Question

H) explain how shaw makes use of the pygmalion myth.

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Comment on Shaw's use of myth in Pygmalion.Answer in detail.

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SUSAN3SMITH | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

If you use the term "myth" loosely, you might apply the Frankenstein myth to the characters, plot, and theme of the play. While the play is called Pygmalion, it seems to have many thematic parallels to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  In this 19 C. romantic novel, Shelley portrays an overly ambitious scientist, much like Henry Higgins, whose experiments create an anomalous being who as a result has nowhere to go.  Like Shelley, Shaw explores the effects of such a creation on both the creator and the creation.  We see Eliza transformed from a flower girl to a lady, but this transformation involves far more than a transformation of language and clothes.  Like the monster, Eliza becomes much more than her creator bargained for--and as Higgins is reminded by his mother and Mrs. Pearce, he has some responsibility toward her in making it impossible for her to return to the world she has known previously. Just as Dr. Frankenstein abandons his monster, Higgins refusal to acknowledge Eliza as anything more than an experiment deeply wounds Eliza who gradually learns to stand on her own two feet in a world of rigid class distinctions and hypocrisy. 

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