Comparing the Edwardian era - i.e. the early 20th century - with the modern age, we can see that some distinct social constructs and class systems are present in both . However, social and class barriers are considerably more porous in today's world. George Bernard Shaw's most famous play, Pygmalion, set in the Edwardian era, was perhaps a harbinger of this progressive change, in its vigorous attempts to discredit and expose the superficiality of class separations. The "heroine" of the play, Eliza Doolittle, undergoes a dramatic and severe transformation from "oddball" to an unrecognizably refined woman, but ultimately fails to easily integrate into the society she so idolized at the start of the play. It is established and perpetuated throughout the play that Eliza is not exactly a predictable character: for a poor flower girl, she upholds moral decency and displays self-respect on a level perhaps not even reflected by the upper class in which these values ​​were most commonly held. associated. Through the character of Eliza and the treatment of Eliza by the upper class, Shaw exposes the superficiality of a class system that, in his view, is underpinned by a very superficial concern with appearance and language. While it is evident from the preface that Shaw places great value on the power of language and the respect it commands, through Pygmalion and his characters such as Doolittle, we also learn that control and mastery of language is not the be all and end all. of a person's character. High society, however, seems unaware of this, and it is precisely this superficial judgment of others by members of the upper class that Shaw intends to condemn through Pygmalion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning, Eliza is the poor flower girl and street beggar who would have been a typical nuisance to the upper-class theatergoers expected to see Pygmalion; however, Eliza's true self is anything but typical. Her complex character is gradually unfolded through aspects of her speech such as her frequent declarations of being "a good girl", helping to convey her innate self-respect, and her later insight into "selling flowers". [She] did not sell [herself]." The upper class of Edwardian society generally took a staunchly negative view of the poor like Eliza: it was assumed that to make ends meet, someone like Eliza would resort to selling her body. Eliza, however, he breaks this pattern and the audience becomes privy to Eliza's seemingly unusual self-respect. Partly this is due to the unorthodox length of Shaw's narratives, such as his description of Eliza as "as clean as she can afford to be." . This morality and decency can easily be compared to the values ​​of the upper class, which are described throughout the play as treasury morality, conveyed by their horror at Eliza's careless attitude towards her father's alcoholism and their contempt towards her use of expletives. Furthermore, the sense of Eliza's aspirations is conveyed through the fashion board, well above her means, which she keeps in her squalid quarters, and by the "American alarm clock." These possessions show his idolatry of high society culture. Combined with his morality, his aspirations present audiences with a character almost worthy of the upper class, his potential and integrity obscured by the roughness of his appearance and speech. Once Eliza's qualities.