Book Review: Galatea, by Madeline Miller
The Greek myth retold with feminist seething.
Ecco, 2013, 64 pages
From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles and Circe, an enchanting short story that boldly reimagines the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion.
In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece - the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen - the gift of life. Now his wife, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own, and yearns for independence.
In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...
Madeline Miller is undeniably a good writer, and she has sparked something of a trend in retellings (particularly feminist retellings) of Greek myths. I loved Miller's Circe, but thought Song of Achilles was only okay.
This novella, a retelling of the story of Pygmalion and Galataea, is one of her earlier works from a short story collection that was recently republished on its own, once Miller became a big name. It will undoubtedly please her fans, but I found it a rather predictable take on the Patriarchy (and the Greeks were very patriarchal).
In Ovid's Metamorphosis, the sculptor Pygmalion is disgusted by hos and decides he's going to remain celibate. (Arguably, the first incel.) When he carves a beautiful woman out of marble, he falls in love with her, and prays to Aphrodite to bring her to life, which the goddess does. In most versions, they have children and live happily every after. Well, Pygmalion does. We never hear much about how his marble bride felt. She is only given the name "Galatea" much later in post-Classical retellings.
This story of course has been the basis of many, many retellings, from George Bernard Shaw's Pygamalion (which was the basis for My Fair Lady) to Wonder Woman to Mannequin.
Madeline Miller isn't the first to read it for its feminist implications, and I guess the reason I didn't love this story is that it seemed very predictable and on the nose. From the moment Galatea wakes up confined to a room by her husband, watched over by doctors and nurses, I knew it was going to be a story of Patriarchy and an abusive, egotistical dickwad who wants a compliant beautiful sex toy and doesn't regard Galatea (or indeed, any woman) as human. This is exactly how the story unfolds. Galatea gets a little bit of justice in the end, but mostly it's just a story about an incel banging his Hellenistic-era RealDoll while she schemes and dreams of freedom.
In case you didn't get the point, Miller's afterword talks about how offensive and misogynistic the original Galatea story was, how very much this upset her, and how Pygmalion was clearly an incel.
I guess you will like this story if feminist indignation is your jam, but as a retelling of a classic Greco-Roman myth, it was a bitter literary cup of tea without any great originality or new angles.
Also by Madeline Miller: My reviews of Circe and The Song of Achilles.
My complete list of book reviews.
Ecco, 2013, 64 pages
From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles and Circe, an enchanting short story that boldly reimagines the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion.
In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece - the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen - the gift of life. Now his wife, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own, and yearns for independence.
In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...
Madeline Miller is undeniably a good writer, and she has sparked something of a trend in retellings (particularly feminist retellings) of Greek myths. I loved Miller's Circe, but thought Song of Achilles was only okay.
This novella, a retelling of the story of Pygmalion and Galataea, is one of her earlier works from a short story collection that was recently republished on its own, once Miller became a big name. It will undoubtedly please her fans, but I found it a rather predictable take on the Patriarchy (and the Greeks were very patriarchal).
In Ovid's Metamorphosis, the sculptor Pygmalion is disgusted by hos and decides he's going to remain celibate. (Arguably, the first incel.) When he carves a beautiful woman out of marble, he falls in love with her, and prays to Aphrodite to bring her to life, which the goddess does. In most versions, they have children and live happily every after. Well, Pygmalion does. We never hear much about how his marble bride felt. She is only given the name "Galatea" much later in post-Classical retellings.
This story of course has been the basis of many, many retellings, from George Bernard Shaw's Pygamalion (which was the basis for My Fair Lady) to Wonder Woman to Mannequin.
Madeline Miller isn't the first to read it for its feminist implications, and I guess the reason I didn't love this story is that it seemed very predictable and on the nose. From the moment Galatea wakes up confined to a room by her husband, watched over by doctors and nurses, I knew it was going to be a story of Patriarchy and an abusive, egotistical dickwad who wants a compliant beautiful sex toy and doesn't regard Galatea (or indeed, any woman) as human. This is exactly how the story unfolds. Galatea gets a little bit of justice in the end, but mostly it's just a story about an incel banging his Hellenistic-era RealDoll while she schemes and dreams of freedom.
In case you didn't get the point, Miller's afterword talks about how offensive and misogynistic the original Galatea story was, how very much this upset her, and how Pygmalion was clearly an incel.
I guess you will like this story if feminist indignation is your jam, but as a retelling of a classic Greco-Roman myth, it was a bitter literary cup of tea without any great originality or new angles.
Also by Madeline Miller: My reviews of Circe and The Song of Achilles.
My complete list of book reviews.