Galatea

The Pygmalion myth has been retold numerous times by playwrights, filmmakers, and TV writers. Choose an example from a visual medium, and compare and contrast it with Miller’s “Galatea.”

Examine the relationship between the husband and the doctor. What do the social dynamics between them tell us about masculinity in the narrative?

In his analysis of figurative language, literary critic Donald Davidson believes that metaphor enables the reader to view seemingly disparate things comparatively (Davidson, Donald. “What Metaphors Mean.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 5, no. 1, 1978, pp. 31-47. JSTOR). Examine some of the metaphors and similes in “Galatea”: What different things do they allow the reader to look at side by side? How does this shape the reader’s experience of the text’s language, imagery, and meaning?