Pygmalion: Major Character Analysis

Eliza Doolittle is my favorite character in Pygmalion. In the beginning of the story she is just a poor, Cockney flower girl. She doesn't seem to have a lot of hope for the future. She is a little bit crass but this is only because she is a product of her environment. She doesn't want to be poor and dreams of a better life. When she meets Henry Higgins he treats her like she isn't even human. She seizes the opportunity to elevate herself in life when she visits him and Colonel Pickering to ask for language lessons. She isn't asking for the world; she just wants to be able to work in a flower shop.

Eliza Doolittle is a very strong-willed and assertive woman, though maybe a little quirky. Henry Higgins puts her through hell and yet she endures and becomes a proper lady. Eliza reminds me a little of my mother. My mom started out with very little and has endured and made a good life for herself. I feel that Eliza is the most responsible for her transformation. She had will power and strength and was determined to make a better no matter what it took. I tend to think that all she needed was the confidence that she could change her position in life. Henry was a means of confidence in that she felt he could transform her through language. In reality she made the transformation for herself through her determination, dedication, and hard work. Eliza showed her intelligence and her strength in the way she handles Henry Higgins in the closing scene of the movie. The best part is when Henry tells Eliza that he will miss her and she responds with, "turn on your grammar-phone, you can't hurt it."

Henry Higgins is an egotistical snob. He is an unhappy man who hides his feelings behind a wall of sarcasm, rudeness, and superiority. When he first sees Eliza he throws some coins to her, but calls her a dirty and low "guttersnipe". He is very condescending in his attitude towards women. At one point in the story he says that they are "jealous and expect things." Henry is bossy and overbearing but tries to put up a front that he is a good person. He is also very cocky and self-assured. He is sure that he can make Eliza a lady because he is such a good teacher. He is harsh with Eliza through the whole movie and treats her like an object rather than a human being. He pushes her to the point of exhaustion. He calls her all sorts of unpleasant names. Finally, when she wins the bet, he celebrates with Colonel Pickering but doesn't say a word to Eliza.

Towards the end of the story you begin to see signs of the person that Henry pretends that he isn't. It takes Eliza threatening to marry Freddy, and then disappearing to cause Henry to panic and realize what it is he really has. Even though Henry realizes that he needs Eliza it is still hard for him to drop the hard exterior he has created. He tells Mrs. Pearce that he doesn't care what becomes of her, and then says she "has bolted, what am I to do?" When Eliza's father, Alfred, comes back dressed in dapper garb, Henry says that Eliza doesn't belong to Alfred as he paid five pounds for her. When Henry asks Eliza to come back, she asks him, "What am I to come back for?" Instead of telling her how he feels he responds with, "Freddy is a fool." He then proceeds to try to pull her into staying. In the end I think that Henry sees Eliza as an intellectual equal, but I doubt he would ever admit that.

Colonel Pickering is just as knowledgeable about language as Henry Higgins is. He is instrumental to the story in that, without the friendly wager between he and Henry there would be no story. Eliza would never have known that Henry could help her and would never have gone to him. Colonel Pickering also puts up the money to cover the cost of teaching Eliza to be a lady.

Colonel Pickering is a very likable character. He is always a gentleman. He tells Henry more than once that he is being too harsh. At one point he even tells Henry to call the whole thing off. He treats Eliza with kindness, benevolence, and compassion. He is almost fatherly. In the end Eliza thanks Colonel Pickering because he always treated her like a duchess, even when she was a flower girl. She says that the difference between a lady and a flower girl is how she is treated. Her self-confidence started when Colonel Pickering called her Ms. Doolittle. Colonel Pickering is also important to the plot in that he is the yin to Henry's yang. He is kindness compared to Henry's rudeness.

Aristide Karpathy is one of Henry Higgins earlier students. Aristide seems to be somewhat of a prodigy and has mastered several languages. We first meet Aristide at the ball where Eliza is to fool the duchess into believing she is a lady. Aristide is immediately intrigued by Eliza. He wants to find out who she is. Henry tells her that she is a flower girl named Doolittle and Aristide says this cannot be. Aristide says that she must be a Hungarian princess because she speaks English so well. He further says that English women don't know how to speak their own language. Henry repeats that she is a Cockney guttersnipe and Aristide tells him that he is crazy. Aristide is important to the story because if Eliza can fool Henry Higgins' most promising student then she has really done well.

Mrs. Higgins is essential to the story. Henry goes to his mother (who is not very happy to see him) to tell him about Eliza and that she will be coming to call. She is not very happy with the situation and tells Henry that it's foolish. Mrs. Higgins does receive Eliza however, and tries quietly help her with her behavior when the other guests have arrived. At the end of the story Eliza goes to Mrs. Higgins when she has run away. Henry and Colonel Pickering also go to Mrs. Higgins frantic that Eliza has run away. Mrs. Higgins points out that Henry was unkind to Eliza and didn't thank her for winning the bet. She says he is lucky she only threw his slippers at him. Mrs. Higgins seems to be the strength of all of the characters during the turmoil.

In closing I liked this story very much. I loved all of the characters and their different personalities. I love when Eliza gets her confidence and stands up for herself to Henry. She really starts to show some back bone after the ball when she argues with Henry. I love the lines, "I sold flowers, not myself. Now that I'm a lady that's all I can do. You should have left me where you found me." I plan to add this movie to my collection, as it has become one of my new favorites.