The Mythology of Pygmalion Between George Bernard Shaw and Tawfik Al-Hakim

Abstract

Like other Greek mythologies, Pygmalion has occupied the minds of some talented modern writers who tried to emulated this Greek story with different interpetations. The most popular among them are George Bernard Shaw, and Tawfik Al-Hakim.In his comedy written in 1912, Shaw discussed some social issues including the mistreatment of women and the rigid British class system of the day. In his tragedy written in 1940, Al- Hakim, inspired by Shaw play, highlighted the relation between art and life. In this paper, the present writer compares the two plays in light of the Greek mythology and the rules of the imitation theory. The ultimate goal is to portray the concept of imitation of these rwo playwrights and to highlight the the methods they adopted to employ this ancient methodology to discuss the issues they faced in the 20th century.