Eliza's Identity Issue In Pygmalion From The Perspective Of Social Identity

George Bernard Shaw(1856-1950)was widely regarded as another great British playwright after Shakespeare.As a realist playwright,his works often conveyed profound social significance.At the same time,Bernard Shaw also emphasized the moral function of literature.Pygmalion told the story of how Eliza,a beautiful,but poor-born street flower girl,through a six-month language training by linguist Higgins and a ceremonial study of the upper class,finally successfully transformed into an elegant lady.In the process of changing her identity,Eliza was confused about her identity,and therefore sought to redefine her identity.Previous discussions of the work mainly focused on the feminist criticism,existential criticism and archetypal criticism of the play,and the heroine Eliza did not get much attention on the issue of identity research.This thesis attempts to use the theory of identity to explore the identity of Eliza in Pygmalion and the identity construction problem after Eliza's transformation,and then explores the social moral significance.The thesis is divided into five chapters.The first chapter introduces the author George Bernard Shaw and Pygmalion,the related social identity theory,the research status of the writers at home and abroad,the research perspective and the structure of this thesis.The second chapter explores the identity of Eliza,the seller of flowers at the bottom of the society,from the three aspects of social classification,social comparison and positive distinctiveness.This chapter introduces the identity of Eliza in her early years to her group and social environment.The third chapter introduces the reasons for the identity crisis of Eliza,the emergence of the identity crisis and the consequences of the identity crisis based on the identity crisis theory.The fourth chapter explores the successful social reconstruction of Eliza through the transformation of Eliza from the flower girl to a ladyand the factors that influence the success of Eliza.The conclusion of chapter five concludes that Eliza's growth process is actually the process of establishing her personal identity.By describing the flow of class status experienced by the Victorian flower girl Eliza in seeking self-identity,as well as the crisis of identity and the consequent dilemma that emerged during the search process,Pygmalion profoundly explored the identity issues of people in the Victorian era and the social ethical issues.The process of Eliza's identity was the process of self-establishing identity and the process of pursuing the value of life.His open ending to the play showed his confidence in the ability of individuals to change their own destinies in the process of identity reconstruction and expressed the social moral significance of Pygmalion.