The origin
of thestory lies in ancient Greek myth. Ovid's Metamorphosis continued its
fame (Ovid being one of the more important Classical writers in the English Renaissance). The
Pygmalion myth has elements of male fantasy, as the sculptor creates a "perfect" woman
after becoming disenchanted with real women (most notably prostitutes). The perfect woman, in
this sense, is a beautiful creature with no artifices to challenge male security. Pygmalion
remains frustrated that he cannot possess his Galatea statue as a woman utterly under his
control, subject to his desire.
Elements of this art-becoming-life story can
be found in Pinocchio as well as in Shakespeare's The Winter's
Tale. In Othello, at the end of the play, Othello makes a
reverse wish, wanting Desdemona to be an alabaster statue that he can love without fear of her
disloyalty. In these stories, we find fodder for psychological interpretations of wish
fulfillment and control.
When Shaw picks up the myth and its traditions, he
offers a distinctly social . Higgins reforms Eliza through speech and demeanor, polishing her as
a sculptor would his creation. The point is to show the excellence of his art. Eliza's own
living self chafes at the uselessness of her training in a world that insists on class structure
rather than personal ability. After some resistance regarding a less expected happy ending
(Higgins and Eliza marrying), Shaw persists in the value of his own ending, where Eliza marries
Freddie:
When Eliza emancipates herselfwhen Galatea comes
to lifeshe must not relapse. She must retain her pride and triumph to the end. When Higgins
takes your arm on 'consort battleship' you must instantly throw him off with implacable pride;
and this is the note until the final 'Buy them yourself.' He will go out on the balcony to watch
your departure; come back triumphantly into the room; exclaim 'Galatea!' (meaning that the
statue has come to life at last); andcurtain. Thus he gets the last word; and you get it too
(Letter from Shaw to actress playing Eliza, cited below, page 43).
Underscoring Eliza as a living Galatea who can take full independence from her creator,
Shaw offers an inversion of Victorian sentimentality, which he stubbornly
satirized.
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