Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Henry Higgins in Pygmalion are similar characters but with very different methods. The periods in time in which these plays take place are determining factors in the behaviors of the characters involved. The Taming of the Shrew takes place in the Elizabethan Era at a time when men were considered to be superior to women. Pygmalion takes place in the Victorian Era where social roles were viewed natural and status was acquired among most of London’s society. These two characters in their periods of time can be perceived as humanitarians or professionals; but really they are both perfect examples of how pride and self centeredness can make a man take on the complicated task of taming or transforming a woman. A comparison of their differences will reveal their successes but with very dissimilar results. Petruchio is a quick witted wealthy bachelor with a disregard for social decorum in search for a rich wife to increase his fortune. He doesn’t care if a woman is ugly, old, or shrewish as long as she has money. He sets off to Padua to visit a friend and hears about Katherine Minola. Katherine has a reputation of having a temper and an acid tongue, in short she’s a shrew; but her father is rich. Petruchio despite Katherine’s reputation agrees to marry her because money is what makes him happy. Let the taming begin!
In his taming efforts, he acts like a jerk on his wedding day and throughout the honeymoon so that Katherine can get a taste of her own medicine. He constantly yells, swears, abuses his servants, and gets erratic and cruel. Then he uses different psychological techniques with the intention to manipulate her. He starves her, deprives her of sleep and continues to contradict everything that Katherine says in order to have her behave the way he wants. Finally, he makes a bet with tree men to further glorify his pride and prove that his wife is the most obedient…. and wins!
The end result is that Petruchio succeeds in taming Katherine but at the same time he is also transformed. Looking back he is determined to live solely for himself, intending to marry rich to increase his fortune. If money were his only goal, surely he wouldn't bother taming the shrew. Yet, he continues to transform her because he wants someone who can challenge and excite him intellectually, emotionally, and physically. He no longer needs to act malicious and in fact now deserves the extraordinary partner he has gained. Henry Higgins in Pygmalion is a highly educated professor of phonetics and views himself as a poet. He is self-indulgent, whimsical and poorly considerate of normal social niceties. When it comes to interacting with others he treats everyone with equal disrespect and has no regards for social decorum. Because of his pride and knowledge of phonetics, he bets that he can transform Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl with kerbstone English into a woman as poised and well spoken as a duchess. He is convinced that he can take her anywhere and pass her off as anything. Let the transformation begin!
In his training efforts he tutors Eliza not only in the refinement of speech, but also in the refinement of her manner. He is harsh, bullying and not very considerate in his methods. He alternates between making fun of her by calling her unpleasant names and threatening her with a broomstick beating. He treats her like an object rather than a human being and pushes her to the point of exhaustion.
To experiment his teachings, he takes her to his mother’s house and she makes quite an impact on everyone with her studied grace and pedantic speech. Then she is presented at the ambassador’s party and impresses everyone with her charm and wit. She is believed to be of Hungarian Royalty. He wins the bet and doesn’t express any gratitude or directs a word towards Eliza, which causes an argument making her run a way. He then realizes that he needs her and tries to persuade her into coming back, she ultimately rejects his domineering ways and they each go their separate way.
In the end, Higgins is successful in transforming Eliza. He does not realize how sneering and abusive he is of her and therefore for most of the tutoring she feels used, abused and objectified. She gains self respect by putting him in his place and he finds it intriguing and satisfying, therefore respecting her as well.
In conclusion, Petruchio and Henry Higgins are similar in their personalities and views of society. They also set out to accomplish the same task using different methods and both were successful. The difference in their outcomes is what sets them apart. Petruchio finds a loyal companion and Henry Higgins loses one which can be attributed to the era and behaviors of the time in which the plays take place.
