TO ESCORT A LADY

Q: How would a man properly escort a lady to/from a location?

A: It seems the most proper way would be for the man to hold four fingers (pointer, middle, ring, and pinky) of a lady’s outreached hand.

 

ADDLE-PATED

“What a fool I was, what an addle-pated fool 
What a mutton-headed dolt was I” – Eliza, Without You

ad·dle·pat·ed

\ˈa-d^əl-ˌpā-təd\

An adjective that means mixed-up, confused, or eccentric.

“Addle” means muddled, and “pate” means head, so it roughly means “mixed up in the head.”

HIGGINS + ELIZA = <3?

The question: “In the original production of Pygmalion, Eliza and Higgins have a romantic relationship. Why was this relationship de-emphasized in the adaptation to My Fair Lady?”

George Bernard Shaw

It is generally agreed that PYGMALION is primarily a social commentary/satire on the artificial barriers between social classes.

Actually, Shaw wrote repeatedly that PYGMALION was not a love story, and that Eliza goes on to marry Freddie after the play is over.

In fact, because both actors and audience members wanted Higgins and Eliza to end up together, George Bernard Shaw wrote an afterword to his play that declared emphatically that they never marry.

He says that Eliza marries Freddie Eynsford-Hill.

Shaw wrote an elaborate summary of Eliza and Freddie’s married life.

Recent Broadway revival of PYGMALION

The play, unlike the musical, ends with Eliza leaving Mrs. Higgins’ house as Higgins laughs.

The 1938 British film adaptation of PYGMALION

Shaw allowed a happy ending to be used in the film version of PYGMALION, in which Higgins and Eliza clearly will live “happily ever after.”

When asked why he allowed this, he replied, “I did not. I cannot conceive a less happy ending to this story . . . than a love affair between the middle-aged, middle class professor, a confirmed old bachelor with a mother fixation, and a flower girl of eighteen.”

So much for happily ever after. . .

HURRICANE

I was asked how one would pronounce the word “hurricane” with a standard RP accent, so I turned to our Assistant Dialect Coach, Marion Hill, for this one.

A hurricane

Her response:
“Hurricane,” you’re right, has a different pronunciation for RP. It would be HUH-ri-kun” with the last syllable pronounced not as “cane” but like “kun” with a very soft, open “u” or you can also think of it as “k’n”.

Let her know, at marionhill2016@u.northwestern.edu if you’ve any further questions on this.

INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

Looking at the script, it seems that the INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET is what Henry Higgins would be most likely to use.  

It has been used since 1888, when it was devised by the International Phonetic Association as a standardized representation of the sounds of oral language.  

In addition to being used by linguists and Speech-Language Pathologists, it is also used by singers and actors.

The IPA is noted for representing only those qualities of speech that are distinctive in oral language: phonemes, intonation, and the separation of words and syllables.

 

It even includes qualities of speech like tooth-gnashing, lisping, and the sounds made with the cleft palate.

 

Letters and diacritics are the two basic types of symbols.  

 

Letters are divided into pulmonic consonants, non-pulmonic consonants, and vowels, while diacritics.  

 

Diacritics are small markings placed around letters to specify the pronunciation.

 

This is its official handbook, as released by the IPA, which I think is available in the Northwestern Library — if that would be of any interest: http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1159392/?site_locale=en_GB

 

WHAT MIGHT AN ASCOT RACECOURSE LOOK LIKE?

EDWARDIAN ARCHITECTURE

The front view of Leeds Market, the largest outdoor market in Europe.

These are some key characteristics of Edwardian Architecture:

Sunshine, simplicity, air = three main characteristics.

Less clutter than in the Victorian era.

When there was ornamentation, it was grounded, as opposed to being everywhere. Further, these decorative patterns were less complex, wallpapers and curtain designs being plainer, too.

As gas and electric light were becoming more prevalent, the colors could be lighter, as they would look better in brighter light.

Sketch.

Houses had wider frontages, so there was often more room for a hall.

A desire for cleanliness in the designs.

There would likely be a vase of flowers on a table complementing the fabrics wallpaper.

Wooden porches with turned spindles were prevalent.

The windows tended to be smaller and leaded, creating a picturesque effect.

Jacobean details–gargoyles, heraldic devices, mullioned windows, studded doors, Dutch gables

Rustic bricks

Rough cast walls

No dado rails

Dado Rail

Stained glasses and door furniture