What does Higgins mean when he says, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred”? Affirm, dispute, or qualify the validity of Higgins's statement.
In the play, Higgins says, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred”. The denotation of sacred is “connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration”. Thus, this saying in my own words and point of view means in context with the novel, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were being taught by a God like character who will be praised for his work”. With the play, Higgins saw himself as some form of God for creating Eliza into a lady. Thus, he wanted to be venerated for his work as he did it at no cost. In his mind, he believed that his transformation of Eliza was for God’s sake. This can be supported with the fact that in Act I, he only donated to Eliza after he “heard the voice of God who rebuked him for his Pharisaic want of charity to the poor girl”. With this in mind, it can be said that Higgins’s conscious was filled with the idea that helping Eliza would fulfill his need for charity as well as God’s calling. Even though Higgins did not accept Eliza’s payments, he wanted something out of his experiment, which was to hold power and dominate over another being. As a result, it is evident that Higgins only did this experiment at no cost so that he can win the bet and prove to Pickering that he is like God, or even better, God himself.
In the play, Higgins says, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred”. The denotation of sacred is “connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration”. Thus, this saying in my own words and point of view means in context with the novel, “teaching would be impossible unless pupils were being taught by a God like character who will be praised for his work”. With the play, Higgins saw himself as some form of God for creating Eliza into a lady. Thus, he wanted to be venerated for his work as he did it at no cost. In his mind, he believed that his transformation of Eliza was for God’s sake. This can be supported with the fact that in Act I, he only donated to Eliza after he “heard the voice of God who rebuked him for his Pharisaic want of charity to the poor girl”. With this in mind, it can be said that Higgins’s conscious was filled with the idea that helping Eliza would fulfill his need for charity as well as God’s calling. Even though Higgins did not accept Eliza’s payments, he wanted something out of his experiment, which was to hold power and dominate over another being. As a result, it is evident that Higgins only did this experiment at no cost so that he can win the bet and prove to Pickering that he is like God, or even better, God himself.
Personally, I disagree with his saying and belief due to the fact that teaching is possible with any kind of pupil. I believe that learning and teaching are two different elements, even though they go hand in hand together, students are not able to learn unless the teacher is willing to teach them the right way. For example, if a teacher were to not care about his or her students’ education, then the students cannot learn anything. This is the case if the teacher does not give feedback to the students for their work or let alone give them assignments that he or she does not even read over. Even though the students are putting in the work required for the assignment, students are not developing a relationship with a teacher in which they either are being praised for their work or expected to improve in whatever they might be struggling with. Thus, I believe that pupils should not be “sacred”. Instead, they should be “curious” or “innovative”. If they were curious or innovative, they are more willing to learn and give ideas that can help themselves grow within their education. With this, they will put in their best works so that the teacher can help them develop the necessary skills required to excel in that subject. Overall, I believe that being sacred has nothing to do with teaching. In Higgins’s point of view, he only agreed with this saying because he wanted to be superior over his pupils. However, in real life, teachers should be at the same level if not below the students as the students are the future of the world. Teachers are meant to be the tool that gives students the proper information and criticism required for the students to grow and become whatever they hope to be.