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Frankenstein Pygmalion
Frankenstein Pygmalion
Frankenstein Pygmalion
&
PYGMALION
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley are completely different. The authors were writing in
completely different time periods, and in two very different cultural settings. Mr. Bradshaw
wrote Pygmalion in 1912 in an attempt to target the unfair class system of the time, whereas
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1817 due to a bet between a group of friends. Although the
stories may have drastically different ways in which they came about, one can find many
The biggest similarity between the two stories is the creator/creation dynamic that Dr.
Frankenstein, and Henry Higgins play with their projects. Both stories seem to share the same
ideology of changing, or creating a being in pursuit of personal gain. For Higgins, turning Eliza
from a low-class peasant girl with a cockney accent to a respectable lady within just a few
months would reward him with endless self-gratification (to further inflate his already
gargantuan ego), and a bit of money provided by Colonel Pickering. Dr. Frankenstein on the
other hand creates his monster for scientific purposes due to his absurd obsession with the
death from scarlet fever. Despite their intentions, both experiments go wrong in some way, for
example, in Pygmalion Eliza marries Freddy under the ruse of being in love with him, when in
fact she only wanted to have a life away from Higgins now that she has what she wanted (Shaw).
This is considered a happy ending in contrast to the tragic deaths of Dr. Frankenstein, and
In both stories the goals of both creators are ultimately reached, this being the fulfillment
of their own arrogance. Unbeknownst to their creators, the creations begin to develop a mind of
their own and start to control the creator in some form or fashion. For example, by the end of the
play, Henry Higgins goes out of his way to find Eliza after she ran away and he himself admits,
"I shall miss you, Eliza. I have learnt something from your idiotic notions; I confess that humbly
and gratefully. And I have grown accustomed to your voice and appearance I like them, rather."
(Shaw). This inadvertently shows Eliza that he does care for her a little more than she had
In Frankenstein, it is more of the creation that begins to appreciate the creator, rather than
the creator appreciating the creation. When Frankenstein dies on the ship while trying to run
away from his wrongdoings, his monster admits his remorse amidst tears to a man named
Walton, stating, I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and
admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin. There he
lies, white and cold in death. You hate me; but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I
Eliza and the Creature were created for experimental purposes, neither of the creators
were sure of the outcome and did not bother to think of, nor care what would happen once the
creation was completed. This was a monumental source of conflict between the characters in
Frankenstein and Pygmalion. In Pygmalion Higgins does not give the future and consequences
of his experiment a second thought and is reprimanded by his friends, being told that he must
look ahead a little. In act III of Pygmalion Eliza and Higgins come home one night from the
opera, Eliza is angry and throws a fit because Higgins does not care what happens to her since
he has won the bet. At first Higgins is not quite sure why she is mad, making it clear that he
really has not thought out what Elizas demise would be once his fun was over. Due to his
teachings, she would have no place to go since she is now a penniless upper-class lady with
Dr. Frankenstein also was similar in this sense, but had no one to make him think twice
about what he was doing, and how it may affect him or anyone else in the future. Although
Victor Frankenstein claimed to be creating his monster for the betterment of humankind and
science, it is more likely that he did so out of arrogance, or out of a desire to become like God
(Logix). The Creature reprimanded Frankenstein when they met, asking Frankenstein How dare
you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me. (Shelley)
Eliza was created for Higgin's ego, while also being made up to be something more
acceptable in the society of the time, whilst Frankenstein's monster was created to help the
scientific community, but ultimately ended up being hated and despised by the society it was
made for. This is an important difference to take note of, because it separates the two stories into
completely different categories and genres. Eliza's story ends in her advancement and her
prospering with her new-found knowledge, whereas Frankenstein's monster, although having
Both characters advance in significant ways, but one benefits out of experimentation, and
the other does not due to its creators sheer hatred for what he had created. After comparing and
contrasting these points, one can conclude that these stories are not all that different. Although
they may be written in completely different settings, and time periods; the stories are very
Word Count
1005
Works Cited
Logix, Maven. Why did George Bernard Shaw Write the Play Pygmalion? 2017. 08 05 2017.
<http://www.writeawriting.com/write/why-george-bernard-shaw-write-play-
pygmalion/>.
Shaw, Bernard. Pygmalion. New York: Brentano, 1916.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, &
Jones, 1818.