History of English Language
Eliza Doolittle, the daughter of Mr.
Alfred Doolittle is one of the chief protagonists of the play Pygmalion
written by G.B.Shaw around which all the events revolve.
As the play opens Eliza is presented
before us as a poor, ignorant and rustic flower girl. After three months of
training when she appears in the drawing room of Mrs. Higgins, she produces
such remarkable impression that everyone rises from their seat. Finally, at the
Ambassador’s Party everyone was charmed by her looks and behavior and took her
to be princess. The radical changes can be noticed not only in her speech but
also in her appearance. She turned to be a pretty and graceful young lady under
the training she received from Higgins and Pickering’s treatment of morality. However,
this was not entirely Higgins’s achievement. Without Eliza’s self-discipline
and commitment to learning, she could not become a lady she was at the end.
Eliza is highly ambitious and
confident. She wants to get the knowledge and power of the upper class. She
wants to become a lady in a fashionable flower shop. It is her desire that led
her to Higgins to get the training for which even she is ready to pay. When she
enters Higgins’s house and he does not treat her respectfully she administers a
mild rebuke to him. She tells him,
Well, if you was a gentleman,
you might ask me to sit down, I think.
This brings forth her confidence and
consciousness for self-respect. At the end of the play, her confidence
multiplies and is not afraid to argue her point, defending own rights. This can
be observed when she confronts Higgins on the matter of his insensitivity,
stating that she is not dirt under his feet.
Analyzing the play deeply, we find
the play falls into two parts. In the first part, a duchess is made out of a
flower girl and in the second a woman out of a duchess. From the point of view
of Higgins, Eliza is a statue in the 1st Act, a diligent student in
the 2nd, a doll of his own making in the 3rd , a rebel in
the 4th and a consort battleship in the 5th Act.
To an extent Eliza also represents
the Shavian Life and moderate kind of Feminism. We have already seen how
assertive she is and how she refuses to be treated as dirt under anyone’s
feet. She is also impelled by the driving energy that leads life
upwards. She has the will and ambition to go up in the world and she learns
things with an astonishing rapidity. Moreover, Eliza is not willing to accept
the humble subservient position that a woman is normally assigned in the human
society. As has been observed Shaw denies the view that women love to be
mastered and bullied, even beaten. Eliza prefers the weaker Freddy, who adores
her and whom she can dominate to the masterful Higgins when it comes to
marriage. On that fateful night after the party, once she refuses to carry
Higgins’s slippers and act as his personal secretary, his own attitude towards
her changes. Now he encourages her to play the assertive role. He may not sound
very convincing when he says,
I think a woman fetching a man’s
slippers is a disgusting sight…I think a good deal more of you for throwing
them in my face…who cares for a slave?
Nevertheless everything changes that
night and Eliza seldom reverts to the earlier situation. Later,
He storms and bullies and
derides but she stands up to him so ruthlessly…
So, in a way Eliza’s determination
to fight for her rights against Higgins represents a feminist angle in her
role.
Therefore, Shaw shows us that inside
the rough and ignorant flower girl there was a fine, sensitive and confident
woman who appears in all her brightness as a result of her training in speech
and manners. Every flower girl cannot become a duchess. Eliza is able to break
this social barrier by the force of her personality, her hard-work, her common
sense and her strong will power.
Pretty useful notes on Character Sketch of Eliza Doolittle.
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