Shaw’s cleverly crafted and highly entertaining play mixes the Pygmalion myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with a Victorian-day twist. Shaw’s Pygmalion combines dimensional characters, an entertaining plotline and vibrant themes in a way that truly encapsulates Victorian high society.
What’s Pygmalion About?
Set in high society, Pygmalion follows a bet made by two upper class gentlemen: phonetics teacher, Higgins; and his linguist friend Colonel Pickering. Higgins bets Pickering that he can pass a young cockney girl, Eliza Doolittle off a member of the high society at a party.
As the months go on, Eliza soon turns into a high society girl. After the party is a smashing success, the men grow bored of the bet, and of her. Eliza loses control of her identity through this “creation” but finds love, respect and a strong willed personality in the process. Shaw leaves the outcome open for interpretation as the audience is unsure if Eliza will leave her “creator” or remain with him.
The Traditional yet Easy to Relate to Cast
The characters are beautiful crafted in Pygmalion. One can’t help but love little Eliza who is thrown into the world of high society typical of many fairy tale Princesses. The audience can watch her blossom from a simple flower girl to an elegant woman on the outside.
In Higgins the audience sees a modern day Pygmalion who creates a “creature” for his own ambitious project and entertainment. Higgins is the typical misogynistic male and the perfect character foil to Pickering, a kind and gentle man.
These three characters balance one another out perfectly throughout the play and create an entertaining picture of high class Victorian day society, where appearance is everything and elegance can simply be crafted through speech.
The Morals of the Story
The themes that Pygmalion touches on are not hard to pick out; however, they are woven into the play in appropriate character development and dialogue. The theme of the importance of vanity in Victorian society is seen through the different characters and their reactions to Eliza.
Shaw is demonstrating, like Victorian writer Oscar Wilde, how, when it comes to Victorian society, their ideals are completely backwards. High society is caught up in trivial notions such as getting wet and looking good that they miss the more romantic and serious notions that could have developed.
Furthermore, Pygmalion brings up a good point about art and women. Higgins uses the male gaze and actually considers Eliza a creature. She begins to be her slave.
Shaw is not only looking at the idea of woman as objects, but also at the role that Victorian women play in society. They dress up and act like coy dolls simply to attract a mate. Shaw is shining a new light on the role of women in Victorian society and the problems that comes from this vain behavior.
Finally, Pygmalion is a story of transformation, similar to a fairy tale rags-to-riches story. Eliza goes from the cockney flower girl to a beautiful elegant woman. Of course, Pygmalion is actually a transformation without a transformation as not only is Eliza being transformed into a high society girl, but the play is transforming a classic mythical story into a Victorian romance.
Modern Day Pygmalion
Of course, since the initial staging of this instant classic there have been several musical and movie renditions including My Fair Lady and She’s All That.
Pygmalion brings eloquent language, well crafted dialogue, passionate characters and a riveting plotline to the screen. The morals addressed are incredibly important not only in Victorian society, but in the celebrity obsessed modern day society as well.
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