What drove Eliza to change? What does it mean to be high class?

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In George Bernard Shaw’s didactic, Victorian play Pygmalion, Linguistics Professor Henry Higgins’s perceptive ears are offended by the sound of Eliza’s lowly, Cockney accent, so he wishes to change it into a flawless, pleasant voice that would blend in among high society. Higgins is a sarcastic and rude character who treats Eliza badly throughout most of the play, sometimes not even acknowledging her presence. This brings up the question of why she tolerates his rudeness. What drove Eliza to change? Change is desired when we face conflicts that must be resolved. Another question this play presents is: What does it mean to be high class? Is it as Henry Higgins says it is, that it is just the proper way of speaking? Can the “right” sociolinguistics or money or heritage give someone high status?

We can wish to change when wanting to improve ourselves, to satisfy others who we hold in esteem, to meet demands placed upon us, but most importantly, a successful change must come from self-motivated reasons. A change forced upon a person is like no change at all. After the pressure, the expectations, the possible threat of that comes with authority, have all been removed, a change can only last if the subject being changed had wanted to be changed in the first place. Initially, she wanted to improve her speaking voice so that she could find a better job, and with a better job, better prospects in every part of her life. She realizes that she can do this with Higgins’s help—she recognizes his expertise in this subject, but he is unwilling to help her until she pays him a high sum that she cannot afford. Higgins’s peer Colonel Pickering’s attention is brought to Eliza’s plight and he feels for her, so he strikes up a wager with Higgins and ...

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...see any kind of challenge in Freddy, so he was not of so much interest to her. George Bernard Shaw’s message, though, is that affection for another person should not be disguised as distaste, for eventually, the person we love will move on to somebody else who treats him or her as he or she deserves to be treated. In a way, Eliza’s plan to marry Freddy is a type of poetic justice against Higgins, who, even though exhibits the proper grammar and speech of gentility, is not truly a gentleman. His behavior and attitude are just inexcusable for a heroine like Eliza. From this irony and dark humor in Pygmalion, we learn that we should be genuine and reveal our true feelings for a love interest eventually, even if it is slowly to keep ourselves from being hurt—we do not want to meet Higgins’s lonely fate. He could have had Eliza, but his caustic behavior kept them apart.

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