pygmalion
In Greek myth, Pygmalion is a man who considers himself too good for anybody. No woman exactly fits his tastes, and so he swears to be a bachelor forever. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as you decide), he takes up the hobby of sculpting marble, and in time produces something extraordinary - a woman. Sometimes he touches her and doesn't know if it's stone or flesh.
As things turn out, Pygmalion falls in love with his creation, with this breathtaking statue. What he wants may not exist in the real world, but Pygmalion can and does love a woman HE creates, even if she isn't real.
Pygmalion attends a ceremony of offerings to Venus, and offers his unfailing loyalty in exchange for "a woman like my statue" (he's too shy to say straight-out that he's gaga over the statue itself). But Venus smiles and understands his intent. Pygmalion returns to his bed, where the statue lies (in fits of obsession, he has carried it there to hold and admire it). Again, as he looks in those eyes, touches her skin, he wonders whether it can really be marble and not flesh. Well - hallelujah. For the first time, he sees someone, with wondering eyes, looking back up at him. His statue is now alive. Venus granted his wish.
Venus basically wreaks death and destruction on him later, because he's so wrapped up in his new woman that he fails to pay her the ecstatic devotion she deserves. But that's beside the point. The point is: is Pygmalion's statue coming to life really a blessing, or a curse?
In the fantastic My Fair Lady, an adaptation of this story, Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl on the streets of London doing her best to get by. She runs into a linguist named Professor Higgins who claims (insulting her all the while) that he could pass her off as a Duchess in a matter of months. The idea sticks with her, and you can guess where this is going.
Like his Greek counterpart, Higgins is "a confirmed old bachelor," dismissive and rude, wrapped up in his own studies. Eliza, though, is not a bit of clay to be molded. In George Bernard Shaw's play and the resulting movie, Eliza is a force of blazing life. While Higgins claims "there isn't a thought in your head or a word from your mouth that I haven't put there!", Eliza knows the truth, and finally finds her voice. Furthermore, she manages to crack even the hardened defenses around the professor's heart. The man isn't quite so invulnerable in the end.
In both versions, the ending, the choice belongs to Eliza. Will she stay or will she go? I have my beliefs about which is the best ending, as everyone does. But the point is: this story is about a clashing of personalities, not the amazing gifts gods can bestow. How all of us would like the perfect mate - one we "created"! - to drop in our lap. But I suspect only disaster would occur if that ever really happened. We already love ourselves too much, and often love others simply because we see pieces of ourselves in them. How much worse then to know that you've created someone, the perfect person (a bizarre kind of Frankenstein), and that they actually belong to you?
I have to think, if Pygmalion only loved her exterior then they deserve each other, because that was why others sought him originally, for his beauty. But is Pygmalion capable of loving something beyond a marble figure? Will he meet Eliza Doolittle and decide he should never, ever have taken up sculpting? (Because after all, he didn't give the statue life, Venus did.)
You can decide that ending for yourself. :)
As things turn out, Pygmalion falls in love with his creation, with this breathtaking statue. What he wants may not exist in the real world, but Pygmalion can and does love a woman HE creates, even if she isn't real.
Pygmalion attends a ceremony of offerings to Venus, and offers his unfailing loyalty in exchange for "a woman like my statue" (he's too shy to say straight-out that he's gaga over the statue itself). But Venus smiles and understands his intent. Pygmalion returns to his bed, where the statue lies (in fits of obsession, he has carried it there to hold and admire it). Again, as he looks in those eyes, touches her skin, he wonders whether it can really be marble and not flesh. Well - hallelujah. For the first time, he sees someone, with wondering eyes, looking back up at him. His statue is now alive. Venus granted his wish.
Venus basically wreaks death and destruction on him later, because he's so wrapped up in his new woman that he fails to pay her the ecstatic devotion she deserves. But that's beside the point. The point is: is Pygmalion's statue coming to life really a blessing, or a curse?
In the fantastic My Fair Lady, an adaptation of this story, Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl on the streets of London doing her best to get by. She runs into a linguist named Professor Higgins who claims (insulting her all the while) that he could pass her off as a Duchess in a matter of months. The idea sticks with her, and you can guess where this is going.
Like his Greek counterpart, Higgins is "a confirmed old bachelor," dismissive and rude, wrapped up in his own studies. Eliza, though, is not a bit of clay to be molded. In George Bernard Shaw's play and the resulting movie, Eliza is a force of blazing life. While Higgins claims "there isn't a thought in your head or a word from your mouth that I haven't put there!", Eliza knows the truth, and finally finds her voice. Furthermore, she manages to crack even the hardened defenses around the professor's heart. The man isn't quite so invulnerable in the end.
In both versions, the ending, the choice belongs to Eliza. Will she stay or will she go? I have my beliefs about which is the best ending, as everyone does. But the point is: this story is about a clashing of personalities, not the amazing gifts gods can bestow. How all of us would like the perfect mate - one we "created"! - to drop in our lap. But I suspect only disaster would occur if that ever really happened. We already love ourselves too much, and often love others simply because we see pieces of ourselves in them. How much worse then to know that you've created someone, the perfect person (a bizarre kind of Frankenstein), and that they actually belong to you?
I have to think, if Pygmalion only loved her exterior then they deserve each other, because that was why others sought him originally, for his beauty. But is Pygmalion capable of loving something beyond a marble figure? Will he meet Eliza Doolittle and decide he should never, ever have taken up sculpting? (Because after all, he didn't give the statue life, Venus did.)
You can decide that ending for yourself. :)