Pygmalion and the Image
William MorrisProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 4.2- Word count
- 38K words
- Chapters
- 4
Tags
English Originals Foreign Literature Spiritual PracticeIllustrated GuideTraditional AestheticsVictorian EraCross-Cultural ViewSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Pygmalion and the Image by William MorrisAuthor: Morris, William, 1834-1896,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Aug 30, 2015Editor's review
William Morris was a key figure in the British Arts and Crafts movement, as well as a poet and designer. Pygmalion and the Image retells the Pygmalion myth in verse, the story of a sculptor who falls in love with his own creation. Morris's language is rhythmically crafted and vividly pictorial, intertwining desire, creation, and idealized beauty with a distinctly Victorian aesthetic sensibility. For readers studying Morris's literary work, nineteenth-century English poetry, or the tradition of mythological rewriting, this is a compact but highly representative text. The Project Gutenberg edition is freely available and well suited to close reading of poetry or specialized research. Note, however, that this is English verse on a classical subject; readers expecting a plot-rich novel may find the pace slow and the imagery dense.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers studying William Morris or the literary dimension of the Arts and Crafts movement
- Readers interested in Victorian poetry and mythological rewriting
- Those who enjoy the Pygmalion theme and are willing to read a verse version
- Learners who need a public-domain English poetry text for close-reading practice
Not a good fit for
- Readers hoping for a tightly plotted novel with abundant dialogue
- Those who find English verse difficult and have no annotations to assist them
- Readers who only want a summary of the Pygmalion story and do not wish to savor the language
Reading tips
- Familiarize yourself with the basic plot of the Pygmalion myth before approaching the poetic text.
- Read the lines aloud to feel the pictorial quality created by Morris's rhyme and rhythm.
- Compare with Morris's designs to appreciate the common ground between his literary and visual aesthetics.
- When doing research, mark images and diction to facilitate comparison with poetry of the same period.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
FAQ
Is this book a novel or poetry?
It is a verse work by William Morris based on the Pygmalion myth, poetic in nature rather than a prose novel. It should be read with attention to poetic rhythm and imagery rather than following a novelistic plot.Can I understand it without knowing the myth?
Pygmalion is the figure in Greek myth who, a sculptor, falls in love with a female statue. The story's outline is fairly well known, and with that basic background you can read the poem; however, the allusions and imagery still require annotations or supplementary materials.Is it suitable for learning English?
It can serve as advanced English reading material, but the verse syntax and nineteenth-century diction are not beginner-friendly. It is better suited to learners with a solid English foundation who wish to engage with literary language, and should be used alongside a dictionary and background materials.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
William Morris Author · British · 1834–1896William Morris (1834–1896) was an English poet, novelist, translator and designer of the decorative arts, and a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Born in Walthamstow, London, he founded Morris & Co. and the Kelmscott Press, moving between poetry, fiction, book design and design practice. His writing draws on classical and medieval traditions, combining the sweep of narrative poetry with the strangeness of fantasy fiction. The Earthly Paradise links poems through a frame story, News from Nowhere envisions a future society through a dream, and works such as The Water of the Wondrous Isles unfold romantic legend. His literary style, polished and richly imagistic, echoes his design ideas and has influenced later English literature and decorative art.