An Intertextual Study of Pygmalion Myth: George Bernard Shaw Interprets an Ovidean Tale about Transforming

Abstract

Abstract: Pygmalion, a play which is written by George Bernard Shaw is mainly about the story of a poor girl named Eliza Doolittle who is transforming into an upper-class member by the help of two professors, named Higgins and Pickering. The primary purpose of this paper is to analyze the theme of transformation in the play by focusing on the subjects of identity and self-identity, the importance of appearance, language and communication issues. The story has a mythological background and got known by Ovid’s poem, “Metamorphoses.” The mythological story is reflected in many poems, drama plays and short stories written by authors globally. Intertextual references to the myth in Rumi’s Dīvān-e Šams-e Tabrīzī, Nader Naderpour’s poetry “Bot-Taraash,” and Gholām-Hossein Sā'edi’s play, “Pygmalion.” Some short stories with references to the myth such as; “The Birth-Mark,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sadegh Hedayat’s “The Doll Behind the Curtain” are other texts that their similarities with Ovid’s poem are analyzed in this study.