Pygmalion essays

Pygmalion essays I chose the archetype The prostitute with a heart of gold. An archetype is defined as a universal idea that can take many forms, appearing spontaneously, at any time, at any place, and without any outside influence (Pygmalions Word Play, Carl Jung, p. 82). When present in the unconscious, an archetype shapes thoughts, feelings, moods, speech, and actions. The prostitute with a heart of gold originated in early Greek mythology as the story of Pygmalion. Next, a more modern version called My Fair Lady was written and performed in the 1950s. Then in the 1980s the movie Pretty Woman came out, which has the same story line as the other two, although it is a lot more modernized and the theme of a prostitute with a heart of gold is much more evident than in of its predecessors. Although the oldest profession was just as large a factor in society in 1912 when George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion play was released as it is today, it was talked about much less freely and the idea of reforming street girl was not as feasible as it is today. My Fair Lady was one of the first versions of a poor street girl metamorphasizing into an elegant, proper lady. Pretty Woman can closely trace its roots back to My Fair Lady, because both women reform to a better life that they never dreamed was possible, the most striking difference being that Pretty Woman is a more modernized version and the evidence of prostitution is much more evident. In the story of Pygmalion, he wanted a wife, yet he saw too much corruption in women and always doubted their true motives. He was a very talented sculptor, and one day he began sculpting an ivory maiden statue. No woman was physically comparable to this statue, not the most perfect naturally created woman. His art was so good that it caught him in his own w...