Poverty is an ill that affects each and every society. The ill effects of poverty on life are vast; poverty prevents people from enjoying good standards of living, it prevents children from getting quality education, and most worryingly of all, it makes people look down on one another. In essence, poverty should never exist. Inequality is a given, and as such, poverty is here to stay. The damaging effects of poverty though can be subdued with the help of technology. Not only does technology help in the spread of knowledge, but it also helps nations build their infrastructure, find alternative resources, and most importantly of all, create jobs and help economies progress. In George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, Professor Higgins' knowledge of phonetics helps transform the life of a poor girl, Eliza Doolittle. Similarly, in Aldous Huxley's essay 'Hyperion to a Satyr', the author describes how technology helped sideline class distinctions that were based on personal hygiene and appearance.
The immense effect that technological advancements can have on life can be gauged from the play Pygmalion. In the play, a scientist of phonetics, Professor Higgins, makes a bet with Colonel Pickering, who is a linguist, that he can convince London high society that the Covent Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle is a duchess. The professor aims to use his mastery of phonetics, which uses sounds of the human speech, to transform Eliza’s way of speech and make her sound like a duchess. Another example that shows the importance technology has on life is Aldous Huxley’s essay “Hyperion to a Satyr”. In his essay, Huxley describes how dirt was a given in the olden times. Back then, people were filthy, and there was no concept of hygiene or cleanliness. Poverty still existed, and the poor could be singled out from the rich by increased levels of filth and untidiness. Huxley then states how advancements in technology resulted in the mass production of cotton made clothes, which helped make the poor look clean and get rid of the class distinctions that existed previously. In Pygmalion, Professor Higgins helped transform Eliza’s life, albeit for a short period. Eliza came to the professor asking for his expertise to help her talk like a lady, saying “I don't want to talk grammar. I want to talk like a lady.” During the learning period that lasts a few months, the professor can finally make Eliza talk and act as a duchess. The mere change of clothes is enough to convince people that Eliza was a member of high society. As Aldous Huxley wrote “By no prudence on their part can the poor avoid the dreadful evil of their surroundings", suggesting that personal cleanliness was rare, and the poor were automatically considered as being nasty due of their surroundings.
Eliza was successfully able to fool two separate groups of people, and her father too, as he is unable to recognize his daughter at the professor’s home. As the Japanese lady states “Garn! Don't you know your own daughter?” proving that Eliza’s father could not recognize his daughter at all. In Huxley’s words, “No less important than these purely physiological symbols are signs derived, not from the body itself, but from its coverings.” The state of events suggests that Eliza was deemed unrecognizable from her past through a mere change of clothes. It was as if Eliza had been elevated to another level of class and distinction, a class that previously only the rich could qualify for. This was true of time where knowledge was limited and accessible for only the privileged.
Eliza can pass as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party, being able to successfully change her image from a flower girl to a duchess. Her newly achieved control over linguistics helped Eliza make a few bold choices, as well. Upon finding out that Professor Higgins was merely using her, Eliza threatens him that she would go work for his competitor, showing that she now had a lot of leverage and could pull the strings, saying "Well, if you were a gentleman, you might ask me to sit down, I think. Don't I tell you I'm bringing you business?" Since Eliza could now pass as a member of high society, it was evident that the class gap had been bridged to an extent through a change in her physical outlook. In Huxley's words ""The great gulf of disgust which used to separate the sick and the chronically ailing from their healthier fellows, has beennarrowed everywhere and, in many places, effectively bridged".
Pygmalion and Aldous Huxley's essay both successfully portray a picture of a time where there was only a small line that separated reality from illusions. In both the cases, appearances were deceptive and spoke little about the inner truth of people. A mere change in physical appearance and overall cleanliness was enough to make people change their perceptions about others, and as the so called 'guidelines' that distinguished the poor from the rich were gotten rid of, the distinctions also disappeared.
Works Cited
"Act II - Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw." Act II - Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gbshaw/bl-gbshaw-pyg-2.htm>.
Bloom, Harold. Aldous Huxley. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2003. Print.
