Act III
Main Points of Act Three
1- Mrs. Higgins is visited by her son.
2- Higgins explains his bet with Pickering over Eliza and says that she is coming to the house to
try out her accent.
3- Mrs. and Miss Eynsford are shown in, and they are the same mother and daughter who were
waiting for a cab at the beginning of the play.
4- Eliza is shown in, exquisitely dressed, and she makes quite an impression. In fact, Freddy falls
in love with her.
5- Eliza has been warned to limit her conversation to the weather and to people’s health.
6- Mrs. Higgins scolds the men (Higgins and Colonel Pickering), declaring that their project with
Eliza, while clever, cannot work because no skill in pronunciation or fancy dresses can change
the subject matter of what Eliza talks about.
7- They exit, talking about how they will take Eliza to a Shakespeare exhibition and then have her
mimic all of the people there when they get home.
Themes of Act Three
Transformation:
Pygmalion is ultimately a story about the transformative, and sometimes problematic,
power of education. In Pygmalion, Shaw asserts that nature, not nurture, is the more important
factor in the development of intelligence and skill. The theme of transformation in Pygmalion
highlights the idea that people are capable of change and growth. It also underscores the
importance of education and the transformative power of language and communication.
Realism:
In Pygmalion, the theme of realism is portrayed through the characters and their
lifestyles. The play presents a realistic portrayal of English society and its classes during the
early 20th century. The characters in the play represent different aspects of society and their
conversations and actions are portrayed in a realistic manner. Through the character of Eliza
Doolittle, the play also explores the realistic struggles of the working-class people to improve
their social standing and integrate into higher society. Overall, the theme of realism in
Pygmalion creates a vivid and detailed picture of society during that time period.
A. Answer the following questions in your copybooks:
1. Colonel Pickering serves as a backup for Higgins’ theories. What do you think?
2. Higgins and Pickering have so much in common but they are quite different. Explain
3. As professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering are discussing Eliza’s issue with Mrs.
Higgins, how would you characterize their treatment of Eliza? Is Mrs. Higgins
right when she says that the two men treat Eliza as a “live doll”.
4. In what ways is Eliza changing? Is it only her pronunciation that is changing? Are
her values and self – identity also changing?
5. Even though Eliza committed many mistakes, Higgins still believes in her.
Elaborate
6. “You see, we are all savages, more or less. We are supposed to be civilized and
cultured- to know all about poetry and philosophy and art and science, and so on,
but how many of us know even the meanings of these names? “
- What message does Higgins wanted to deliver?
B. Comment on the following in your copybooks:
1. “I’ve a sort of bet on that. I’ll pass her off as a duchess in six months. I started on her some
months ago and she’s getting on like a house on fire.”
2. “Well, you never fall in love with anyone under forty-five. When will you discover that
there are some rather nice-looking young women about?”
3. “She’s not presentable. She’s a triumph of your art and of her dressmaker, but if you suppose
for a moment that she doesn’t give herself away in every sentence she utters, you must be
perfectly cracked about it.”
4. “I’ve had to work at the girl every day for months to get her to her present pitch. Besides,
she’s useful. She knows where my things are, and remembers my appointments and so forth.”
5. “No, you two infinitely stupid male creatures: the problem of what is to be done with her
afterwards.”
6. “She’ll mimic all the people for us when we get home.”
7. “By George, yes; it all comes back to me Covent Garden. What a damned thing!”
