Pygmalion

Eliza Doolittle, the play’s protagonist, does not conform to the expected character arc of a female romantic hero. At the beginning, she is undignified, crude, and dirty. In his stage directions, Shaw states that she “is not at all a romantic figure” (Act I, Page 13). His insistence on this point supports a platonic reading of Eliza and Higgins’s relationship, suggesting that the play will not end with a romantic union. Eliza makes this reading explicitly when she states that she “wouldnt marry [Higgins] if [he] asked” (Act V, Page 128) and positions marriage as a transactional relationship. Rather than following the romantic arc that is traditional for a female character, she goes on a journey of self-discovery.

The play initially positions Eliza as Pygmalion’s statue being sculpted by Higgins, a Pygmalion figure. He reshapes her speech from animalistic sounds to elevated and sophisticated language. He has her cleaned of mud, burns her old clothes, and outfits her in fine things. It appears that Higgins turned the raw material of Eliza into a work of art.

Yet Eliza becomes her own Pygmalion and surpasses Higgins, as she is responsible for the internal changes that lead to her passing as a “lady.