nobility as well as criticize the darkness of the bourgeois society. However, it is kind of confusion since it is not well-constructed. In contrast, Zhang Jianchun and Liu Li (2013) make a comprehensive analysis of the themes of Pygmalion in different ways, such as the romantic significance, the allegorical interpretation, the importance of phonetics in the society, hypocritical moral codes of the middle class, etc. However, it is pitiful that their analyses seem to stay on the surface.

Some other scholars attach great importance to the artistic features of Pygmalion. Wu Jinwen (2012) makes a study of thematic ironies in three of Bernard Shaws plays: Pygmalion, Major Barbara, and Saint Joan. Pygmalion originates from a Greek mythology, but it ends out of the audiences expectations. He deems that it exerts an ironical effect by telling a short story that women at that time are totally dependent on men and the elegance of the nobility can be bought by money, thus showing the hypocrisy of the upper class. Zhang Jun (2012) makes an analysis of Pygmalion from the perspectives of character, theme and artistic features. He examines the sources of the comic effect in three aspects: story frame, meticulously constructed conflict as well as several distinctive characters.

Quite a number of scholars focus on the analysis of characters, especially the feminist approach to the heroine. Liu Tingting (2005) digs deep into the background condition and the process of Elizas self-consciousness awakening from the perspective of her personality, a way of ideal pursuit and a strong sense of revolt, thereby showing her feminist thought and feminist performance. Hu Hui (2011) makes a rough description of Pygmalion from the background information, including the author, the origin of the title, and the work, to the thorough analysis of all the main characters. However, she just has a tiny sip of the work, so her analysis towards the characters lacks depth. In comparison, Lu Qingqing (2012) makes a little change. She also makes the feminist approach as a starting point but from the perspective of comparing Eliza in Pygmalion and Nora in A Dolls House and points out that they have similar experiences and self-awakening consciousness though differing in living backgrounds. Therefore, they are endowed with the courage to fight for their own independence, freedom and equality in a male chauvinist society.

The thesis will explore the character of the heroine, Major Barbara, in an attempt to show her intelligence, independence and struggle for equality and freedom in a patriarchal society by depicting her attitudes towards life, love and male authority.

2. Previous studies on Major Barbara