the best way to study, teach, and learn about books. pygmalion · pygmalion brief biography of...

Pygmalion

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

George Bernard Shaw was born in 1856, in Dublin. His fatherwas a civil servant and his mother was a singer. He changedschools several times as he grew older, and developed a strongdislike of schools and formal education. When he was ateenager, his mother moved to London and he remained inDublin with his father for some time. But in 1876, he moved toLondon to join his mother. There, he began writing, startingwith novels (though he found no success as a novelist). He alsobecame somewhat politically active, an ardent supporter ofsocialism. It was only in the 1880s that Shaw turned to drama.He Onally found some writing success with his plays, whichoften involved social critiques. Shaw was a very proliOc writer,writing over 50 plays in addition to articles, reviews, essays,and pamphlets. His popularity rose in the early 1900s and hestarted to become a famous, well-respected playwright. In1925, he was recognized for his work with the Nobel Prize inLiterature and he died 25 years later, at the age of 94.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The play is set in the early 20th century, at the end of theVictorian period. During this time, London was the capital ofthe wide-reaching, powerful British Empire. Victorian societywas characterized by a rigid social hierarchy, but as the 20thcentury began social change was on the horizon. Importantly,women had not yet gained many basic rights and privileges.Shaw's comedy of manners, which satirizes the customs andhabits of the Victorian elite, plays with and critiques the socialconventions of this historical moment.

RELATED LITERARY WORKS

Shaw's play takes its title from the myth of Pygmalion, which istold in Ovid's epic Latin poem of mythological transformations,the Metamorphoses. In the myth, Pygmalion makes a sculptureof his ideal woman, named Galatea. He falls in love with hisbeautiful statue, which then comes to life. With his title, Shawimplies that Eliza is a kind of Galatea, molded by Pickering andHiggins into the ideal lady of Victorian society. Pygmalion isShaw's most popular play and has spawned a number ofadaptations (including a Olm version). Most famously, it is theinspiration for the Broadway musical and following movie MyFair Lady.

KEY FACTS

• Full Title: Pygmalion

• When Written: 1912

• Where Written: London

• When Published: 1912

• Literary Period: Victorian period

• Genre: Drama, comedy, comedy of manners

• Setting: London

• Climax: In act four, after winning the bet concerning Eliza,Higgins says he has been bored with his experiment, and treatsEliza poorly. Infuriated, Eliza throws Higgins' slippers at himand argues and Oghts with him.

• Antagonist: While Eliza and Higgins argue with each other,they both cooperate in order to fool London's high society. Therigid hierarchy of social classes in Victorian England can beseen as the antagonist against which all the charactersstruggle, as they deal with issues of class and wealth.

EXTRA CREDIT

Double Threat. George Bernard Shaw is the only person tohave ever won both the Nobel Prize in Literature and an Oscar.He won the Oscar for his work on a Olm adaptation ofPygmalion.

Thanks But No Thanks. At Orst, Shaw declined to accept theNobel Prize. He later changed his mind, but still refused theprize money, wanting it instead to fund translations of Swedishliterature into English.

One rainy night in Covent Garden, London, a crowd of peoplefrom various social classes all seek shelter under the samechurch portico. A wealthy mother (later revealed to be Mrs.Eynsford Hill) waits exasperatedly with her daughter Clara forher son Freddy to Ond a taxi. Freddy enters, unable to Ond one,but his mother sends him back out into the rain to look again.Under the portico, a poor Power-girl (Eliza Doolittle) sells aPower to a gentleman (Colonel Pickering). A bystander tellsEliza to watch out for a strange man in the back of the crowdtaking notes. Eliza thinks that the man is a policeman and thatshe is in trouble. The man, who turns out to be Henry Higgins,steps forward and guesses where everyone is from based ontheir manner of speech. Everyone is confused and annoyed bythe meddlesome Higgins. Eliza thinks he is a policeman tryingto get her in trouble and insists that she is "a good girl."Pickering asks Higgins how he can tell where everyone is from,and Higgins explains that he studies phonetics and teachespeople how to speak in different accents. He says that he could

INTRINTROO

PLPLOOT SUMMARYT SUMMARY

LitCharts The best way to study, teach, and learn about books.

©2016 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com | Follow us: @litcharts | v.005

teach the Power-girl Eliza to speak so well in just three monthsthat she could pass for a noble lady. Higgins and Pickeringintroduce themselves to each other, realizing that they arefamiliar with each other's work (Pickering is also a linguist). Therain stops and the crowd under the portico disperses. Higginsand Pickering leave to get dinner together, while Clara and hermother walk to a bus. Freddy Onally returns with a cab, only toOnd that his family is no longer there.

The next morning, in Higgins' "laboratory" at his home, Higginsis showing all of his scientiOc instruments and tools forrecording and studying speech to Pickering. Eliza arrives andoffers to pay Higgins for speaking lessons, so that she can learnto "talk more genteel," and get a better job. Higgins doesn'tthink she can afford to pay him, and scoffs rudely at her.Pickering steps in and bets Higgins that he can't teach Eliza tospeak so well that she passes as a wealthy lady at anambassador's garden party in six months. He offers to pay forher lessons. Higgins likes the idea and tells his housekeeperMrs. Pearce to wash Eliza and dress her in new clothes, thoughEliza protests. Eliza refuses to participate in the bet, and Mrs.Pearce tells Higgins not to "walk over" Eliza. Higgins neglectsEliza's feelings, ordering her to live with him for six months andtake speaking lessons. Mrs. Pearce takes Eliza away to talk toher in private. Meanwhile, Eliza's father, Alfred Doolittle,comes to Higgins' house. He says that he hasn't seen hisdaughter in months, but learned of her whereabouts from thetaxi driver who brought her to the house. He asks Higgins forOve 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, he runs into Eliza, who has washed andchanged into new clothes. Mr. Doolittle calls her "miss" beforerecognizing her, getting into a Oght with her, and leaving. Mrs.Pearce enters and tells Eliza that she has more clothes for herto try on. Eliza leaves eagerly, having seemingly accepted theoffer to stay with Higgins.

It is a few months later, at the home of Henry Higgins' mother,Mrs. Higgins. Mrs. Higgins is ready to have some friends overand is annoyed when Higgins barges in. Higgins tells her aboutEliza and says that he wants Eliza to sit with Mrs. Higgins andher friends and try to act like a lady. Before Higgins leaves,some of Mrs. Higgins' friends arrive: the Eynsford Hills. Higginsat Orst doesn't recognize them from the portico in CoventGarden. Eliza arrives, and the Eynsford Hills don't recognizeher as the Power-girl. Everyone starts to make small talk aboutthe weather, but Eliza makes the mistake of talking about thedeath of her aunt (in which she suspects foul play) and herfather's drinking habit. Freddy seems amused by Eliza, thoughMrs. Eynsford Hill is shocked by her conversation. After Elizaleaves, Clara tells her mother that Eliza's speech is a new,fashionable form of small talk. Clara says that manners are onlya matter of habit, so there are no right or wrong ones. As the

Eynsford Hills leave, Freddy says that he would like to meetEliza again sometime. Higgins asks his mother whether Elizawas presentable, and she says that Eliza was not. She tellsHiggins there is no hope for Eliza to pass as a lady. Mrs. Higginsthen cautions her son about treating Eliza like a "live doll," butPickering assures her that they take Eliza seriously. Higginsrefers to Eliza as merely an experiment. Mrs. Higgins worriesabout what will happen to Eliza when the "experiment" is over.

Several months later, Eliza, Higgins, and Pickering return toHiggins' house at midnight, after a long day and night. Theyhave gone to a garden party, followed by a dinner party,followed by the opera. Eliza successfully passed as a wealthylady, and Higgins has won his bet. Higgins says he was notsurprised by Eliza's success and has in fact long been boredwith the wager. He thanks God that the experiment is over.Eliza is offended at how the two men are speaking of her andthrows Higgins' slippers at him, calling him selOsh andinconsiderate. Higgins thinks she is ungrateful. Eliza regains hercomposure and worries about what will happen to her now.Higgins suggests she marry someone wealthy, to ensure acomfortable life, but Eliza thinks of this as a kind of prostitutionand rejects the idea. Higgins says Pickering can get her a job ina nice Porist's shop. Eliza asks whether her clothes belong toher now, because she doesn't want to be accused of stealingthem. Higgins is offended by the question and tells Eliza she haswounded him "to the heart."

The next day, Mrs. Higgins is sitting in her drawing room, whenher parlor-maid tells her that Higgins and Pickering aredownstairs calling the police. Mrs. Higgins tells the maid to goupstairs and inform Eliza, but not to have her come down.Higgins comes into the room and tells his mother that Eliza hasrun away. Mrs. Higgins tells him that Eliza has the right to leavehis house whenever she wishes. Pickering enters and says thathe has spoken with the police about Eliza. The maid announcesthat a gentleman named Mr. Doolittle is at the door. Higginsdoesn't think that this can be Eliza's father, but it turns out tobe him, dressed as a gentleman. Mr. Doolittle is upset becauseHiggins has mentioned his name to a wealthy American namedEzra Wannafeller, who has founded Moral Reform Societiesacross the world. Higgins joked to Wannafeller that Mr.Doolittle was England's "most original moralist," andWannafeller left Doolittle money in his will. Mr. Doolittle isangry at having been turned into a somewhat wealthygentleman. He says his new money has brought him nothingbut worries and problems and tells Higgins that now he needsto 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 andPickering for how they have treated Eliza and reveals that Elizais actually upstairs. Mrs. Higgins calls Eliza down. She is verypolite to Pickering and Higgins. Pickering is nice to Eliza, butHiggins is angry and rude to her, ordering her to come back to



his house. Eliza thanks Pickering for teaching her good mannersby example, and tells him that her transformation was reallyspurred on by when he called her Miss Doolittle once. Elizasays that she has completely forgotten her old ways of speakingand behaving. Higgins, though, thinks that she will return to herlower-class habits within weeks. Eliza Onally sees her fatherand is shocked to hear that he is going to marry herstepmother. He asks Eliza to come to his wedding. Mrs. Higgins,Eliza, and Pickering all prepare to go to the wedding. Higginsand Eliza are left alone in the room. Eliza says that Higgins onlywants her back to do chores and errands for him. Higgins saysthat he cannot change his rude manners toward her, becausehe cannot change his nature. He explains that he is rude toeveryone, not jus her, just as Pickering is polite to everyone. Heclaims that it is not important to have good or bad manners, butsimply to behave the same way toward everyone, regardless ofclass. Eliza is still reluctant to go back to Higgins' house. Shesays that she is a slave, despite her expensive clothes. Higginsoffers to adopt Eliza or marry her to Pickering, but Eliza wantsto marry Freddy Eynsford Hill, which irritates Higgins (hewants her to marry someone of a higher class). Eliza is stillangry with Higgins and tells him that all she wants is somekindness from him. She then says that if she can't have kindnessfrom him, she will have her independence. She tells Higgins thatshe will become a teacher of phonetics, stealing everything shehas learned from him in order to take his clients. Higgins issuddenly impressed by Eliza's strength and conOdence. Mrs.Higgins comes in to take Eliza to the wedding. As she leaves,Higgins tells Eliza to buy him some things, but Eliza tells him todo it himself. The play ends with Higgins alone in the room,conOdent that Eliza will do the errand as he asked.

Eliza DoolittleEliza Doolittle – First introduced as the Power-girl in Act One,and called variously Liza, Eliza, and Miss Doolittle, Eliza is thesubject of Higgins and Pickering's experiment and bet. Whilenot formally well-educated, she is quick-witted and is a strongcharacter, generally unafraid to stand up for herself. She is aquick learner, and under the teaching of Pickering and Higginsshe easily learns to act like a lady and pass as a member of theupper class. It is unclear to what degree she really transformsby doing this, and to what degree she merely learns to play arole. In Act Five, she insists that she really has changed andcannot go back to her old way of behaving or speaking, thoughHiggins thinks otherwise. Eliza desires independence but Ondsherself under the control of men like Pickering, Higgins, and herfather. At the end of the play, she stands up to Higgins andleaves him, but he is conOdent that she will come back to him.The play thus leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to whether ornot she ever really achieves some of the independence shewants.

Henry HigginsHenry Higgins – Higgins is a brilliant linguist, who studiesphonetics and documents different dialects and ways ofspeaking. He Orst appears in Act One as the suspicious man inthe back of the crowd jotting down notes on everyone'smanner of speech. Higgins is so focused on his academicinterest that he lacks empathy and fails to consider otherpeople's feelings or concerns. Instead, he sees people mainly assubjects of study. He views Eliza, for example, as an experimentand a "phonetic job." He doesn't so much invite Eliza to staywith him and learn to speak like a lady, but rather orders her to.Higgins is rude not only to Eliza, but generally to everyone hemeets. He is impatient with class hierarchy and the Victorianobsession with manners. As he tells Eliza in Act Five, he treatseveryone the same (that is, rudely) regardless of social class.Thus, while an inconsiderate character—and often amisogynist—Higgins at least sees through the hypocrisy andfallacies of the Victorian social hierarchy, and relishes theopportunity to beat high society at its own game by makingEliza pass as a lady.

Colonel PickColonel Pickeringering – A gentleman, a colonel and an academic,who studies Indian dialects. While he shares Higgins' interestin linguistics, he is not as extreme in his devotion to hisintellectual pursuits. While he gives Higgins the idea for the betinvolving Eliza, he treats Eliza kindly and considers her feelings.(It is his calling her Miss Doolittle, we learn in Act Five, thatactually encourages Eliza to really change.) At the end of theplay, he apologizes to Eliza for treating her like the subject of anexperiment, unlike the selOsh Higgins who never apologizes.

Mrs. Eynsford HillMrs. Eynsford Hill – A friend of Mrs. Higgins, Mrs. Hill Orstappears as the anonymous mother in Act One. Her family iswealthy, but not exceedingly upper-class. She is very concernedwith social propriety, and is a bit scandalized in Act Three whenEliza talks inappropriately at Mrs. Higgins' house.

ClarClara Eynsford Hilla Eynsford Hill – From a rather wealthy family, Clara is fedup with all of the rules of proper manners for her class. In ActThree, she enjoys Eliza's inappropriate conversation (and tellsher mother that it is a new, fashionable form of small talk). Shecomments that manners are simply a matter of habit, and thatthere is no such thing as right or wrong manners.

FFreddy Eynsford Hillreddy Eynsford Hill – Clara's brother, who becomes fond ofEliza in Act Three. In Act Five, we learn that he has been writingher love letters, and Eliza perhaps wants to marry him. Herepresents a way for Eliza to escape the control of Higgins,although by marrying him she would in a sense be entering intoFreddy's control, rather than Onding her own independence.

Alfred DoolittleAlfred Doolittle – Eliza's father, who appears at Higgins' housein Act Two, asking for money (but not too much money) inreturn for allowing Eliza to stay with him. Eliza doesn't trust herfather, and he doesn't seem to show very much fatherly love(although this changes to some degree at the end of the play,when he invites her to his wedding). After Higgins, as a joke,

CHARACHARACTERSCTERS



mentions Doolittle's name as Britain's most "original moralist"to a wealthy American named Ezra Wannafeller, Wannafellerleaves Doolittle a substantial amount of money. However, hisnewfound wealth and social standing irritate Mr. Doolittle, whothinks little of "middle class morality" or the responsibilitiesbrought on by having any signiOcant amount of money, thoughat the same time he doesn't have the courage to give up hisnewfound money.

Mrs. HigginsMrs. Higgins – Henry Higgins' mother, who hosts the EynsfordHills at her wealthy home in Act Three. She is initially upset byEliza's intrusion into her polite company, but is kind to her. Shetries to tell her son not to treat Eliza like an object orpossession, but to instead to consider Eliza's feelings. WhileHiggins doesn't listen to her, she does her best to resolve thingsin Act Five, at least patching things up with Mr. Doolittle, Eliza,and Pickering. On stage only in her drawing room, she plays animportant role and exerts some agency in the play even whileconstrained by the oppressive gender roles of Victorian society.

Mrs. PMrs. Pearceearce – Higgins' housekeeper, who chastises him abouthow he treats Eliza and reminds him to mind his manners infront of her.

BystanderBystander – A bystander who takes cover from the rain underthe church portico in act one.

Mrs. Higgins' PMrs. Higgins' Parlor-Maidarlor-Maid – Mrs. Higgins' maid, whoannounces various visitors to her house.

EzrEzra Da D. W. Wannafellerannafeller – The wealthy American who leavesmoney to Mr. Doolittle in his will. He stands in for the Americanidea of meritocratic social mobility—the belief that those whowork hard can move up the social ladder—as opposed toVictorian ideas of natural social hierarchy which hold thatpeople are born into the social position they deserve. Theinheritance he leaves Mr. Doolittle allows Doolittle to become agentleman, though ironically Mr. Doolittle hates his newfoundwealth.

In LitCharts each theme gets its own color and number. Ourcolor-coded theme boxes make it easy to track where thethemes occur throughout the work. If you don't have a colorprinter, use the numbers instead.

1 LANGUAGE AND SPEECH

Shaw's play explores aspects of language in a variety of ways.Higgins and Pickering study linguistics and phonetics, takingnote of how people from different backgrounds speakdifferently. In Act Three, we see the importance of proper smalltalk in a social situation. And the play also reveals some of thepowers of language: Eliza's transformation is spurred simply byPickering calling her by the name Miss Doolittle, while Higgins'

insults and coarse language, which severely hurt Eliza'sfeelings, show the potential violence of language. The play ismost interested, though, in the connections between a person'sspeech and his or her identity. As we see in the beginning of theplay, Higgins can easily guess where people are from based ontheir accent, dialect, and use of particular slang. How differentpeople speak the same language thus reveals a surprisingamount about their identity. However, Shaw also exposes howshallow and imprecise this conception of identity is, how itdoesn't actually capture or represent the full person. After all,Eliza's way of speaking transforms over the course of the play.Eliza is able to change her identity simply by learning to talkdifferently.

In particular, Pygmalion continually displays the connectionsbetween language and social class. In the opening scene, we seepeople from different social strata speaking in vastly differentdialects, and Mrs. Eysnford Hill is confused when Eliza calls herson Freddy, not realizing that this is merely a kind of lower-class slang. And most importantly, by changing her habits ofspeech, Eliza is able to fool people into thinking that she is froman upper-class background. Upper-class characters in the playlay claim to proper or correct English. Higgins, for example,shames Eliza for speaking a poor version of the language of thegreat writers Shakespeare and Milton. But is there anythinginherently correct about one particular version of English? AtMrs. Higgins' home, Mrs. Eynsford Hill mistakenly believes thatEliza's lower-class slang is a new, fashionable form of small talk.There is thus nothing naturally wrong or improper about Eliza'soriginal way of speaking. Rather, language, accents, and slangare all simply habits that people learn to associate withdifferent backgrounds and social classes. The wealthier socialclasses simply claim that theirs is the right way to speak. Whilethis oppresses and disadvantages lower-class people, the playshows how this system also opens up possibilities for thoseclever enough to exploit this connection between speech andclass. Eliza, Pickering, and Higgins are, after all, able to use thisto their advantage, fooling high society and successfully passingEliza off as a noble lady.

2 APPEARANCE AND IDENTITY

Pygmalion explores how social identity is formed not onlythrough patterns of speech, but also through one's generalappearance. Much like speech, one's physical appearancesignals social class. In the opening scene, as people fromdifferent walks of life are forced to take shelter under the sameportico, characters' social class is discernible through theirclothing: the poor Power-girl (later revealed to be Eliza) andthe gentleman, for example, easily know each other's statusthrough their different attire. As Pickering comments in ActFour, many noble people believe that one's appearance displaysone's natural identity and character, thinking that "style comesby nature to people in their position." Somewhat similarly, at the

THEMESTHEMES



end of the play, Higgins tells Eliza that he cannot change hisnature. But the importance of appearances in the play revealsthat identity often is changeable, and does not come naturallyso 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 fools people into assuming that she is from a noblebackground by changing her appearance. Even before hercomplete transformation, her own father fails to recognize herin act two only because she has changed clothes and bathed.

The precise extent to which Eliza really changes, though, ishighly ambiguous. By the end of the play, it is unclear whethershe has really changed her nature or whether she has merelylearned to pretend to be someone else. As Eliza tells Higginsand Pickering in Act Five, she believes that she has entirelyforgotten her original way of speaking and behaving: she thinksthat she has really transformed and cannot return to her oldlife. Higgins, on the other hand, is skeptical of this. He isconOdent that Eliza will "relapse" into her old ways. The playthus raises (but doesn't completely answer) a number ofquestions about the stability of identity. Has Eliza reallychanged, or can she not escape the identity she was born into?Has she become noble, or is she naturally lower-class?Moreover, is there anything natural about class identity at all?Shaw's play takes its title from the myth of Pygmalion, famouslytold in Ovid's Metamorphoses. (In it, Pygmalion sculpts abeautiful statue that transforms into a real woman.) Ovid'swork is a poem about numerous mythical metamorphoses. ButShaw's play of transformation asks: however much onechanges one's appearance, can anyone really ever change?

3 SOCIAL CLASS AND MANNERS

Written in 1912, Pygmalion is set in the early 20th century, atthe end of the Victorian period in England. Among other things,this period of history was characterized by a particularly rigidsocial hierarchy—but one that was beginning to decline associal mobility became increasingly possible. The wealthy, high-class characters of the play are thus especially concerned withmaintaining class distinctions. This means more than a meredistinction between rich and poor. The Eynsford Hill family, forexample, is wealthy, but (as Mrs. Eynsford Hill confesses toMrs. Higgins) not wealthy enough to go to many parties. AndHiggins wants Eliza to marry not Freddy, but someone of aneven higher class. Perhaps the most important way in whichthese distinctions of social class are enforced is throughmanners, unwritten codes of proper behavior. Shaw's playdisplays the workings of this system of social hierarchy, but alsoexposes some of its problems.

For one, the play shows how the belief that one's social classand manners are natural is false. As Eliza's transformationshows, manners and nobility can be learned. One's class isformed through performance, learning to act in certain ways.And moreover, as Clara Eynsford Hill comments, there is

nothing inherently better about one or another performance:"It's all a matter of habit. There's no right or wrong in it." Goodand bad manners are just a matter of cultural habit. (This is alsoevidenced by the fact that different cultures have differentnotions of polite behavior.) Ironically, at several moments in theplay, lower-class characters are better behaved than theirsupposedly well-mannered, upper-class counterparts. In ActFive, Pickering comments that Eliza played the part of a noblelady better than real noble ladies they encountered. AndHiggins, while somewhat upper-class, is very rude. Mrs. Pearcemust remind him to mind his manners in front of Eliza, and atthe end of the play she has better manners than he does. Thereis thus no natural or inherent connection between social classand "correct" manners.

Despite the rigidities of social class in the world of the play,Eliza and her father show the possibility of social mobility. Notonly is Eliza changed into a noble lady, but her father alsoinherits a sizable sum of money from the rich American EzraWannafeller. As a counterexample to Victorian England,Wannafeller stands in for the American ideal of socialmobility—that one can rise up the social ladder through hardwork. By giving money to Mr. Doolittle, he allows Doolittle tobecome middle class. However, Mr. Doolittle himself challengesthe assumption that such a move up the social ladder isnecessarily a good thing. He continually criticizes "middle classmorality" and laments all the anxieties and troubles that hisnew wealth brings with it. By the end of the play, Eliza alsomisses her prior, simpler life as a Power-girl. Thus, Shaw's playquestions not only the validity of a rigid social hierarchy, buteven the desirability of a high social class.

4 EDUCATION AND INTELLIGENCE

Two of the play's main characters—Higgins and Pickering—areacademics. Shaw in some sense pits their intellectualintelligence against the wits of others, like Eliza. Early in theplay, Eliza is intimidated and confused by Higgins' academiclanguage. 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 theirown ways. Eliza, for example, turns out to be a quick learnerand a very good pupil, easily winning Higgins' bet for him. Andalthough Mrs. Higgins is conOned in the play to her own home,she displays a kind of social savvy in integrating Eliza with herother guests in Act Three and in helping to resolve things (tothe extent that they can be resolved) at the play's conclusion.Finally, Higgins may scoff at the lowly Mr. Doolittle early in theplay, but he is the only character who voices criticisms of"middle class morality" and articulates some of the problemswith the Victorian social hierarchy. Thus, while Higgins andPickering might appear to be the play's two educated,intelligent characters, different characters exemplify differentforms of intelligence and cleverness.



Moreover, the play shows some of the downsides of Higgins'overly intellectual learning. Higgins approaches other peoplewith a kind of academic detachment. He sees everyone assubjects for his linguistic studies, rather than as people withfeelings of their own. One sees this especially with how hetreats Eliza: he hurtfully neglects her as a person and sees hermerely as an experiment. Higgins lacks basic sympathy andempathy, what might be called emotional intelligence. Theplay's most intelligent character is thus, in another sense, itsleast learned.

5 FEMININITY AND GENDER ROLES

The title of Shaw's play is taken from the myth of Pygmalion. Inthis story, Pygmalion scorns all the women around him andmakes a sculpture of his ideal woman. The sculpture is sobeautiful that he falls in love with it and it comes to life. Bytitling his play after this story, Shaw calls attention to questionsof femininity and gender. As Pygmalion sculpts his ideal woman,so Higgins and Pickering mold Eliza into an ideal lady. Thesetwo narratives show how unrealistic and even unnatural theexpectations that society often has for women are. Pygmalion'sperfect woman can only be attained with an artiOcial construct,a sculpture. Similarly, the ideal noble lady of British society inthe world of Shaw's play is a kind of fake, only a role that Elizamust learn to play. Pygmalion can thus be seen as showing howoppressive unrealistic ideals of femininity can be: to attainthese 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 femalecharacters. As it is set in the early 20th century, before womengained many basic rights and privileges, the play's other femalecharacters—Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins—are largelyconOned to their respective households. Nonetheless, theyboth play important roles. Mrs. Pearce ensures the functioningof Higgins' household and reminds him of his own manners.And Mrs. Higgins takes Eliza in when she leaves Higgins andPickering, and helps resolve things at the play's conclusion.These two characters thus demonstrate how women might stillexert some agency within an oppressive Victorian society. Butdespite any redeeming aspects to women's roles in the world ofthe play, they ultimately cannot escape the constraints of theirsexist world. At the end of the play, Eliza must choose betweenliving with Higgins, living with her father, or marrying Freddy.In any case, her future can only be under the control of a man ofsome sort. She tells Higgins that she desires independence,but—although she is a strong character—we never see heractually obtain her independence in the play. Eliza is greatlytransformed over the course of the play, but it would take evengreater transformations of society itself in the 20th century forwomen like Eliza to have real independence.

Symbols appear in red text throughout the Summary andAnalysis sections of this LitChart.

CLOTHINGIn Pygmalion, clothing is an important part (perhaps the mostimportant part) of characters' appearances and how theydisplay their identity and social standing. In the opening scene,the different people under the church portico are able todiscern each other's social class particularly by their clothes.Pickering is easily recognizable as a gentleman, whereas Elizais easily identiOable as a poor Power-girl. Because of this,clothing is naturally an important part of Eliza's transformation.In Act Two, after she changes clothes, her own father doesn'teven recognize her at Orst—and this is before she even beginsto act or talk differently. Mr. Doolittle's own socialtransformation is also symbolized by clothing. He arrives atMrs. Higgins' house in Act Five dressed like a gentleman, andHiggins assumes that this cannot be Eliza's father, whom hemet earlier. The importance of clothes in the formation of one'ssocial identity suggests that such identity is rather shallow.Indeed, a central ambiguity in the play is whether one's identitycan really be changed by learning to speak differently orputting on a different outOt, or whether this is merely a façadethat covers up one's true, unchanging identity. This tensioncomes to the forefront in Act Four when Eliza asks Higginswhether her new, expensive clothes actually belong to her now.Behind the question of whether she is or isn't the owner of theclothes, Eliza also wants to know whether her new, upper-classidentity is really hers, or whether it is just a role she is playing, acostume she is wearing but will have to give up eventually.Clothes thus symbolize the importance of appearances inestablishing one's identity and class, while also questioning howdeep this kind of social identity goes.

The color-coded and numbered boxes under each quote belowmake it easy to track the themes related to each quote. Eachcolor and number corresponds to one of the themes explainedin the Themes section of this LitChart.

ACT 1 QUOTESI ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I've aright to sell Powers if I keep off the kerb. [Hysterically] I'm arespectable girl: so help me, I never spoke to him except to askhim to buy a Power off me.

•Speak•Speakerer: Eliza Doolittle

SYMBOLSSYMBOLS

QUOQUOTESTES



•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Henry Higgins, ColonelPickering

•Related themes•Related themes: Social Class and Manners, Femininity andGender Roles

••Theme TTheme Trrackacker codeer code:

33 55

How do you know that my son's name is Freddy, pray?[...]I called him Freddy or Charlie same as you might yourself if youwas talking to a stranger and wished to be pleasant.

•Speak•Speakerer: Eliza Doolittle, Mrs. Eynsford Hill

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Freddy Eynsford Hill

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Social Class andManners


11 33

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Education andIntelligence


11 44

It's aw rawt: e's a genleman: look at his ba-oots.

•Speak•Speakerer: Bystander

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Henry Higgins

•Related themes•Related themes: Appearance and Identity, Social Class andManners


22 33

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Henry Higgins

•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Bystander

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech


11

A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting soundshas no right to be anywhere—no right to live. Remember thatyou are a human being with a soul and the divine gift ofarticulate speech: that your native language is the language ofShakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit therecrooning like a bilious pigeon.


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Eliza Doolittle

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Social Class andManners, Education and Intelligence


11 33 44

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



•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Appearance andIdentity, Social Class and Manners


11 22 33

ACT 2 QUOTESVery well, then, what on earth is all this fuss about? The girldoesn't belong to anybody—is no use to anybody but me.



•Related themes•Related themes: Education and Intelligence


44

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



•Speak•Speakerer: Henry Higgins, Alfred Doolittle



11

You must be reasonable, Mr. Higgins: really you must. You can'twalk over everybody like this.

•Speak•Speakerer: Mrs. Pearce


•Related themes•Related themes: Social Class and Manners, Education andIntelligence


33 44

I rather fancied myself because I can pronounce twenty-fourdistinct vowel sounds; but your hundred and thirty beat me. Ican't hear a bit of difference between most of them.

•Speak•Speakerer: Colonel Pickering


•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Education andIntelligence


11 44

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Alfred Doolittle



33 44

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Eliza Doolittle, Alfred Doolittle

•Related themes•Related themes: Appearance and Identity


22

There! That's all you get out of Eliza. Ah-ah-ow-oo! No useexplaining. As a military man you ought to know that. Give herher orders: that's what she wants. Eliza: you are to live here forthe next six months, learning how to speak beautifully, like alady in a Porist's shop.


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Eliza Doolittle, ColonelPickering

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Education andIntelligence, Femininity and Gender Roles


11 44 55

I want to be a lady in a Power shop stead of selling at the cornerof Tottenham Court Road. but they won't take me unless I cantalk more genteel.




11

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Eliza Doolittle, Colonel Pickering



11 33

I Ond that the moment I let a woman make friends with me, shebecomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. IOnd that the moment I let myself make friends with a woman, Ibecome selOsh and tyrannical. Women upset everything.



•Related themes•Related themes: Femininity and Gender Roles


55



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


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Eliza Doolittle, HenryHiggins



44

Then might I ask you not to come down to breakfast in yourdressing-gown, or at any rate not to use it as a napkin to theextent you do, sir. And if you would be so good as not to eateverything off the same plate, and to remember not to put theporridge saucepan out of your hand on the clean tablecloth, itwould be a better example to the girl.



•Related themes•Related themes: Social Class and Manners, Education andIntelligence, Femininity and Gender Roles


33 44 55

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Henry Higgins, Mrs. Pearce




33 55

You know, Pickering, if you consider a shilling, not as a simpleshilling, but as a percentage of this girl's income, it works out asfully equivalent to sixty or seventy guineas from a millionaire.





33 44

Is this reasonable? Is it fairity to take advantage of a man likethis? The girl belongs to me.



•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Femininity andGender Roles


11 55

ACT 3 QUOTESOh, men! men!! men!!!

•Speak•Speakerer: Mrs. Higgins

•Related themes•Related themes: Femininity and Gender Roles


55

You see, we're all savages, more or less. We're supposed to becivilized and cultured—to know all about poetry and philosophyand art and science, and so on; but how many of us know eventhe meanings of these names?




33 44

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Mrs. Eynsford Hill




22

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





•Related themes•Related themes: Social Class and Manners


33

You silly boy, of course she's not presentable. She's a triumph ofyour art and of her dressmaker's; but if you suppose for amoment that she doesn't give herself away in every sentenceshe utters, you must be perfectly cracked about her.



•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Appearance andIdentity, Social Class and Manners


11 22 33

Yes, by George: it's the most absorbing experiment I evertackled. She regularly Olls our lives up; doesn't she, Pick?





44

You see, I've got her pronunciation all right; but you have toconsider not only how a girl pronounces, but what shepronounces; and that's where—





11 33

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


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Clara Eynsford Hill



33

I daresay I am very old-fashioned; but I do hope you won't beginusing that expression, Clara. I have got accustomed to hear youtalking about men as rotters, and calling everything Olthy andbeastly; though I do think it horrible and unladylike. But this lastis really too much.


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Clara Eynsford Hill

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Social Class andManners, Femininity and Gender Roles


11 33 55

No, you two inOnitely stupid male creatures: the problem ofwhat is to be done with her afterwards.I don't see anything in that. She can go her own way, with all theadvantages I have given her.The advantages of that poor woman who was here just now!The manners and habits that disqualify a One lady from earningher own living without giving her a One lady's income! Is thatwhat you mean?

•Speak•Speakerer: Henry Higgins, Mrs. Higgins




33 44 55

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



•Related themes•Related themes: Education and Intelligence, Femininity andGender Roles


44 55



Liza: They all thought she was dead; but my father he keptladling gin down her throat til she came to so sudden that shebit the bowl off the spoon.Mrs Eynsford Hill: Dear me!Liza: What call would a woman with that strength in her have todie of inPuenza? What become of her new straw hat thatshould have come to me? Somebody pinched it; and what I sayis, them as pinched it done her in.Mrs Eynsford Hill: What does doing her in mean?Higgins: Oh, that's the new small talk. To do a person in meansto kill them.

•Speak•Speakerer: Eliza Doolittle, Mrs. Eynsford Hill



11 33

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Freddy Eynsford Hill




11 33

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Clara Eynsford Hill



33

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





44 55

ACT 4 QUOTESYou don't care. I know you don't care. You wouldn't care if I wasdead. I'm nothing to you—not so much as them slippers.Those slippers.

•Speak•Speakerer: Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins

•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Appearance andIdentity, Education and Intelligence


11 22 44

I daresay my mother could Ond some chap or other who woulddo very well.We were above that at the corner of Tottenham Court Road.What do you mean?I sold Powers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of meI'm not Ot to sell anything else.




33 55

I was quite frightened once or twice because Eliza was doing itso well. You see, lots of the real people can't do it at all: they'resuch fools that they think style comes by nature to people intheir position; and so they never learn.

•Speak•Speakerer: Colonel Pickering


•Related themes•Related themes: Appearance and Identity, Social Class andManners


22 33

I'd like to kill you, you selOsh brute. Why didn't you leave mewhere you picked me out of—in the gutter? You thank God it'sall over, and that now you can throw me back again there, doyou?







33 44

It was interesting enough at Orst, while we were at thephonetics; but after that I got deadly sick of it. If I hadn't backedmyself to do it I should have chucked the whole thing up twomonths ago. It was a silly notion: the whole thing has been abore.





44

Do my clothes belong to me or to Colonel Pickering?





22

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

•Speak•Speakerer: Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering


•Related themes•Related themes: Appearance and Identity, Social Class andManners, Education and Intelligence


22 33 44

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





44 55

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





44

Oh! if only I could go back to my Power basket! I should beindependent of both you and my father and all the world! Whydid you take my independence from me? Why did I give it up?I'm a slave now, for all my One clothes.


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Henry Higgins, AlfredDoolittle



33 55

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


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Colonel Pickering



33

Done to me! Ruined me. Destroyed my happiness. Tied me upand delivered me into the hands of middle class morality.




33



I tell you I have created this thing out of the squashed cabbageleaves of Covent Garden; and now she pretends to play the Onelady with me.





33

Let us put on our best Sunday manners for this creature thatwe picked out of the mud.





33

The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or goodmanners or any other particular sort of manners, but having thesame manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if youwere in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, andone soul is as good as another.





33

Eliza: you're an idiot. I waste the treasures of my Miltonic mindby spreading them before you.





44

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





44 55

Let her Ond out how she can get on without us. She will relapseinto the gutter in three weeks without me at her elbow.





22

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


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Eliza Doolittle, FreddyEynsford Hill



33 55

If you're going to be a lady, you'll have to give up feelingneglected if the men you know don't spend half their timesniveling over you and the other half giving you black eyes. Ifyou can't stand the coldness of my sort of life, and the strain ofit, go back to the gutter. Work til you are more a brute than ahuman being; and then cuddle and squabble and drink til youfall asleep. Oh, it's a One life, the life of the gutter. It's real: it'swarm: it's violent: you can feel it through the thickest skin: youcan taste it and smell it without any training or work. Not likeScience and Literature and Classical Music and Philosophy andArt. You Ond me cold, unfeeling, selOsh, don't you?







33 44 55

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


•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Appearance andIdentity


11 22

Liza: Freddy loves me: that makes him king enough for me. Idon't want him to work: he wasn't brought up to it as I was. I'llgo and be a teacher.Higgins: What'll you teach, in heaven's name?Liza: What you taught me. I'll teach phonetics.




33 55

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


•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Social Class andManners, Education and Intelligence


11 33 44

You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pickup (the dressing and the proper way of speaking, and so on), thedifference between a lady and a Power girl is not how shebehaves, but how she's treated. I shall always be a Power girl toProfessor Higgins, because he always treats me as a Power girl,and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because youalways treat me as a lady, and always will.



•Related themes•Related themes: Language and Speech, Appearance andIdentity, Social Class and Manners, Education and Intelligence,Femininity and Gender Roles


11 22 33 44 55

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


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Eliza Doolittle, AlfredDoolittle



44 55

She had become attached to you both. She worked very hardfor you, Henry! I don't think you quite realize what anything inthe nature of brain work means to a girl like that. Well, it seemsthat when the great day of trial came, and she did thiswonderful thing for you without making a single mistake, youtwo sat there and never said a word to her, but talked togetherof how glad you were that it was all over and how you had beenbored with the whole thing. And then you were surprisedbecause she threw your slippers at you!


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Eliza Doolittle, HenryHiggins, Colonel Pickering



44 55



Who asked him to make a gentleman of me? I was happy. I wasfree. I touched pretty nigh everybody for money when I wantedit, same as I touched you, Henry Higgins. Now I am worrited;tied neck and heels; and everybody touches me for money. It's aOne thing for you, says my solicitor. Is it? says I. ...A year ago Ihadn't a relative in the world except two or three that wouldn'tspeak to me. Now I've Ofty, and not a decent week's wagesamong the lot of them. I have to live for others and not formyself: that's middle class morality.


•Mentioned or related char•Mentioned or related charactersacters: Ezra D. Wannafeller



33 44

But do you know what began my real education?What?Your calling me Miss Doolittle that day when I Orst came toWimpole Street. That was the beginning of self-respect for me.




11 33

The color-coded and numbered boxes under each row ofSummary and Analysis below make it easy to track the themesthroughout the work. Each color and number corresponds toone of the themes explained in the Themes section of thisLitChart.

ACT 1Late one rainy night in CoventGarden, London, a variety ofpedestrians seek shelter underthe portico of a church,including a wealthy womanand her daughter, Clara. Themother and daughter arewaiting impatiently for Freddy,Clara's brother, to get a taxi. Abystander informs them thatthere probably won't be anytaxis available. Freddysuddenly rushes under theportico and tells the twowomen that he can't Ond asingle cab.

The rain forces people from avariety of different social classes,who normally don't interact witheach other, to come togetherunder the portico. Freddy isful<lling the role of the chivalrousgentleman, going out into therain to <nd a taxi for his sisterand mother.

33 55

Freddy says he has looked allover for a taxi, but the motherand daughter are insensitiveto his efforts and tell him to golook again and not come backuntil he has found a cab.Freddy protests but thenOnally goes. As he leaves, hebumps into a Bower girl, whocalls him Freddy. The motherasks the lower-class Power girlhow she knows her son'sname.

Here the gender roles are pushedto comedic effect, where Freddyis forced by his mother and sisterto be chivalrous even thoughdoing so is pointless: there are nocabs. Freddy's mother issurprised and confused when thelower-class =ower girl apparentlyknows who her (upper-class) sonis.

33

The Bower-girl says that she'lltell the mother in exchange forsome money. The motheragrees and gives her six-pence.The Power-girl says that shejust called the man Freddybecause that is how she wouldrefer to any random personshe doesn't know. Clara isexasperated at the waste ofmoney. An elderly gentlemancomes under the portico forshelter.

The mother's misunderstandingarises from her lack of knowledgeof the =ower girl's lower-classslang. The gentleman's socialstanding is instantly identi<ableby his dress and appearance.

11 22 33

SUMMARY AND ANALSUMMARY AND ANALYSISYSIS



The Bower-girl asks thegentleman to buy a Power, buthe says he doesn't have anychange. He rummages in hispockets and Onally Onds somesmall coins, which he gives toher. A bystander tells the girlto be sure to give thegentleman a Power for themoney, because there'ssomeone standing at the backof the portico watching andtaking notes.

The interaction between thegentleman and the =ower girlmakes their positions in thesocial hierarchy very clear, as shemust beg for whatever change hecan spare.

33

The Bower-girl worries thatshe is in trouble but the mantaking notes steps forwardand asks what the matter is. Abystander tells him the Power-girl thought he was a "copper'snark," (a police informant). Theman doesn't understand theslang. He reads his notes,which copy down exactly whatthe girl said previously in herlower-class dialect.

The bystander misinterprets thenote-taking man's appearance,thinking that he is a policeman.Again lack of knowledge aboutanother social group's slangcauses confusion. The man isinterested in the bystander's andthe =ower girl's accents andslang.

11 22

Some of the bystanders thinkthe man is a policeman and tellhim not to worry about theBower-girl. One bystandersays the man isn't a cop, butrather a "blooming busybody,"and the man asks him how hispeople at Selsey are. Thebystander is shocked that theman knows where he's from.The man then guessescorrectly where the Power-girlis from. Still thinking she is introuble, the Power-girl insiststhat she is "a good girl."

The bystanders continue to think(wrongly) that the man is apoliceman, based on hisappearance and behavior. Theman is able to guess whereeveryone is from by their speech,though these guesses smack of acertain condescension, as if byknowing where they are from hethinks he knows who they are.The =ower girl insists on whatshe is: a good girl.

11 22

The note-taking mancontinues to guess whereeveryone is from, to all thebystanders' surprise. The rainbegins to stop and Clara andher mother wonder whereFreddy is. The man guesseswhere both of them are from.He then offers to whistle for ataxi. Clara tells him not tospeak to her. As people noticethat the rain has stopped, thecrowd under the porticodisperses.

The man is able to deduce asurprising amount of informationabout various bystanders basedonly on their manner of speaking.Clara does not want to speak tohim perhaps because she is notsure of his social class (and <ndshim a bit rude).

11 33

The gentleman asks the note-taker how he knows whereeveryone is from, and heanswers that he studiesphonetics. The Bower-girl tellsthe man to mind his ownbusiness, and the man getsangry with her, telling her thatsomeone who speaks with"such depressing anddisgusting sounds has no rightto be anywhere—no right tolive."

The man is an educatedacademic, who studiesphonetics. While he studies allsorts of accents and dialects, heshows a shockingly extremeprejudice against the =ower girl'slower-class speech.

11 33 44

The note-taking man thensays to the gentleman that theBower-girl's accent and dialectwill keep her in the lower class,but that he could teach her tospeak so well in three monthsthat she would pass for a noblelady. He explains that this is hismain job, teaching people tospeak well.

Note that the man insists notthat he could make the girl into anoble lady, but that he couldteach her to pass as a noble lady.He both insists on the power ofspeech to affect how one isperceived, but at the same timethinks that the =ower girl wouldalways still be a =ower girlbesides this change in otherpeople's perceptions of her.

11 22 33

The gentleman says that hehimself is "a student of Indiandialects." He introduceshimself as Colonel Pickering,and the note-taker introduceshimself as Henry Higgins. Thetwo are already familiar witheach other's work inlinguistics.

Pickering and Higgins' friendshipis built upon their mutualadmiration and respect for eachother's academic work. Higginsnever shows the same respect forEliza because she is a woman.

44 55



Higgins and Pickering leave toget dinner together. Higginsreluctantly gives the Bower-girl some money. FreddyOnally returns with a cab, onlyto Ond that his mother andsister have left him to walk to abus. The Power-girl takes thecab he has brought, leavingFreddy alone.

In a minor, humorous reversal ofexpectations, it is the lowly=ower girl, not the well-offFreddy, who ends up taking thetaxi. All of Freddy's chivalroussearching for the cab, meanwhile,gets him nothing but abandoned.

33

ACT 2The next morning, Higgins andPickering are at Higgins'"laboratory," a huge room Olledwith various tools and devicesfor Higgins' work, includingtuning forks, recordingdevices, and diagrams of thehuman vocal system. HigginsOnishes showing Pickering allof his things, and Pickeringmarvels at Higgins' ability tohear 130 distinct vowelsounds.

Pickering is impressed withHiggins' laboratory and hisdedication to his study of speech.Both characters are highlyeducated, though Higgins is evenmore accomplished thanPickering in the realm ofphonetics.

11 44

Higgins' housekeeper, Mrs.Pearce, comes in andannounces that a youngwoman is here to see Higgins.She says it is a common girlwith a "dreadful" accent.Higgins tells Pickering that hewill note down what the girlsays and exactly what heraccent is. The girl enters andHiggins recognizes her as theBower-girl from the previousnight.

Mrs. Pearce identi<es the =owergirl as a commoner from heraccent and appearance, anddescribes such characteristics as"dreadful". The wealthy see theways in which the poor differfrom them as being bad orshameful. Higgins is interested inher only as a subject of hisacademic study, not in any wayas a person.

11 22 33 44

Higgins is frustrated becausehe has already recorded heraccent, and tells her to leave.But the Bower-girl says thatshe has come for anotherreason. She offers to pay forspeaking lessons. Higgins isshocked and insults her. ThePower-girl cries, saying shewants to learn how to "talkmore genteel," so she can get ajob in a nice Power shop.

The =ower girl hopes that bylearning to speak differently, shecan change her life and identity,<nding a better job and movingup the social ladder.

11 22 33

The Power-girl says her nameis Eliza Doolittle, and offers topay a shilling for lessons.Higgins rePects aloud that thissum of money is a sizablepercentage of what she makes,comparable to a wealthyperson paying many pounds.Eliza is confused and begins tocry. Higgins offers her ahandkerchief and tells her notto wipe her eyes with hersleeve.

Eliza is confused and worried byHiggins' reasoning about herproposed fee, which she doesn'tunderstand. Higgins tells her notto wipe her eyes with her sleeve,because this would be neitherladylike nor in accordance withgood manners.

33 44 55

Amused by Eliza, Pickeringoffers to pay for her lessonsand bets Higgins that he can'tteach Eliza to speak so wellthat she passes as a noble at anambassador's garden partycoming up. Higgins says theoffer is irresistible and callsEliza "so deliciously low—sohorribly dirty." He says he will"make a duchess of thisdraggle-tailed guttersnipe."

Higgins agrees to help Eliza onlyfor his own enjoyment and study,not because he feels anycompassion for her. He andPickering plan to fool the upperclass by changing only Eliza'sspeech and outward appearance.They don't think of whether suchexterior changes might involveactually changing who Elizareally is.

11 22 33 44

Higgins tells Mrs. Pearce towash Eliza, throw out her dirtyclothes, and get new ones.Eliza protests and Mrs. Pearcetells Higgins that he cannot"walk over everybody," Higginsapologizes and says that hewants to help Eliza better herlife. Mrs. Pearce tells him hecan't "take a girl up like that asif you were picking up a pebbleon the beach."

Higgins is so concerned with hisown experiment that he doesn'tstop to consider Eliza's ownthoughts or feelings. Hiswillingness to "walk over" Elizahas to do both with her lower-class status and her gender. Mrs.Pearce, who was willing todescribe Eliza's accent as"dreadful" does see her as aperson, and insists that as suchshe has a dignity and worth thatHiggins must acknowledge in histreatment of her.

33 44 55



Higgins says that when he isdone teaching her, Eliza willhave countless men courtingher. Eliza thinks Higgins is madand says she won't accept anynew clothes from him. Higginscalls her ungrateful, but Mrs.Pearce tells him that he iswicked. She tells Eliza toreturn to her parents, but shesays that she has no family.

Higgins does not consider Eliza'sown willingness or unwillingnessto participate in his experiment.He assumes that all she couldwant is to have men courting her,and he sees her unwillingness tobe in debt to him (by acceptingclothes) as simpleungratefulness. Again, he treatsher as a lesser being, notsomeone worthy of having prideor integrity.

44 55

Higgins says that Eliza is "nouse to anybody but me," andtells Mrs. Pearce that she cantreat Eliza like a daughter.Pickering asks Higgins if it hasever occurred to him that Elizahas feelings of her own.Higgins responds that she hasno feelings "that we needbother about." Eliza says, "I gotmy feelings same as anyoneelse."

Since Eliza is an uneducated,lower-class woman, Higgins,unlike Pickering, thinks of heronly in terms of whether she canbe of use to him. But Eliza showsher dignity and strength of will byasserting that not only does shehave feelings but that they arethe equal of anyone else'sfeelings. She asserts a level ofcommonality and equalitybetween people that Higginsdoesn't seem to recognize. It'sworth noting that Higgins is farmore extreme in his views thanthe other wealthy characters;even so, in being more extremehe makes explicit what other richcharacters in the play seem toimplicitly believe.

33 44 55

Eliza is upset and prepares toleave, but Higgins gives her achocolate and promises herboxes and barrels of them ifshe stays. He tells Eliza thatwhen she learns to speakbetter, she will ride taxis allaround town. He tries to tempther with thoughts of a wealthylife, over Mrs. Pearce'sprotestations. Pickeringobjects, as well, calling Eliza"Miss Doolittle."

Higgins tries to tempt Eliza withthoughts of a wealthy,comfortable life, acting as if hecan "buy" her interest with tri=eslike chocolate. In objecting toHiggins, Pickering calls Eliza"Miss Doolittle," a conventionusually reserved for high-classladies. It seems almost as ifHiggins extreme rudeness intreating Eliza like a non-person—almost like apet—pushes Pickering(unconsciously) to admit thatEliza is a person and in being sohas a nobility by calling her bythe address of a lady.

11 33

Higgins tells Eliza that she willlive with him for six months,learning how to speak like awealthy lady. He says that shewill then be taken toBuckingham Palace and if theking discovers that she is not anoble lady, she will be taken toprison and executed, but if shepasses as a lady she will begiven money. Mrs. Pearcetakes Eliza away to talk it overwith her in private.

Higgins continues to order Elizaaround, revealing his lack ofempathy. He is excited by theprospect of fooling members ofthe upper class by merelychanging Eliza's appearance andspeech, while also displaying hisown cleverness as a linguist anda teacher.

11 22 33 44

Eliza protests as she leaves,saying she hasn't asked for anyof this. Once she is gone,Pickering asks Higgins if he is"a man of good characterwhere women are concerned."Higgins says that he has onlyhad bad experiences when hehas let women become hisfriends and that "women upseteverything."

Higgins is revealed to besomewhat of a misogynist,thinking that women ruineverything. This partially explainshis rudeness toward Eliza (hisgeneral rudeness towardeveryone explains the rest).

33 55



Pickering tells Higgins that ifhe is involved with teachingEliza, he will feel responsiblefor her. Higgins assures himthat he considers his student"sacred." Mrs. Pearce entersand asks Higgins to be carefulof what he says in Eliza'spresence. She tells him not tocurse. Higgins claims he neverswears, but then agrees.

Higgins claims that he caresabout Eliza, though he seemsonly to care about her as astudent, as the subject of his ownacademic study. Yet while he isupper-class, it is his housekeeperwho must remind him of propermanners.

33 44

Mrs. Pearce asks Higgins tobehave with good mannerswhile Eliza is around—forexample, not to come tobreakfast in his dressing-gownand use it as a napkin.Flustered, Higgins says that hedoesn't do such thingshabitually but agrees to be"particularly careful before thegirl."

Mrs. Pearce has to remind therude Higgins to set a goodexample for Eliza if she is to learnto act like a well-behaved lady.The play is constantly pokingholes in the idea of the upperclass and their own self-conception as naturally havinggood manners because they areupper class.

33

Mrs. Pearce leaves but returnsquickly, saying that a man is atthe door claiming to be Eliza'sfather. Higgins has her bringthe man up, eager to learnabout his accent. AlfredDoolittle enters and says hewants his daughter back.Higgins immediately identiOeswhere he is from.

Whenever Higgins meets a newperson, his <rst thought is to usethe person for his own academiclearning. He is easily able toidentify where Doolittle is frombased on his accent.

11 44

Mr. Doolittle says that hehasn't seen his daughter in twomonths, but learned of herwhereabouts from the cabdriver who brought her toHiggins' place. Higginscomments on his accent,saying his Welsh originsaccount for his "mendacity anddishonesty."

Higgins moves from justidentifying where Doolittle isfrom to asserting that Doolittle'sorigins determine his character.Higgins believes he can changepeople's appearance by changingtheir speech, but he also believesthat people can't actually changetheir deeper selves.

11 22 33

Mr. Doolittle has broughtsome of Eliza's things to thehouse. Higgins calls Mrs.Pearce and tells her that Mr.Doolittle has come to takeEliza away, even though Mr.Doolittle denies this. Mrs.Pearce says that Eliza can'tleave until her new clothesarrive, since she has burnedher old clothes.

Higgins rudely disregards whatMr. Doolittle actually says. Thedestruction of Eliza's old clothessymbolizes the loss of her oldidentity. As her new clothes arenot ready yet, she is caughtbetween identities, not fullytransformed yet.

22 33

Mrs. Pearce leaves and Mr.Doolittle asks for Ove poundsin return for letting Eliza staywith Higgins. Pickering andHiggins are shocked at hiswillingness to sell his owndaughter and think giving himmoney would be immoral. Mr.Doolittle says he is needy andsays that "middle classmorality" is "just an excuse fornever giving me anything."

Higgins and Pickering areshocked by Mr. Doolittle'swillingness to sell his daughter,but to Mr. Doolittle suchmoralizing is a luxury for thosewho don't have to worry aboutmoney. And Higgins has nocompunction about trying to"buy" Eliza with promises ofchocolate and clothes.

33

Higgins proposes to take Mr.Doolittle in along with Elizaand teach him to speak nobly,but Mr. Doolittle says that hewants to stay in his station inlife, since regardless of one'sclass "it's a dog's life anywayyou look at it." Higgins Onallyagrees to give Doolittle tenpounds, but Mr. Doolittledeclines and asks only for Ove.

From the beginning Mr. Doolittlecriticizes the Victorian socialhierarchy, not only for not lettinglower-class people move up thehierarchy, but also for theassumption that being upper-class is necessarily better thanbeing lower-class.

33 44

On his way out, Mr. Doolittleruns into Eliza, who is cleanand dressed in an elegantkimono. He doesn't recognizeher and says, "Beg pardon,miss." Everyone is amazed atEliza's transformation, and shesays that it is easy to clean upwhen one has all the luxury's ofa well-furnished bathroom.

Even before Eliza has reallytransformed, the simple changeof her appearance and clothing isenough to make her at <rstunrecognizable to her ownfather.

22



Eliza and her father get into anargument as she says he hasonly come to get money fromHiggins for his drinking habit.Mr. Doolittle prepares toleave. Higgins asks him tocome visit Eliza regularly, aspart of his fatherly duty. Heagrees and leaves, but Elizatells Higgins not to believe herfather. Eliza is eager to go backto her part of the city andshow off her new look to herold friends. Higgins tells hernot to be snobbish toward herold friends now that she has"risen in the world."

Eliza is excited by her newappearance and wants to showoff to her old friends, thoughHiggins tells her that this kind ofsnobbishness would be ill-mannered. His claim that she has"risen in the world," suggests thatEliza is undergoing a realtransformation, not just puttingon a costume, though it is worthnoting that having "risen" is astate dependent on how otherssee you, not any internalchanges.

22 33

Mrs. Pearce enters and tellsEliza that she has more clothesfor her to try on. She leaveseagerly, saying "Ah-ow-oo-ooh!" Higgins and PickeringrePect on the difOcult taskahead of them in making Elizapass for a noble lady.

Moments after Higginscomments on how Eliza has"risen" based purely on herchange in appearance, Eliza'sdecidedly un-classy exclamationindicates her lower-classupbringing, showing how far shehas to go to transform into anoble lady.

11 22 33

ACT 3Higgins barges into hismother's home one afternoon.Mrs. Higgins is surprised tosee her son and tells him toleave, as she is expectingfriends to come visit. Higginstells her he has found awoman, and she thinks hemeans romantically. Hecorrects her and tells her thathe needs her help for "aphonetic job."

Mrs. Higgins hopes that her sonhas found a romantic partner,but he is so consumed by hisstudies that he is only interestedin women (and indeed people ingeneral) as possible "phoneticjob[s]."

44

Higgins tells his mother aboutEliza and says that she is to sitwith Mrs. Higgins and herfriends today and speak like alady. Just as Higgins ispreparing to leave, two of Mrs.Higgins' friends arrive: Mrs.and Miss Eynsford Hill, whoturn out to be the mother anddaughter from the Orst act.Higgins thinks he recognizesClara, but doesn't rememberfrom where. Colonel Pickeringarrives.

This is Eliza's <rst test, as shemust converse with proper,ladylike manners among wealthyfriends. Since the Eynsford Hillshave seen her before (in ActOne), it will be particularly tellingto see if they can recognize thesame =ower girl underneath hernew appearance.

11 22 33

Freddy Eynsford Hill enters,and Higgins again thinks helooks familiar but can'tremember why. He wonderswhat everyone will talk aboutuntil Eliza arrives, and Claraagrees that she hates smalltalk. She says she wishespeople would say what theyreally think. Higgins disagreesand says that if he said what hereally thought, "it wouldn't bedecent."

Clara is somewhat fed up withthe manners and customs of highsociety, such as small talk.Higgins goes even further thanher, implying that small talk andmanners exist to cover up theindecent things that people reallythink.

33

Higgins goes on to say that allpeople are really "savages,more or less," even thoughthey're supposed to becivilized. Mrs. Higgins tells himto mind his manners, and justthen Eliza arrives. Elizabehaves elegantly and politely,as she meets everyone. Mrs.Eynsford Hill thinks Eliza looksfamiliar.

Again, Higgins thinks thatmanners cover up peoples'essentially savage nature. Mrs.Higgins criticism of Higginsshows that even saying such athing is bad manners, but thetension between whethermanners are just a way to looklike a good person or actually aretraits of a good person remainsunresolved. So far, Eliza passes asan upper-class lady.

22 33

Higgins Onally realizes wherehe knows the Eynsford Hillsfrom. Everyone discusses theweather and Eliza begins toslip back into her lower-classspeech habits. She makes themistake of talking at lengthabout her aunt's death,supposedly from inPuenza(though she suspects someone"done the old woman in.").

At this point, Eliza's lower-classidentity still shows through herupper-class appearance, revealedboth through her speech (as in"done the old woman in") andlack of proper manners in talkingabout death at a party.

11 22 33



To the shock of the otherguests, Eliza describes herfather's drinking habit. Notonly is it an inappropriate topicof conversation, but she alsoslips back into her lower-classspeech habits (includingincorrect grammar). Freddybegins to laugh, seeminglyfond of her, and Eliza asks ifshe has said anything sheshouldn't have. Mrs. Higginsassures her she hasn't. Shebegins to speak again, butHiggins interrupts her,signaling that it is time for herto leave.

Eliza does not yet <t in with Mrs.Higgins' upper-class guests, asshown by her lack of manners inspeaking of inappropriatesubjects and her unpolishedlanguage. And so Higgins cutsshort this experiment, once againtreating her like a subject ratherthan a person.

11 22 33

After Eliza leaves, Mrs.Eynsford Hill is distressedover Eliza's manner ofspeaking, which Clara tells heris merely the new fashion. Mrs.Eynsford Hill still doesn't likeit, and asks Pickering what hethinks. He says that he's beenaway in India, so is not up todate with correct manners.Clara says, "It's all a matter ofhabit. There's no right orwrong in it."

The fact that Mrs. Eynsford Hillcan believe that Eliza's way ofspeaking is the new fashionshows how arti<cial ideas ofproper manners or ways ofspeaking are. As Claraperceptively says, such things aresimply matters of habit, and notinherently right or wrong, properor improper. Though contrastthis with Higgins comments inAct One, when he says thatEliza's way of speaking is so uglythat she doesn't even deserve tolive.

11 33 44

The Eynsford Hills prepare toleave, and Higgins encouragesClara to try out the newfashion of speaking (Eliza's).Clara calls the Victorianobsession with manners"bloody nonsense," whichshocks her mother. TheEynsford Hills leave, andFreddy says that he would liketo meet Eliza again sometime.

Clara is again fed up with theimportance of proper manners.Freddy seems to like Elizaregardless of her social class ormanners.

33

As she leaves, Mrs. EynsfordHill laments to Pickering thatClara is annoyed when she isnot up to date with "the latestslang." Higgins asks his motherif Eliza was presentable, andMrs. Higgins says she isn't. Shesays there is no hope of Elizaspeaking properly if she islearning from Higgins, whichmildly offends him.

At this point, Eliza cannot yetpass for a wealthy lady. Mrs.Higgins hints that she won't beable to learn because Higginshimself has bad manners, againcomplicating whether mannersare something that arise fromsocial class or some kind of innergoodness or politeness.

22 33

Mrs. Higgins asks about thestate of Higgins' home, andlearns that Higgins, Pickering,and Eliza are all living togethernow with Mrs. Pearce. Mrs.Higgins tells the two men thatthey are playing with a "livedoll," but Higgins insists that heis doing a difOcult job,transforming Eliza into "a quitedifferent human being."

Mrs. Higgins worries that her sonis treating Eliza, a vulnerableyoung woman, like a playthingfor his academic enjoyment. Henow insists that his project is toentirely transform Eliza, not justto help her pretend to besomeone she's not.

22 44 55

Pickering assures Mrs.Higgins that they take Elizavery seriously, and Higginscalls her "the most absorbingexperiment I ever tackled." Thetwo talk about how quicklyEliza is picking up all of thethings they are teaching her.Mrs. Higgins calls theirattention to the problem ofwhat to do with Eliza aftertheir experiment.

While Higgins and Pickeringinsist that they are treating Elizawell, Higgins refers to her merelyas an "absorbing experiment."Only Mrs. Higgins thinks aboutEliza's own feelings or issueswhen the experiment is <nished.

44

Mrs. Higgins says that Elizawill have all "the manners andhabits that disqualify a Onelady from earning her ownliving," without the money tosupport such a lifestyle. ButPickering and Higgins aren'tworried, and say they'll Ondher a job. They leave, laughing.Mrs. Higgins is upset, andexclaims, "Oh, men! men!!men!!!"

Mrs. Higgins is smart enough,and compassionate enough, torealize the predicament thatEliza will <nd herself in post-experiment, caught betweensocial classes. She is exasperatedat the arrogance of Higgins andPickering, who, as men, thinkthat they know better than shedoes, but only cause problems.

22 33 44 55



ACT 4It is midnight at Higgins'house. Eliza, Higgins, andPickering all enter, tired anddressed formally. Eliza is quiet,as Higgins and Pickeringrecount their day: a gardenparty, followed by a dinnerparty, followed by the opera.Pickering says that Higgins haswon his bet, as "Eliza did thetrick."

A far cry from her behavior in ActThree, Eliza successfully passedas a noble lady at the gardenparty, dinner party, and opera,winning Higgins' bet for him.Though its worth noting that inwinning the bet for him, Eliza'ssuccess in transforming becomessmaller than Higgins' success intransforming her.

22 33

Higgins says he knew Elizawould be One, and tellsPickering that he has longbeen bored with theexperiment, after its earlyphase. Having to go to highsociety events with Eliza hasbeen irritating for him. Hethanks God the experiment isover. Pickering says that Elizawas acting better than someactual noble people, whoassumed that "style comes bynature to people in theirposition," and so didn't botherlearning proper behavior.

Eliza apparently easily fooledpeople into thinking she wasupper-class. Higgins is insensitiveto Eliza's feelings, saying that hehas been bored with "theexperiment"—he doesn't eventhink of her as a person.Pickering notes that many noblepeople assume that they innatelyhave proper manners, when inreality they don't because suchmanners must be learned (asEliza has learned them).

22 33

Preparing for bed, Higgins tellsEliza to turn out the lights.Eliza is becoming increasinglyupset. Higgins can't Ond hisslippers and Eliza picks themup and throws them at him.She says, "I've won your bet foryou, haven't I? That's enoughfor you. I don't matter, Isuppose." Higgins is angry andsays that he won his own bet.

Eliza has <nally had enough ofbeing treated like an experimentand stands up to Higgins.Despite his academicintelligence, Higgins lacks theemotional or social intelligenceto consider Eliza's own feelings.He doesn't see her hard work inhaving won the bet, only his own.

44

Eliza calls Higgins a "selOshbrute," and says that now shewill be thrown back "in thegutter," where she came from.Higgins refers to her as "thecreature," and Eliza lunges athim with her nails. He stopsher, calling her a cat, andthrows her down into a chair.Eliza says she knows Higginsdoesn't care about her at all.Higgins says that no one hasever treated her badly at hishouse, and says that Eliza mustsimply be tired after a long day.

Higgins continues to treat Elizapoorly, because she comes from"the gutter." While at times hehas no patience for the Victoriansocial hierarchy, Higgins is stillprejudiced against the lowerclass. As he calls her a creatureand a cat, his misogyny is also afactor in his rudeness toward her.

33 55

Eliza regains her composure,but is still upset. She wonderswhat will happen to her now.Higgins tells her she will bealright, and suggests shemarries someone. He offersfor his mother to Ond hersomeone. Eliza thinks of this asprostitution and says she wasabove this even in her lower-class life.

The only way for Eliza to get outof her predicament, according toHiggins, is to marry someonewealthy. Yet Eliza is resistant tothe traditional female roles ofVictorian society, seeing this kindof marriage motivated by moneyas prostitution.

55

Higgins is annoyed by Eliza'scomment, and tells her shedoesn't have to marry. He saysPickering can set her up in aPorist's shop. He starts toleave to go to bed, and Elizaasks him whether her clothesbelong to her or Pickering now.She doesn't want to beaccused of stealing anything.

Eliza's question about herclothing symbolizes heruncertainty regarding heridentity: is she actually a newperson now, or are the clothesmerely a temporary costumecovering her same lower-classidentity?

22 33

Higgins is offended at thequestion, but Eliza says thatshe has to be mindful of suchthings, because she is acommoner. She says toHiggins, "There can't be anyfeelings between the like ofyou and the like of me." Higginscalls her ungrateful and tellsher she has wounded him "tothe heart." He leaves angrilyand Eliza looks satisOed athaving upset him.

Despite her apparenttransformation, Eliza now saysthat she is fundamentallydifferent from Higgins because oftheir different social classes. Theunemotional, academic Higgins<nally appears here to havefeelings, as well.

22 33 44



ACT 5Mrs. Higgins is sitting in herdrawing room. Her parlor-maid announces that Higginsand Pickering are downstairs,telephoning the police. Mrs.Higgins tells the maid to goupstairs and tell Eliza thatHiggins and Pickering are here.Higgins bursts in and tells hismother that Eliza has runaway.

Higgins and Pickering arefrantically trying to <nd Eliza, asif she were a lost pet. Mrs.Higgins wisely keeps Elizaupstairs so that she can try toresolve the situation.

44 55

Mrs. Higgins tells her son tocalm down and says that Elizahas the right to leave his housewhen she wants. Pickeringenters, having spoken with thepolice. Mrs. Higgins asks whatright they have to go to thepolice as if Eliza were "a lostumbrella."

Mrs. Higgins stands up for Eliza,whom Pickering and Higgins aretreating as if she is an object thatthey own.

55

The parlor-maid enters andannounces that a gentlemannamed Mr. Doolittle hasarrived at the house. Higginsassumes that it is a relative ofEliza's she never told himabout, but it actually turns outto be her father. Mr. Doolittleenters, dressed like agentleman, angry at Higgins.

Because of Mr. Doolittle's newappearance, the maid introduceshim as a gentleman and Higginsassumes that it cannot be thesame Mr. Doolittle he met earlier.

22

Mr. Doolittle is not aware thatEliza is missing, though, and soHiggins is confused as to whyhe is mad at him. Doolittle saysthat Higgins mentioned him toa wealthy American namedEzra D. Wannafeller, whofounded Moral ReformSocieties across the world.Higgins had joked that Mr.Doolittle was "the mostoriginal moralist," in England,and Mr. Wannafeller left Mr.Doolittle money in his will, onthe condition that Mr.Doolittle speak atWannafeller's Moral ReformWorld League.

Higgins' joke—making fun of Mr.Doolittle's rejection of Victorianmorals as luxuries unaffordableby the poor; which really was arather unique moral position inVictorianEngland—unintentionallybrought Mr. Doolittle a fortune.Like his daughter Eliza, Mr.Doolittle has now alsoundergone a transformation,rising in the social hierarchy. Theluck involved in Mr. Doolittle'srise implicitly criticizes thecommon Victorian notion thatthe wealthy deserve to bewealthy because of some innerworth. More likely it was just luckthat lifted up their ancestors, andthen they themselves were richsimply because they were rich.

22 33

Mr. Doolittle is upset at beingturned into a wealthygentleman. He says that heused to be free, but is nowworried, has people asking himfor money all the time, and hasto see doctors. He says thatfamily members have suddenlyturned up to ask him formoney, and scoffs at "middleclass morality."

Mr. Doolittle exposes all of theproblems that come with movingup the social ladder. He thuscritiques the assumption thatgaining wealth and becomingmore upper-class is necessarilydesirable.

33 44



Mr. Doolittle says that now hehas to learn proper Englishfrom Higgins, and suspectsthis was Higgins' plan all along.Mrs. Higgins tells him that hecan reject the inheritance, butMr. Doolittle says that hedoesn't have "the nerve" to sayno to the money, as he is poor.He says he faces a choicebetween "the Skilly of theworkhouse and the Char Bydisof the middle class."

Mr. Doolittle presents hisinability to reject the money as alack of nerve to reject thecomforts provided by money. Healso feels as if, now that he hasmoney, that he must appear likehe has money, in dress andspeech. In his uneducated, lower-class speech, he compares thisdilemma to being stuck betweenScylla and Charybdis (anotherexpression for being stuckbetween a rock and a hardplace)—stuck between thediscomfort of being poor if herejects the money and all theresponsibilities of being wealthyif he keeps it.

11 33 44

Mrs. Higgins says that Mr.Doolittle can take care of Elizanow that he has money.Higgins protests, saying thatEliza belongs to him, since hepaid for her. Mrs. Higgins tellsher son not to be absurd, andthen reveals Eliza is actuallyupstairs. She tells Pickeringand Higgins that she haslearned of how horribly theytreated Eliza, though bothinsist they treated her well.

Higgins squabbles over Eliza likea possession or pet, wanting herbecause he has paid for her, notbecause he is fond of her as aperson. Mrs. Higgins is frustratedby her son thinking that he ownsa woman—it is telling thatneither Pickering nor Higgins caneven understand what she iscriticizing them for.

55

Mrs. Higgins scolds them forhaving talked about how gladthey were that theirexperiment was over, whenEliza had become attached tothem and had worked hard forthem. Pickering concedes thathe and Higgins were maybeinconsiderate to Eliza. Mrs.Higgins says she will bringEliza down if Higgins willbehave. He sulks, but agrees.Mrs. Higgins has Mr. Doolittleleave the room while she sendsfor Eliza.

Mrs. Higgins scolds Pickering andHiggins for seeing Eliza merely asan experiment, not as a person.She again has to remind Higginsof his manners, even though he isthe one who supposedly taughtEliza how to behave well.Pickering begins to see the truthof it, but the stubborn Higginsrefuses.

33 44

Eliza enters and is very polite,which is bafPing to Higgins. Hetells her to "get up and comehome." He says she doesn'thave an idea or word in herhead that he didn't put therehimself. He continues to insultEliza, who ignores him andtalks politely to Pickering.

Ironically, Eliza now has bettermanners than Higgins, despitethe fact that he claims to havebasically created this presentversion of him. Either she hasreally changed, or she is simplyvery good at pretending to benoble and polite—but is therereally any difference? At whatpoint does pretending to be nobleand polite become actually beingnoble and polite? And rememberall the noble people who actedless polite than Eliza did at theparty. Are they still more noblethan she is simply because theyhave money? The play questionssuch attitudes, without comingto any de<nitive answer.

22 33

Eliza tells Pickering that she isgrateful to him for teachingher proper manners, unlikeHiggins, who set a badexample for her. She says thatshe grew up behaving just likeHiggins, with a short temperand foul language. Thisinfuriates Higgins, but Elizakeeps talking to Pickering,telling him that her realeducation began when hecalled her Miss Doolittle.

Despite his high-class upbringing,Higgins lacks proper manners,and actually set a bad examplefor the pupil he was supposedlyteaching how to behave properly.Eliza reveals the power oflanguage as she tells Pickeringthat his calling her MissDoolittle—his verbal recognitionthat she could be someone whocould be called MissDoolittle—was what reallyspurred her realization that shecould change and deserved thesame respect a wealthy persontakes for granted.

11 33 44



Eliza thanks Pickering foralways treating her well,concluding that "the differencebetween a lady and a Powergirl is not how she behaves, buthow she's treated." Eliza saysthat she would like Higgins tocall her Miss Doolittle, andHiggins curses.

Eliza's comment asserts thatthere is no inherent differencebetween the wealthy and thepoor—the only difference is inwhether other people grant themthe respect they deserve. Whenformulated this way, a change inappearance (clothes and speech)does not change a person somuch as give them access to therespect that should have alreadybeen granted to them, andperhaps to realize that theyshould be granted that respect.She demands this respect fromHiggins. His curse is a rebuttal,but one can see this rebuttal notas a statement that Eliza doesn'tdeserve respect but that no onedoes given Higgins basicrudeness and misanthropythroughout the play.

11 22 33 44

Pickering tells Eliza to curseback at Higgins, but she saysshe cannot now. She says thatshe has forgotten her old wayof speaking, like a child who isbrought to a foreign countrywho forgets its nativelanguage when it learns a newone. This greatly upsetsHiggins, who says that Elizawill return to her old way of lifewithin weeks. Pickering asksher to forgive Higgins andcome back to Higgins' home.

Higgins and Eliza disagree overwhether she has reallytransformed her identity, orwhether she has merely changedher speech and appearance andwill return to her old ways.Pickering sides with her, but alsowants her to forgive Higgins fornot believing that she could havechanged.

11 22

Mr. Doolittle sneaks up behindEliza and surprises her. Shecries out, "A-a-a-a-a-ah-ow-ooh!" just as she used to, andHiggins is delighted that shehas relapsed into one of herold speech habits. Mr.Doolittle tells Eliza that he ismarrying her stepmother,having been intimidated into itby middle class morality. Heasks Eliza to come to theceremony.

Moments after claiming she is achanged person unable to goback to speaking as she used to,the shock of seeing her fathermakes Eliza exclaim in the samekind of unladylike way she didbefore her transformation. Thisseems to support Higginsposition that people don'tchange. Meanwhile, Mr. Doolittleis annoyed at being forced into arespectable marriage by thesocial norms and expectations ofhis new class.

11 22 33

Pickering encourages Eliza togo to the wedding. Elizareluctantly agrees and leavesto get ready for the event.After Eliza has stepped out,Mr. Doolittle tells Pickeringthat he is nervous, because hehas never been marriedbefore. He didn't marry Eliza'smother, because marriage isn'tnatural, but merely "the middleclass way." Mrs. Higgins asks ifshe can come to the wedding,as well, and then leaves to geta carriage.

Mr. Doolittle continues tocriticize Victorian social customs,claiming that he has beenbasically forced into marriagebecause of middle classexpectations, and yet he <ndshimself unable to resist thosenorms. He is changed by them.

33

Eliza returns and Mr. Doolittleleaves to get to his wedding.Pickering asks Eliza to forgiveHiggins and come back to liveat Higgins' place, beforefollowing after Mr. Doolittle.When Eliza and Higgins arealone, he tells her to comeback to him. She replies that heonly wants her back so thatshe will pick up his things anddo errands for him. Higginssays that if she comes back, hewill not change his manners, ashe can't change his nature.

Higgins stubbornly claims thathe will not change his rudebehavior because he cannotchange his nature—even thoughhe has spent most of the playchanging Eliza's behavior.

22 33



Higgins explains to Eliza thathe is rude to everyone,regardless of social class,whereas Pickering is polite toeveryone, regardless of class.He tells her that it is importantnot to have good or badmanners, but to have the samemanners toward all people.Eliza believes him, but still saysthat she can do without him.

Higgins <nally offers anexplanation for his rude behavior.He takes care to behave thesame to everyone, regardless ofclass. This doesn't seem to becompletely accurate though,when one considers how hebehaved differently in thebeginning of the play towardEliza and Pickering.

33

Higgins says that he will missEliza if she leaves. He says hehas grown fond of her. He tellsher to come back to his home"for the sake of goodfellowship." He says he neverasked her to behave like hisservant. Eliza says that hedoesn't notice her.

Higgins <nally shows somefondness for Eliza, rather thantreating her as a lab rat. Heclaims that she took on the roleof servant. But Eliza respondsthat it was his treatment ofher—his lack of notice of her as aperson—which pushed her intothat position.

44 55

Higgins says that if she comesback, he will throw her out ifshe doesn't do everything hewants, but that she may leaveand live with her father if hedoesn't do everything shewants him to do. Eliza wishesthat she were a simple Power-girl again, under the control ofneither Higgins nor her father.She says, "I am a slave now, forall my One clothes."

Higgins' odd proposal to Elizaindicates his idea of an equalrelationship, in which two peopledo exactly as the otherwants—two people in completecontrol of each other. Inresponse, Eliza wishes she couldgo back to her simpler life as a=ower girl and, like her father, isable to see that entering highsociety is not necessarily goodand, especially for a woman, canbe its own form of slavery.

33 44 55

Higgins offers to adopt Eliza,or marry her to Pickering.Eliza says she doesn't wantthis, as Pickering is too old andFreddy Eysnford Hill has beenwriting love letters to heranyway. She says that she has"a right to be loved," butHiggins asks whether Freddycan "make anything" of Eliza.

Higgins gives Eliza two options,both of which place her underthe control of a man. Whereasshe thinks of love whenconsidering who she mightmarry, Higgins is only interestedin what a potential husband can"make" of Eliza. He does not seeher as capable of "making"anything of herself.

55

Eliza says she is not interestedin anyone making anything ofsomeone else, whereas that isall Higgins cares about.Higgins asks if Eliza wants himto care about her like Freddydoes, but she says all shewants is some kindness fromhim, insisting to him that she isnot "dirt under your feet."

Eliza demands to be treated aswho she is, not as someone whoneeds to be made into anythingelse at all. Higgins wonders if shewants his love; she responds thatshe wants his kindness and hisrespect.

33 55

Higgins tells Eliza that if shecan't deal with his coldness,she can leave and return to her"life of the gutter." Eliza callshim cruel and a bully. She saysthat she will marry Freddy.Higgins says that she willmarry an ambassador orsomeone similar and says hedoesn't want his "masterpiecethrown away on Freddy."

Higgins again asserts thatwithout him she would go backto being a poor person. When sheresponds that she won't, thatshe'll marry Freddy, Higgins againmanages to claim ownership ofand credit for Eliza by sayingFreddy isn't good enough for his"masterpiece."

44 55

Eliza responds that if she can'thave kindness from Higgins,she'll have independence. Shesays she could become ateacher of phonetics,advertising that she could helpothers transform themselvesjust as she did. Higgins issuddenly impressed withEliza's strength.

Eliza is fed up with being underthe control of men, whetherHiggins and Pickering, her father,or a potential husband. In sayingshe could become a teacher ofphonetics she is making a claimfor self-control based on her ownknowledge, she is claiming whatshe has been taught as her own,of creating herself. Higgins is<nally impressed with hercleverness and willingness tostand up to him and demandindependence.

44 55



Just then, Mrs. Higginsreturns and tells Eliza acarriage is ready to take themto her father's wedding. Mrs.Higgins says that Higgins isnot coming to the wedding,because he can't behavehimself in church. As Elizaleaves, he asks her to pick himup some groceries and clothes.She tells him to buy themhimself. Eliza and Mrs. Higginsleave, and Higgins is conOdentthat Eliza will buy the thingsfor him, as he ordered.

Again, it is Eliza who has bettermanners than Higgins. But thetruth is she has had bettermanners—in the sense of treatingothers with kindness andrespect—than Higgins evenbefore he began to train her. Theplay leaves Eliza's <nal statusvery ambiguous: has she <nallybroken free and become anindependent woman or will shego back to Higgins? Has she trulytransformed, will she relapse intoher lower-class customs, or willshe remain Higgins possession?The play questions the meaningand possibility of transformationwithout ever resolving thetensions it brings to the fore, justas it does not resolve Eliza's ownsituation.

22 33 44 55

HOW THOW TO CITEO CITEIt's easy to cite LitCharts for use in academic papers and reports.

MLA CITMLA CITAATIONTIONFredericksen, Erik. "Pygmalion." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 15 Jan2014. Web. 26 Oct 2016.

CHICACHICAGO MANUGO MANUAL CITAL CITAATIONTIONFredericksen, Erik. "Pygmalion." LitCharts LLC, January 15, 2014.Retrieved October 26, 2016. http://www.litcharts.com/lit/pygmalion.



the best way to study, teach, and learn about books. pygmalion · pygmalion brief biography of...

Documents