Shaw' s Pygmalion and Cinderella have very much in common. A comparison
shows that the stories have the same main topic. Both are about a beautiful, but
poor girl from the underclass, who changes into a princess.
Eliza was born into a slum family and now earns some money by selling flowers.
- contrary to her - Cinderella was not born as a poor girl, but her stepmother and
stepsisters made her work as a maid for the family. The two main characters of
the stories have lost their mother and do not receive any help from the father, who
is - in Cinderella's case - a coward who does not safeguard his daughter. Eliza's
father is a drinker, who does not care much about his child, but spends his
daughter's money if he is broke. Another conformity is the fact that both girls get out of the social nuisance they
live in. Eliza knows that she is a very common girl, but after the meeting with
Higgins she realizes her chance to rise in society. Eliza visits the Professor and
wants him to make a lady of her, so that her dream of a flower shop can become
true.Cinderella gets out of her misfortune with the help of some
pigeons who visit her at home. These pigeons help Cinderella, because they want
to make her happy, while Higgins' intention with regard to Eliza is to win his bet.
In both stories, Pygmalion and Cinderella, you can find the so-called "Cinderella
Complex". The main characters, Eliza and Cinderella, are very dependent. The two
girls need somebody they can rely on. They are afraid of being responsible for
their own life and so try to rely on other persons, who can decide for them. Since
their mothers are dead and the fathers do not care much about them, they need
somebody else to cling to. This explains on the one hand the relationship of
Higgins and Eliza and on the other hand the relationship between Cinderella and
the pigeons. Eliza and Cinderella turn with the help of their mentors into
princesses. This fact stands for the maturity process of the two girls.
Both of them are chased by a lover, who wants to marry them. Cinderella falls in
love with her prince ,whom she marries at the end of the fairy tale. Though she has
matured, Cinderella is, because of her marriage, still dependent. The girl has
indeed grown up to be an adult but nevertheless she needs somebody she can rely on.
Contrary to her, Eliza has realized that she is very dependent with regard to Higgins and Colonel Pickering.
A result of her thoughts is a personal conflict. In the last act Eliza wants to be
independent, but on the other hand the help of Higgins makes her helpless, so that
it is very hard for her, to separate herself from the Professor' s influence.
Shaw' s Pygmalion has an open end, since Eliza's inner conflict must be solved
individually by herself. So the reader does not really know how Eliza
will decide at the end of the story.
In the fairytale however Cinderella does not reflect on her situation and stays
dependent because of her marriage with the prince. Although there seems to be a
happy ending, you can imagine that Cinderella will not be very glad with her
marriage, since she has not solved her inner conflict, but has tried to avoid it.
Another parallel between Cinderella and Pygmalion is the social criticism. In the
fairytale it is the greedy stepmother with her daughters and their material middle
class attitude that stands for the social injustice. Shaw also wants to show the
shady sides of a class system. Especially with Doolittle's attempt to sell Eliza, the
basic criticism of the socialist author becomes clear. Mr Doolittle explains that he
is poor and so can not afford any morality, while Higgins and Pickering do not
have material anxieties and can think about moral ideas. The link between
morality and material needs is not only a central motive in Pygmalion, but also in
the other plays by Shaw and it clearly shows the socialist attitude of the author.

Camerloher-Gymnasium Freising, K 12
  J.G.