A Comparison Of Pygmalion And Androcles And The Lion

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George Bernard Shaw uses many different approaches throughout his many works. In Pygmalion and Androcles and the Lion, he uses two very different paths ending in two different results. For example, in Androcles and the Lion, he show how doing a good deed will result in a reward, but in Pygmalion, someone does a good deed for the main character, and she feels ruined because of it. The motivation for the good deed, the deed itself, and the outcome of the deed are all three different in both of the works. In Pygmalion, the two professors decided to help Eliza Doolittle, only because Professor Pickering made a bet with Professor Higgins that he would be able to change Liza into a lady by the time the ambassador’s garden party came around. Pickering …show more content…

Liza goes through months of lessons and finally reaches the ambassador’s garden party. By the end of the event, those who attended the party are convinced that she is of royalty. Even the hostess says, “She must be a princess at least.” Liza even realizes that people are beginning to act weird around her. Liza says, “The people all stare so at me. An old lady has just told me that I speak exactly like Queen Victoria.” Even though she successfully learned to speak properly, she still was not happy in the end. She begins to say things like, “I wish I was dead,” “I’m too ignorant,” and “What am I fit for? What have you left me fit more? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What’s to become of me?” Even though someone did a good deed for her, she did not appreciate like most people would have. In Androcles and the Lion, after Androcles helped the lion, the lion decided to repay Androcles in his time of need. When Androcles is in the Coliseum awaiting his death, the lion that was supposed to kill Androcles and the other Christians turns out to be the lion that Androcles saved earlier in the play. The lion shows his gratitude by killing those who were trying to kill Androcles. The lion is finally let out of his cage to kill Androcles and the other …show more content…

In Pygmalion, the only reason the two professors helped Liza out was to get something out of it themselves. The professors decided to help Liza out with her grammar and becoming more like a lady. In the end though, Liza was not happy. In Androcles and the Lion, Androcles genuinely wanted to help the lion. He helped the lion get a thorn out of his foot. In return, the lion helped Androcles from being killed along with others. In conclusion, when you genuinely want to help someone, you may have that good luck returned to you, but if you do something nice for someone just to get something in return, you might not be as

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