Pygmalion Theme
Pygmalion is a play written by a modern Irish writer.
The author of the play, George Bernard Shaw, has added many themes to the play, like class distinction, transformation, etc. But our focus will be on the theme of transformation only.
Transformation
Transformation is one of the themes of the play. Eliza Dolittle, who is the main character of the play, is shown being transformed by Henry Higgins, also a main character in the play.
The play is based on Greek mythology, where a king and sculptor known as Pygmalion made a sculpture of a woman and fell in love with his creation. He prayed to the goddess of love to breathe life into his creation. His prayers were answered, the sculpture became alive, and he got married to his handmade sculpture, named Galatea.
Henry Higgins, unlike King Pygmalion of Greek mythology, didn’t marry Eliza.
Eliza is objectified and treated as a doll in the teaching process. Professor Henry Higgins is insensitive towards her and calls her out with insulting names like squashed cabbage leaf.
Higgins’ treatment of Eliza depicts the treatment of females in the Victorian era. They were not given rights, and in the play, Eliza is deprived of the right to be treated well.
Now the question is: how did the process of learning start? The motive behind the learning process was Eliza’s dream to work at a flower shop.
The power of desire and dreams drew Eliza towards Higgins’ home, and she asked for lessons.
Needs and dreams are the two main pearls in the ocean of life. Need is something easily achieved; it’s like on the top of the sea, and you can pick it up easily, but when it comes to desire and dreams, here the struggle starts in life. It is a dream, not a need, that drives us towards certain actions and acts as an incentive for different actions, whether good or bad.
Shaw in the play has shown us the strength of desire, which leads the protagonist, Eliza, towards her language improvement.
One more thing in the transformation process is Higgins’ mother scolding him because she mentioned that even if you made Eliza a duchess, she would still be living in slums.
The words of Higgins mother are also said by Higgins himself, who said that when it comes to business, people choose reality over fantasy.
These words illustrate that even if a person is transformed in some way, he or she still belongs to the same class as before. Reality would not change with just a change in appearance. Higgins mentioned in the text that they are such fools that they think style comes by nature to people, indicating that learning is not just fixed with or associated with elites but is a process that could be gained by everyone, as shown in the transformation of Eliza Dolittle, where her manners and language are transformed.
With the depiction of various themes, Shaw also beautifully depicted the transformation theme in the play, and the process of transmission can be applied in various spheres of life.