Comparison of Pygmalion to Cinderella
Pygmalion, a humorous yet rather "harsh" romantic story by G.B. Shaw, in my opinion, is a modernized Cinderella story with a twisted yet realistic ending. Supporting this would be the "rags to riches" element. Eliza, the Cinderella of the story, is a poor, uneducated, flower girl, not too far from an under appreciated servant. In both cases, you know absolutely nothing about the real mother, yet, there is a parental figure lacking morals (The evil stepmother in Cinderella and Mr. Doolittle in Pygmalion). Eliza's father lacks morals when it comes to caring for her or showing it, rather. He basically sells her to Mr. Higgins for a small amount of money, which shocks him. Higgins: "Have you no morals, man?" Mr. Doolittle: " Can't afford them, governor, neither could you if you was as poor as me." As for the twist, the fairy godmother in Pygmalion isn't some cheery woman; it's Mr. Higgins who "makes the magic happen". By this I mean that h
e makes it possible for Eliza to have all the nice clothing, to be able to speak proper English, and to become the "princess" everyone thinks of her to be. "They tell me there has been nothing like her in London." (p.1115) Although Higgins provides material items for Eliza, he doesn't provide the emotional support she needs only fulfilling as said before, the "magic" part of being "fairy Godmother". Pickering, on the other hand, would play the part of the sweet "fairy godmother" or what have you. He's always there to keep things in order between Eliza and Higgins and makes her feel like a lady. Lastly, on the true yet upsetting part of prince charming, there's Freddy. He provides Eliza with the "glass slipper", which would really be his love. "Freddy loves me, that makes him king enough for me." (p.1181) She actually ends up "running away" with him the night after the fight with Higgins and engages in periods of tense "romance" with Freddy. You
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 644
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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