Abstract：George Bernard Shaw, a famous British dramatist, composes one of his representative plays, Pygmalion, referring to the elements of Greek mythology. Different from the original myth, the play reveals Shaw’s exploration of female self-creation, through which a new woman image, who is rebellious and calls for independence and equality, is brought to light. Besides, this play serves as an embodiment of heroine’s intense awareness of women’s rights. Up to now, there have been many academic discussions on it from different perspectives. This paper aims to analyze the heroine, Eliza Doolittle, in the light of feminism. This thesis examines the process of her external change(language, clothing, behaviour) and internal awakening，and at the same time, explores the reasons of her self-awareness from the perspective of family background, individual character as well as the social factor. Thus, this paper will promote our deep probe into the process of female arousal of self-consciousness and provide the evidence for the research and introspection of modern woman’s social status and their living conditions.
Key words: Pygmalion, feminism, transformation and awakening
摘要：英国著名的戏剧作家萧伯纳，撷取希腊神话的元素，创作了其代表作之一《皮革马利翁》。剧本以不同于原神话的创新，展现了作者对女性自我塑造进行的探索，创作出一个勇于反抗、追求独立，平等的全新的女性形象，体现了女主人公强烈的女性意识。迄今为止，许多学者都从不同的角度对这部戏剧进行了探讨。本文则从女性主义视角出发，以女主人公伊莉莎为研究对象，从外在的蜕变（语言、穿着、行为）和内在心灵的觉醒两个方面入手分析其转变的过程，同时从家庭、个人、社会三个角度，审视其女性意识觉醒的原因。这有利于我们更好的去探索女性自我意识觉醒的历史发展过程，为现代女性的社会角色以及生存状况的研究和反思提供依据。
关键词：皮革马利翁 女性主义 转变与觉醒
In the greek mythology, the ivory statue was changed from a lifeless statue to a live and beautful lady, while in the play, we are led to see that Eliza evolves from a flower girl with confusion, ignorance , and illusion to an elegant lady with coherence, knowledge and reality under the help and guidance of the male professor. So the play is not only the creation of a woman for man's preference, but also the creation of a soul for man's admiration and respect. The Pygmalion in this play is a life-giver as well as a soul-giver.
In a word, through the above analysis, we are quite clear about the process of her outward transformation (language, clothes, as well as behaviour) and inward change ( the awakening of her identity and self-respect). Thus, this change is the result of her individual character and social factor. Although she was born into a poor family, she did not complain about the unfairness and hardship of life. On the contrary, intelligent and passionate as she was, she strived to lead an independent life. Having received the six-month training, she has become an elegant lady, who not only behaved gracefully, but also has been enlightened and are thirst for self-respect and value. Till the end of the play, Shaw has not told us which way Eliza would choose, we can guess that she would live independently and freely.
