How to handle a woman: female characterization in Alan Jay Lerner's musicals

This thesis is an examination of the collected works of Broadway librettist Alan Jay Lerner. The topics and settings of Lerner's musicals were many and varied, but a frequently recurring theme nevertheless emerges in many of them, one of gender construction and relations. This is particularly focused on the recurring motif of the Pygmalion/Galatea myth and similar arcs of the female protagonist's character transformation. These transformations will be explored through textual analysis as well as a critical examination of the music, movement, and design aspects of the musicals, in their original productions, subsequent revivals, and film adaptations. However, as a recurring thread throughout Lerner's musicals, I will primarily focus on the lyrics and book, as written by Lerner, and to a lesser extent the composition and production aspects of each show.