Pygmalion

Shaw uses the beginning stage directions to highlight the contrast between the financial situations of Eliza and Higgins. Eliza’s “small room with very old wall paper hanging loose in damp places” has a “broken pane in the window [that] is mended with paper” (Act I, Page 26). She has minimal dilapidated furniture with an “unused fireplace” and a “wretched bed heaped with all sorts of coverings that have any warmth in them” (Act I, Page 26). In contrast, Higgins has a living space that includes a drawing room he transformed into a laboratory filled with specialized equipment that includes a “set of lamp chimneys for singing flames with burners attached to a gas plug in the wall” (Act II, Page 29). His fireplace is clearly used, with “a comfortable leather-covered easy-chair at the side of the hearth” (Act II, 29). By highlighting these differences, Shaw emphasizes how substantial this transformation was to Eliza’s life. Higgins’s home also suggests that his philosophy surrounding phonetics, social class, and morality is more grounded in theory than in practice.

The interaction between Higgins and Pickering helps to further demonstrate Higgins’s linguistic authority. Pickering, himself an expert in phonetics, can only “pronounce twenty-four distinct vowel sounds” while Higgins’s “hundred and thirty beat [him]” (Act II, Page 31). Pickering “can’t hear a bit of difference between most of them” (Act II, Page 31), but Higgins finds each sound radically different. Shaw establishes that Higgins is not only more knowledgeable than the crowd of common people on the portico but is also an educated gentleman. The ease with which Eliza picks up and perfects the genteel dialect suggests she has a natural ability for languages.

Eliza continues to demonstrate her awareness of the performativity of class. For her visit, she essentially creates a costume from what she already has to reflect what she imagines a genteel woman would wear: “a hat with three ostrich feathers, orange, sky-blue, and red,” a “neatly clean apron,” and a “shoddy coat [that] has been tidied a little” (Act II, Page 32). Eliza begins her own transformation by changing her dress and takes steps to continue this transformation.

Eliza’s appearance at Higgins’s laboratory underscores her autonomy and ambition. She demands respect as a paying customer, seriously proposes doing the experiment, and convinces the men to participate. Her initiative in transforming herself subverts the plot’s initial suggestion that Eliza is Pygmalion’s statue; instead, it positions her as her own Pygmalion.

Higgins’s and Pickering’s treatment of Eliza highlight the differences between the two men, even though they are of similar social standing. Higgins is cruel and dismissive. He states that Eliza is “no use” to him (Act II, Page 32), and he mockingly responds to her request to be asked like a lady to sit next to Pickering by asking, “Should we ask this baggage to sit down, or shall we throw her out the window?” (Act II, Page 33). Higgins thinks of his customers not as humans but as objects to be used and discarded as he pleases. In contrast, Pickering largely treats her with the dignity she demands. Shaw notes in the stage directions that Pickering is “very courteous” when he asks her to sit down (Act II, Page 33). He advocates for her and argues that “she must understand thoroughly what she’s doing” before they agree to the experiment (Act II, Page 42). He also refers to her as “Miss Doolittle” (Act II, Page 42), as he would a lady. This address, according to Eliza’s later recounting, is what inspires her to continue pursuing becoming a lady.

Mrs. Pearce establishes one of Higgins’s chief character flaws in her reaction to the bet. While “[o]f course [she] know[s]” that Higgins “dont mean her any harm” (Act II, Page 43), Mrs. Pearce worries that he will unintentionally harm her. She pinpoints the causes, stating that “when you get what you call interested in people’s accents, you never think or care what may happen to them or you” (Act II, Page 43). Higgins’s treatment of Eliza confirms the housekeeper’s comments.

When Mrs. Pearce expresses concern for Eliza, she says that she should “speak to the girl properly in private” (Act II, Page 43). Her insistence on having this conversation away from the men reveals the performative nature of the gender and power dynamics in Eliza and Higgins’s relationship. In front of the men, Eliza and Mrs. Pearce would be pressured to perform. In private, Mrs. Pearce can offer honest advice, and Eliza can give an honest answer.

In the private bath scene, the differences between classes are starkly displayed. Unlike genteel ladies, Eliza never had a bath, fully undressed, or wore “night clothes.” Mrs. Pearce’s insistence on cleanliness and dignified behavior reveals that Eliza’s transformation will include more than phonetics lessons and new clothes. Eliza’s screams suggest that her transformation will be painful and uncomfortable for her.

Doolittle’s appearance functions as a broad comedic satire. Shaw often uses humor to tell the truth, and he uses Doolittle to personify his ideas regarding the so-called “undeserving poor” (Act II, Page 57). Doolittle humorously suggests, “I dont need less than a deserving man: I need more” (Act II, Page 57). Shaw suggests that all poor people are worthy of help, as humans all need pleasure and relief from capitalism. Bettering English society requires helping everyone who is poor and not categorizing them as more or less worthy of aid according to standards developed by those who are more privileged.

The kimono that Eliza wears after her bath reveals that clothing can be a costume. None of the men recognize her, and the play’s dialogue tags refer to her as the Japanese lady. Her clothing disguises her from even her father. Eliza’s clean and refined appearance is as foreign as one of “those Japanese dresses [Higgins] brought from abroad” (Act II, Page 51). The “simple blue cotton kimono printed cunningly with small white jasmine blossoms” (Act II, Page 60) reflects many of Higgins’s and gentility’s expectations of a lady: delicate, subtle, and undemanding, yet ornamental. This is in keeping with orientalist stereotypes of Japanese women that imagine them as docile, submissive, and perfectly feminine. Wearing this dress suggests the expectations Higgins and other men will have for Eliza as a lady. Its dainty and orderly printed blossoms also contrast with the loose and unrestrained flowers spilling out of a basket that Eliza sold to support herself.

In their first lesson, Higgins teaches her “like a child” and treats her like an “unfortunate animal” (Act II, Page 64). His treatment of Eliza demonstrates his view of others as objects to be used. Despite Higgins’s expectations and insults, Eliza displays natural ability. Unlike Pickering, she can easily distinguish between sounds. When she attempts to say cup, she does “it the first shot” (Act II, Page 64). This scene fits the second act’s purpose of establishing the central tension of the play. The second act in a five-act structure includes the rising action, so that the conflict begins to increase as the characters try to achieve their goal.