Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw has plenty of themes that lie within it, but the two that stand out the most to me is how the book was named after after the myth Pygmalion. Why did Shaw name his book after this famous myth? The other theme that stood out to me was Higgins look on manners.
In the myth Pygmalion a man falls in love with a statue of what he thinks is the perfect woman. He dressed it with the finest drapes and named it Galatea. He became obsessed with Galatea and wished that she could be real. So, the goddess Aphrodite turned his lovely statue into a real woman. Shaw found that inspiration for the book tile within that myth. Yet, comparing the two together they are quite different in some way. Starting with the fact that Eliza is not a statue. But she is not beautiful at first sight. Eliza has to be taken in and taught the ways of being a proper lady. Just as the goddess Aphrodite did with Galatea. Henry Higgins takes Ms. Eliza Doolittle to a horse race with “proper” middle class people to test out his transformation in her. This is where she meets Freddy. Where Freddy falls in love with this common flower girl that has been turned into a beautiful proper young lady. Giving the name Pygmalion.
Love, the four letter word that means a lot to this book. Trough out Shaw’s Pygmalion Henry Higgins shows that he has his own view at manners. To him it does not really mean much. In the story he tells Eliza that manners are not what matter, that its the way you treat everyone. Telling her that people should all be treated equally the same. The question that lingers is whether he is being truly sincere not. Considering they type of man that he is. He could of just been trying to get himself out of that sticky situation with Eliza. But should everyone be treated equally? Yes, I one-hundred precent agree, to an extent. Always being kind to someone that is constantly putting you down makes you seem like the bigger person. Pickering is a really good example of this. He treats Eliza like a woman with class and manners, even when she really did not have any. With him doing that it gave Eliza the motivation to become that “lady” that she wants to be.
With the Higgins out look on manners, it shows that even though treating everyone the same can seems right it can sometimes put those people who do not deserve that bitter treatment. But the way that Pickering treats Eliza, even just being a simple flower girl, he gives her hope into become a “proper lady”.
