Pygmalion Essay, Research Paper
I chose the archetype ?The prostitute with a heart of gold?.
An archetype is defined as a universal idea that can take
many forms, appearing ?spontaneously, at any time, at any
place, and without any outside influence? (Pygmalion?s Word
Play, Carl Jung, p. 82). When present in the unconscious,
an archetype shapes thoughts, feelings, moods, speech, and
actions. The ?prostitute with a heart of gold? originated in
early Greek mythology as the story of Pygmalion. Next, a
more modern version called My Fair Lady was written and
performed in the 1950?s. Then in the 1980?s the movie Pretty
Woman came out, which has the same story line as the other
two, although it is a lot more modernized and the theme of a
?prostitute with a heart of gold? is much more evident than
in of its predecessors. Although ?the oldest profession? was
just as large a factor in society in 1912 when George
Bernard Shaw?s Pygmalion play was released as it is today,
it was talked about much less freely and the idea of
reforming street girl was not as feasible as it is today.
?My Fair Lady? was one of the first versions of a poor
street girl metamorphasizing into an elegant, proper lady.
Pretty Woman can closely trace its roots back to ?My Fair
Lady,? because both women reform to a better life that they
never dreamed was possible, the most striking difference
being that Pretty Woman is a more modernized version and the
evidence of prostitution is much more evident.
In the story of Pygmalion, he wanted a wife, yet he saw
too much corruption in women and always doubted their true
motives. He was a very talented sculptor, and one day he
began sculpting an ivory maiden statue. No woman was
physically comparable to this statue, not the most perfect
naturally created woman. His art was so good that it caught
him in his own web of deceit. Eventually Pygmalion fell in
love with this counterfeit creation, full well knowing that
he would drive himself mad obsessing over an inanimate
object while at the same time knowing that nothing good
could come from his love. He caressed her, gave her presents
and decorated her body with fine clothing and jewels. He
even laid her on his royal bed at night to sleep, calling
her his wife. Finally, the festival of Venus came and
Pygmalion stood before the altar and timidly said, ?Give me,
I pray to you for my wife? – he dared not say ?my ivory
wife?, but said instead – ?One like my ivory virgin?
(?Metamorphoses by Ovid, p.10). The golden goddess of Venus
knew that he meant he wanted his statue to be his wife, so
she granted his wish. When Pygmalion returned home he placed
his hands upon his statue, and to his surprise she felt warm
and alive! Her lips became soft, and her skin molded to his
touch. Nine months later a baby girl was born to them.
In this Greek myth Pygmalion creates an ideal woman,
made out of ivory. Although he never expected her to become
real he still treated her like his wife and took great care
of her. Eventually his wish was granted and she was brought
to life. The perfect woman, in his eyes, was now his wife.
Pygmalion created and formed this woman, showing that if you
want something bad enough and love it as much as he loved
his statue, you can make it happen.
In ?My Fair Lady,? written during the era of the 1950?s
in England, there was a high aristocratic society which
demarcates itself from the rest of English society,
consisting of the elegantly dressed bourgeois class sharply
contrasting the poor peasant class. Eliza Doolittle, a
disheveled cockney flower vender who was lucky enough to
catch the eye of a Professor Henry Higgins who gives her an
offer she can?t refuse. Higgins is a well known phonetic
expert who studies ?…the science of speech…speech
patterns and their corresponding locations…? (Pygamalion,
p.19). He brutally criticizes Eliza?s detestable
?boo-hooing? and crude pronunciations of words. To the
snobby, intolerant Higgins inarticulateness and ignorance
concerning proper dialect and language produces a ?verbal
class distinction? that functions as an external indicator
of what class in society you belong to. He cannot understand
why some English men and women do not take the time to learn
how to speak proper English. Higgins makes the offer to
Eliza to stay with him for six months and he would teach her
how to speak articulately enough to pass in the most
exclusive social gathering, the Embassy Ball, without anyone
being aware of her Cockney origins, which is no small task.
He says that she will become a proper aristocratic lady who
speaks proper English. Once Eliza and Professor Higgins
begin ?business,? they practice the skills and
pronunciations of the proper use of English. Everyday they
repeatedly practice Eliza?s grammar, dialects, and speech
patterns with a recording device that enables Eliza to learn
from her own mistakes. In just weeks there are dramatic
differences in Eliza?s speech patterns that are apparent by
listening to their recording lessons. Not only has her
English improved, but her manners and etiquette have
improved as well, due to the help of Professor Higgins.
Months later, Eliza has been transformed into ?one of
them,? a member of the exclusive bourgeois class in England,
able to ?pass? at any social event she chooses, which is no
easy accomplishment. Thanks to Professor Higgins, Eliza can
mingle with the ?snobs? of the elite class, and no one has
any idea where she is originally from. Higgins has not only
traversed the ?phonetic stream,? transforming one polar
opposite dialect into another, but he has simultaneously
developed an affection for his star pupil. Although he
denies it to by telling himself that he can live just the
same without her, just as he did before, he knows it is just
a lie. The six months have passed quickly, and it is time
for Eliza to leave. Eliza is a fresh new woman, and is
capable of playing off the aristocrat
sophisticated and proper life of her own. In fact she won
the heart of a fine gentleman, Freddy, and is planning a
marriage with him. Higgins is surprised, although he doesn?t
show it, and continues to act as if he is not bothered at
all by this development. In his mind though, he?s
remembering how accustomed he has grown to her face, that he
will soon miss. The two say their ?good-byes,? and Higgins
returns home to find himself listening to the first
recordings of Eliza. Shortly thereafter Eliza returns back
to Higgins home and surprises him with the truth of her true
feelings for him. She finally admits to herself that she has
grown to love both him and his lifestyle, and that Freddy is
not her true love.
The story of ?My Fair Lady? is similar to Pygmalion
because of the similarities between the archetypal
characters Professor Higgins and Pygmalion. Professor
Higgins has the intelligence and ability to take a poor and
uneducated woman with no manners and sculpt her into an
elegant and sophisticated lady who is able to ascend into
the upper echelons of high society from the streets of
England seamlessly. At the same time, Professor Higgins has
unknowingly ?molded? Eliza into his ideal woman. On the
other hand, although Pygmalion did not actually teach and
transform his statue into his ideal woman, his undying hope
for an ideal intellectual mate to suit the physical beauty
he created brought together divine intervention with divine
creation and formed his ideal woman, in his eyes. Again,
this is evidence that anything is possible, if you really
devote your mind to it. Although Professor Higgins was rude
and snobby, he still held a strong belief in his ideal and
it took a lot of devotion to take an unmolded human being
and bring qualities out in her that no one ever thought were
there. This example gives hope to every little girl who
aspires to be something she is not. Although Professor
Higgins did bring to the surface the elite qualities that
were necessary to fit into society at this time, it was the
untapped potential in Eliza which made it possible for her
to fit in and have confidence to become something that she
wasn?t previously. ?Higgins clearly lacks the eroticism of
Ovid?s Pygmalion, but his distaste for women in life?s
gutters, his passion for creation, for an art that conceals
its art in carrying a thing of beauty from raw materials,
his dressing Eliza in gowns and jewels, and his desire to
articulate life and achieve an ideal, all echo Ovid?s hero.
Pygmalion?s passions finally impregnate his creation;
Higgins finally sparks Eliza to give birth to the woman
within her? (Berst, p.13). Eliza?s growth involves
increasing self-realization, an evolution from a lower to a
higher state of being, and an important quality that
sometimes is not innately there and must be developed.
Pygmalion spent great time and effort in creating his
ideal woman. This gives hope to society, especially the
lower classes, that one can change and succeed if they just
try hard enough. The more advanced and modern version of ?My
Fair Lady? was spawned in a film entitled Pretty Woman. This
1980?s film is more blunt than it?s predecessors because the
?Higgins? character (played by Richard Gere) chooses a
prostitute (Julia Roberts) not as someone to try to ?pass?
into high society, but as a companion to himself. The movie
takes place in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, in a wealthy area
in present day, and is not so unlikely a scenario to happen
considering the day and age that we live in today. Gere is a
rich, cool executive who finds a soft spot for Roberts, who
turns out to be a strikingly honest, real and charming
woman. Gere decides to hire her for business and social
reasons (as a woman for display) with the agreement that she
is treated like a princess for a week. She gets a new
wardrobe, goes to the opera, and learns proper etiquette
manners for fine dining. We see Higgins plight paralleled in
Gere?s attempt to pass her off as a normal, Beverly Hills
debutante. We see Eliza Doolittle represented in Roberts
because she decides she wants more from Gere than money.
Julia ends up like a fairy tale character, succeeding in
passing as well as ?getting her man,? like Eliza Doolittle
and similar to Pygmalion?s statue. Each woman is transformed
into a new identity. ?My Fair Lady? and Pretty Woman are the
stories that more young women will be able to take
inspiration from and shows once again that it?s very
possible to find true women with hearts of gold. Pretty
Woman really shows society that regardless of your living
status, class or occupation, all women have the ability to
grow, change and succeed buried deep inside. Not all
prostitutes or street people are helpless, and meaningless.
They can have genuine hearts as well and sometimes they are
truly more honest and real because of the experiences that
they have lived through and the challenges they have faced
thus far in their lives.
In all three stories, both the man and woman can be
seen as an archetypal hero. Pygmalion, Professor Higgins and
Richard Gere all each take the risk of helping these women,
and society could view them negatively for their involvement
with the lower class. Eliza and Julia take a big risk in
being stepped on and being ridiculed lower than they already
are compared to the men?s lifestyles. They are archetypal
heroes because they have strong character and are willing to
change. These women have the confidence and ability to
change and this shows society that again, anything is
possible. The only downfall was the verbal abuse both women
took from the elite class, as they were learning to adapt.
High society doesn?t appreciate or care for prostitutes, but
for everyone to be fooled and convinced of this new woman
shows their absurdity. A person has a heart of gold
regardless of their status even if it is not evident to the
naked eye.