What was the feminism in pygmalion?

Answer 1

Pygmalion is the Greek myth about an artist who decided to carve a modal of the 'perfect woman', ie; the most beautiful woman in the world, based on the goddess Aphrodite. The story says that when she was finished, she was so beautiful that he fell in love with her, despite the face that she wasn't a real person. He eventually became so obsessed with her that he didn't eat or sleep and only sat and stared at her untill he began to waste away. At the end, Aphrodite (Goddess of love) took pity on him and gifted the sculpture with life so that he could be with her.

I suppose there are a number of themes in this story. The most prominent is the concept of the "Male Gaze", the idea that his love for her is a purely physical attraction and that her personality etc.. don't matter. She is to him the epitome of beauty, wanted only for the satisfaction of base desires.

I like to come at it from the angle of, his desire for her controlled him, without her he would have died from his own longing. If she had left him when she became human, he would have lived with a broken heart. It was also a female character that had the power to give him what he wanted, ie; bring the statue to life. I think that this story is more about how women have a hold over man because they are controlled purely by their base desires.

Hope that helped,

Nixon.