Question

the story of pygmalion from metamorphoses ovid pygmalion saw these women waste their lives in wretched shame, and critical of faults which nature had so deeply planted through their female hearts, he lived in preference, for many years unmarried.—but while he was single, with consummate skill, he carved a statue out of snow - white ivory, and gave to it exquisite beauty, which no woman of the world has ever equalled: she was so beautiful, he fell in love with his creation. it appeared in truth a perfect virgin with the grace of life, but in the expression of such modesty all motion was restrained—and so his art concealed his art. pygmalion gazed, inflamed with love and admiration for the form, in semblance of a woman, he had carved. he lifts up both his hands to feel the work, and wonders if it can be ivory. which excerpt from the first stanza of the poem explains the core conflict moving the story forward? a pygmalion saw these women waste their lives in wretched shame, and critical of faults which nature had so deeply planted through their female hearts. b but while he was single, with consummate skill, he carved a statue out of snow - white ivory, and gave to it exquisite beauty. c it appeared in truth a perfect virgin with the grace of life, but in the expression of such modesty all motion was restrained—and so his art concealed his art. d pygmalion gazed, inflamed with love and admiration for the form, in semblance of a woman, he had carved.

Explanation:

The core conflict of the Pygmalion story originates from his disdain for real women, which leads him to create and fall in love with an idealized statue. Option A establishes his rejection of living women, the foundational conflict that drives his subsequent actions of carving the statue and pursuing a relationship with his creation.

Answer:

A. Pygmalion saw these women waste their lives
in wretched shame, and critical of faults
which nature had so deeply planted through
their female hearts,