Shaw’s Serious Jokes: Carnivalesque Laughter as Resistance in Pygmalion

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of carnivalesque laughter as a form of resistance in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (1913), using Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of the carnivalesque as a framework. The study examines how Shaw employs humor, irony, and satire to critique and rigid class structures and societal norms in Edwardian England. Characters such as Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins mirror Bakhtin’s vision of carnival, where traditional hierarchies are inverted, and the established social order is challenged. By focusing on language, character dynamics, and the subversive nature of humor, this paper explicates how carnivalesque laughter in Pygmalion serves as a tool for questioning and destabilizing oppressive social structures. The analysis demonstrates that Shaw’s strategic use of satire reflects a spirit analogous to that of Bakhtin’s carnival, promoting a discourse of social change and renewal. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of Shaw's literary techniques and the power of laughter as a vehicle for cultural and social critique.

Keywords: George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion, Mikhail Bakhtin, carnivalesque, satire, social resistance, Edwardian society, transformative humor, folk humor.

Highlights:

1. It reframes Pygmalion through Bakhtin’s carnivalesque, arguing that laughter in the play functions as social resistance that unsettles Edwardian class hierarchies.
2. It offers close readings of key scenes to show “de-crowning” in action: Eliza’s salon “small talk,” Alfred Doolittle’s ironic rise, and Higgins’s drawing-room frankness, each exposing the fragility of class identity built on accent, manners, and costume.
3. It distinguishes carnival laughter from reductive modern satire, positioning Shaw’s humor as regenerative: laughter educates, renews, and invites change rather than stopping at ridicule.
4. It recasts Higgins as a paradoxical catalyst of the carnival. His phonetic “laboratory” opens a space where boundaries blur, enabling Eliza’s growth and undermining the very norms he tries to police.
5. It ties the argument to broader cultural stakes, showing how carnivalization in Pygmalion deconstructs class and gender expectations and culminates in Eliza’s assertion of autonomy as the play’s transformative outcome.