I had never heard of the term "Pygmalion" before sitting down to read this play, and was subsequently interested in learning what it meant. All that I could find after a brief search online was a reference to a king of Cyprus in Greek mythology who carved a statue so beautiful that the king desired her to be real. Aphrodite answered his prayers and turned her into a real woman, by the name of Galatea. Digging further, I managed to find a more generalized definition, which was someone who falls in love with his own creation. Based on the first two Acts and this definition, I can assume that Higgins, the odd professor, will develop a similar kind of association with Eliza at some point, despite their current attitudes towards one another, and Higgins' claim that women, to him, "might as well be blocks of wood."
Another thing I liked is the way the play opens with an unconventional scene. Many aspects of the stratified society are represented all together, each taking refuge from the weather in a common place. Such a setup is a clever and efficient way to introduce a great many characters and allow the audience to view them all, each in their own worlds but also intersecting everyone else's.
I also found the meaning benind the word pygmalion interesting. Before reading the first two acts I hadn't even heard of it before, so to be able to know what it means will probably help out a lot as we read further. I agree about the first scene being interesting too, because it wasn't at all what I had expected when I began reading which made it a lot easier to enjoy as it didn't feel predictable or cliche to me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it will be interesting to find out the relationship between Higgins and Eliza by the end of the play. I doubt Higgins will grow that much of an affinity for her considering how smug and egotistical he appears to be. I agree that the social meshing of the classes was a great way to introduce the characters in a efficient and somewhat detailed way. It is a nice change of pace from the novels we've read considering the amount of time it takes to introduce all the characters.
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