Eliza Doolittle
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The famous Irish poet Oscar Wilde once wrote, “The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.” A firm believer in this quote is George Bernard Shaw, who in his play Pygmalion ends the novel as a cliffhanger, leaving it open to interpretation. At the end of the plays fifth act, the reader is left pondering what exactly becomes of one of the main characters, Eliza Doolittle, now that she has reformed her speaking ways. One of the main themes supported throughout the novel is how a persons personality and how they act towards others is far more important to other people than external factors, such as looks or money. This theme suggests that after the end of the novel a reasonable assumption would be that Eliza marries Freddy. Shaws writing style as well as the themes he conveys throughout the novel lead the reader to believe that after the play ends, Eliza marries Freddy.
Throughout the novel, Eliza Doolittle goes through several changes that eventually lead the reader to believe that after the play is over, Eliza marries Freddy. At the beginning of the novel, Eliza Doolittle is an ordinary flower girl with a horrible way of speaking. Shaw shows just how bad Elizas accent is by misspelling words intentionally in order to fully show how terrible Elizas pronunciation is, when Eliza asks Mrs. Eynsford Hill “Ow, eez ye-ooa san, is e? Wal, few dan y de-oot bawmz a mather should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gels flahrzn than ran awy athaht pyin” (13-14). This quotation can take quiet some time to interpret, and really plays into the characterization of Eliza, showing how much work has to be done on her by Higgins and Pickering. Also in the beginning of the novel Eliza pretty much allows herself to be a source of amusement for Higgins and Pickering, both of whom treat Eliza very poorly all throughout the novel. Higgins never gives Eliza any credit, claiming her success as his own, and even suggesting