THE ONE AND ONLY PYGMALION

Pygmalion is not the name of a bird and it certainly has nothing to do with “pygmy”. Pygmalion is originally a Greek name. By definition, this one word can convey a thousand meanings. However after I have read this play, Pygmalion by Shaw is apparently connected to the tale by Ovid “Metamorphoses” though it is very much different from the original play. Thinking of the word “metamorphoses” really bring me back to my biology class a long time ago in the land far, far away. I learned about butterfly’s metamorphosis where an ugly greenish caterpillar transformed slowly into a beautiful butterfly. Thus, the key words of Ovid’s play are transformation or changes in shape. In Shaw's play, Higgins transforms a common flower girl into a graceful lady, like the sculptor Pygmalion in the Ovidian legend carved a beautiful statue out of shapeless ivory. Higgins effects this amazing transformation by teaching Eliza to speak correctly and beautifully. In addition, Pygmalion is described as having repulsion for women and he thus decides to remain single but his statue is so realistic that he falls in love with it. He offers the statue presents and eventually prays to Venus. She takes pity on him and brings the statue to life. They marry and have a son, Paphos. Similarly Higgins stresses out that “I shall never get into the way of seriously liking young women: some habits lie too deep to be changed…besides, they’re all idiots.”(pg 34) and he remains as a bachelor till the end of the play. The twist created by Shaw is witty as even though Higgins was actually fall in love with his elegant work, Shaw moved from the cliché as not all love story ends with “…and they lived happily ever after”. By looking at Higgins utterances, his character possesses similarities with Pygmalion as a sculptor. For example, Higgins assumed Eliza as his masterpiece instead of his student as he said “I’m not going to have my masterpiece thrown away on Freddy”(pg70). Other similarity that makes these two masterpieces connected can be identified in the last lines of Shaw’s play. "Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion; his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable".(pg 82) In the end, Eliza prefers Freddy's simple-minded proclamation of devotion to Higgins' profound indifference. Personally I really enjoy both Shaw’s version of Pygmalion and Ovid’s Metamorphoses “The Story of Pygmalion and the Statue. What I can say is that reading Ovid’s work really helps me in comprehending the play deeply.