Pygmalion

AUTHOR BIOFull Name: George Bernard Shaw

Date of Birth: July 26, 1856

Place of Birth: Dublin, Ireland

Date of Death: November 2, 1950

Brief Life Story: George Bernard Shaw was born in 1856, in Dublin. His fatherwas a civil servant and his mother was a singer. He changed schools severaltimes as he grew older, and developed a strong dislike of schools and formaleducation. When he was a teenager, his mother moved to London and heremained in Dublin with his father for some time. But in 1876, he moved toLondon to join his mother. There, he began writing, starting with novels(though he found no success as a novelist). He also became somewhatpolitically active, an ardent supporter of socialism. It was only in the 1880sthat Shaw turned to drama. He finally found some writing success with hisplays, which often involved social critiques. Shaw was a very prolific writer,writing over 50 plays in addition to articles, reviews, essays, and pamphlets.His popularity rose in the early 1900s and he started to become a famous,well-respected playwright. In 1925, he was recognized for his work with theNobel Prize in Literature and he died 25 years later, at the age of 94.

KEY FACTSFull Title: Pygmalion

Genre: Drama, comedy, comedy of manners

Setting: London

Climax: In act four, after winning the bet concerning Eliza, Higgins says he hasbeen bored with his experiment, and treats Eliza poorly. Infuriated, Elizathrows Higgins' slippers at him and argues and fights with him.

Antagonist: While Eliza and Higgins argue with each other, they bothcooperate in order to fool London's high society. The rigid hierarchy of socialclasses in Victorian England can be seen as the antagonist against which all thecharacters struggle, as they deal with issues of class and wealth.

HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXTWhen Written: 1912

Where Written: London

When Published: 1912

Literary Period: Victorian period

Related Literary Works: Shaw's play takes its title from the myth ofPygmalion, which is told in Ovid's epic Latin poem of mythologicaltransformations, the Metamorphoses. In the myth, Pygmalion makes asculpture of his ideal woman, named Galatea. He falls in love with his beautifulstatue, which then comes to life. With his title, Shaw implies that Eliza is a kindof Galatea, molded by Pickering and Higgins into the ideal lady of Victoriansociety. Pygmalion is Shaw's most popular play and has spawned a number ofadaptations (including a film version). Most famously, it is the inspiration forthe Broadway musical and following movie My Fair Lady.

Related Historical Events: The play is set in the early 20th century, at the endof the Victorian period. During this time, London was the capital of thewide-reaching, powerful British Empire. Victorian society was characterizedby a rigid social hierarchy, but as the 20th century began social change was onthe horizon. Importantly, women had not yet gained many basic rights andprivileges. Shaw's comedy of manners, which satirizes the customs and habitsof the Victorian elite, plays with and critiques the social conventions of thishistorical moment.

EXTRA CREDITDouble Threat. George Bernard Shaw is the only person to have ever wonboth the Nobel Prize in Literature and an Oscar. He won the Oscar for hiswork on a film adaptation of Pygmalion.

Thanks But No Thanks. At first, Shaw declined to accept the Nobel Prize. Helater changed his mind, but still refused the prize money, wanting it instead tofund translations of Swedish literature into English.

One rainy night in Covent Garden, London, a crowd of people from varioussocial classes all seek shelter under the same church portico. A wealthymother (later revealed to be Mrs. Eynsford Hill) waits exasperatedly with herdaughter Clara for her son Freddy to find a taxi. Freddy enters, unable to findone, but his mother sends him back out into the rain to look again. Under theportico, a poor flower-girl (Eliza Doolittle) sells a flower to a gentleman(Colonel Pickering). A bystander tells Eliza to watch out for a strange man inthe back of the crowd taking notes. Eliza thinks that the man is a policemanand that she is in trouble. The man, who turns out to be Henry Higgins, stepsforward and guesses where everyone is from based on their manner ofspeech. Everyone is confused and annoyed by the meddlesome Higgins. Elizathinks he is a policeman trying to get her in trouble and insists that she is "agood girl." Pickering asks Higgins how he can tell where everyone is from, andHiggins explains that he studies phonetics and teaches people how to speak indifferent accents. He says that he could teach the flower-girl Eliza to speak sowell in just three months that she could pass for a noble lady. Higgins andPickering introduce themselves to each other, realizing that they are familiarwith each other's work (Pickering is also a linguist). The rain stops and thecrowd under the portico disperses. Higgins and Pickering leave to get dinnertogether, while Clara and her mother walk to a bus. Freddy finally returns witha cab, only to find that his family is no longer there.

The next morning, in Higgins' "laboratory" at his home, Higgins is showing allof his scientific instruments and tools for recording and studying speech toPickering. Eliza arrives and offers to pay Higgins for speaking lessons, so thatshe can learn to "talk more genteel," and get a better job. Higgins doesn't thinkshe can afford to pay him, and scoffs rudely at her. Pickering steps in and betsHiggins that he can't teach Eliza to speak so well that she passes as a wealthylady at an ambassador's garden party in six months. He offers to pay for herlessons. Higgins likes the idea and tells his housekeeper Mrs. Pearce to washEliza and dress her in new clothes, though Eliza protests. Eliza refuses toparticipate in the bet, and Mrs. Pearce tells Higgins not to "walk over" Eliza.Higgins neglects Eliza's feelings, ordering her to live with him for six monthsand take speaking lessons. Mrs. Pearce takes Eliza away to talk to her inprivate. Meanwhile, Eliza's father, Alfred Doolittle, comes to Higgins' house.He says that he hasn't seen his daughter in months, but learned of herwhereabouts from the taxi driver who brought her to the house. He asksHiggins for five pounds in return for letting Eliza stay with him. Higgins andPickering are scandalized by Mr. Doolittle's willingness to "sell" his daughter,but Higgins eventually agrees to give him money. As Mr. Doolittle leaves, heruns into Eliza, who has washed and changed into new clothes. Mr. Doolittlecalls her "miss" before recognizing her, getting into a fight with her, andleaving. Mrs. Pearce enters and tells Eliza that she has more clothes for her totry on. Eliza leaves eagerly, having seemingly accepted the offer to stay withHiggins.

It is a few months later, at the home of Henry Higgins' mother, Mrs. Higgins.Mrs. Higgins is ready to have some friends over and is annoyed when Higginsbarges in. Higgins tells her about Eliza and says that he wants Eliza to sit withMrs. Higgins and her friends and try to act like a lady. Before Higgins leaves,some of Mrs. Higgins' friends arrive: the Eynsford Hills. Higgins at first doesn'trecognize them from the portico in Covent Garden. Eliza arrives, and theEynsford Hills don't recognize her as the flower-girl. Everyone starts to make

BACKGROUND INFO

PLOT SUMMARY

George Bernard Shaw

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small talk about the weather, but Eliza makes the mistake of talking about thedeath of her aunt (in which she suspects foul play) and her father's drinkinghabit. Freddy seems amused by Eliza, though Mrs. Eynsford Hill is shocked byher conversation. After Eliza leaves, Clara tells her mother that Eliza's speechis a new, fashionable form of small talk. Clara says that manners are only amatter of habit, so there are no right or wrong ones. As the Eynsford Hillsleave, Freddy says that he would like to meet Eliza again sometime. Higginsasks his mother whether Eliza was presentable, and she says that Eliza wasnot. She tells Higgins there is no hope for Eliza to pass as a lady. Mrs. Higginsthen cautions her son about treating Eliza like a "live doll," but Pickeringassures her that they take Eliza seriously. Higgins refers to Eliza as merely anexperiment. Mrs. Higgins worries about what will happen to Eliza when the"experiment" is over.

Several months later, Eliza, Higgins, and Pickering return to Higgins' house atmidnight, after a long day and night. They have gone to a garden party,followed by a dinner party, followed by the opera. Eliza successfully passed asa wealthy lady, and Higgins has won his bet. Higgins says he was not surprisedby Eliza's success and has in fact long been bored with the wager. He thanksGod that the experiment is over. Eliza is offended at how the two men arespeaking of her and throws Higgins' slippers at him, calling him selfish andinconsiderate. Higgins thinks she is ungrateful. Eliza regains her composureand worries about what will happen to her now. Higgins suggests she marrysomeone wealthy, to ensure a comfortable life, but Eliza thinks of this as a kindof prostitution and rejects the idea. Higgins says Pickering can get her a job ina nice florist's shop. Eliza asks whether her clothes belong to her now, becauseshe doesn't want to be accused of stealing them. Higgins is offended by thequestion and tells Eliza she has wounded him "to the heart."

The next day, Mrs. Higgins is sitting in her drawing room, when herparlor-maid tells her that Higgins and Pickering are downstairs calling thepolice. Mrs. Higgins tells the maid to go upstairs and inform Eliza, but not tohave her come down. Higgins comes into the room and tells his mother thatEliza has run away. Mrs. Higgins tells him that Eliza has the right to leave hishouse whenever she wishes. Pickering enters and says that he has spokenwith the police about Eliza. The maid announces that a gentleman named Mr.Doolittle is at the door. Higgins doesn't think that this can be Eliza's father, butit turns out to be him, dressed as a gentleman. Mr. Doolittle is upset becauseHiggins has mentioned his name to a wealthy American named EzraWannafeller, who has founded Moral Reform Societies across the world.Higgins joked to Wannafeller that Mr. Doolittle was England's "most originalmoralist," and Wannafeller left Doolittle money in his will. Mr. Doolittle isangry at having been turned into a somewhat wealthy gentleman. He says hisnew money has brought him nothing but worries and problems and tellsHiggins that now he needs to be taught how to speak proper English. Mrs.Higgins tells Mr. Doolittle that he can care for Eliza now, but Higgins wants tokeep Eliza at his house. Mrs. Higgins scolds Higgins and Pickering for how theyhave treated Eliza and reveals that Eliza is actually upstairs. Mrs. Higgins callsEliza down. She is very polite to Pickering and Higgins. Pickering is nice toEliza, but Higgins is angry and rude to her, ordering her to come back to hishouse. Eliza thanks Pickering for teaching her good manners by example, andtells him that her transformation was really spurred on by when he called herMiss Doolittle once. Eliza says that she has completely forgotten her old waysof speaking and behaving. Higgins, though, thinks that she will return to herlower-class habits within weeks. Eliza finally sees her father and is shocked tohear that he is going to marry her stepmother. He asks Eliza to come to hiswedding. Mrs. Higgins, Eliza, and Pickering all prepare to go to the wedding.Higgins and Eliza are left alone in the room. Eliza says that Higgins only wantsher back to do chores and errands for him. Higgins says that he cannot changehis rude manners toward her, because he cannot change his nature. Heexplains that he is rude to everyone, not jus her, just as Pickering is polite toeveryone. He claims that it is not important to have good or bad manners, butsimply to behave the same way toward everyone, regardless of class. Eliza isstill reluctant to go back to Higgins' house. She says that she is a slave, despiteher expensive clothes. Higgins offers to adopt Eliza or marry her to Pickering,but Eliza wants to marry Freddy Eynsford Hill, which irritates Higgins (hewants her to marry someone of a higher class). Eliza is still angry with Higginsand tells him that all she wants is some kindness from him. She then says that ifshe can't have kindness from him, she will have her independence. She tellsHiggins that she will become a teacher of phonetics, stealing everything shehas learned from him in order to take his clients. Higgins is suddenly

impressed by Eliza's strength and confidence. Mrs. Higgins comes in to takeEliza to the wedding. As she leaves, Higgins tells Eliza to buy him some things,but Eliza tells him to do it himself. The play ends with Higgins alone in theroom, confident that Eliza will do the errand as he asked.

Eliza Doolittle – First introduced as the flower-girl in Act One, and calledvariously Liza, Eliza, and Miss Doolittle, Eliza is the subject of Higgins andPickering's experiment and bet. While not formally well-educated, she isquick-witted and is a strong character, generally unafraid to stand up forherself. She is a quick learner, and under the teaching of Pickering and Higginsshe easily learns to act like a lady and pass as a member of the upper class. It isunclear to what degree she really transforms by doing this, and to whatdegree she merely learns to play a role. In Act Five, she insists that she reallyhas changed and cannot go back to her old way of behaving or speaking,though Higgins thinks otherwise. Eliza desires independence but finds herselfunder the control of men like Pickering, Higgins, and her father. At the end ofthe play, she stands up to Higgins and leaves him, but he is confident that shewill come back to him. The play thus leaves it somewhat ambiguous as towhether or not she ever really achieves some of the independence she wants.

Henry Higgins – Higgins is a brilliant linguist, who studies phonetics anddocuments different dialects and ways of speaking. He first appears in ActOne as the suspicious man in the back of the crowd jotting down notes oneveryone's manner of speech. Higgins is so focused on his academic interestthat he lacks empathy and fails to consider other people's feelings or concerns.Instead, he sees people mainly as subjects of study. He views Eliza, forexample, as an experiment and a "phonetic job." He doesn't so much inviteEliza to stay with him and learn to speak like a lady, but rather orders her to.Higgins is rude not only to Eliza, but generally to everyone he meets. He isimpatient with class hierarchy and the Victorian obsession with manners. Ashe tells Eliza in Act Five, he treats everyone the same (that is, rudely)regardless of social class. Thus, while an inconsiderate character—and often amisogynist—Higgins at least sees through the hypocrisy and fallacies of theVictorian social hierarchy, and relishes the opportunity to beat high society atits own game by making Eliza pass as a lady.

Colonel Pickering – A gentleman, a colonel and an academic, who studiesIndian dialects. While he shares Higgins' interest in linguistics, he is not asextreme in his devotion to his intellectual pursuits. While he gives Higgins theidea for the bet involving Eliza, he treats Eliza kindly and considers herfeelings. (It is his calling her Miss Doolittle, we learn in Act Five, that actuallyencourages Eliza to really change.) At the end of the play, he apologizes toEliza for treating her like the subject of an experiment, unlike the selfishHiggins who never apologizes.

Mrs. Eynsford Hill – A friend of Mrs. Higgins, Mrs. Hill first appears as theanonymous mother in Act One. Her family is wealthy, but not exceedinglyupper-class. She is very concerned with social propriety, and is a bitscandalized in Act Three when Eliza talks inappropriately at Mrs. Higgins'house.

Clara Eynsford Hill – From a rather wealthy family, Clara is fed up with all ofthe rules of proper manners for her class. In Act Three, she enjoys Eliza'sinappropriate conversation (and tells her mother that it is a new, fashionableform of small talk). She comments that manners are simply a matter of habit,and that there is no such thing as right or wrong manners.

Freddy Eynsford Hill – Clara's brother, who becomes fond of Eliza in ActThree. In Act Five, we learn that he has been writing her love letters, and Elizaperhaps wants to marry him. He represents a way for Eliza to escape thecontrol of Higgins, although by marrying him she would in a sense be enteringinto Freddy's control, rather than finding her own independence.

Alfred Doolittle – Eliza's father, who appears at Higgins' house in Act Two,asking for money (but not too much money) in return for allowing Eliza to staywith him. Eliza doesn't trust her father, and he doesn't seem to show verymuch fatherly love (although this changes to some degree at the end of theplay, when he invites her to his wedding). After Higgins, as a joke, mentionsDoolittle's name as Britain's most "original moralist" to a wealthy Americannamed Ezra Wannafeller, Wannafeller leaves Doolittle a substantial amount

CHARACTERS

Pygmalion

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of money. However, his newfound wealth and social standing irritate Mr.Doolittle, who thinks little of "middle class morality" or the responsibilitiesbrought on by having any significant amount of money, though at the sametime he doesn't have the courage to give up his newfound money.

Mrs. Higgins – Henry Higgins' mother, who hosts the Eynsford Hills at herwealthy home in Act Three. She is initially upset by Eliza's intrusion into herpolite company, but is kind to her. She tries to tell her son not to treat Eliza likean object or possession, but to instead to consider Eliza's feelings. WhileHiggins doesn't listen to her, she does her best to resolve things in Act Five, atleast patching things up with Mr. Doolittle, Eliza, and Pickering. On stage onlyin her drawing room, she plays an important role and exerts some agency inthe play even while constrained by the oppressive gender roles of Victoriansociety.

Mrs. Pearce – Higgins' housekeeper, who chastises him about how he treatsEliza and reminds him to mind his manners in front of her.

Bystander – A bystander who takes cover from the rain under the churchportico in act one.

Mrs. Higgins' Parlor-Maid – Mrs. Higgins' maid, who announces variousvisitors to her house.

Ezra D. Wannafeller – The wealthy American who leaves money to Mr.Doolittle in his will. He stands in for the American idea of meritocratic socialmobility—the belief that those who work hard can move up the socialladder—as opposed to Victorian ideas of natural social hierarchy which holdthat people are born into the social position they deserve. The inheritance heleaves Mr. Doolittle allows Doolittle to become a gentleman, though ironicallyMr. Doolittle hates his newfound wealth.

LANGUAGE AND SPEECHShaw's play explores aspects of language in a variety of ways. Higgins andPickering study linguistics and phonetics, taking note of how people fromdifferent backgrounds speak differently. In Act Three, we see the importanceof proper small talk in a social situation. And the play also reveals some of thepowers of language: Eliza's transformation is spurred simply by Pickeringcalling her by the name Miss Doolittle, while Higgins' insults and coarselanguage, which severely hurt Eliza's feelings, show the potential violence oflanguage. The play is most interested, though, in the connections between aperson's speech and his or her identity. As we see in the beginning of the play,Higgins can easily guess where people are from based on their accent, dialect,and use of particular slang. How different people speak the same languagethus reveals a surprising amount about their identity. However, Shaw alsoexposes how shallow and imprecise this conception of identity is, how itdoesn't actually capture or represent the full person. After all, Eliza's way ofspeaking transforms over the course of the play. Eliza is able to change heridentity simply by learning to talk differently.

In particular, Pygmalion continually displays the connections betweenlanguage and social class. In the opening scene, we see people from differentsocial strata speaking in vastly different dialects, and Mrs. Eysnford Hill isconfused when Eliza calls her son Freddy, not realizing that this is merely akind of lower-class slang. And most importantly, by changing her habits ofspeech, Eliza is able to fool people into thinking that she is from an upper-classbackground. Upper-class characters in the play lay claim to proper or correctEnglish. Higgins, for example, shames Eliza for speaking a poor version of thelanguage of the great writers Shakespeare and Milton. But is there anythinginherently correct about one particular version of English? At Mrs. Higgins'home, Mrs. Eynsford Hill mistakenly believes that Eliza's lower-class slang is anew, fashionable form of small talk. There is thus nothing naturally wrong orimproper about Eliza's original way of speaking. Rather, language, accents, andslang are all simply habits that people learn to associate with differentbackgrounds and social classes. The wealthier social classes simply claim thattheirs is the right way to speak. While this oppresses and disadvantageslower-class people, the play shows how this system also opens up possibilitiesfor those clever enough to exploit this connection between speech and class.

Eliza, Pickering, and Higgins are, after all, able to use this to their advantage,fooling high society and successfully passing Eliza off as a noble lady.

APPEARANCE AND IDENTITYPygmalion explores how social identity is formed not only through patterns ofspeech, but also through one's general appearance. Much like speech, one'sphysical appearance signals social class. In the opening scene, as people fromdifferent walks of life are forced to take shelter under the same portico,characters' social class is discernible through their clothing: the poorflower-girl (later revealed to be Eliza) and the gentleman, for example, easilyknow each other's status through their different attire. As Pickeringcomments in Act Four, many noble people believe that one's appearancedisplays one's natural identity and character, thinking that "style comes bynature to people in their position." Somewhat similarly, at the end of the play,Higgins tells Eliza that he cannot change his nature. But the importance ofappearances in the play reveals that identity often is changeable, and does notcome naturally so much as it is performed or put on like a costume. Eliza is themost obvious example of this. As she wins Higgins' bet for him, she foolspeople into assuming that she is from a noble background by changing herappearance. Even before her complete transformation, her own father fails torecognize her in act two only because she has changed clothes and bathed.

The precise extent to which Eliza really changes, though, is highly ambiguous.By the end of the play, it is unclear whether she has really changed her natureor whether she has merely learned to pretend to be someone else. As Elizatells Higgins and Pickering in Act Five, she believes that she has entirelyforgotten her original way of speaking and behaving: she thinks that she hasreally transformed and cannot return to her old life. Higgins, on the otherhand, is skeptical of this. He is confident that Eliza will "relapse" into her oldways. The play thus raises (but doesn't completely answer) a number ofquestions about the stability of identity. Has Eliza really changed, or can shenot escape the identity she was born into? Has she become noble, or is shenaturally lower-class? Moreover, is there anything natural about class identityat all? Shaw's play takes its title from the myth of Pygmalion, famously told inOvid's Metamorphoses. (In it, Pygmalion sculpts a beautiful statue thattransforms into a real woman.) Ovid's work is a poem about numerousmythical metamorphoses. But Shaw's play of transformation asks: howevermuch one changes one's appearance, can anyone really ever change?

SOCIAL CLASS AND MANNERSWritten in 1912, Pygmalion is set in the early 20th century, at the end of theVictorian period in England. Among other things, this period of history wascharacterized by a particularly rigid social hierarchy—but one that wasbeginning to decline as social mobility became increasingly possible. Thewealthy, high-class characters of the play are thus especially concerned withmaintaining class distinctions. This means more than a mere distinctionbetween rich and poor. The Eynsford Hill family, for example, is wealthy, but(as Mrs. Eynsford Hill confesses to Mrs. Higgins) not wealthy enough to go tomany parties. And Higgins wants Eliza to marry not Freddy, but someone ofan even higher class. Perhaps the most important way in which thesedistinctions of social class are enforced is through manners, unwritten codesof proper behavior. Shaw's play displays the workings of this system of socialhierarchy, but also exposes some of its problems.

For one, the play shows how the belief that one's social class and manners arenatural is false. As Eliza's transformation shows, manners and nobility can belearned. One's class is formed through performance, learning to act in certainways. And moreover, as Clara Eynsford Hill comments, there is nothinginherently better about one or another performance: "It's all a matter of habit.There's no right or wrong in it." Good and bad manners are just a matter ofcultural habit. (This is also evidenced by the fact that different cultures havedifferent notions of polite behavior.) Ironically, at several moments in the play,lower-class characters are better behaved than their supposedlywell-mannered, upper-class counterparts. In Act Five, Pickering commentsthat Eliza played the part of a noble lady better than real noble ladies theyencountered. And Higgins, while somewhat upper-class, is very rude. Mrs.Pearce must remind him to mind his manners in front of Eliza, and at the endof the play she has better manners than he does. There is thus no natural orinherent connection between social class and "correct" manners.

THEMES

Pygmalion

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Despite the rigidities of social class in the world of the play, Eliza and herfather show the possibility of social mobility. Not only is Eliza changed into anoble lady, but her father also inherits a sizable sum of money from the richAmerican Ezra Wannafeller. As a counterexample to Victorian England,Wannafeller stands in for the American ideal of social mobility—that one canrise up the social ladder through hard work. By giving money to Mr. Doolittle,he allows Doolittle to become middle class. However, Mr. Doolittle himselfchallenges the assumption that such a move up the social ladder is necessarilya good thing. He continually criticizes "middle class morality" and laments allthe anxieties and troubles that his new wealth brings with it. By the end of theplay, Eliza also misses her prior, simpler life as a flower-girl. Thus, Shaw's playquestions not only the validity of a rigid social hierarchy, but even thedesirability of a high social class.

EDUCATION AND INTELLIGENCETwo of the play's main characters—Higgins and Pickering—are academics.Shaw in some sense pits their intellectual intelligence against the wits ofothers, like Eliza. Early in the play, Eliza is intimidated and confused byHiggins' academic language. However, while characters like Eliza, Mrs.Higgins, and Mr. Doolittle lack the kind of education that Higgins andPickering have had, the play reveals them to be smart in their own ways. Eliza,for example, turns out to be a quick learner and a very good pupil, easilywinning Higgins' bet for him. And although Mrs. Higgins is confined in the playto her own home, she displays a kind of social savvy in integrating Eliza withher other guests in Act Three and in helping to resolve things (to the extentthat they can be resolved) at the play's conclusion. Finally, Higgins may scoff atthe lowly Mr. Doolittle early in the play, but he is the only character whovoices criticisms of "middle class morality" and articulates some of theproblems with the Victorian social hierarchy. Thus, while Higgins andPickering might appear to be the play's two educated, intelligent characters,different characters exemplify different forms of intelligence and cleverness.

Moreover, the play shows some of the downsides of Higgins' overlyintellectual learning. Higgins approaches other people with a kind of academicdetachment. He sees everyone as subjects for his linguistic studies, ratherthan as people with feelings of their own. One sees this especially with how hetreats Eliza: he hurtfully neglects her as a person and sees her merely as anexperiment. Higgins lacks basic sympathy and empathy, what might be calledemotional intelligence. The play's most intelligent character is thus, in anothersense, its least learned.

FEMININITY AND GENDER ROLESThe title of Shaw's play is taken from the myth of Pygmalion. In this story,Pygmalion scorns all the women around him and makes a sculpture of his idealwoman. The sculpture is so beautiful that he falls in love with it and it comes tolife. By titling his play after this story, Shaw calls attention to questions offemininity and gender. As Pygmalion sculpts his ideal woman, so Higgins andPickering mold Eliza into an ideal lady. These two narratives show howunrealistic and even unnatural the expectations that society often has forwomen are. Pygmalion's perfect woman can only be attained with an artificialconstruct, a sculpture. Similarly, the ideal noble lady of British society in theworld of Shaw's play is a kind of fake, only a role that Eliza must learn to play.Pygmalion can thus be seen as showing how oppressive unrealistic ideals offemininity can be: to attain these ideals, Eliza has to be coached, disciplined,and taught. She has to pretend to be someone other than who she really is.

The play further explores gender roles with its other female characters. As it isset in the early 20th century, before women gained many basic rights andprivileges, the play's other female characters—Mrs. Pearce and Mrs.Higgins—are largely confined to their respective households. Nonetheless,they both play important roles. Mrs. Pearce ensures the functioning ofHiggins' household and reminds him of his own manners. And Mrs. Higginstakes Eliza in when she leaves Higgins and Pickering, and helps resolve thingsat the play's conclusion. These two characters thus demonstrate how womenmight still exert some agency within an oppressive Victorian society. Butdespite any redeeming aspects to women's roles in the world of the play, theyultimately cannot escape the constraints of their sexist world. At the end ofthe play, Eliza must choose between living with Higgins, living with her father,or marrying Freddy. In any case, her future can only be under the control of aman of some sort. She tells Higgins that she desires independence,

but—although she is a strong character—we never see her actually obtain herindependence in the play. Eliza is greatly transformed over the course of theplay, but it would take even greater transformations of society itself in the20th century for women like Eliza to have real independence.

CLOTHINGIn Pygmalion, clothing is an important part (perhaps the most important part)of characters' appearances and how they display their identity and socialstanding. In the opening scene, the different people under the church porticoare able to discern each other's social class particularly by their clothes.Pickering is easily recognizable as a gentleman, whereas Eliza is easilyidentifiable as a poor flower-girl. Because of this, clothing is naturally animportant part of Eliza's transformation. In Act Two, after she changes clothes,her own father doesn't even recognize her at first—and this is before she evenbegins to act or talk differently. Mr. Doolittle's own social transformation isalso symbolized by clothing. He arrives at Mrs. Higgins' house in Act Fivedressed like a gentleman, and Higgins assumes that this cannot be Eliza'sfather, whom he met earlier. The importance of clothes in the formation ofone's social identity suggests that such identity is rather shallow. Indeed, acentral ambiguity in the play is whether one's identity can really be changed bylearning to speak differently or putting on a different outfit, or whether this ismerely a façade that covers up one's true, unchanging identity. This tensioncomes to the forefront in Act Four when Eliza asks Higgins whether her new,expensive clothes actually belong to her now. Behind the question of whethershe is or isn't the owner of the clothes, Eliza also wants to know whether hernew, upper-class identity is really hers, or whether it is just a role she isplaying, a costume she is wearing but will have to give up eventually. Clothesthus symbolize the importance of appearances in establishing one's identityand class, while also questioning how deep this kind of social identity goes.

ACT 1How do you know that my son's name is Freddy, pray? [...] I called him Freddyor Charlie same as you might yourself if you was talking to a stranger andwished to be pleasant.

—Mrs. Eynsford Hill, Eliza Doolittle

I ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I've a right to sellflowers if I keep off the kerb. [Hysterically] I'm a respectable girl: so help me, Inever spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off me.

—Eliza Doolittle

It's all right: he's a gentleman: look at his boots.

—Bystander

And how are all your people down at Selsey? Who told you my people comefrom Selsey?

—Henry Higgins, Bystander

How do you do it, if I may ask? Simply phonetics. The science of speech. That'smy profession: also my hobby. Happy is the man who can make a living by hishobby! You can spot an Irishman or a Yorkshireman by his brogue. I can placeany man within six miles. I can place him within two miles in London.Sometimes within two streets.

SYMBOLS

QUOTES

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—Colonel Pickering, Henry Higgins

A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to beanywhere—no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a souland the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is thelanguage of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit therecrooning like a bilious pigeon.

—Henry Higgins

You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keepher in the gutter to the end of her days. Well, sir, in three months I could passthat girl off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party.

—Henry Higgins

ACT 2I rather fancied myself because I can pronounce twenty-four distinct vowelsounds; but your hundred and thirty beat me. I can't hear a bit of differencebetween most of them.

—Colonel Pickering

A young woman! What does she want? Well, sir, she says you'll be glad to seeher when you know what she's come about. She's quite a common girl, sir.Very common indeed.

—Henry Higgins, Mrs. Pearce

I want to be a lady in a flower shop stead of selling at the corner of TottenhamCourt Road. but they won't take me unless I can talk more genteel.

—Eliza Doolittle

You know, Pickering, if you consider a shilling, not as a simple shilling, but as apercentage of this girl's income, it works out as fully equivalent to sixty orseventy guineas from a millionaire.

—Henry Higgins

You must be reasonable, Mr. Higgins: really you must. You can't walk overeverybody like this.

—Mrs. Pearce

Well, the matter is, sir, that you can't take a girl up like that as if you werepicking up a pebble on the beach.

—Mrs. Pearce

Very well, then, what on earth is all this fuss about? The girl doesn't belong toanybody—is no use to anybody but me.

—Henry Higgins

There! That's all you get out of Eliza. Ah-ah-ow-oo! No use explaining. As amilitary man you ought to know that. Give her her orders: that's what she

wants. Eliza: you are to live here for the next six months, learning how to speakbeautifully, like a lady in a florist's shop.

—Henry Higgins

I find that the moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomesjealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. I find that the moment Ilet myself make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical. Womenupset everything.

—Henry Higgins

Then might I ask you not to come down to breakfast in your dressing-gown, orat any rate not to use it as a napkin to the extent you do, sir. And if you wouldbe so good as not to eat everything off the same plate, and to remember not toput the porridge saucepan out of your hand on the clean tablecloth, it wouldbe a better example to the girl.

—Mrs. Pearce

I come about a very serious matter, Governor. Brought up in Hounslow.Mother Welsh, I should think.

—Alfred Doolittle, Henry Higgins

Is this reasonable? Is it fairity to take advantage of a man like this? The girlbelongs to me.

—Alfred Doolittle

What is middle class morality? Just an excuse for never giving me anything.

—Alfred Doolittle

Beg pardon, miss. Garn! Don't you know your own daughter?

—Alfred Doolittle, Eliza Doolittle

Ain't you going to call me Miss Doolittle any more? I beg your pardon, MissDoolittle. It was a slip of the tongue. Oh, I don't mind; only it sounded sogenteel.

—Eliza Doolittle, Colonel Pickering

ACT 3I shall never get into the way of seriously liking young women: some habits lietoo deep to be changed. [Rising abruptly and walking about, jingling his moneyand his keys in his trouser pockets] Besides, they're all idiots.

—Henry Higgins

You see, I've got her pronunciation all right; but you have to consider not onlyhow a girl pronounces, but what she pronounces; and that's where—

—Henry Higgins

I'm sorry to say that my celebrated son has no manners. You musn't mind him.

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—Mrs. Higgins

You see, we're all savages, more or less. We're supposed to be civilized andcultured—to know all about poetry and philosophy and art and science, and soon; but how many of us know even the meanings of these names?

—Henry Higgins

I feel sure we have met before, Miss Doolittle. I remember your eyes.

—Mrs. Eynsford Hill

They all thought she was dead; but my father he kept ladling gin down herthroat til she came to so sudden that she bit the bowl off the spoon. Dear me!What call would a woman with that strength in her have to die of influenza?What become of her new straw hat that should have come to me? Somebodypinched it; and what I say is, them as pinched it done her in. What does doingher in mean? Oh, that's the new small talk. To do a person in means to killthem.

—Eliza Doolittle, Mrs. Eynsford Hill, Henry Higgins

The new small talk. You do it so awfully well.

—Freddy Eynsford Hill

I daresay I am very old-fashioned; but I do hope you won't begin using thatexpression, Clara. I have got accustomed to hear you talking about men asrotters, and calling everything filthy and beastly; though I do think it horribleand unladylike. But this last is really too much.

—Mrs. Eynsford Hill

It's all a matter of habit. There's no right or wrong in it.

—Clara Eynsford Hill

You musn't mind Clara. ...We're so poor! and she gets so few parties, poorchild! She doesn't quite know.

—Mrs. Eynsford Hill

You silly boy, of course she's not presentable. She's a triumph of your art andof her dressmaker's; but if you suppose for a moment that she doesn't giveherself away in every sentence she utters, you must be perfectly crackedabout her.

—Mrs. Higgins

You certainly are a pretty pair of babies, playing with your live doll.

—Mrs. Higgins

Yes, by George: it's the most absorbing experiment I ever tackled. Sheregularly fills our lives up; doesn't she, Pick?

—Henry Higgins

No, you two infinitely stupid male creatures: the problem of what is to be donewith her afterwards. I don't see anything in that. She can go her own way, withall the advantages I have given her. The advantages of that poor woman whowas here just now! The manners and habits that disqualify a fine lady fromearning her own living without giving her a fine lady's income! Is that what youmean?

—Mrs. Higgins, Henry Higgins

Oh, men! men!! men!!!

—Mrs. Higgins

ACT 4Well, I feel a bit tired. It's been a long day. The garden party, a dinner party,and the opera! Rather too much of a good thing. But you've won your bet,Higgins. Eliza did the trick, and something to spare, eh? Thank God it's over!

—Colonel Pickering, Henry Higgins

It was interesting enough at first, while we were at the phonetics; but afterthat I got deadly sick of it. If I hadn't backed myself to do it I should havechucked the whole thing up two months ago. It was a silly notion: the wholething has been a bore.

—Henry Higgins

I was quite frightened once or twice because Eliza was doing it so well. Yousee, lots of the real people can't do it at all: they're such fools that they thinkstyle comes by nature to people in their position; and so they never learn.

—Colonel Pickering

I'd like to kill you, you selfish brute. Why didn't you leave me where you pickedme out of—in the gutter? You thank God it's all over, and that now you canthrow me back again there, do you?

—Eliza Doolittle

You don't care. I know you don't care. You wouldn't care if I was dead. I'mnothing to you—not so much as them slippers. Those slippers.

—Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins

I daresay my mother could find some chap or other who would do very well.We were above that at the corner of Tottenham Court Road. What do youmean? I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me I'm notfit to sell anything else.

—Henry Higgins, Eliza Doolittle

Do my clothes belong to me or to Colonel Pickering?

—Eliza Doolittle

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ACT 5The girl has a perfect right to leave if she chooses.

—Mrs. Higgins

What right have you to go to the police and give the girl's name as if she were athief, or a lost umbrella, or something? Really!

—Mrs. Higgins

You have no more sense, either of you, than two children.

—Mrs. Higgins

Done to me! Ruined me. Destroyed my happiness. Tied me up and deliveredme into the hands of middle class morality.

—Alfred Doolittle

Who asked him to make a gentleman of me? I was happy. I was free. I touchedpretty nigh everybody for money when I wanted it, same as I touched you,Henry Higgins. Now I am worrited; tied neck and heels; and everybodytouches me for money. It's a fine thing for you, says my solicitor. Is it? says I. ...Ayear ago I hadn't a relative in the world except two or three that wouldn'tspeak to me. Now I've fifty, and not a decent week's wages among the lot ofthem. I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle class morality.

—Alfred Doolittle

That's the tragedy of it, ma'am. It's easy to say chuck it; but I haven't the nerve.Which of us has? We're all intimidated. Intimidated, ma'am: that's what we are....I, as one of the undeserving poor, have nothing between me and the pauper'suniform but this here blasted three thousand a year that shoves me into themiddle class. (Excuse the expression, ma'am: you'd use it yourself if you hadmy provocation.) They've got you every way you turn: it's a choice betweenthe Skilly of the workhouse and the Char Bydis of the middle class.

—Alfred Doolittle

Nonsense! He can't provide for her. He shan't provide for her. She doesn'tbelong to him. I paid him five pounds for her.

—Henry Higgins

She had become attached to you both. She worked very hard for you, Henry! Idon't think you quite realize what anything in the nature of brain work meansto a girl like that. Well, it seems that when the great day of trial came, and shedid this wonderful thing for you without making a single mistake, you two satthere and never said a word to her, but talked together of how glad you werethat it was all over and how you had been bored with the whole thing. Andthen you were surprised because she threw your slippers at you!

—Mrs. Higgins

Let us put on our best Sunday manners for this creature that we picked out ofthe mud.

—Henry Higgins

I tell you I have created this thing out of the squashed cabbage leaves ofCovent Garden; and now she pretends to play the fine lady with me.

—Henry Higgins

But do you know what began my real education? What? Your calling me MissDoolittle that day when I first came to Wimpole Street. That was thebeginning of self-respect for me.

—Eliza Doolittle, Colonel Pickering

You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (thedressing and the proper way of speaking, and so on), the difference between alady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated. I shallalways be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as aflower girl, and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because youalways treat me as a lady, and always will.

—Eliza Doolittle

Why don't you slang back at him? Don't stand it. It would do him a lot of good. Ican't. I could have done it once; but now I can't go back to it. Last night, when Iwas wandering about, a girl spoke to me; and I tried to get back into the oldway with her; but it was no use. You told me, you know, that when a child isbrought to a foreign country, it picks up the language in a few weeks, andforgets its own. Well, I am a child in your country. I have forgotten my ownlanguage, and can speak nothing but yours.

—Colonel Pickering, Eliza Doolittle

Let her find out how she can get on without us. She will relapse into the gutterin three weeks without me at her elbow.

—Henry Higgins

No: that ain't the natural way, Colonel: it's only the middle class way.

—Alfred Doolittle

The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or anyother particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all humansouls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are nothird-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.

—Henry Higgins

Eliza: you're an idiot. I waste the treasures of my Miltonic mind by spreadingthem before you.

—Henry Higgins

Oh! if only I could go back to my flower basket! I should be independent ofboth you and my father and all the world! Why did you take my independencefrom me? Why did I give it up? I'm a slave now, for all my fine clothes.

—Eliza Doolittle

If you're going to be a lady, you'll have to give up feeling neglected if the menyou know don't spend half their time sniveling over you and the other halfgiving you black eyes. If you can't stand the coldness of my sort of life, and the

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strain of it, go back to the gutter. Work til you are more a brute than a humanbeing; and then cuddle and squabble and drink til you fall asleep. Oh, it's a finelife, the life of the gutter. It's real: it's warm: it's violent: you can feel it throughthe thickest skin: you can taste it and smell it without any training or work. Notlike Science and Literature and Classical Music and Philosophy and Art. Youfind me cold, unfeeling, selfish, don't you?

—Henry Higgins

You shall marry the Governor-General of India or the Lord-Lieutenant ofIreland, or somebody who wants a deputy-queen. I'm not going to have mymasterpiece thrown away on Freddy.

—Henry Higgins

If I can't have kindness, I'll have independence. Independence? That's middleclass blasphemy.

—Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins

ACT 1Late one rainy night in CoventGarden, London, a variety ofpedestrians seek shelter under theportico of a church, including awealthy woman and her daughter,Clara. The mother and daughter arewaiting impatiently for Freddy,Clara's brother, to get a taxi. Abystander informs them that thereprobably won't be any taxis available.Freddy suddenly rushes under theportico and tells the two women thathe can't find a single cab.

The rain forces people from a variety ofdifferent social classes, who normallydon't interact with each other, to cometogether under the portico. Freddy isfulfilling the role of the chivalrousgentleman, going out into the rain to finda taxi for his sister and mother.

Freddy says he has looked all over fora taxi, but the mother and daughterare insensitive to his efforts and tellhim to go look again and not comeback until he has found a cab. Freddyprotests but then finally goes. As heleaves, he bumps into a flower girl,who calls him Freddy. The motherasks the lower-class flower girl howshe knows her son's name.

Here the gender roles are pushed tocomedic effect, where Freddy is forcedby his mother and sister to be chivalrouseven though doing so is pointless: thereare no cabs. Freddy's mother is surprisedand confused when the lower-classflower girl apparently knows who her(upper-class) son is.

The flower-girl says that she'll tell themother in exchange for some money.The mother agrees and gives hersix-pence. The flower-girl says thatshe just called the man Freddybecause that is how she would referto any random person she doesn'tknow. Clara is exasperated at thewaste of money. An elderly gentlemancomes under the portico for shelter.

The mother's misunderstanding arisesfrom her lack of knowledge of the flowergirl's lower-class slang. The gentleman'ssocial standing is instantly identifiable byhis dress and appearance.

The flower-girl asks the gentleman tobuy a flower, but he says he doesn'thave any change. He rummages in hispockets and finally finds some smallcoins, which he gives to her. Abystander tells the girl to be sure togive the gentleman a flower for themoney, because there's someonestanding at the back of the porticowatching and taking notes.

The interaction between the gentlemanand the flower girl makes their positionsin the social hierarchy very clear, as shemust beg for whatever change he canspare.

The flower-girl worries that she is introuble but the man taking notessteps forward and asks what thematter is. A bystander tells him theflower-girl thought he was a "copper'snark," (a police informant). The mandoesn't understand the slang. Hereads his notes, which copy downexactly what the girl said previously inher lower-class dialect.

The bystander misinterprets thenote-taking man's appearance, thinkingthat he is a policeman. Again lack ofknowledge about another social group'sslang causes confusion. The man isinterested in the bystander's and theflower girl's accents and slang.

Some of the bystanders think the manis a policeman and tell him not toworry about the flower-girl. Onebystander says the man isn't a cop, butrather a "blooming busybody," and theman asks him how his people at Selseyare. The bystander is shocked that theman knows where he's from. The manthen guesses correctly where theflower-girl is from. Still thinking she isin trouble, the flower-girl insists thatshe is "a good girl."

The bystanders continue to think(wrongly) that the man is a policeman,based on his appearance and behavior.The man is able to guess where everyoneis from by their speech, though theseguesses smack of a certaincondescension, as if by knowing wherethey are from he thinks he knows whothey are. The flower girl insists on whatshe is: a good girl.

The note-taking man continues toguess where everyone is from, to allthe bystanders' surprise. The rainbegins to stop and Clara and hermother wonder where Freddy is. Theman guesses where both of them arefrom. He then offers to whistle for ataxi. Clara tells him not to speak toher. As people notice that the rain hasstopped, the crowd under the porticodisperses.

The man is able to deduce a surprisingamount of information about variousbystanders based only on their mannerof speaking. Clara does not want tospeak to him perhaps because she is notsure of his social class (and finds him abit rude).

The gentleman asks the note-takerhow he knows where everyone isfrom, and he answers that he studiesphonetics. The flower-girl tells theman to mind his own business, and theman gets angry with her, telling herthat someone who speaks with "suchdepressing and disgusting sounds hasno right to be anywhere—no right tolive."

The man is an educated academic, whostudies phonetics. While he studies allsorts of accents and dialects, he shows ashockingly extreme prejudice against theflower girl's lower-class speech.

The note-taking man then says to thegentleman that the flower-girl'saccent and dialect will keep her in thelower class, but that he could teachher to speak so well in three monthsthat she would pass for a noble lady.He explains that this is his main job,teaching people to speak well.

Note that the man insists not that hecould make the girl into a noble lady, butthat he could teach her to pass as anoble lady. He both insists on the powerof speech to affect how one is perceived,but at the same time thinks that theflower girl would always still be a flowergirl besides this change in other people'sperceptions of her.

SUMMARY & ANALYSIS

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The gentleman says that he himself is"a student of Indian dialects." Heintroduces himself as ColonelPickering, and the note-takerintroduces himself as Henry Higgins.The two are already familiar with eachother's work in linguistics.

Pickering and Higgins' friendship is builtupon their mutual admiration andrespect for each other's academic work.Higgins never shows the same respect forEliza because she is a woman.

Higgins and Pickering leave to getdinner together. Higgins reluctantlygives the flower-girl some money.Freddy finally returns with a cab, onlyto find that his mother and sister haveleft him to walk to a bus. Theflower-girl takes the cab he hasbrought, leaving Freddy alone.

In a minor, humorous reversal ofexpectations, it is the lowly flower girl,not the well-off Freddy, who ends uptaking the taxi. All of Freddy's chivalroussearching for the cab, meanwhile, getshim nothing but abandoned.

ACT 2The next morning, Higgins andPickering are at Higgins' "laboratory,"a huge room filled with various toolsand devices for Higgins' work,including tuning forks, recordingdevices, and diagrams of the humanvocal system. Higgins finishesshowing Pickering all of his things, andPickering marvels at Higgins' ability tohear 130 distinct vowel sounds.

Pickering is impressed with Higgins'laboratory and his dedication to hisstudy of speech. Both characters arehighly educated, though Higgins is evenmore accomplished than Pickering in therealm of phonetics.

Higgins' housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce,comes in and announces that a youngwoman is here to see Higgins. Shesays it is a common girl with a"dreadful" accent. Higgins tellsPickering that he will note down whatthe girl says and exactly what heraccent is. The girl enters and Higginsrecognizes her as the flower-girl fromthe previous night.

Mrs. Pearce identifies the flower girl as acommoner from her accent andappearance, and describes suchcharacteristics as "dreadful". Thewealthy see the ways in which the poordiffer from them as being bad orshameful. Higgins is interested in heronly as a subject of his academic study,not in any way as a person.

Higgins is frustrated because he hasalready recorded her accent, and tellsher to leave. But the flower-girl saysthat she has come for another reason.She offers to pay for speaking lessons.Higgins is shocked and insults her.The flower-girl cries, saying she wantsto learn how to "talk more genteel," soshe can get a job in a nice flower shop.

The flower girl hopes that by learning tospeak differently, she can change her lifeand identity, finding a better job andmoving up the social ladder.

The flower-girl says her name is ElizaDoolittle, and offers to pay a shillingfor lessons. Higgins reflects aloud thatthis sum of money is a sizablepercentage of what she makes,comparable to a wealthy personpaying many pounds. Eliza is confusedand begins to cry. Higgins offers her ahandkerchief and tells her not to wipeher eyes with her sleeve.

Eliza is confused and worried by Higgins'reasoning about her proposed fee, whichshe doesn't understand. Higgins tells hernot to wipe her eyes with her sleeve,because this would be neither ladylikenor in accordance with good manners.

Amused by Eliza, Pickering offers topay for her lessons and bets Higginsthat he can't teach Eliza to speak sowell that she passes as a noble at anambassador's garden party comingup. Higgins says the offer isirresistible and calls Eliza "sodeliciously low—so horribly dirty." Hesays he will "make a duchess of thisdraggle-tailed guttersnipe."

Higgins agrees to help Eliza only for hisown enjoyment and study, not becausehe feels any compassion for her. He andPickering plan to fool the upper class bychanging only Eliza's speech andoutward appearance. They don't think ofwhether such exterior changes mightinvolve actually changing who Elizareally is.

Higgins tells Mrs. Pearce to washEliza, throw out her dirty clothes, andget new ones. Eliza protests and Mrs.Pearce tells Higgins that he cannot"walk over everybody," Higginsapologizes and says that he wants tohelp Eliza better her life. Mrs. Pearcetells him he can't "take a girl up likethat as if you were picking up a pebbleon the beach."

Higgins is so concerned with his ownexperiment that he doesn't stop toconsider Eliza's own thoughts or feelings.His willingness to "walk over" Eliza has todo both with her lower-class status andher gender. Mrs. Pearce, who was willingto describe Eliza's accent as "dreadful"does see her as a person, and insists thatas such she has a dignity and worth thatHiggins must acknowledge in histreatment of her.

Higgins says that when he is doneteaching her, Eliza will have countlessmen courting her. Eliza thinks Higginsis mad and says she won't accept anynew clothes from him. Higgins callsher ungrateful, but Mrs. Pearce tellshim that he is wicked. She tells Eliza toreturn to her parents, but she saysthat she has no family.

Higgins does not consider Eliza's ownwillingness or unwillingness toparticipate in his experiment. Heassumes that all she could want is tohave men courting her, and he sees herunwillingness to be in debt to him (byaccepting clothes) as simpleungratefulness. Again, he treats her as alesser being, not someone worthy ofhaving pride or integrity.

Higgins says that Eliza is "no use toanybody but me," and tells Mrs.Pearce that she can treat Eliza like adaughter. Pickering asks Higgins if ithas ever occurred to him that Elizahas feelings of her own. Higginsresponds that she has no feelings"that we need bother about." Elizasays, "I got my feelings same asanyone else."

Since Eliza is an uneducated, lower-classwoman, Higgins, unlike Pickering, thinksof her only in terms of whether she canbe of use to him. But Eliza shows herdignity and strength of will by assertingthat not only does she have feelings butthat they are the equal of anyone else'sfeelings. She asserts a level ofcommonality and equality betweenpeople that Higgins doesn't seem torecognize. It's worth noting that Higginsis far more extreme in his views than theother wealthy characters; even so, inbeing more extreme he makes explicitwhat other rich characters in the playseem to implicitly believe.

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Eliza is upset and prepares to leave,but Higgins gives her a chocolate andpromises her boxes and barrels ofthem if she stays. He tells Eliza thatwhen she learns to speak better, shewill ride taxis all around town. He triesto tempt her with thoughts of awealthy life, over Mrs. Pearce'sprotestations. Pickering objects, aswell, calling Eliza "Miss Doolittle."

Higgins tries to tempt Eliza withthoughts of a wealthy, comfortable life,acting as if he can "buy" her interest withtrifles like chocolate. In objecting toHiggins, Pickering calls Eliza "MissDoolittle," a convention usually reservedfor high-class ladies. It seems almost as ifHiggins extreme rudeness in treatingEliza like a non-person—almost like apet—pushes Pickering (unconsciously) toadmit that Eliza is a person and in beingso has a nobility by calling her by theaddress of a lady.

Higgins tells Eliza that she will livewith him for six months, learning howto speak like a wealthy lady. He saysthat she will then be taken toBuckingham Palace and if the kingdiscovers that she is not a noble lady,she will be taken to prison andexecuted, but if she passes as a ladyshe will be given money. Mrs. Pearcetakes Eliza away to talk it over withher in private.

Higgins continues to order Eliza around,revealing his lack of empathy. He isexcited by the prospect of foolingmembers of the upper class by merelychanging Eliza's appearance and speech,while also displaying his own clevernessas a linguist and a teacher.

Eliza protests as she leaves, sayingshe hasn't asked for any of this. Onceshe is gone, Pickering asks Higgins ifhe is "a man of good character wherewomen are concerned." Higgins saysthat he has only had bad experienceswhen he has let women become hisfriends and that "women upseteverything."

Higgins is revealed to be somewhat of amisogynist, thinking that women ruineverything. This partially explains hisrudeness toward Eliza (his generalrudeness toward everyone explains therest).

Pickering tells Higgins that if he isinvolved with teaching Eliza, he willfeel responsible for her. Higginsassures him that he considers hisstudent "sacred." Mrs. Pearce entersand asks Higgins to be careful of whathe says in Eliza's presence. She tellshim not to curse. Higgins claims henever swears, but then agrees.

Higgins claims that he cares about Eliza,though he seems only to care about heras a student, as the subject of his ownacademic study. Yet while he isupper-class, it is his housekeeper whomust remind him of proper manners.

Mrs. Pearce asks Higgins to behavewith good manners while Eliza isaround—for example, not to come tobreakfast in his dressing-gown anduse it as a napkin. Flustered, Higginssays that he doesn't do such thingshabitually but agrees to be"particularly careful before the girl."

Mrs. Pearce has to remind the rudeHiggins to set a good example for Eliza ifshe is to learn to act like a well-behavedlady. The play is constantly poking holesin the idea of the upper class and theirown self-conception as naturally havinggood manners because they are upperclass.

Mrs. Pearce leaves but returnsquickly, saying that a man is at thedoor claiming to be Eliza's father.Higgins has her bring the man up,eager to learn about his accent. AlfredDoolittle enters and says he wants hisdaughter back. Higgins immediatelyidentifies where he is from.

Whenever Higgins meets a new person,his first thought is to use the person forhis own academic learning. He is easilyable to identify where Doolittle is frombased on his accent.

Mr. Doolittle says that he hasn't seenhis daughter in two months, butlearned of her whereabouts from thecab driver who brought her toHiggins' place. Higgins comments onhis accent, saying his Welsh originsaccount for his "mendacity anddishonesty."

Higgins moves from just identifyingwhere Doolittle is from to asserting thatDoolittle's origins determine hischaracter. Higgins believes he canchange people's appearance by changingtheir speech, but he also believes thatpeople can't actually change their deeperselves.

Mr. Doolittle has brought some ofEliza's things to the house. Higginscalls Mrs. Pearce and tells her thatMr. Doolittle has come to take Elizaaway, even though Mr. Doolittledenies this. Mrs. Pearce says thatEliza can't leave until her new clothesarrive, since she has burned her oldclothes.

Higgins rudely disregards what Mr.Doolittle actually says. The destructionof Eliza's old clothes symbolizes the lossof her old identity. As her new clothes arenot ready yet, she is caught betweenidentities, not fully transformed yet.

Mrs. Pearce leaves and Mr. Doolittleasks for five pounds in return forletting Eliza stay with Higgins.Pickering and Higgins are shocked athis willingness to sell his owndaughter and think giving him moneywould be immoral. Mr. Doolittle sayshe is needy and says that "middle classmorality" is "just an excuse for nevergiving me anything."

Higgins and Pickering are shocked by Mr.Doolittle's willingness to sell hisdaughter, but to Mr. Doolittle suchmoralizing is a luxury for those who don'thave to worry about money. And Higginshas no compunction about trying to"buy" Eliza with promises of chocolateand clothes.

Higgins proposes to take Mr.Doolittle in along with Eliza and teachhim to speak nobly, but Mr. Doolittlesays that he wants to stay in hisstation in life, since regardless of one'sclass "it's a dog's life anyway you lookat it." Higgins finally agrees to giveDoolittle ten pounds, but Mr.Doolittle declines and asks only forfive.

From the beginning Mr. Doolittlecriticizes the Victorian social hierarchy,not only for not letting lower-class peoplemove up the hierarchy, but also for theassumption that being upper-class isnecessarily better than being lower-class.

On his way out, Mr. Doolittle runsinto Eliza, who is clean and dressed inan elegant kimono. He doesn'trecognize her and says, "Beg pardon,miss." Everyone is amazed at Eliza'stransformation, and she says that it iseasy to clean up when one has all theluxury's of a well-furnished bathroom.

Even before Eliza has really transformed,the simple change of her appearance andclothing is enough to make her at firstunrecognizable to her own father.

Eliza and her father get into anargument as she says he has onlycome to get money from Higgins forhis drinking habit. Mr. Doolittleprepares to leave. Higgins asks him tocome visit Eliza regularly, as part ofhis fatherly duty. He agrees andleaves, but Eliza tells Higgins not tobelieve her father. Eliza is eager to goback to her part of the city and showoff her new look to her old friends.Higgins tells her not to be snobbishtoward her old friends now that shehas "risen in the world."

Eliza is excited by her new appearanceand wants to show off to her old friends,though Higgins tells her that this kind ofsnobbishness would be ill-mannered. Hisclaim that she has "risen in the world,"suggests that Eliza is undergoing a realtransformation, not just putting on acostume, though it is worth noting thathaving "risen" is a state dependent onhow others see you, not any internalchanges.

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Mrs. Pearce enters and tells Eliza thatshe has more clothes for her to try on.She leaves eagerly, saying"Ah-ow-oo-ooh!" Higgins andPickering reflect on the difficult taskahead of them in making Eliza pass fora noble lady.

Moments after Higgins comments onhow Eliza has "risen" based purely on herchange in appearance, Eliza's decidedlyun-classy exclamation indicates herlower-class upbringing, showing how farshe has to go to transform into a noblelady.

ACT 3Higgins barges into his mother'shome one afternoon. Mrs. Higgins issurprised to see her son and tells himto leave, as she is expecting friends tocome visit. Higgins tells her he hasfound a woman, and she thinks hemeans romantically. He corrects herand tells her that he needs her helpfor "a phonetic job."

Mrs. Higgins hopes that her son hasfound a romantic partner, but he is soconsumed by his studies that he is onlyinterested in women (and indeed peoplein general) as possible "phonetic job[s]."

Higgins tells his mother about Elizaand says that she is to sit with Mrs.Higgins and her friends today andspeak like a lady. Just as Higgins ispreparing to leave, two of Mrs.Higgins' friends arrive: Mrs. and MissEynsford Hill, who turn out to be themother and daughter from the firstact. Higgins thinks he recognizesClara, but doesn't remember fromwhere. Colonel Pickering arrives.

This is Eliza's first test, as she mustconverse with proper, ladylike mannersamong wealthy friends. Since theEynsford Hills have seen her before (inAct One), it will be particularly telling tosee if they can recognize the same flowergirl underneath her new appearance.

Freddy Eynsford Hill enters, andHiggins again thinks he looks familiarbut can't remember why. He wonderswhat everyone will talk about untilEliza arrives, and Clara agrees thatshe hates small talk. She says shewishes people would say what theyreally think. Higgins disagrees andsays that if he said what he reallythought, "it wouldn't be decent."

Clara is somewhat fed up with themanners and customs of high society,such as small talk. Higgins goes evenfurther than her, implying that small talkand manners exist to cover up theindecent things that people really think.

Higgins goes on to say that all peopleare really "savages, more or less,"even though they're supposed to becivilized. Mrs. Higgins tells him tomind his manners, and just then Elizaarrives. Eliza behaves elegantly andpolitely, as she meets everyone. Mrs.Eynsford Hill thinks Eliza looksfamiliar.

Again, Higgins thinks that manners coverup peoples' essentially savage nature.Mrs. Higgins criticism of Higgins showsthat even saying such a thing is badmanners, but the tension betweenwhether manners are just a way to looklike a good person or actually are traits ofa good person remains unresolved. Sofar, Eliza passes as an upper-class lady.

Higgins finally realizes where heknows the Eynsford Hills from.Everyone discusses the weather andEliza begins to slip back into herlower-class speech habits. She makesthe mistake of talking at length abouther aunt's death, supposedly frominfluenza (though she suspectssomeone "done the old woman in.").

At this point, Eliza's lower-class identitystill shows through her upper-classappearance, revealed both through herspeech (as in "done the old woman in")and lack of proper manners in talkingabout death at a party.

To the shock of the other guests, Elizadescribes her father's drinking habit.Not only is it an inappropriate topic ofconversation, but she also slips backinto her lower-class speech habits(including incorrect grammar). Freddybegins to laugh, seemingly fond of her,and Eliza asks if she has said anythingshe shouldn't have. Mrs. Higginsassures her she hasn't. She begins tospeak again, but Higgins interruptsher, signaling that it is time for her toleave.

Eliza does not yet fit in with Mrs. Higgins'upper-class guests, as shown by her lackof manners in speaking of inappropriatesubjects and her unpolished language.And so Higgins cuts short thisexperiment, once again treating her like asubject rather than a person.

After Eliza leaves, Mrs. Eynsford Hillis distressed over Eliza's manner ofspeaking, which Clara tells her ismerely the new fashion. Mrs.Eynsford Hill still doesn't like it, andasks Pickering what he thinks. Hesays that he's been away in India, so isnot up to date with correct manners.Clara says, "It's all a matter of habit.There's no right or wrong in it."

The fact that Mrs. Eynsford Hill canbelieve that Eliza's way of speaking is thenew fashion shows how artificial ideas ofproper manners or ways of speaking are.As Clara perceptively says, such thingsare simply matters of habit, and notinherently right or wrong, proper orimproper. Though contrast this withHiggins comments in Act One, when hesays that Eliza's way of speaking is sougly that she doesn't even deserve to live.

The Eynsford Hills prepare to leave,and Higgins encourages Clara to tryout the new fashion of speaking(Eliza's). Clara calls the Victorianobsession with manners "bloodynonsense," which shocks her mother.The Eynsford Hills leave, and Freddysays that he would like to meet Elizaagain sometime.

Clara is again fed up with the importanceof proper manners. Freddy seems to likeEliza regardless of her social class ormanners.

As she leaves, Mrs. Eynsford Hilllaments to Pickering that Clara isannoyed when she is not up to datewith "the latest slang." Higgins askshis mother if Eliza was presentable,and Mrs. Higgins says she isn't. Shesays there is no hope of Eliza speakingproperly if she is learning fromHiggins, which mildly offends him.

At this point, Eliza cannot yet pass for awealthy lady. Mrs. Higgins hints that shewon't be able to learn because Higginshimself has bad manners, againcomplicating whether manners aresomething that arise from social class orsome kind of inner goodness orpoliteness.

Mrs. Higgins asks about the state ofHiggins' home, and learns thatHiggins, Pickering, and Eliza are allliving together now with Mrs. Pearce.Mrs. Higgins tells the two men thatthey are playing with a "live doll," butHiggins insists that he is doing adifficult job, transforming Eliza into "aquite different human being."

Mrs. Higgins worries that her son istreating Eliza, a vulnerable youngwoman, like a plaything for his academicenjoyment. He now insists that hisproject is to entirely transform Eliza, notjust to help her pretend to be someoneshe's not.

Pickering assures Mrs. Higgins thatthey take Eliza very seriously, andHiggins calls her "the most absorbingexperiment I ever tackled." The twotalk about how quickly Eliza is pickingup all of the things they are teachingher. Mrs. Higgins calls their attentionto the problem of what to do withEliza after their experiment.

While Higgins and Pickering insist thatthey are treating Eliza well, Higgins refersto her merely as an "absorbingexperiment." Only Mrs. Higgins thinksabout Eliza's own feelings or issues whenthe experiment is finished.

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Mrs. Higgins says that Eliza will haveall "the manners and habits thatdisqualify a fine lady from earning herown living," without the money tosupport such a lifestyle. But Pickeringand Higgins aren't worried, and saythey'll find her a job. They leave,laughing. Mrs. Higgins is upset, andexclaims, "Oh, men! men!! men!!!"

Mrs. Higgins is smart enough, andcompassionate enough, to realize thepredicament that Eliza will find herself inpost-experiment, caught between socialclasses. She is exasperated at thearrogance of Higgins and Pickering, who,as men, think that they know better thanshe does, but only cause problems.

ACT 4It is midnight at Higgins' house. Eliza,Higgins, and Pickering all enter, tiredand dressed formally. Eliza is quiet, asHiggins and Pickering recount theirday: a garden party, followed by adinner party, followed by the opera.Pickering says that Higgins has wonhis bet, as "Eliza did the trick."

A far cry from her behavior in Act Three,Eliza successfully passed as a noble ladyat the garden party, dinner party, andopera, winning Higgins' bet for him.Though its worth noting that in winningthe bet for him, Eliza's success intransforming becomes smaller thanHiggins' success in transforming her.

Higgins says he knew Eliza would befine, and tells Pickering that he haslong been bored with the experiment,after its early phase. Having to go tohigh society events with Eliza hasbeen irritating for him. He thanks Godthe experiment is over. Pickering saysthat Eliza was acting better than someactual noble people, who assumedthat "style comes by nature to peoplein their position," and so didn't botherlearning proper behavior.

Eliza apparently easily fooled people intothinking she was upper-class. Higgins isinsensitive to Eliza's feelings, saying thathe has been bored with "theexperiment"—he doesn't even think ofher as a person. Pickering notes thatmany noble people assume that theyinnately have proper manners, when inreality they don't because such mannersmust be learned (as Eliza has learnedthem).

Preparing for bed, Higgins tells Elizato turn out the lights. Eliza isbecoming increasingly upset. Higginscan't find his slippers and Eliza picksthem up and throws them at him. Shesays, "I've won your bet for you,haven't I? That's enough for you. Idon't matter, I suppose." Higgins isangry and says that he won his ownbet.

Eliza has finally had enough of beingtreated like an experiment and stands upto Higgins. Despite his academicintelligence, Higgins lacks the emotionalor social intelligence to consider Eliza'sown feelings. He doesn't see her hardwork in having won the bet, only his own.

Eliza calls Higgins a "selfish brute,"and says that now she will be thrownback "in the gutter," where she camefrom. Higgins refers to her as "thecreature," and Eliza lunges at him withher nails. He stops her, calling her acat, and throws her down into a chair.Eliza says she knows Higgins doesn'tcare about her at all. Higgins says thatno one has ever treated her badly athis house, and says that Eliza mustsimply be tired after a long day.

Higgins continues to treat Eliza poorly,because she comes from "the gutter."While at times he has no patience for theVictorian social hierarchy, Higgins is stillprejudiced against the lower class. As hecalls her a creature and a cat, hismisogyny is also a factor in his rudenesstoward her.

Eliza regains her composure, but isstill upset. She wonders what willhappen to her now. Higgins tells hershe will be alright, and suggests shemarries someone. He offers for hismother to find her someone. Elizathinks of this as prostitution and saysshe was above this even in herlower-class life.

The only way for Eliza to get out of herpredicament, according to Higgins, is tomarry someone wealthy. Yet Eliza isresistant to the traditional female rolesof Victorian society, seeing this kind ofmarriage motivated by money asprostitution.

Higgins is annoyed by Eliza'scomment, and tells her she doesn'thave to marry. He says Pickering canset her up in a florist's shop. He startsto leave to go to bed, and Eliza askshim whether her clothes belong to heror Pickering now. She doesn't want tobe accused of stealing anything.

Eliza's question about her clothingsymbolizes her uncertainty regarding heridentity: is she actually a new personnow, or are the clothes merely atemporary costume covering her samelower-class identity?

Higgins is offended at the question,but Eliza says that she has to bemindful of such things, because she isa commoner. She says to Higgins,"There can't be any feelings betweenthe like of you and the like of me."Higgins calls her ungrateful and tellsher she has wounded him "to theheart." He leaves angrily and Elizalooks satisfied at having upset him.

Despite her apparent transformation,Eliza now says that she is fundamentallydifferent from Higgins because of theirdifferent social classes. The unemotional,academic Higgins finally appears here tohave feelings, as well.

ACT 5Mrs. Higgins is sitting in her drawingroom. Her parlor-maid announcesthat Higgins and Pickering aredownstairs, telephoning the police.Mrs. Higgins tells the maid to goupstairs and tell Eliza that Higgins andPickering are here. Higgins bursts inand tells his mother that Eliza has runaway.

Higgins and Pickering are franticallytrying to find Eliza, as if she were a lostpet. Mrs. Higgins wisely keeps Elizaupstairs so that she can try to resolve thesituation.

Mrs. Higgins tells her son to calmdown and says that Eliza has the rightto leave his house when she wants.Pickering enters, having spoken withthe police. Mrs. Higgins asks whatright they have to go to the police as ifEliza were "a lost umbrella."

Mrs. Higgins stands up for Eliza, whomPickering and Higgins are treating as ifshe is an object that they own.

The parlor-maid enters andannounces that a gentleman namedMr. Doolittle has arrived at the house.Higgins assumes that it is a relative ofEliza's she never told him about, but itactually turns out to be her father. Mr.Doolittle enters, dressed like agentleman, angry at Higgins.

Because of Mr. Doolittle's newappearance, the maid introduces him asa gentleman and Higgins assumes that itcannot be the same Mr. Doolittle he metearlier.

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Mr. Doolittle is not aware that Eliza ismissing, though, and so Higgins isconfused as to why he is mad at him.Doolittle says that Higgins mentionedhim to a wealthy American namedEzra D. Wannafeller, who foundedMoral Reform Societies across theworld. Higgins had joked that Mr.Doolittle was "the most originalmoralist," in England, and Mr.Wannafeller left Mr. Doolittle moneyin his will, on the condition that Mr.Doolittle speak at Wannafeller'sMoral Reform World League.

Higgins' joke—making fun of Mr.Doolittle's rejection of Victorian moralsas luxuries unaffordable by the poor;which really was a rather unique moralposition in VictorianEngland—unintentionally brought Mr.Doolittle a fortune. Like his daughterEliza, Mr. Doolittle has now alsoundergone a transformation, rising in thesocial hierarchy. The luck involved in Mr.Doolittle's rise implicitly criticizes thecommon Victorian notion that thewealthy deserve to be wealthy becauseof some inner worth. More likely it wasjust luck that lifted up their ancestors,and then they themselves were richsimply because they were rich.

Mr. Doolittle is upset at being turnedinto a wealthy gentleman. He saysthat he used to be free, but is nowworried, has people asking him formoney all the time, and has to seedoctors. He says that family membershave suddenly turned up to ask himfor money, and scoffs at "middle classmorality."

Mr. Doolittle exposes all of the problemsthat come with moving up the socialladder. He thus critiques the assumptionthat gaining wealth and becoming moreupper-class is necessarily desirable.

Mr. Doolittle says that now he has tolearn proper English from Higgins,and suspects this was Higgins' plan allalong. Mrs. Higgins tells him that hecan reject the inheritance, but Mr.Doolittle says that he doesn't have"the nerve" to say no to the money, ashe is poor. He says he faces a choicebetween "the Skilly of the workhouseand the Char Bydis of the middleclass."

Mr. Doolittle presents his inability toreject the money as a lack of nerve toreject the comforts provided by money.He also feels as if, now that he hasmoney, that he must appear like he hasmoney, in dress and speech. In hisuneducated, lower-class speech, hecompares this dilemma to being stuckbetween Scylla and Charybdis (anotherexpression for being stuck between arock and a hard place)—stuck betweenthe discomfort of being poor if he rejectsthe money and all the responsibilities ofbeing wealthy if he keeps it.

Mrs. Higgins says that Mr. Doolittlecan take care of Eliza now that he hasmoney. Higgins protests, saying thatEliza belongs to him, since he paid forher. Mrs. Higgins tells her son not tobe absurd, and then reveals Eliza isactually upstairs. She tells Pickeringand Higgins that she has learned ofhow horribly they treated Eliza,though both insist they treated herwell.

Higgins squabbles over Eliza like apossession or pet, wanting her becausehe has paid for her, not because he isfond of her as a person. Mrs. Higgins isfrustrated by her son thinking that heowns a woman—it is telling that neitherPickering nor Higgins can evenunderstand what she is criticizing themfor.

Mrs. Higgins scolds them for havingtalked about how glad they were thattheir experiment was over, when Elizahad become attached to them and hadworked hard for them. Pickeringconcedes that he and Higgins weremaybe inconsiderate to Eliza. Mrs.Higgins says she will bring Eliza downif Higgins will behave. He sulks, butagrees. Mrs. Higgins has Mr. Doolittleleave the room while she sends forEliza.

Mrs. Higgins scolds Pickering and Higginsfor seeing Eliza merely as an experiment,not as a person. She again has to remindHiggins of his manners, even though he isthe one who supposedly taught Elizahow to behave well. Pickering begins tosee the truth of it, but the stubbornHiggins refuses.

Eliza enters and is very polite, which isbaffling to Higgins. He tells her to "getup and come home." He says shedoesn't have an idea or word in herhead that he didn't put there himself.He continues to insult Eliza, whoignores him and talks politely toPickering.

Ironically, Eliza now has better mannersthan Higgins, despite the fact that heclaims to have basically created thispresent version of him. Either she hasreally changed, or she is simply very goodat pretending to be noble and polite—butis there really any difference? At whatpoint does pretending to be noble andpolite become actually being noble andpolite? And remember all the noblepeople who acted less polite than Elizadid at the party. Are they still more noblethan she is simply because they havemoney? The play questions suchattitudes, without coming to anydefinitive answer.

Eliza tells Pickering that she isgrateful to him for teaching herproper manners, unlike Higgins, whoset a bad example for her. She saysthat she grew up behaving just likeHiggins, with a short temper and foullanguage. This infuriates Higgins, butEliza keeps talking to Pickering, tellinghim that her real education beganwhen he called her Miss Doolittle.

Despite his high-class upbringing,Higgins lacks proper manners, andactually set a bad example for the pupilhe was supposedly teaching how tobehave properly. Eliza reveals the powerof language as she tells Pickering that hiscalling her Miss Doolittle—his verbalrecognition that she could be someonewho could be called Miss Doolittle—waswhat really spurred her realization thatshe could change and deserved the samerespect a wealthy person takes forgranted.

Eliza thanks Pickering for alwaystreating her well, concluding that "thedifference between a lady and aflower girl is not how she behaves, buthow she's treated." Eliza says that shewould like Higgins to call her MissDoolittle, and Higgins curses.

Eliza's comment asserts that there is noinherent difference between the wealthyand the poor—the only difference is inwhether other people grant them therespect they deserve. When formulatedthis way, a change in appearance(clothes and speech) does not change aperson so much as give them access tothe respect that should have alreadybeen granted to them, and perhaps torealize that they should be granted thatrespect. She demands this respect fromHiggins. His curse is a rebuttal, but onecan see this rebuttal not as a statementthat Eliza doesn't deserve respect butthat no one does given Higgins basicrudeness and misanthropy throughoutthe play.

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Pickering tells Eliza to curse back atHiggins, but she says she cannot now.She says that she has forgotten herold way of speaking, like a child who isbrought to a foreign country whoforgets its native language when itlearns a new one. This greatly upsetsHiggins, who says that Eliza will returnto her old way of life within weeks.Pickering asks her to forgive Higginsand come back to Higgins' home.

Higgins and Eliza disagree over whethershe has really transformed her identity,or whether she has merely changed herspeech and appearance and will returnto her old ways. Pickering sides with her,but also wants her to forgive Higgins fornot believing that she could havechanged.

Mr. Doolittle sneaks up behind Elizaand surprises her. She cries out,"A-a-a-a-a-ah-ow-ooh!" just as sheused to, and Higgins is delighted thatshe has relapsed into one of her oldspeech habits. Mr. Doolittle tells Elizathat he is marrying her stepmother,having been intimidated into it bymiddle class morality. He asks Eliza tocome to the ceremony.

Moments after claiming she is a changedperson unable to go back to speaking asshe used to, the shock of seeing herfather makes Eliza exclaim in the samekind of unladylike way she did before hertransformation. This seems to supportHiggins position that people don'tchange. Meanwhile, Mr. Doolittle isannoyed at being forced into arespectable marriage by the social normsand expectations of his new class.

Pickering encourages Eliza to go tothe wedding. Eliza reluctantly agreesand leaves to get ready for the event.After Eliza has stepped out, Mr.Doolittle tells Pickering that he isnervous, because he has never beenmarried before. He didn't marryEliza's mother, because marriage isn'tnatural, but merely "the middle classway." Mrs. Higgins asks if she cancome to the wedding, as well, and thenleaves to get a carriage.

Mr. Doolittle continues to criticizeVictorian social customs, claiming thathe has been basically forced intomarriage because of middle classexpectations, and yet he finds himselfunable to resist those norms. He ischanged by them.

Eliza returns and Mr. Doolittle leavesto get to his wedding. Pickering asksEliza to forgive Higgins and come backto live at Higgins' place, beforefollowing after Mr. Doolittle. WhenEliza and Higgins are alone, he tellsher to come back to him. She repliesthat he only wants her back so thatshe will pick up his things and doerrands for him. Higgins says that ifshe comes back, he will not change hismanners, as he can't change hisnature.

Higgins stubbornly claims that he willnot change his rude behavior because hecannot change his nature—even thoughhe has spent most of the play changingEliza's behavior.

Higgins explains to Eliza that he isrude to everyone, regardless of socialclass, whereas Pickering is polite toeveryone, regardless of class. He tellsher that it is important not to havegood or bad manners, but to have thesame manners toward all people. Elizabelieves him, but still says that she cando without him.

Higgins finally offers an explanation forhis rude behavior. He takes care tobehave the same to everyone, regardlessof class. This doesn't seem to becompletely accurate though, when oneconsiders how he behaved differently inthe beginning of the play toward Elizaand Pickering.

Higgins says that he will miss Eliza ifshe leaves. He says he has grown fondof her. He tells her to come back to hishome "for the sake of goodfellowship." He says he never askedher to behave like his servant. Elizasays that he doesn't notice her.

Higgins finally shows some fondness forEliza, rather than treating her as a labrat. He claims that she took on the role ofservant. But Eliza responds that it washis treatment of her—his lack of notice ofher as a person—which pushed her intothat position.

Higgins says that if she comes back,he will throw her out if she doesn't doeverything he wants, but that she mayleave and live with her father if hedoesn't do everything she wants himto do. Eliza wishes that she were asimple flower-girl again, under thecontrol of neither Higgins nor herfather. She says, "I am a slave now, forall my fine clothes."

Higgins' odd proposal to Eliza indicateshis idea of an equal relationship, in whichtwo people do exactly as the otherwants—two people in complete controlof each other. In response, Eliza wishesshe could go back to her simpler life as aflower girl and, like her father, is able tosee that entering high society is notnecessarily good and, especially for awoman, can be its own form of slavery.

Higgins offers to adopt Eliza, or marryher to Pickering. Eliza says shedoesn't want this, as Pickering is tooold and Freddy Eysnford Hill hasbeen writing love letters to heranyway. She says that she has "a rightto be loved," but Higgins asks whetherFreddy can "make anything" of Eliza.

Higgins gives Eliza two options, both ofwhich place her under the control of aman. Whereas she thinks of love whenconsidering who she might marry,Higgins is only interested in what apotential husband can "make" of Eliza.He does not see her as capable of"making" anything of herself.

Eliza says she is not interested inanyone making anything of someoneelse, whereas that is all Higgins caresabout. Higgins asks if Eliza wants himto care about her like Freddy does,but she says all she wants is somekindness from him, insisting to himthat she is not "dirt under your feet."

Eliza demands to be treated as who sheis, not as someone who needs to be madeinto anything else at all. Higgins wondersif she wants his love; she responds thatshe wants his kindness and his respect.

Higgins tells Eliza that if she can't dealwith his coldness, she can leave andreturn to her "life of the gutter." Elizacalls him cruel and a bully. She saysthat she will marry Freddy. Higginssays that she will marry anambassador or someone similar andsays he doesn't want his "masterpiecethrown away on Freddy."

Higgins again asserts that without himshe would go back to being a poorperson. When she responds that shewon't, that she'll marry Freddy, Higginsagain manages to claim ownership ofand credit for Eliza by saying Freddy isn'tgood enough for his "masterpiece."

Eliza responds that if she can't havekindness from Higgins, she'll haveindependence. She says she couldbecome a teacher of phonetics,advertising that she could help otherstransform themselves just as she did.Higgins is suddenly impressed withEliza's strength.

Eliza is fed up with being under thecontrol of men, whether Higgins andPickering, her father, or a potentialhusband. In saying she could become ateacher of phonetics she is making aclaim for self-control based on her ownknowledge, she is claiming what she hasbeen taught as her own, of creatingherself. Higgins is finally impressed withher cleverness and willingness to standup to him and demand independence.

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Just then, Mrs. Higgins returns andtells Eliza a carriage is ready to takethem to her father's wedding. Mrs.Higgins says that Higgins is notcoming to the wedding, because hecan't behave himself in church. AsEliza leaves, he asks her to pick him upsome groceries and clothes. She tellshim to buy them himself. Eliza andMrs. Higgins leave, and Higgins isconfident that Eliza will buy the thingsfor him, as he ordered.

Again, it is Eliza who has better mannersthan Higgins. But the truth is she has hadbetter manners—in the sense of treatingothers with kindness and respect—thanHiggins even before he began to trainher. The play leaves Eliza's final statusvery ambiguous: has she finally brokenfree and become an independent womanor will she go back to Higgins? Has shetruly transformed, will she relapse intoher lower-class customs, or will sheremain Higgins possession? The playquestions the meaning and possibility oftransformation without ever resolvingthe tensions it brings to the fore, just as itdoes not resolve Eliza's own situation.

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