Analysis of the first three pages of Act Two, from

Pygmalion
I have chosen to subject the first three pages of act two of the play to my
analysis because it is in act 2 that the play gains direction, namely the re-
education of Eliza Doolittle the flower girl. Also, it gives valuable insight to the
nature of Higgins’ living, and of his work (the scene is set in his laboratory, where
Higgins practices the science of phonetics). We also witness how Higgins
interacts with those he has respect for; this is not a chance meeting in Covent
Garden, it is a premeditated occasion between two men who share the same
interests.

The act begins with a description of the laboratory, and it must be noted that
George Bernard Shaw is giving directions to whichever dramatics company is
producing the play. This Shaw ensures the actors will not have to walk
unnecessarily far across the stage to perform actions (such as offering Eliza
chocolates, which occurs outside this excerpt).

Higgins lives in a flat in Wimpole street; flats o not have a lot of rooms, and so
Higgins, so passionate about his profession, has converted the drawing room into
a laboratory. This indicates that he had little use for a drawing room, which could
mean he does little social interaction. Many Pygmalion readers have suggested
Higgins is dyspraxic, incapable of pleasant interaction with the majority of
humanity. His (hypothetical) condition is reflected in his arrangement of his
home.

Bernard Shaw has listed specialist phonetics equipment that he wants at Higgins’
disposal; these obscure devices will not be recognised by most of the audience,
but Shaw had studied phonetics and so had probably used some of the
equipment at some point during his education. Shaw has displayed his
knowledge of the science to the scriptreader. Doubtless he was proud of his
knowledge and could not bring himself to throw away the opportunity to make
his expertise known.

It is worth noting the “supply of wax cylinders”; before the vinyl record was
invented, wax was used to record sound.

The room betrays its disguised origins by the fireplace, an easy chair and a
newspaper stand. Evidently, Higgins uses the room as his retreat from the vulgar
masses of London, where he can indulge in his love of reading, phonetics and
possibly music (Shaw insists on a grand piano).

Higgins also has some engravings, though I daresay Shaw wanted them there to
emphasise the homely nature of the laboratory rather than depict Higgins as a
cultured art lover.

George describes where Higgins guest, Colonel Pickering, is located, though he

neglects to describe the Colonel in any detail. In contrast, he gives a lengthy
description of Higgins. This is justified in that the Higgins we saw last in Covent
Garden was not the professional scientist; now that he is in formal attire, doing
what he loves most, Higgins gives us his full character spectrum rather than a
rude note-taker, wielding his unnatural power of location-by-dialect, and with an
English language-related insult on his lips.

Shaw gives description of his clothing, but little detail of his bodily features other
than abstract adjectives such as “robust, vital [and] appetising”. Shaw does tell
us he is “forty or thereabouts”, but theatrical writers cannot afford to be too
picky when describing characters, as there are only so many actors who can
convincingly match a detailed physical description of a character.

Shaw further desires that the actor appear “violently interested in anything that
can be studied”. Higgins has devoted his existence to his studies, and if that is
gone then Higgins is no longer Higgins. It is his tireless passion for his work that
makes him such a popular character, despite his apparent rudeness.

The action and dialogue begin as Higgins concludes his morning discussion with
Pickering. Pickering admits he “havnt [sic] taken half of it in”, which insinuates
Higgins, believing himself to be in the company of a fellow devotee to phonetics,
has given a lengthy, horribly one-sided talk on what he does, and Pickering has
failed to keep up with Higgins in full phonetic flow Pickering signals a desire of a
change of conversation by evacuating Higgins’ ‘work’ area of the laboratory to
the ‘leisure’ area by the fire.

Higgins is evidently disappointed by Pickerings lack of fascination. He follows

Pickering yet he does not seat himself, perhaps yearning to draw Pickering back
into his work area. He makes an ironic comment; “tired of listening to sounds?”,
trying to goad Pickering back into discussing phonetics. Pickering is adamant,
conceding “yes” to Higgins’ question, sacrificing his intellectual imae to make
Higgins shut up about his work. He admits he “rather fancied himself” due to his
ability to pronounce 24 vowel sounds, but he has realised his paltry knowledge is
nothing compared to Higgins’ total domination of the subject.

Higgins celebrates his small victory with a sweet from his treat bowel (on top of
the piano; Shaw has strategically positioned the bowl so that his conversation
with Pickering won’t be interrupted). Higgins has the mentality of a child, fond of
sweets and chocolates, for all his intellectual graces.

As their exchange finishes, Higgins’ housekeeper Mrs Pearce enters, announcing

a guest, “a young woman”. Mrs Pearce represents the conventional opinions of
the middle classes, as opposed to Higgins’ eccentricity. She describes the guest
as “a common girl”. This brings an important issue of the play to the fore; class.
She shows she is used to Higgins’ unusual ways (“but really you see such queer
people sometimes”) but apologises in advance for the vulgarity that is about to
invade the household.

Higgins pounces on his guest’s sole possession that interests him; “has she an
interesting accent?”. Upon hearing his prayers answered, he eagerly leaps to
reload his phonograph in anticipation of the accents owner. As Mrs Pearce leaves
to fetch the guest, he tells (the probably quite tired) Pickering how he’ll examine
his guest. He tells Pickering how, with a phonograph, “you can turn her on
whenever you like” (thus rendering social interaction unnecessary).

Mrs Pearce presents the guest, the flower girl from the previous evening.
Pickering appears respectful in the presence of ladies, but Higgins treats
everyone equally rudely, and remains steadfast in his attitudes. Eliza has spent
some of what Higgins gave her the previous night on trying to improve her
appearance (pre-empting the plays subject, transforming her appearance); she
wants something only Higgins can give her, and so she wishes to gain his favour.
The audience is meant to be moved to pity by her attempt at decorum.

The excerpt ends here, and, regrettably, so does this analysis.