Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses
George Bernard Shaw’s inspiration for the play Pygmalion was the Greek mythological character of the same name from Ovid’s narrative poem, Metamorphoses. In the poem, Pygmalion is a king and sculptor who falls in love with a statue that he carved. The subject of Pygmalion has been the inspiration of numerous works of poetry and prose.
Photo by George Konig & Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Shaw was particularly moved by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s melodrama from the 1760s. However, instead of setting his play in ancient times, Shaw’s Pygmalion occurs in 20th century England. Shaw’s Pygmalion character is Professor Henry Higgins, and his “creation” is a real woman, Eliza Doolittle.