Pygmalion
(George Bernard Shaw)

Eliza Doolittle

Eliza is a poor girl selling flowers on the rainy streets of London at the start of the play. She has a thick Cockney accent and is loud, sassy, and a bit garish. She wants nothing more than to work in a flower shop, but no one will hire her because of the way she looks and speaks. She asks Higgins for speaking lessons, and he decides to take it a step further and turn her into a fine lady who can mingle in high society. Eliza manages to hold on to a bit of herself after she is transformed so she remains sassy, but she has no identity. When Eliza stands up for herself and becomes an independent woman she gets the admiration she had craved from Higgins only she no longer wants or needs it.

Professor Henry Higgins

Henry Higgins is interested in the science of phonetics and has created his own alphabet which he uses to discern different dialects. He is a bit of a bully and can be quite immature at times. While he is very wealthy and is able to fit in with the high society crowd he is often socially awkward and rude, though he is at heart a nice guy. He is interested in the challenge of not only teaching Eliza how to speak properly but to also turn her into a fine lady. He does not realize that he wants Eliza in his life until she stands up for herself to him, but by then it is too late.

Colonel Pickering

Pickering is a friend and colleague of Henry Higgins. Pickering is interested in phonetics just as Higgins is and is arguably just as talented. The main difference between the two main male characters is that Pickering is kind, proper, and gentlemanly. Pickering is respectful of Eliza even when she is just a Flower Girl and she credits him with teaching her how to respect herself because he always treats her like a lady. Pickering agrees to cover all costs from Higgins’ experiment in turning Eliza into a lady.

Mrs. Higgins

Mrs. Higgins is Henry’s mother. She is a very strong-willed and independent woman. She is embarrassed by the way her son acts when he is in the company of her high-class acquaintances so she does not like him to come over on her at-home days. She sees both Higgins and Pickering as nothing more than children who are playing with their favorite toy; the toy being Eliza. She feels bad for what is bound to become of Eliza when the men lose interest in their experiment. Mrs. Higgins is proven right in her assumptions and all of the characters come to her when everything begins to fall apart.

Alfred Doolittle

Alfred Doolittle is the father of Eliza. He is a Dustman who comes to Higgins’ home when he hears Eliza is there and offers to trade him Eliza for five pounds with which he will buy alcohol. Higgins is amused by the man and suggests him to a millionaire as a moral lecturer. When Alfred becomes wealthy, he despises the life, as it is too complicated for him with people coming out of the woodwork to ask him for money. He wishes that he could go back to swindling people for money.

Mrs. Pearce

Mrs. Pearce is Henry Higgins’ housekeeper. Mrs. Pearce serves as a voice of reason in the play. She knows that what Higgins is doing to Eliza could very well damage her, and leave her in a state of shock and confusion but he will not listen to her. Mrs. Pearce is the person in Higgins’ life who is the closest to the original social class which Eliza came from and, therefore, she takes it upon herself to protect Eliza as much as she can. She is the one who works closest with Eliza on her physical appearance, and she voices her concerns to Higgins whenever she sees fit.

Freddy Eynsford-Hill

Freddy first makes an appearance in the first act of the play when he accidentally knocks over Eliza’s flower basket in his haste to find a taxi for his mother and sister. When Freddy is first introduced to the “new” Eliza he is amused when she slips into moments of a Cockney accent and uses phrases that are not known in the high society. He thinks that Eliza is something special and quickly becomes quite taken with her. He sends Eliza love letters and Eliza tells Higgins, mostly just to spite him that she does not need him anymore and she will marry Freddy.

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill is a middle-aged woman of a high class and she is the mother of Freddy and Clara. She is an acquaintance of Mrs. Higgins and is one of the guests at Mrs. Higgins’ home the first time the new Eliza is unleashed on the public. It is the goal of Mrs. Eynsford-Hill to make sure her children make a positive impact on the company she introduces them to and she wants nothing more than to find them suitable marriage possibilities. Mrs. Eynsford-Hill admits that her family is in a rough place, and they are on the decline.

Clara Eynsford-Hill

Clara is the 20-ish daughter of Mrs. Eynsford-Hill. Clara represents a typical upper-class snob who cares only about her place in the social world. She knows that her family is on a decline and this serves as a source of her anxiety in the high society; she wants to find a wealthy husband to secure her spot on the world she desires. Clara in also intrigued by the way that Eliza speaks, but also disgusted by it a bit. She even tries to mimic some of Eliza’s speech after she is introduced to her at the home of Mrs. Higgins.