Summary of Pygmalion

Two old men meet on a rainy night at Covent Garden. One is Professor Higgins, an expert in speech sounds. The other is Colonel Pickering, a linguist who studies Indian languages. Higgins confidently says that by teaching correct speech, he can change a poor flower girl named Eliza Doolittle, who speaks rough Cockney English, into a lady who sounds like a duchess. Pickering accepts the challenge and agrees to pay all the expenses.

The next morning, Eliza comes to Higgins’ house on Wimpole Street. She wants speech lessons so that she can get a respectable job in a flower shop. She even offers a shilling as payment. Higgins laughs at her and makes fun of her, but he is excited by the experiment. Pickering encourages him, and the training begins. Eliza is first cleaned, bathed, and given new clothes.

Soon, Eliza’s father Alfred Doolittle comes to Higgins’ house. He pretends to want his daughter back, but actually wants money. Higgins finds his strange way of speaking amusing and gives him five pounds. When Doolittle leaves, he does not even recognise Eliza because she now looks clean and well-dressed.

For many months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak and behave like a lady. She is tested twice. The first test is at Mrs. Higgins’ house, where she meets the Eynsford Hill family. Freddy, the son, is very attracted to Eliza. When she accidentally slips into her old accent, he finds it charming. Mrs. Higgins worries about Eliza’s future, but Higgins and Pickering do not listen.

The second test takes place at an ambassador’s garden party. Eliza performs perfectly and fools everyone into believing she is a high-born lady. The bet is won. However, Higgins and Pickering lose interest after their success. Eliza feels hurt and confused about her future. In anger, she throws Higgins’ slippers at him. Higgins tells her to marry someone, which angers her more. She returns the jewellery she had borrowed, and Higgins wrongly calls her ungrateful.

The next morning, Higgins goes to his mother’s house in panic because Eliza has disappeared. Eliza’s father also arrives, now rich because a millionaire left him money after Higgins praised him as a great thinker. Mrs. Higgins scolds both men for treating Eliza like an experiment.

Eliza comes in and politely thanks Pickering for always treating her with respect. She warns Higgins that she may work with his rival, Nepommuck. Higgins is shocked but secretly admires her confidence. As Eliza leaves for her father’s wedding, Higgins calls out chores to her, assuming she will return. Eliza, who has Freddy’s love and can live as an independent woman, does not clearly say whether she will come back or not.

“The story shows how language changes status, but self-respect gives real power.”