Comment on the handling of gender
roles by Shaw in Pygmalion.
Answer: The
title of Shaw's play is taken from the myth of Pygmalion. In this story,
Pygmalion scorns all the women around him and makes a sculpture of his ideal
woman. The sculpture is so beautiful that he falls in love with it and it comes
to life. By titling his play after this story, Shaw calls attention to
questions of femininity and gender. As Pygmalion sculpts his ideal woman, so Higgins
and Pickering
mold Eliza
into an ideal lady. These two narratives show how unrealistic and even
unnatural the expectations that society often has for women are. Pygmalion's
perfect woman can only be attained with an artificial construct, a sculpture.
Similarly, the ideal noble lady of British society in the world of Shaw's play
is a kind of fake, only a role that Eliza must learn to play. Pygmalion
can thus be seen as showing how oppressive unrealistic ideals of femininity can
be: to attain these ideals, Eliza has to be coached, disciplined, and taught.
She has to pretend to be someone other than who she really is.
The play further explores gender roles with its other female characters. As it is set in the early 20th century, before women gained many basic rights and privileges, the play's other female characters—Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins—are largely confined to their respective households. Nonetheless, they both play important roles. Mrs. Pearce ensures the functioning of Higgins' household and reminds him of his own manners.
