FRANKENSTEIN

&
PYGMALION

A COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY

Adrianne Cooke

M S. B A U M AN | BRIT ISH LIT ERATURE

 On the surface, the play Pygmalion by G.B. Bradshaw, and the novel Frankenstein

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley are completely different. The authors were writing in

completely different time periods, and in two very different cultural settings. Mr. Bradshaw

wrote Pygmalion in 1912 in an attempt to target the unfair class system of the time, whereas

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1817 due to a bet between a group of friends. Although the

stories may have drastically different ways in which they came about, one can find many

similarities by examining the two pieces of literature more in depth.

The biggest similarity between the two stories is the creator/creation dynamic that Dr.

Frankenstein, and Henry Higgins play with their projects. Both stories seem to share the same

ideology of changing, or creating a being in pursuit of personal gain. For Higgins, turning Eliza

from a low-class peasant girl with a cockney accent to a respectable lady within just a few

months would reward him with endless self-gratification (to further inflate his already

gargantuan ego), and a bit of money provided by Colonel Pickering. Dr. Frankenstein on the

other hand creates his monster for scientific purposes due to his absurd obsession with the

resurrection of necrotic tissue, a strange addiction thought to be brought on by his mothers

death from scarlet fever. Despite their intentions, both experiments go wrong in some way, for

example, in Pygmalion Eliza marries Freddy under the ruse of being in love with him, when in
fact she only wanted to have a life away from Higgins now that she has what she wanted (Shaw).

This is considered a happy ending in contrast to the tragic deaths of Dr. Frankenstein, and

theoretically his monster as well.

In both stories the goals of both creators are ultimately reached, this being the fulfillment

of their own arrogance. Unbeknownst to their creators, the creations begin to develop a mind of

their own and start to control the creator in some form or fashion. For example, by the end of the

play, Henry Higgins goes out of his way to find Eliza after she ran away and he himself admits,

"I shall miss you, Eliza. I have learnt something from your idiotic notions; I confess that humbly

and gratefully. And I have grown accustomed to your voice and appearance I like them, rather."

(Shaw). This inadvertently shows Eliza that he does care for her a little more than she had

initially thought, or been shown throughout the duration of the play.

In Frankenstein, it is more of the creation that begins to appreciate the creator, rather than

the creator appreciating the creation. When Frankenstein dies on the ship while trying to run

away from his wrongdoings, his monster admits his remorse amidst tears to a man named

Walton, stating, I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and

admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin. There he
lies, white and cold in death. You hate me; but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I

regard myself. and claimed that he pitied Frankenstein. (Shelley).

Eliza and the Creature were created for experimental purposes, neither of the creators

were sure of the outcome and did not bother to think of, nor care what would happen once the

creation was completed. This was a monumental source of conflict between the characters in

Frankenstein and Pygmalion. In Pygmalion Higgins does not give the future and consequences

of his experiment a second thought and is reprimanded by his friends, being told that he must

look ahead a little. In act III of Pygmalion Eliza and Higgins come home one night from the

opera, Eliza is angry and throws a fit because Higgins does not care what happens to her since

he has won the bet. At first Higgins is not quite sure why she is mad, making it clear that he

really has not thought out what Elizas demise would be once his fun was over. Due to his

teachings, she would have no place to go since she is now a penniless upper-class lady with

nothing to her name.

Dr. Frankenstein also was similar in this sense, but had no one to make him think twice

about what he was doing, and how it may affect him or anyone else in the future. Although

Victor Frankenstein claimed to be creating his monster for the betterment of humankind and

science, it is more likely that he did so out of arrogance, or out of a desire to become like God
(Logix). The Creature reprimanded Frankenstein when they met, asking Frankenstein How dare

you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me. (Shelley)

Eliza was created for Higgin's ego, while also being made up to be something more

acceptable in the society of the time, whilst Frankenstein's monster was created to help the

scientific community, but ultimately ended up being hated and despised by the society it was

made for. This is an important difference to take note of, because it separates the two stories into

completely different categories and genres. Eliza's story ends in her advancement and her

prospering with her new-found knowledge, whereas Frankenstein's monster, although having

been given life, does not advance in society.

Both characters advance in significant ways, but one benefits out of experimentation, and

the other does not due to its creators sheer hatred for what he had created. After comparing and

contrasting these points, one can conclude that these stories are not all that different. Although

they may be written in completely different settings, and time periods; the stories are very

similar when examined carefully.

Word Count

1005
 Works Cited

Logix, Maven. Why did George Bernard Shaw Write the Play Pygmalion? 2017. 08 05 2017.
<http://www.writeawriting.com/write/why-george-bernard-shaw-write-play-
pygmalion/>.

Shaw, Bernard. Pygmalion. New York: Brentano, 1916.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, &
Jones, 1818.