GRADE 11
ENGLISH HL
STUDY GUIDE
,Full Play Summary
Pygmalion Full Play Summary
Two old gentlemen meet in the rain one night at Covent Garden. Professor Higgins is a
scientist of phonetics, and Colonel Pickering is a linguist of Indian dialects. The first bets the
other that he can, with his knowledge of phonetics, convince high London society that, in a
matter of months, he will be able to transform the cockney speaking Covent Garden flower
girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a woman as poised and well-spoken as a duchess. The next morning,
the girl appears at his laboratory on Wimpole Street to ask for speech lessons, offering to
pay a shilling, so that she may speak properly enough to work in a flower shop. Higgins
makes merciless fun of her, but is seduced by the idea of working his magic on her. Pickering
goads him on by agreeing to cover the costs of the experiment if Higgins can pass Eliza off as
a duchess at an ambassador's garden party. The challenge is taken, and Higgins starts by
having his housekeeper bathe Eliza and give her new clothes. Then Eliza's father Alfred
Doolittle comes to demand the return of his daughter, though his real intention is to hit
Higgins up for some money. The professor, amused by Doolittle's unusual rhetoric, gives him
five pounds. On his way out, the dustman fails to recognize the now clean, pretty flower girl
as his daughter.
For a number of months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak properly. Two trials for Eliza follow.
The first occurs at Higgins' mother's home, where Eliza is introduced to the Eynsford Hills, a
trio of mother, daughter, and son. The son Freddy is very attracted to her, and further taken
with what he thinks is her affected "small talk" when she slips into cockney. Mrs. Higgins
worries that the experiment will lead to problems once it is ended, but Higgins and Pickering
are too absorbed in their game to take heed. A second trial, which takes place some months
later at an ambassador's party (and which is not actually staged), is a resounding success.
The wager is definitely won, but Higgins and Pickering are now bored with the project, which
causes Eliza to be hurt. She throws Higgins' slippers at him in a rage because she does not
know what is to become of her, thereby bewildering him. He suggests she marry somebody.
She returns him the hired jewelry, and he accuses her of ingratitude.
The following morning, Higgins rushes to his mother, in a panic because Eliza has run away.
On his tail is Eliza's father, now unhappily rich from the trust of a deceased millionaire who
took to heart Higgins' recommendation that Doolittle was England's "most original moralist."
Mrs. Higgins, who has been hiding Eliza upstairs all along, chides the two of them for playing
with the girl's affections. When she enters, Eliza thanks Pickering for always treating her like
a lady, but threatens Higgins that she will go work with his rival phonetician, Nepommuck.
The outraged Higgins cannot help but start to admire her. As Eliza leaves for her father's
wedding, Higgins shouts out a few errands for her to run, assuming that she will return to
him at Wimpole Street. Eliza, who has a lovelorn sweetheart in Freddy, and the wherewithal
to pass as a duchess, never makes it clear whether she will or not.
,Act 1
Pygmalion Act 1
Next
Summary
A heavy late-night summer thunderstorm opens the play. Caught in the unexpected
downpour, passersby from distinct strata of the London streets are forced to seek shelter
together under the portico of St Paul's church in Covent Garden. The hapless Son is forced by
his demanding sister and mother to go out into the rain to find a taxi even though there is
none to be found. In his hurry, he knocks over the basket of a common Flower Girl, who says
to him, "Nah then, Freddy: look wh' y' gowin, deah." After Freddy leaves, the mother gives
the Flower Girl money to ask how she knew her son's name, only to learn that "Freddy" is a
common by-word the Flower Girl would have used to address anyone.
An elderly military Gentleman enters from the rain, and the Flower Girl tries to sell him a
flower. He gives her some change, but a bystander tells her to be careful, for it looks like
there is a police informer taking copious notes on her activities. This leads to hysterical
protestations on her part, that she is only a poor girl who has done no wrong. The refugees
from the rain crowd around her and the Note Taker, with considerable hostility towards the
latter, whom they believe to be an undercover cop. However, each time someone speaks up,
this mysterious man has the amusing ability to determine where the person came from,
simply by listening to that person's speech, which turns him into something of a sideshow.
The rain clears, leaving few other people than the Flower Girl, the Note Taker, and the
Gentleman. In response to a question from the Gentleman, the Note Taker answers that his
talent comes from "simply phonetics...the science of speech." He goes on to brag that he can
use phonetics to make a duchess out of the Flower Girl. Through further questioning, the
Note Taker and the Gentleman reveal that they are Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering
respectively, both scholars of dialects who have been wanting to visit with each other. They
decide to go for a supper, but not until Higgins has been convinced by the Flower Girl to give
her some change. He generously throws her a half-crown, some florins, and a half-sovereign.
This allows the delighted girl to take a taxi home, the same taxi that Freddy has brought
back, only to find that his impatient mother and sister have left without him.
Analysis
This act is carefully constructed to portray a representative slice of society, in which
characters from vastly different strata of society who would normally keep apart are brought
together by untoward weather. It is no coincidence that this happens at the end of a show at
the theater, drawing our attention to the fact that the ensuing plot will be highly theatrical,
that its fantastic quality is gleaned from the illusionary magic of theater. While the
transformation of Eliza in the play focuses on speech, each one of her subsequent tests is
also something highly theatrical, depending on the visual impact she makes, and how she
moves. The highly visual, on top of aural (therefore, altogether theatrical), way in which the
flower girl is made into a duchess is emphasized right from this opening act. Under these
terms, it should help us to think about the comparison of the artificial makeover of Eliza
Doolittle that the phonetics scientist can achieve, to the genuine increase in self-esteem that
the considerate gentleman can bestow upon her.
, The confusion of the thunderstorm foreshadows the social confusion that will ensue when
Higgins decides to play god with the raw material that the unschooled flower girl presents to
him. In this act, everyone is introduced in very categorized roles. In this scene, Shaw
introduces almost all his major characters, but refers to them by role rather than name in his
stage directions: Note-Taker, The Flower Girl, The Daughter, The Gentleman, etc.
Furthermore, his stage directions describing where characters stand with every line,
particularly in relation to other characters, come across as more than fastidious in their
detail. All this evokes a society whose members have rigid relations to one another. The odd,
seemingly irrelevant episode when The Mother gives the Flower Girl money to find out how
she knew her son's name shows the Mother's fear that her son might be associating with the
wrong sort. The incident also conflates a real name with a common term that can apply to
anyone; Freddy is for a moment both term and character. By the end of the act, The Note-
Taker, The Gentleman, and The Flower Girl have become Higgins, Pickering, and Eliza,
respectively. This move will continue through the length of the play, where a less visible
blooming of real persons out of mere social positions occurs. If Higgins is one kind of
Pygmalion who makes a flower girl a duchess, Shaw is a grander, more total Pygmalion who
can will transform mere titles into human names.
Remembering that Pygmalion is subtitled "A Romance in Five Acts," this act strikes us as a
rather odd, unceremonious way of introducing the heroes of a romance. For starters, the
heroine is described as being "not at all a romantic figure." The hero calls the heroine a
"squashed cabbage leaf," while she can do no better than "Ah-ah-ah-ow-ow-ow-oo" back at
him. The impression she makes on him is abstract (as an interesting phonetic subject) while
that which he makes on her is monetary (he throws her some change), so that we get no
indication at all that any feelings of affection will eventually develop between these two.
Indeed, we must see the play as a deliberate attempt by Shaw to undo the myth of
Pygmalion, and, more importantly, the form of the romance itself. Bearing this in mind, it is
possible to approach the rest of the play without a preconceived idea of how a romantic play
should conclude, and to notice, as Shaw intends, that there are more utilitarian than
romantic aspects to the characters' relationships with one another.
ENGLISH HL
STUDY GUIDE
,Full Play Summary
Pygmalion Full Play Summary
Two old gentlemen meet in the rain one night at Covent Garden. Professor Higgins is a
scientist of phonetics, and Colonel Pickering is a linguist of Indian dialects. The first bets the
other that he can, with his knowledge of phonetics, convince high London society that, in a
matter of months, he will be able to transform the cockney speaking Covent Garden flower
girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a woman as poised and well-spoken as a duchess. The next morning,
the girl appears at his laboratory on Wimpole Street to ask for speech lessons, offering to
pay a shilling, so that she may speak properly enough to work in a flower shop. Higgins
makes merciless fun of her, but is seduced by the idea of working his magic on her. Pickering
goads him on by agreeing to cover the costs of the experiment if Higgins can pass Eliza off as
a duchess at an ambassador's garden party. The challenge is taken, and Higgins starts by
having his housekeeper bathe Eliza and give her new clothes. Then Eliza's father Alfred
Doolittle comes to demand the return of his daughter, though his real intention is to hit
Higgins up for some money. The professor, amused by Doolittle's unusual rhetoric, gives him
five pounds. On his way out, the dustman fails to recognize the now clean, pretty flower girl
as his daughter.
For a number of months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak properly. Two trials for Eliza follow.
The first occurs at Higgins' mother's home, where Eliza is introduced to the Eynsford Hills, a
trio of mother, daughter, and son. The son Freddy is very attracted to her, and further taken
with what he thinks is her affected "small talk" when she slips into cockney. Mrs. Higgins
worries that the experiment will lead to problems once it is ended, but Higgins and Pickering
are too absorbed in their game to take heed. A second trial, which takes place some months
later at an ambassador's party (and which is not actually staged), is a resounding success.
The wager is definitely won, but Higgins and Pickering are now bored with the project, which
causes Eliza to be hurt. She throws Higgins' slippers at him in a rage because she does not
know what is to become of her, thereby bewildering him. He suggests she marry somebody.
She returns him the hired jewelry, and he accuses her of ingratitude.
The following morning, Higgins rushes to his mother, in a panic because Eliza has run away.
On his tail is Eliza's father, now unhappily rich from the trust of a deceased millionaire who
took to heart Higgins' recommendation that Doolittle was England's "most original moralist."
Mrs. Higgins, who has been hiding Eliza upstairs all along, chides the two of them for playing
with the girl's affections. When she enters, Eliza thanks Pickering for always treating her like
a lady, but threatens Higgins that she will go work with his rival phonetician, Nepommuck.
The outraged Higgins cannot help but start to admire her. As Eliza leaves for her father's
wedding, Higgins shouts out a few errands for her to run, assuming that she will return to
him at Wimpole Street. Eliza, who has a lovelorn sweetheart in Freddy, and the wherewithal
to pass as a duchess, never makes it clear whether she will or not.
,Act 1
Pygmalion Act 1
Next
Summary
A heavy late-night summer thunderstorm opens the play. Caught in the unexpected
downpour, passersby from distinct strata of the London streets are forced to seek shelter
together under the portico of St Paul's church in Covent Garden. The hapless Son is forced by
his demanding sister and mother to go out into the rain to find a taxi even though there is
none to be found. In his hurry, he knocks over the basket of a common Flower Girl, who says
to him, "Nah then, Freddy: look wh' y' gowin, deah." After Freddy leaves, the mother gives
the Flower Girl money to ask how she knew her son's name, only to learn that "Freddy" is a
common by-word the Flower Girl would have used to address anyone.
An elderly military Gentleman enters from the rain, and the Flower Girl tries to sell him a
flower. He gives her some change, but a bystander tells her to be careful, for it looks like
there is a police informer taking copious notes on her activities. This leads to hysterical
protestations on her part, that she is only a poor girl who has done no wrong. The refugees
from the rain crowd around her and the Note Taker, with considerable hostility towards the
latter, whom they believe to be an undercover cop. However, each time someone speaks up,
this mysterious man has the amusing ability to determine where the person came from,
simply by listening to that person's speech, which turns him into something of a sideshow.
The rain clears, leaving few other people than the Flower Girl, the Note Taker, and the
Gentleman. In response to a question from the Gentleman, the Note Taker answers that his
talent comes from "simply phonetics...the science of speech." He goes on to brag that he can
use phonetics to make a duchess out of the Flower Girl. Through further questioning, the
Note Taker and the Gentleman reveal that they are Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering
respectively, both scholars of dialects who have been wanting to visit with each other. They
decide to go for a supper, but not until Higgins has been convinced by the Flower Girl to give
her some change. He generously throws her a half-crown, some florins, and a half-sovereign.
This allows the delighted girl to take a taxi home, the same taxi that Freddy has brought
back, only to find that his impatient mother and sister have left without him.
Analysis
This act is carefully constructed to portray a representative slice of society, in which
characters from vastly different strata of society who would normally keep apart are brought
together by untoward weather. It is no coincidence that this happens at the end of a show at
the theater, drawing our attention to the fact that the ensuing plot will be highly theatrical,
that its fantastic quality is gleaned from the illusionary magic of theater. While the
transformation of Eliza in the play focuses on speech, each one of her subsequent tests is
also something highly theatrical, depending on the visual impact she makes, and how she
moves. The highly visual, on top of aural (therefore, altogether theatrical), way in which the
flower girl is made into a duchess is emphasized right from this opening act. Under these
terms, it should help us to think about the comparison of the artificial makeover of Eliza
Doolittle that the phonetics scientist can achieve, to the genuine increase in self-esteem that
the considerate gentleman can bestow upon her.
, The confusion of the thunderstorm foreshadows the social confusion that will ensue when
Higgins decides to play god with the raw material that the unschooled flower girl presents to
him. In this act, everyone is introduced in very categorized roles. In this scene, Shaw
introduces almost all his major characters, but refers to them by role rather than name in his
stage directions: Note-Taker, The Flower Girl, The Daughter, The Gentleman, etc.
Furthermore, his stage directions describing where characters stand with every line,
particularly in relation to other characters, come across as more than fastidious in their
detail. All this evokes a society whose members have rigid relations to one another. The odd,
seemingly irrelevant episode when The Mother gives the Flower Girl money to find out how
she knew her son's name shows the Mother's fear that her son might be associating with the
wrong sort. The incident also conflates a real name with a common term that can apply to
anyone; Freddy is for a moment both term and character. By the end of the act, The Note-
Taker, The Gentleman, and The Flower Girl have become Higgins, Pickering, and Eliza,
respectively. This move will continue through the length of the play, where a less visible
blooming of real persons out of mere social positions occurs. If Higgins is one kind of
Pygmalion who makes a flower girl a duchess, Shaw is a grander, more total Pygmalion who
can will transform mere titles into human names.
Remembering that Pygmalion is subtitled "A Romance in Five Acts," this act strikes us as a
rather odd, unceremonious way of introducing the heroes of a romance. For starters, the
heroine is described as being "not at all a romantic figure." The hero calls the heroine a
"squashed cabbage leaf," while she can do no better than "Ah-ah-ah-ow-ow-ow-oo" back at
him. The impression she makes on him is abstract (as an interesting phonetic subject) while
that which he makes on her is monetary (he throws her some change), so that we get no
indication at all that any feelings of affection will eventually develop between these two.
Indeed, we must see the play as a deliberate attempt by Shaw to undo the myth of
Pygmalion, and, more importantly, the form of the romance itself. Bearing this in mind, it is
possible to approach the rest of the play without a preconceived idea of how a romantic play
should conclude, and to notice, as Shaw intends, that there are more utilitarian than
romantic aspects to the characters' relationships with one another.
