Pretty woman is an appropriation of Pygmalion

Pretty Woman is an appropriation of the play by Bernard Shaw called Pygmalion, because it’s characters, plot and central theme can all be closely linked. Both Vivian Ward’s and Eliza Doolittle’s transformation into society’s ‘ideal women’ undertakes the same central journey, with pivotal moments in character development similar to each other. Both women come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and through the help of their male counterparts, in the text, achieve confidence and self worth. Through the women’s evolution of self, the narrative also enables the reader to see the society in which the characters are constructed, and how through the female’s transformation society’s attitudes towards the women are revealed. At their introduction into the texts, Edward Lewis and Henry Higgins both have no intention of ‘letting a woman into their life’ but the major difference in the two texts is the transformation of the men’s opinions. While Vivian’s influence on Edward ...