Woman Identity And Class Conflicts In "The Lady Of Pleasure" And "Pygmalion"

James Shirley’s The Lady of Pleasure and George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion are significant plays of English Literature to analyze women identity and class struggles. In The Lady of Pleasure, Shirley tells a story of an oppressor upper class couple who soon realize the importance of human values. There are also people from different social classes through which Shirley exemplifies class conflicts in the society. On the other hand, in Pygmalion, Shaw tells a story of a flower girl, Liza and her transformation into an upper class woman with the help of Prof. Higgins and Pickering. As there are also people from different social classes, class struggles are also reflected in this play. In this dissertation, class struggles, the gap between the social classes, complexities in society and women identity will be analyzed from the perspective of Marxism. Also, Brechtian Drama and Stanislavsky’s perspective of acting are discussed to show how modern drama has developed. The first chapter gives information on the historical and social backgrounds of the 17th and the 20th centuries, Marxism, Brechtian Drama and Stanislavsky’s system. The second chapter discusses class struggles and women identity in James Shirley’s The Lady of Pleasure. The third chapter discusses class struggles and women identity in Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Lastly, the fourth chapter compares and contrasts the plays. The aim of this dissertation is to analyze James Shirley’s and Bernard Shaw’s plays according to Marxist theory. The Lady of Pleasure by James Shirley and Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw will be studied in terms of class struggles and women identity.