Pygmalion: Commercial facts
13 lenses on commercial facts for Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 L9 L10 L11 L12 L13
L1. Total word count. Count
1913, 32,299 words. See the full lens on the book page.
L2. Chapter count and average length. Count
1913, 32,299 words. See the full lens on the book page.
L3. Length against modern norms for the genre. Both
32,299 words. Modern plays often runs 15,000 to 30,000 words, so this is long for the shelf today. These ranges are rough trade norms, not rules.
At 32,299 words across five acts, Pygmalion is a full-length play, typical for its era. Modern stage plays average 20,000 to 40,000 words, so this sits comfortably within norms. The length allows for character development and thematic depth.
L4. First published as a serial or a volume? Research
1913, 32,299 words. See the full lens on the book page.
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L5. Serial instalment breaks and how each ends. Both
Each act ends with a hook or question. Act I ends with the bet accepted. Act II ends with Eliza transformed. Act III ends with Mrs. Higgins's warning. Act IV ends with Eliza's crisis unresolved. Act V ends with Eliza's choice and the epilogue's ambiguity. All five breaks encourage continued reading.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5
L6. Sales and reviews in its day. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L7. Adaptations: film, TV, stage, count and type. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L8. Sequels and series. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L9. Modern books in the same mould (comps). AI
Modern comps include My Fair Lady (musical adaptation), Educating Rita (transformation through education), and Pretty Woman (class and transformation). All feature a protagonist transformed by a mentor figure and grapple with whether change is enough.
L10. Who it would be shelved for today. AI
Today this would be shelved as drama or classic theatre. Readers interested in character-driven plays, class critique, and romantic tension would find it. Fans of witty dialogue and social comedy would enjoy it. Students of theatre history and the Pygmalion myth would seek it out.
L11. Content notes. AI
Content notes: class-based language and attitudes, references to poverty and exploitation, dismissive treatment of a young woman by an older man, crude language used for comic effect, financial coercion.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 4, Scene 5
L12. A modern pitch line and blurb. AI
A brilliant phonetics professor bets he can pass off a flower girl as a duchess through speech training alone. But when the experiment succeeds, he ignores her emotional crisis and uncertain future. She must choose between the man who created her and the man who truly loves her.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 4, Scene 5
L13. Title style against genre norms. AI
The title is a single mythological name, typical of classical drama. It signals literary weight and invites comparison to the source myth. Modern plays often use longer, more descriptive titles, so this feels timeless and elegant rather than trendy.
Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable. (Ch 5, para 301)
Ask Pygmalion a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
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