Courtesy Titles

Prof. Higgins wanted to pass the flower girl off as a duchess. Here’s a brief list of courtesy titles.

Peer	Wife	Eldest Son	Younger Son	Unmarried Daughter
Duke	Duchess	Father's Subsidiary Title	Lord [Firstname] [Lastname]	Lady [Firstname] [Lastname]
Marquess	Marchioness	Father's Subsidiary Title	Lord [Firstname] [Lastname]	Lady [Firstname] [Lastname]
Earl	Countess	Father's Subsidiary Title	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]	Lady [Firstname] [Lastname]
Viscount	Viscountess	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]
Baron	Baroness	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]	The Honourable [Firstname] [Lastname]

Read more at http://www.fact-index.com/c/co/courtesy_title.html.

Tasks

1. Find out some information on Bernard Shaw’s life and creative work. You may use any source of information available to you. Why did Shaw come to the conclusion that it was necessary to publish his plays in written form? Give his reasons for doing that.

2. What is cockney? Who speaks it and what peculiarities does it have?

3. Find the sentences in which the following word-combinations are used. Translate the sentences into Russian.

   1. to get chilled to the bone

   2. not to be had for love or money

   3. to be the worse for wear

   4. reluctantly

   5. deceive sb

   6. to lay a charge against sb for sth

   7. to be a busy-body

   8. to be fit for sb or sth

   9. to take liberties with sb or sth

   10. pity sb

   11. to give oneself away

   12. to pass sb off as sb

   13. charity

   14. to leave sb with sth on his hands

4. Use the above expressions in situations based on the book.

5. Paraphrase the following OR comment and explain it in English:

   1. [Freddy] I tell you theyre all engaged.

   2. [Freddy] I shall simply get soaked for nothing.

   3. [the daughter] Are we to stay here all night in this draught, with next to nothing on.

   4. [author’s comments] A blinding flash of lightning, followed instantly by a rattling peal of thunder, orchestrates the incident.

   5. [the mother] Do hold your tongue.

   6. [the daughter] Really, mamma, you might have spared Freddy that.

   7. [author’s comments] He is in the same plight as Freddy.

   8. [author’s comments about the flower girl] [disappointed, but thinking three halfpence better than nothing]

   9. [author’s comments about the public] General hubbub, mostly sympathetic to the flower girl, but deprecating her excessive sensibility.

   10. [someone in the crowd] A tec taking her down.

   11. [the note-taker] What do you take me for?

   12. [the gentleman to the note-taker] May I ask, sir, do you do this for your living at a music hall?

   13. [the sarcastic bystander about the note-taker] I knowed he was a plain-clothes copper.

   14. [Pickering (earlier “the gentleman”)] …lets have a jaw over some supper.

   15. [author’s comments] hearing in it the voice of God, rebuking him for his Pharisaic want of charity to the poor girl.

   16. [the flower girl to the cabman] Eightpence aint no object to me, Charlie.

6. Give a summary of Act I as a succession of events. The questions might help you. Use of the words given in Task 1 is beneficial.

   1. Where does the action take place?

   2. Who are the main characters?

   3. In what situation do we find them?

   4. What is Freddy’s task? How well does he manage to accomplish it?

   5. What incident occurs that involves Freddy and a flower girl?

   6. What does the flower girl look like?

   7. What information does the mother need from the flower girl and how does she try to get it? Is she sure the flower girl is telling the truth?

   8. Who appears under the portico? What does he buy from the girl?

   9. How does the situation develop? Who points at the note-taker?

   10. Whom to they all take him for? Does he really want to lay a charge against the girl?

   11. What surprises the spectators? What talent does the note-taker have?

   12. Now that the rain has stopped, where do they all go?

   13. What is the name and profession of the note-taker? Whom does he get acquainted with?

   14. What does Prof. Higgins want to do with the girl?

   15. How do they all part and what are their plans?

7. Express your opinion on the following problems:

   1. What do you think about public opinion? The crowd reacts to Prof. Higgins in the following way: What business is it of yours? You mind your own affairs. He wants promotion, he does. Taking down people's words! Girl never said a word to him. What harm if she did? Nice thing a girl cant shelter from the rain without being insulted, etc., etc., etc. What makes them do so?

   2. Would you agree with Prof. Higgins here: A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere—no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and dont sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon. Is it really so important to speak proper language? What do you feel towards a person who does not speak properly?