Dear Mr.

Higgins,
I hope you are doing really well, and that everything is settled in your life. I am Mariana
Galvn, a huge admirer of you story and character in Pygmalion. I was terribly amused
while reading all you dialogues and thoughts throughout the play. I think your personality is
one of a kind. I loved your sense of humor and the way you saw every situation, as if it did
not mattered. Nevertheless, that does not mean that I agree fully with your decisions, and I
would like to give you my point of view.
First of all, I totally disagree with your decision to let go Eliza. I get that you both were very
different, and you could not possibly fit together, but I honestly expected a better ending for
you two. I believe you two were an interesting combination. I can bet that if you two had
had a heart to heart conversation, your friendship/love would have been stronger. Also I
must tell you that I did not like at all how you ended up maintaining Elizas marriage. I
would like to know what led you to make those decisions, and how they affected your
relationship with her.
Although my past comments may have look as a critic, I must say that I respect all your
decisions, they turned the story exactly as it should have been. I am very thankful with you
for having taken the time to read this letter, and I look forward to your reply at your earliest
convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Mariana Galvn Coeto

Comparing settings
The setting is known as the place and time were a story develops. In this case the
historical and cultural background, in order to compare and contrast the setting of the myth
and the play. We must first stablish that Pygmalion (Myth) took place in Greece (Cyprus)
written by Ovidio in 8 AD; in the other hand Pygmalion (Play) was written by George
Bernard Shaw in 1912.
As mentioned before, the myth took place in Cyprus, an important city in the ancient world.
Cyprus through time was a city where many changes took place throughout its ancient
history. First of all, Cyprus is located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and had great
influence from the important villages in Greece like Athens. The land is known for its large
extensions of mountains that worked as barriers for their territory and the large plateaus
were agriculture was often settled. Since Cyprus is a coastal area, many great conquests
for territory took place here, starting with the Palestinians, the Persians, the Egyptians, the
Romans, and finally the Arabs. As part of all these changes and racial mixture, social
differences took place at the time, and a great gap between the populations was marked.
In the cultural context, as an ancient city, things were just stablished for civilization all
around Greece. Arts, science and law, were the major subjects of knowledge in the
greek/roman society that marked history. In the case of the great character Pygmalion, art
was his standard of living, and the reason he lived for. Owner of a great ability, Pygmalion
conquered his art at a surprising level that his sculpture of Galatea even turned into a reallife person.
Using exquisite skills, he carved a statute out of ivory that was so resplendent
and delicate no maiden could compare with its beauty. This statute was the
perfect resemblance of a living maiden. (Pygmalion and Galatea, the myth).

In contrast, the play of Pygmalion takes place in London during the reign of George V in
1913, when London had a global important status and power. The Great War was about to
take place, technological developments were at the eve of creation, and the British
colonies were a major economic income for the kingdom. Class and social status was the
aspiration of every citizen, and large social gaps were common.
Covent Garden at

11:15 p.m. Torrents of heavy summer rain. Cab whistles

blowing frantically in all directions. Pedestrians running for shelter into the
market and under the portico of St. Paul's Church, where there are already
several people, among them a lady and her daughter in evening dress
(Shaw, 1913)
London was not very different as it is today; the streets, places and city distribution have
not changed much. The city that is described in the play has carriages for transportation,
no pavement in the streets, and only the selected zones had electricity. British-styled
constructions were spread through the entire city, and problems with social distribution
were latent, such as in Cyprus. The city was distributed in sections, the high society, the
middle society, and the low society region. More than 50% of the Londoner population was
distributed between the middle and low class region.
THE FLOWER GIRL [taking advantage of the military gentleman's proximity to
establish friendly relations with him]. If it's worse it's a sign it's nearly over. So
cheer up, Captain; and buy a flower off a poor girl. (Shaw, 1913)
It can be concluded that apart from the clear differences between both settings, the things
in common are far more interesting, for example the importance of the territory in their
respective times, or the population that lived in each city are some of the aspects shared.

The social context, which will be explained further on, was an important factor for both
stories.
Loizides, A. (22 de march de 2012). Ancient History Enciclopedia. Recuperado
el 04 de march de 2015, de Cyprus : http://www.ancient.eu/cyprus/
Shaw, G. B. (1913). Pygmalion. London.
Shmoop. (s.f.). Pygmalion . Recuperado el 04 de march de 2015, de
http://www.shmoop.com/pygmalion/