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Pygmalion

Cognotes offers in-depth help with George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion

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Analysis of Major Characters

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Summary and Analysis

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Summary and Analysis

Act One

Prior to midnight at St. Paul’s Church, the women of the Eynsford Hill family (a line of old money that has dried up, leaving the family with only the manners and expectations of the upper class) wait in the rain for Freddy, the bullied son and brother. He returns to the portico, having been unable to find a cab. On the way inside, he runs into a girl selling flowers. As the girl hawks her wares to a nearby gentleman, who gives her money but does not take a flower, a bystander warns her that a man is taking down everything she says. Mistaking the note taker for a police man attempting to arrest her for prostitution, the flower girl grows very upset, and a ruckus among the crowd ensues. As the commotion unfolds, the crowd begins to favor the note taker when he is able to discern where a few members of the crowd grew up, merely by hearing them speak. The crowd settles and disperses, and the note taker comments disparagingly on the flower girl’s lower class speech. By chance, a bystander and the note taker reveal themselves to be Colonel Pickering and Professor Henry Higgins, to distinguished dialect experts. As the two leave together, Higgins gives the flower girl a handful of coins with poor grace. As Freddy finally arrives with a cab, he finds his sister and mother gone. The flower girl, newly flush with good fortune, takes the taxi back to her lodging, a dreary Drury Lane flat.


Act Two

Act Two commences in Higgins’s study as Pickering and Higgins discuss the intricacies of dialect. Mrs. Pierce enters the study and announces that an unknown woman with a thick accent is asking to see the professor. The flower girl, revealed as Eliza, has dressed and cleaned herself as best she can, complete with a gaudy, tattered hat. Eliza asks for Higgins for speech lessons, hoping to improve her circumstances. Higgins and Eliza argue about the amount of pay, when Pickering suggests a bet- he will pay for Eliza’s lessons if Higgins can pass her off as a duchess at a society garden party. With a bout of bullying from Higgins, and a great deal of confusion for Eliza, it is settled that Eliza will live in Higgins’s house and take lessons each day in order to train for the bet’s execution. Mrs. Pearce takes Eliza up to her new bathroom, and Eliza is introduced to the accouterments of upper class grooming, demonstrating the class gap with her naiveté. In the meantime, Pickering interrogates Higgins, to determine if his intentions for Eliza are honorable, and Higgins confirms that he is a life-long bachelor. Mrs. Pearce returns to the study and reminds Higgins to be careful of Eliza, noting his carelessness, and insists that he be on his best behavior if he is to teach her the mannerisms of high society. Alfred Doolittle, Eliza’s father, then enters the study, attempting to wheedle money out of Higgins for the loss of his daughter. Although Higgins and Pickering are shocked at his callousness, Doolittle declares the follies of “middle class morality” and the practicality of his own philosophies. Impressed by his speech, Pickering and Higgins agree to give him the money. Eliza, freshly scrubbed and surprisingly lovely in a new dress, enters the study, stunning the men in the room. She scorns her father for coming to get money to drink, and the two grow close to blows before Doolittle is escorted out. Eliza expresses the desire never to see her father again, and exits as new clothes arrive for her. Eliza’s first lesson proves to be a tumultuous experience for her. Under Higgins’s bullying, she begins to improve her diction, fighting her natural accent. Overwhelmed, Eliza begins to cry, but it gently reassured by Pickering. Shaw describes this lesson as a “glimpse” into the six months of Eliza’s training.


Act Three

The third act begins in the home of Mrs. Higgins, Henry Higgins’s mother on her at-home day. Higgins explains that he has picked up a young woman, who, despite his mother’s hopes, is certainly not a romantic interest. Higgins confirms the love for his mother which arguably settles his bachelorhood. After explaining his project, he requests his mother’s help to allow Eliza to practice making conversation. Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill enter to visit- the mother anxious, and the daughter arrogant. Colonel Pickering enters and they exchange greetings. Higgins embarrasses Mrs. Higgins when he expresses his scorn for mannerisms and begins crashing his way through the conversation. Eliza enters, radiant enough to capture the eyes of the young Freddy Eynsford Hill, who also enters the parlor. A conversation about the weather quickly turns into a conversation about Eliza’s parents, as Eliza unknowingly makes several social bumbles, although her use of the word “bloody” is taken as fashionable slang by Miss Eynsford Hill, and Freddy finds her charming. Eliza and the Eynsford Hills take their leave, and Mrs. Higgins chastises Pickering and Higgins for treating Eliza like a live doll, and is alarmed that neither of them have realistic plans for her future. Pickering and Higgins leave undaunted, and Mrs. Higgins is left frustrated by their lack of foresight. Upon the next scene, the full six months have passed and Pickering, Higgins, and Eliza arrive at an Embassy in London or a party. As they enter the house, Higgins is accosted by his former pupil Nepommuck, who is now an interpreter for international parties. Higgins and Pickering discuss whether or not Nepommuck will be able to figure out the truth about Eliza, and possibly blackmail her. Eliza returns, and the trio enters the party. Eliza dazzles both her host and hostess, as well as all of the guests. The host and hostess ask Higgins to tell them about Eliza, and Nepommuck enters the conversation, and insists that Eliza, who speaks English far better than the average English woman, must be Hungarian royalty. The host and hostess agree with Nepommuck, and Higgins and Pickering agree that Higgins has won the bet. Eliza returns, distraught by how much she sticks out among the guests, not understanding that she has gone above and beyond the terms of the bet. The three leave the Embassy upon agreeing that they are tired and hungry.


Act Four

The act begins with Pickering, Higgins, and Eliza returning to Higgins’s study. Higgins and Pickering leave their clothing scattered about, and Eliza sits in brooding silence as Higgins and Pickering discuss her success and relief that the bet is over as though she were not in the room. Pickering bids Higgins good night, and Higgins prepares to retire as Eliza’s rage and despair overcome her. She throws herself on the floor and throws Higgins slippers at him. She furiously declares that she has nowhere to go, and that Higgins doesn’t care for her, and that she wishes she had her independence in the “gutter” she was born in. Higgins dismisses her fury as exhaustion, and notes that she could marry herself off. Eliza asks what clothing belongs to her and what belongs to Higgins, deeply offending him. When she makes him take back her jewels, he loses his temper and she says that she is glad that she has gotten “a little of my own back”. Higgins storms out, and Eliza goes to her room and takes off her finery. Outside, Freddy Eynsford Hill watches the light go out in her window. Eliza emerges from the house and asks him what he is doing by her window. Freddy declares his love for her, and Eliza turns to him for comfort. Between kisses, they are chased about London by several constables and Eliza and Freddy decide to drive in a taxi all night, and Eliza resolves to go to Mrs. Higgins for help.


Act Five

Act Five opens into Mrs. Higgins’s drawing room. A parlor maid approaches Mrs. Higgins to tell her that Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering are at the door, and that they are phoning the police in a state of panic. Mrs. Higgins is unsurprised by Henry’s “state” and tells the parlor maid to bring them up, and to tell Eliza upstairs that Higgins and Pickering have arrived, and she is not to come down until she is sent for. Higgins bursts in and informs Mrs. Higgins that Eliza has left. Mrs. Higgins, acting as though she does not already know this information, states that Higgins must have frightened her. Higgins dismisses the fact and announces that she has left with her things. As Mrs. Higgins reminds Henry that she has the right to leave if she chooses, Henry explains that he has become unanchored since she’s left. Pickering enters, and Mrs. Higgins realizes that the two have sent the police after Eliza, and rebukes them for acting as though she were their runaway pet. The parlor maid comes and explains that Mr. Doolittle has asked to see Higgins. Doolittle enters in a fine suit fit for a bridegroom, and accuses Henry of unleashing the horrors of “middle class morality” upon him when he flippantly suggested Doolittle as an expert of English morals to an American in the Moral Reform Societies, and that Doolittle has obtained wealth as a speaker for the society. Doolittle, disgruntled with his new responsibilities, explains that he now must marry Eliza’s ‘step-mother”, and expects that Eliza will soon want a piece of his good fortune as well. Higgins is indignant, crying that he cannot and shall not provide for her. Mrs. Higgins reveals that Eliza is upstairs and insists that he be civil to her when she comes downstairs. She scolds them for their callous behavior towards her, and Pickering begins to feel guilty, although Higgins is still ruffled. Mr. Doolittle leaves the room for the moment and Mrs. Higgins calls down Eliza. Eliza comes downstairs perfectly composed, greets the two, and sits by Pickering. She tells Pickering that he truly began her education, for he always treated her as a lady, even when she was a flower girl, and asks him to call her Eliza, rather than Miss Doolittle. After she requests that Higgins continue to call her Miss Doolittle, Higgins pompously asserts that she will soon go back to her old ways. Mr. Doolittle enters the room, and Eliza emits one of her old yelps to see her father in his suit, and Higgins jumps on her mistake. Mr. Doolittle explains that he is about to go to his own wedding. Although Eliza is upset, at Colonel Pickering’s urging, she agrees to go, and leaves to dress. Doolittle admits that he is concerned about the ceremony, and explains that he’s never been married before, and asks Pickering not to mention that he never married Eliza’s mother. Pickering and Mrs. Higgins agree to come to the ceremony. Pickering tries to persuade Eliza to return with them to Higgins’s home, but Eliza finally admits to Higgins that as neither of them with to be married, or pursue any sort of romantic relationship, she cannot stay. Higgins explains that he does not mean to treat her poorly; that he treats everyone in the same fashion. Eliza in turn expresses that she does not wish to stay with anyone who does not care for her. Eliza is still afraid for her future, and Higgins offers to adopt her, and notes that she could marry Pickering if she wanted to. She says that she has plenty of suitors, including Freddy Eynsford Hill, whom she intends to marry once she is able to support him. Higgins is stunned, and Eliza declares that she does not want anything to be made of her through marriage- she wants one of affectionate partnership. She loses her temper and tells Higgins that she will become a phonetics teacher herself, even becoming an assistant to Nepommuck. Higgins is enraged, but finally gains respect for Eliza, and asks her to stay with him and Pickering as equals. Eliza declines, and wonders aloud how he will do without her. Eliza and Mrs. Higgins leave, and Higgins laughs at the thought of her marrying Freddy as the play concludes.


Epilogue

In the epilogue, Shaw summarizes the details that would follow the play, explaining that he would not with for anyone to get the wrong idea about the character’s natures. Shaw firmly states that Eliza and Higgins could never married, as both are too strong for each other, and that Eliza would naturally favor a more attractive, attentive partner. Unsure after their marriage, Eliza and Freddy are able to survive for a while on a generous wedding gift from Pickering, as Mr. Doolittle refuses to support Eliza. The two eventually move in with Pickering and Higgins again for a time as they figure out their options. Eliza decides against teaching phonetics, deciding that Henry’s techniques belong solely to him. At Pickering’s suggestion, they begin a florist shop, although they hesitate as it would ruin Freddy’s sister’s chances at marriage. However, Miss Eynsford Hill has lost her lofty ideas and taken a job at a furniture shop, allowing the two to begin their business. They do dreadfully for a time, as Freddy and Eliza know nothing about running a business. But after taking classes and hiring other employees, their shop blossoms, and the two move out of Higgins’s home to start their own family. Eliza maintains a lifelong father-daughter relationship with Pickering, and continues to bicker with Higgins. Shaw notes that although she may have occasionally dreamed of what might happen if she could make Higgins love her, she is content with her life with Freddy, and continues to live in reality, and her florist’s shop with Freddy. Shaw concludes that Galatea may never have truly liked Pygmalion, as she would forever resent his godlike complex around her.