Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion

He sculpted her out of pure ivory….painstakingly over many days, many nights…he did not catch any sleep for many days…he was shaping his masterpiece…every curve, every expression, every emotion he carved on her was a symphony!! When he was not busy in giving her a celestial form, he would spend sleepless hours just staring at her beauty in all its glory. She was his masterpiece, his labour of love, his obsession …and he was falling in love with her…only she was not real!! She was but a lifeless form yet so real to evoke desire…Pygmalion wished every minute for her to become a reality….her creation, her ivory sculpture Galatea.

This is the story of Greek sculptor Pygmalion & his creation, Galatea, as described in Ovid’s narrative mythological poem Metamorphoses X. Their story is a story of Greek imagination & erotica; a story that has inspired countless works & countless imaginations.

The story also inspired George Bernard Shaw to pen down his own version of Pygmalion (first presented on stage in 1912); a story that has in itself gained an undeniable cult status.

Story:

Pygmalion follows the story of Eliza Dolittle, a coarse & rough flower girl, selling her flowers for “tuppence” on a very rainy day in London, around St. Paul’s Church. It is 11.15 pm, and people had taken shelter under the portico of the church. These people were a motley group, that also comprised of the Enysford-Hills, a family who are best described as superficial social climbers, who are not as rich anymore, but their pretensions of their old world just does not go away. This family has an older Mrs. Sanford Hill, her daughter Clara & son Freddie. Amongst the crowd there are also two gentlemen and the flower girl Eliza Dolittle. Eliza tries to sell her wares in her distinct lowbrow accent. One of the gentlemen takes a keen interest in what she is speaking and makes some notes. The simple Eliza, thinking him to be a police officer, starts bawling & accusing all around her of trapping a “poor, simple girl”.

The stranger in question makes himself known; he is Professor Higgins, a professor of linguistics & phonetics. Soon the other gentleman also picks into the conversation; this gentleman is Col. Pickering. Both Higgins & Pickering have shared interest in phonetics, and it is revealed that Pickering had come all the way from India to meet Higgins, whereas Higgins was thinking of going to India to meet Pickering. Happy union aside, Higgins also boasts that he can even transform the rough & uncouth flower girl Eliza into a royal lady by just working on her speech & can pass her off as Duchess in a high society party!!

 And the bet is on…

Eliza, who is haunted by this conversation & claim by Higgins, approaches him next day to make her speak like a duchess. She is clearly not happy with her low brow life & wants to learn to speak good English, dress nicely & be sophisticated enough to get a job in one of the high end flower shops as an assistant. Higgins loves any challenge thrown at him & Pickering egged on by the dimension of this challenge even agrees to pay for Eliza’s tuitions.

What follows next in the play is a fun ride. Then comes the night of the ball, where a new & improved Eliza is to be unveiled on whom Higgins has worked painstakingly.

Eliza is now a soft spoken, well-mannered, all polished & ironed out charming beauty. Her manners are genteel, her dressing is impeccable & she passes her test with flying colours.

After the trio return victorious from the ball, Eliza is gloomy & depressed, while the two gentlemen are extremely happy in their success. Higgins, as self-obsessed as always, does not notice Eliza’s sadness & when he does he is extremely nonchalant about it. This enrages Eliza to no end & she throws his slippers at him. Angered at this outburst, Higgins asks her what is the matter. Eliza then reveals her concern “What is to become of me now?” The bet is over, but it has changed her life forever. Over the course of time that she has spent in Higgins’ home, she has got used to this lifestyle & just cannot go back to her old life. She has got used to his home, his housekeeper Mrs.Pearce, his friends, his acquaintances, his mother, keeping a track of his things, arranging things for him, and most importantly him. She is used to & comfortable in Higgins’ space, but the bet is over now. So what is she supposed to do? Go back? She cannot do that…it was fine earlier, when she was used to that way of life, but Higgins changed her. He made her see a dream & changed her for the success of his bet. Now she does not know what she should do.

Higgins is exasperated & at a loss of words at this (as usual). A top class cynic, he does not believe in relationships & is a commitment phobic. He does not know how he should answer this question. When Eliza repeats again in distress “What is to become of me?”, he does not even see that as a problem, as he assumes life will carry on as it was going so far. He is comfortable with Eliza too, especially with her taking care of his keys, slippers, wallet etc. He tells Eliza as much. Eliza asks him in what capacity is she to stay there with him. This question simply catches him off guard (Oh these men!! When will they grow up!!)…Higgins is not the marrying kind, and he simply tells her to stay on as she was staying so far. This results in a heated dialogue between the two, where Higgins walks out & Eliza is left crying & contemplating.

Next morning Eliza is gone. Higgins panics & along with Pickering looks for her everywhere, as he could not find his things. He goes over to his mother to ask if Eliza has been there, as the two ladies were very fond of each other. Higgins wants to report about a missing Eliza to the police, to which Mrs. Higgins scolds him & says that Eliza is not a “lost umbrella” that he wishes to report her in police. She tells him that Eliza is indeed there, but he will have to behave himself if he wishes to see her.

When Eliza arrives, she is calm & composed, and sufficiently ignores Higgins & only address Pickering. Higgins however is out of patience & asks her to return home immediately. Eliza questions him in what capacity is she to return “home”. Higgins is again at a loss of words. She further says that Higgins only taught her to speak better English, the lady like manners & virtues were there because of Pickering alone. This sends Higgins over the edge. In a private moment (and the climax of the play), Higgins & Eliza have a final confrontation. Higgins asks Eliza what exactly does she want; he tells her that she has got her revenge & that he is very worried about her & asks her to return, to which she says that she just wants a little kindness and respect from him. Since he cannot give her both, she cannot return. She further tells him that she is engaged to marry Freddy (the Enysford Hills family – with high family status but almost no wealth to support it). Higgins is enraged with Eliza at her low decision. He tells her that he has made her a consort for a prince, and not someone to marry Freddy.  Finally exasperated he tells Eliza that he might consider marriage with her if that is what it takes for her to come back. Eliza graciously refuses this “generous” offer, as it is not coming from Higgins’ heart, and Higgins is immediately relieved. He again entreats Eliza to drop her marriage plan with Freddy & come live with him & Pickering as “three bachelors”. Eliza threatens him finally to use what he has taught her against him & take classes by being an assistant to Higgins’ rival. Higgins promises to wring her neck if she does so, but is delighted by this new & improved Eliza, one who has dignity & pride & is sharp!! He finally has an admiration for her.

In the parting scene he gives her some common household commands like nothing happened between them and Eliza bids him a final goodbye.

Aftermath:

When this play went on stage first, the audience simply loved the story. But the play’s end disappointed them. The characters sketched by Shaw are so real, that you want nothing to change. Even as a reader I wanted a happy ending for Higgins & Eliza. Their comfort factor with each other was so high that not getting them married seemed cruel. But this is exactly the characterisation Shaw wanted. This was not a rom-com situation. It was real life characters. A cynic like Higgins cannot become a lover overnight. As a Pygmalion, he shapes his Galatea (Eliza) step by step & makes her a paragon of genteel manners, style, elegance & class…but he is not obsessed by his Galatea, he is obsessed by the thought of change he is bringing in shaping her.

The mythical Pygmalion shapes his Galatea & wants her to be human with real warmth, feelings & emotions, so that he could be with her. Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Professor Higgins, never considers Eliza (his Galatea) to be a human, but just something to experiment on, something to shape, like a sculpture. Eliza understanding her worth & regaining her dignity is a sign that this Galatea has actually come to life but his Pygmalion is not ready to accept it. It is so ironical…one Pygmalion wanted a perfect sculpture to become a real human, while the other wants a real human to assume life of a perfect sculpture. This is the point Bernard Shaw wanted to derive through the end of his play.

However, this was still in dispute with audience & the lead stars of the stage play at that time, with the lead actor of the play, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (playing Higgins), took it upon himself to change this end suddenly by showing some romantic inclination of Higgins towards Eliza, when in the parting shot, Higgins stands at the balcony & showers flowers at Eliza. Shaw was enraged by this twist in his play & had a fallout with Tree, who claimed his ending was more receptive with audience & would make more money than Shaw’s lousy ending.

Thus, to clarify his point, as to why Eliza & Higgins could not be together, Shaw later added an aftermath note. This note explains why Eliza & Higgins could not be together. How Eliza marries Freddy & lives a fairly comfortable life. How she still meets Higgins and things are better between them. How their world is finally at peace. He also explains that there are times when Eliza has some wild imaginations about Higgins & wonders what life with him would be like had she returned, but she immediately breaks out from her reverie to appreciate her more stable husband compared to an inconsistent Higgins.

The play was later adapted into a Broadway musical named My Fair Lady (1958) and a film of the same name (1964) starring the lovely Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle. The play has been adapted into several films and musicals and even to this day remains one of the most popular & loved one with readers & audience.

TIP: Read it when in a mood to read light and fun books.

P.S: I was unable to give the characterisation of some intriguing side characters of the play like Mr.Dolittle (Eliza’s father) as the post was to explain why Pygmalion’s ending was the way it was J