Pygmalion imp Qutes explained
I was
1. “I don’t think I can bear much more. The people all
stare so at me. An old lady has just told me that I speak
exactly like Queen Victoria…nothing can make me the
same as these people.”
This quote demonstrates the key moment of Pygmalion,
as it reveals Liza’s true characteristics. It shows that she
doesn’t want to be queen; she only wants to be similar to
everyone else. She only wants to be regarded as a
duchess and a lady just like the other ladies in the upper
class. This is ironic because it is before this point that
Liza wanted to be regarded as the queen. However, she
feels as if she stands out for the wrong reason and does
not fit in. She states: “I’ll never be like these people”,
but doesn’t realize how successful she actually is.
2. “…I tell you, Pickering, never gain for me. No more
artificial duchesses. The whole thing has been simple
purgatory.”
Higgins talks to Eliza as if she is a doll, as if she is not
there and has no feelings. This shows the distinction s he
may feel exists between the two classes. She may
stereotype the upper class as those who disregard the
poor and feel as if they have no feelings and are lifeless.
Because of this, Higgins’ statement may have
strengthened Eliza’s stereotypes and angered her further.
3. “I sold flowers. I didn’t sell myself. Now you’ve made a
lady of me I’m not fit to sell anything else. I wish you’d
left me where you found me.”
Here the key difference between upper and lower women
is emphasized; many believe that women in the upper
class have nothing to offer while women in the lower
class must work. They simply hold many more
responsibilities than those of the upper class. It is Eliza’s
turn to honor her statement, “I’m a good girl”, something
she has always said in the beginning of the book.
However, with her change in status, all she can do is
marry and remain in the upper class with nothing to offer.
She realizes the decrease in responsibilities and
usefulness she will have, and regrets her having Higgins
help her change her social status.
4. “I’m sorry. I’m only a common ignorant girl; and in my
station I have to be careful. There can’t be any feelings
between the like of you and the like of me. Please will
you tell me what belongs to you and what doesn’t?"
This statement angered Higgins and actually provoked a
response from him. He had ceased to ignore Eliza after
she says this, and his responses indirectly demonstrate
his affection towards her. When she said “the like of you
and the like of me”, it emphasized once again the
distinction between the two classes. Eliza believes herself
to be “common” and “ignorant” and not worthy of
Higgins. The fact that she provoked a response out of him
by pointing this out showed that Higgins truly did care
about her.
5. “Who asked him to make a gentleman of me?
happy. I was free. I touched pretty nigh everybody for
money when I wanted it, same as I touched you, Engry
Iggings. Now I am worried; tied neck and heels; and
everybody touches me for money.”
Doolittle is angry because of his newfound riches. He
doesn’t want to be rich because he doesn’t want the
responsibilities that come with his riches, once again
emphasizing the distinction between higher class and
lower class. In this sense, when he was poor, he only had
to ask for money. Apart from doing that, there was
nothing else he had to do. Now his money comes with
responsibilities. However, he is now reluctant to bear
these responsibilities and prefers his former life. Doolittle
was quite content with asking for money, as he was less
burdened. This shows the attitude of those in different
classes; many may be content with their current status.
6. “Your calling me Miss Doolittle that day when I first
came to Wimpole Street. That was the beginning of self-
respect for me. And there were a hundred little things
you never noticed, because they came naturally to you.
Things about standing up and taking off your hat and
opening doors-”
This shows the impact that society’s perspective can have
on one individual. They can significantly help or heal one;
that is why many people are proud in society. For
example, the fact that Miss Doolittle was regarded with
respect and was addressed with this polite name added to
Liza’s self-respect. This shows the importance of society's
view and opinions can have on an individual.
7. “The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or
good manners or any other particular sort of manners,
but having the same manner for all human souls: in
short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are
no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as
another.”
This is ultimately the main theme of the story where the
author criticizes the class distinctions. He believes that
there are all types of people in each class, both the good
and the bad. Likewise, they should all be treated similarly
which is why he says "one soul is as good as another." He
believes that everyone can contribute to the wholeness of
the world (ie: how he changed Eliza) and similarly,
everyone has equal potential. This also reveals the good-
heartedness of Higgins.
8. “You were a fool: I think a woman fetching a man’s
slippers is a disgusting sight: did I ever fetch your
slippers?...No use slaving for me and then saying you
want to be cared for: who cares for a slave? If you come
back, come back for the sake of good fellowship; for
you’ll get nothing else. You’ve had a thousand times as
much out of me as I have had out of you; and if you dare
to set up your little dog’s tricks of fetching and carrying
slippers against my creation of a Duchess Eliza, I’ll slam
the door in your silly face.”
Higgins is emphasizing to Eliza her independence. The
fact that he tells her to not find him his slippers is
underlining the fact that she is free. He is telling Liza that
she doesn’t need him or her father or anyone; she can do
it by herself. By thinking or stating otherwise, she is
disrespecting herself for affection. He is emphasizing to
her the potential that she has.

Rivals
Here, my dear Lucy, hide these books.
Quick, quick!—Fling Peregrine Pickle
under the toilet—throw Roderick
Random into the closet—put The
Innocent Adultery into The Whole Duty
of Man—thrust Lord Aimworth under the
sofa—cram Ovid behind the bolster—
there—put The Man of Feeling into your
pocket—so, so—now lay Mrs. Chapone
in sight, and leave Fordyce's Sermons
open on the table.
Lydia, Act 1, Scene 2
The society in which Lydia lived was extremely
strict and thus everything she did was controlled.
Lydia had no say in choosing the man she will
marry or choosing the lifestyle she wanted. What
is even more, Lydia could not even chose the type
of books she wanted to read. As a woman who
was a member of the high society, it was expected
of her to behave in a manner suitable for her
condition. Because of this, reading books that
went against those beliefs was extremely frowned
upon. Her reaction shows just how much society
influenced her and how little power she had as a
woman.
Zounds! sirrah! the lady shall be as ugly
as I choose: she shall have a hump on
each shoulder; she shall be as crooked as
the crescent; her one eye shall roll like
the bull's in Cox's Museum; she shall
have a skin like a mummy, and the beard
of a Jew—she shall be all this, sirrah!—
yet I will make you ogle her all day, and
sit up all night to write sonnets on her
beauty.
Sir Anthony, Act 2, Scene 1
In the quote from above, it shows that not only
women had no say regarding their future
husbands, but also the sons. In this case, Sir
Anthony refuses to listen to his son and tells him
that he will have to marry the woman of his
choosing even if she will be extremely ugly and
even if the two will have nothing in common.
What is more, Absolute was expected to do
everything in his power to make the woman happy
and to make sure that she felt loved and
appreciated by her husband. This proves just how
little control the children had over their own lives
and the extents to which parents were willing to
go to assure their children’s safety and well-being.
Love shall be our idol and support! we
will worship him with a monastic
strictness; abjuring all worldly toys, to
centre every thought and action there.
Absolute, Act 3, Scene 3
All the characters in the play are obsessed with the
idea of love, so much in fact that love becomes
something akin to a religion to them. Absolute
explains the frantic search for love everyone was
involved in and expresses his ideas in the quote
above. Everything they did and every action they
made had the purpose of finding true love and had
the purpose of pursuing happiness. In this sense,
the characters all are described as being self-
centered, interested only in their own good and
happiness.
Explanation
By heavens:I shall forswear your company. You are the most
teasing,captious,incorrigible love! - Do love like a man.
OR
Am not I a lover; aye, and a romantic one too? Yet do I carry every where
with me such a confounded farago of doubts, fears, hopes, wishes, and all
the flimsy furniture of a country Miss's brain?
ANSWER:-
This passage taken from The Rivals written by Sheridan, Captain
Absolute is speaking to Faulkland. In another passage Faulkland calls on
Captain Absolute at his first dance in Bath and he is curious to know about
his beloved, Julia. Captain Absolute understands Faulkland's anxiety, but he
is trying to tease him by withholding the information from him.After taking
for some time without informing him about his beloved, he invites
Faulkland to a dinner at the hotel but Faulkland is so much curious to know
about his beloved that he declined Captain Absolute 's invitation. He tells
Captain Absolute that he is not disposed to entertaining himself with nice
dinner because of his low spirit. He tells Captain Absolute that his mind is
so much full of anxiety that he cannot derive any pleasure from this kind of
feasting.
To this reply of Faulkland ,Captain Absolute advises him that he should
learn to love a woman like a man. Captain Absolute means to tell that
he(Faulkland) should appear to be behaving like a normal man for love is
not the only business in a normal man's life.It is one of the many things that
a normal has to do.So, the proper thing is that a normal man should as
much care of his love as of father's duties in his life.If Faulkland's whole
business is only love and thoughts of love, then one can only say that
he(Faulkland) is a teasing, capricious incorrigible love. Captain Absolute
means that Faulkland is a sentimental lover and his conduct as a
sentimental lover is beyond correction.
As an example of a normal lover, Captain Absolute cites his own case. He
tells Faulkland that he is also a lover like him and a romantic lover.
However love is not the only business in his life. He loves a girl and yet
does all his normal duties. Though he also has all kinds of anxieties in his
mind, he does not allow himself to be abnormal.
Wherever he goes and whatever duties he does, he does them while keeping
love also in his mind.As a normal lover, he has sometimes doubts and fears
whether he is going to succeed in his love. So, it is quite normal to have all
kinds of belongs and thoughts in the mind of a lover in the same manner as
the minds of country girl is full of confessed ideas and miscellaneous
thoughts.
Having read the characters of Faulkland and Captain Absolute one may
easily say that while Faulkland is a sentimental lover,Captain Absolute is
an anti-sentimental lover.
EXPLANATION
O! upon my soul, I never have;—but what grounds for apprehension did you say?
Heavens! are there not a thousand! I fear for her spirits—her health—her life.—My
absence may fret her; her anxiety for my return, her fears for me, may oppress her
gentle temper. And for her health—does not every hour bring me cause to be
alarmed? If it rains, some shower may even then have chilled her delicate frame!—If
the wind be keen, some rude blast may have affected her! The heat of noon, the
dews of the evening, may endanger the life of her, for whom only I value mine. O!
Jack, when delicate and feeling souls are separated, there is not a feature in the sky,
not a movement of the elements; not an aspiration of the breeze, but hints some
cause for a lover's apprehension!
her great father. She perhaps love him not because she likes him
but because of the fond of duty and the prudence of her mind which
says that a dutiful daughter must obey her dead-father's will. This
kind of time generally happens with women.
Speaking father's will Faulkland tells her that women are generally
apt to make this kind of mistake. They are generally unable to
distinguish between the heart's desire and mind's dictation. They go
more usually by the dictates of mind,sense of duty and obligations
which daughters do as their duty to their parents.They neglect their
heart's desire for the sake of obedience to the will of their parents. In
this kind of circumstances,women generally mistake the dictates of
their mind and wisdom for their likes and desires of their heart. In a
word they mistake prudence for their affection. So he must tell her if
she loves him not because she likes him but because she has duty
to him,then it is no sincere love. In that case he is prepared to
release her from the fond of duty and makes her free to love any
young man whom she likes.
Clearly,the passage brings out the character of Faulkland as a
sentimental drama of Richard Steele,Hugh kelley,Richard
Cumberland and Colley Cibber etc.The episode of Faulkland in Julia
provides some ground for supposing this drama to be a sentimental
drama. But Sheridan's purpose to not to write a sentimental drama
this episode therefore is a kind of skit and a caricature of the
treatment of love in the drama.

Answer:-
This passage taken from 'The Rivals' written by R.B.Sheridan. Faulkland is speaking
to Captain Absolute.
When Faulkland comes to Bath he calls on Captain Absolute at his residence in
Bath. As they meet, they begin discussing the progress in each others affairs of love.
Captain Absolute reports to him that his affair with Lydia is going on well. But
Faulkland who was not well his beloved,Julia as yet expressed his anxieties to know
about Julia's life, health and spirits. But Captain Absolute who knows that Julia is at
Bath,conceals the fact from him for the sake of fun. So when Captain Absolute
invites him to a dinner at the hotel, Faulkland ignores by saying that he not well
disposed to partake in such rejoicings and entertainment. On being asked by
Captain Absolute as to why he declines the invitation, Faulkland says that he has
many serious apprehension in his mind about the life,health and spirit of
Julia.Captain Absolute asks him to say about the ground of his apprehension.
Replying to Captain Absolute Faulkland says that he has many grounds of
apprehension about his beloved, Julia. One of the grounds is his long absence from
Julia and his absence may be causing doubts, fear and anxieties in her mind.
Secondly she may be anxious to know about his return. Thirdly her health is so weak
and tender that even the slightest change in the weather may affect her health. It
often changes from a good to a bad one. The heat of the noon ,the dews of the
evening and strange winds are the variations in the weather. These variations are
surely to affect her tender health.
It is a human nature that when the two lovers are separated from each other, both of
them have fears and apprehensions about each other,s health and welfare. These
fears and apprehension increase all the more when weather is an element that
affects one's health. Thus Faulkland gives sufficient examples for his(Faulkland's)
anxieties and apprehension. They are usually the fears and apprehensions of a
lover.
Clearly, the passage brings out the character of Faulkland as a sentimental lover of
that kind which is seen in the earlier sentimental drama of Richard
Steele,Hugh,Kelly,Richard Cumberland and Colley Ciber,etc. The episode of
Faulkland and Julia provides some grounds for supposing this drama to be a
sentimental drama. This episode therefore is a kind of skit and caricature of the
treatment of love in the sentimental drama.

EXPLANATION
I do not mean to distress you.—If I lov'd you less, I should never give
you an uneasy mo∣ment.—But hear me.—All my fretful doubts arise
from this—Women are not used to weigh, and separate the motives
of their affections:—the cold dictates of prudence, gratitude, or filial
duty, may sometimes be mistaken for the pleadings of the heart.—I
would not boast—yet let me say, that I have neither age, person, or
character, to found

This passage taken from 'The Rivals' written by R. B. Sheridon

Faulkland is speaking to Julia.
When Faulkland arrives at Bath and calls on Captain Absolute at his
residence in Bath,he learns from him that his (Faukland) beloved
Julia is also at Bath. He goes to see her and Faulkland and Julia
meet,they began to make an issue of the absence of one from the
other. Faulkland complains to her that he has come to know about
her taking part in a dance in his absence,he has began to have
some doubts about her loyalty in love to him. His doubt is that if she
has been learning him sincerely then she should not have offered to
dance with some other one in his absence. This shows that her love
for him is questionable. He thinks that her love for him is born not
out of her heart but out of her mind and duty. He has a doubt if she
loves him out of her sense of her duty and obligations because their
marriage was settled by her dead father before they were grown up.
So she may be loving him out of her sense of duty to the wishes of