Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw’s play about the power of phonetics to disrupt the social protection of income inequality, was first staged in London in 1914, two years before the film East is East opened in cinemas. This was presumably not a coincidence, and both dramas capitalize on public fascination (tinged at this time with fear) with the distinction – seeming increasingly fragile – between upper and lower class culture. Both stories come to the same comforting conclusion. That people are people? No. That East is East.
Actually, the end of the play is more ambiguous than the end of the film, as plays are apt to be. Eliza Doolittle learns a great deal that she will never unlearn, and even in 1914 one part of the audience actually felt that “the happy ending” would have her marrying the boorish Mr. Higgins. Shaw himself spent decades fighting this, beginning with a quite wonderful postscript added in 1916. Despite these efforts, My Fair Lady in 1956 gave in to the foolish romantics; it is, after all a musical, not a play. By that time the class miscegenation was more socially acceptable – and the character of Higgins had evolved a bit as well. At least let’s hope so, for 1956 Eliza’s sake.
A lot more has been said about this play, and maybe one day I will return to this page and say some more myself! But for now, I thought you might enjoy comparing the play to the film. If so, check out the copy linked to the title above.