Pygmalion (Standard Classics)

PYGMALION is easily George Bernard Shaw’s most enduring—and most endearing—work. Though inspired by the Ancient Greek legend, Pygmalion (Henry Higgins) is not a sculptor but a professor of British dialect; his Galatea (Liza Doolittle), not a statue but a common English flower girl. Once inspiration has played its role, Shaw leaves antiquity behind and brings his characters into a new age. Higgins does not want to marry his creation, he wants to flaunt his skills by turning Liza into sophisticated lady—though a fraudulent one. Shaw’s theme is centered on the evolving moralities, styles, and gender roles of his own time, but his theme is just as relevant today as it was then. Shaw’s play gained a new generation of admirers when it hit Broadway in 1956 as the Lerner and Loewe musical MY FAIR LADY. In 1964, the film version expanded the new audience worldwide. But music and dancing aside, it is Shaw’s brilliant story that is the heart of its appeal.