Citing the example of the creator of Professor Higgins of Pygmalion, as well as other celebrated figures, this paper delineates a number of biographical features common to some would-be rescuers of degraded women. Aside from demonstrating the relevance of these portraits to Freud's observations on the oedipal aspects of the subject, the author emphasizes the attempted verification of phallic attributes in the women as an additional motive in their redemption.