What's the setting of Pygmalion

Answer 1

Pygmalion is set in England around the mid to late 1800s. It is pretty obvious why Shaw chose this setting, it is when and where he lived, but it is important to the story in many ways. First of all, this was a time when people were just starting to be able to move up in society, if you were a gutter rat at birth, you could raise yourself to a higher level by working hard, like Eliza. Second, women were finally starting to be considered more than just the homebuilders, they were starting to be viewed as the machine that drives the family, which Eliza becomes when she marries Freddy and claims that she wants to be able to support him. England is also important to the setting, because it had a more rigid social structure at the time of the story than America did, so it was easier to spot the differences that kept Eliza stapled to the gutter of society. Overall, setting is important.