Pygmalion (play) Pygmalion (play) Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after a Greek mythological figure. It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913. In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era English playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called "Pygmalion and Galatea" that was first presented in 1871. Shaw would also have been familiar with the burlesque version, "Galatea, or Pygmalion
Pygmalion and the Image series cold chisel against his face as though scared to touch his creation again. The sculptor's expression is softer than "The Heart Desire" – a look which betrays that he has fallen in love with a woman made of marble. In spite of his scorning of Aphrodite, Pygmalion has created Galatea in a classical Venusian stance. However, unlike the three statues and two living women in the first picture above, Galatea appears embarrassedly conscious of her nudity – in the act of attempting to cover herself. Pygmalion, despite his contempt for the local women, deliberately created her nude and now takes