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2012安徽省泗县三中高二英语学案：《Unit 4 Pygmalion》2（新

人教版选修八）

Get to know some necessary background knowledge:

Background: About Pygmalion

In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a gifted a sculptor from Cyprus, who showed no interest in the local women at all, for he found them immoral and frivolous. Instead Pygmalion concentrated on his art until one day he ran across a large, flawless piece of ivory and decided to carve a beautiful woman from it. When he finished the statue, Pygmalion found the image of his ideal woman so lovely that he dressed the figure and covered her in jewels. He gave the statue a name: Galatea, which meant sleeping love. He found himself falling in love with his ideal woman, so he went to the temple of Aphrodite(the goddess of love, beauty and fertility) to ask for forgiveness for all the years he had shunned her and beg for a wife who would be as perfect as his statue.

Aphrodite was curious, so she visited the studio of the sculptor while he was away and was charmed by his creation. Galatea was the image of herself. Flattered, Aphrodite brought the statue to life. When Pygmalion returned to his home, he found Galatea alive, and humbled himself at her feet. Pygmalion and Galatea got married and Pygmalion never forgot to thank Aphrodite for the gift she had given him. He and Galatea brought gifts to her temple throughout their life, and Aphrodite blessed them with happiness and love in return.

Based on the classical myth mentioned above, Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion plays on the complex business of human relationships in a social world. Phonetics Professor Henry Higgins tutors Cockney Eliza Doolittle, not only in the refinements of speech, but also in the refinements of her manners. The end result produces a very ladylike Miss Doolittle, so the lessons learned become much more far-reaching. Introduction:

The reading text is a shortened version of the play Pygmalion written by George Bernard Shaw. The play is based on a Greek myth. Although there’s no character called Pygmalion in the play, it is based on the same theme.

In the Greek myth there is a sculptor called Pygmalion, who does not like women.

However he creates a perfect stone woman who is so beautiful that he falls in love with her. He asks the Goddess Hera to make his dream come true by turning the stone statue into a real woman. This Hera does and the two are married and live happily together.

In Shaw’s play, Professor Higgins is a man who does not like women either and is very rude to them. For a bet he agrees to teach a poor young woman(Eliza) so that she can be passed off as a rich lady in high class society. So, like Pygmalion, Higgins creates a perfect young woman, Both the statue and Eliza depend on their creator for their new life. Just as the statue woman becomes a real woman, Eliza becomes accepted as a member of the upper class. Pygmalion is the creator of the statue and Higgins of Eliza.

In the myth, Pygmalion changed his attitude to women. One of the interesting issues about the play is whether Higgins changes enough. Eliza does not think he is reliable or pleasant enough to commit to; he falls in love with her but is unable to admit it or adjust his ways to Eliza’s needs. This is the tragedy of the play. But the play is not altogether a tragedy. Comedy is provided by Eliza’s efforts to learn to speak good enough English to be accepted by upper class of English society.