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Sounds
Higgins’ scientific obsession with language—and by extension speech and sounds—is the conduit for Shaw’s examination of how speech patterns affect one’s interpretation of the world and how one is interpreted by the world. In the opening of the play, Higgins calls Eliza out when he says, “A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere—no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech.” In response, Eliza utters the unintelligible and inarticulate “Ah—ah—ah—ow—ow—oo!” To Higgins, Eliza’s production of vocal sounds is grating, leading him to consider her as less than human and nothing more than a subject to be studied. This condescension is ironic, considering he just told Eliza she should speak like the human being she is. Later in Act 3, Higgins calls Eliza a parrot, not only emphasizing his habit of dehumanizing Eliza, but comparing her to an animal that is most known for its ability to repeat human language without necessarily having any agency. In this regard, Shaw questions if sounding like a lady is an adequate indicator of self and identity.
How Eliza sounds from the beginning of the play to the end also represents the extent of her transformation. As Pickering mentions to Mrs. Higgins, Eliza is adept at recognizing sounds. In Act 5, Eliza tells Higgins, “I don’t believe I could utter one of the old sounds if I tried.” Auditorily, Eliza occupies the role of a lady, since she speaks, sounds, acts, and looks like one. Yet when her father surprises her in the same scene, Eliza reverts to her former “A—a—a—a—a—ah—ow—ooh!” Therein she proves Higgins’ cynical belief that she can still relapse to her previous identity. Shaw’s emphasis on sound as a motif speaks to his larger concerns as a playwright and the theatrical nature of plays in general. Like the way in which Eliza’s transformation into a lady is not solely based on the way she speaks, but how she looks and acts in a different echelon of society, an actor must not only look the part, but sound it as well. The emphasis on sound as a motif creates an auditory tapestry that supports the idea of how identity can be fashioned through speech and how spoken language can be adorned in order to allow one to access certain class opportunities.
Misidentification
In the opening of the play, Eliza is misidentified as a prostitute which leads to a conflict among the other bystanders, forcing her to defend her status as a “good girl.” This motif of misidentification is further reinforced in the first act as Higgins is incorrectly identified as a police officer waiting to arrest Eliza for solicitation, when he’s actually an expert in phonetics. In Act 2, Eliza refutes Mrs. Pearce’s claim that she is unable to pay for Higgins’ language lessons. Because of Eliza’s language and presumed class status, she is written off as not being able to pay for herself. Shaw doubles down on the motif of misrecognition when Eliza dons foreign clothing and her father is unable to recognize her, emphasizing how clothes are huge indicators of both class and identity.
Shaw asserts that one’s opinions of others based on appearance alone is not infallible. In fact, it often leads to incorrect assumptions. In Act 5 for instance, when the maid announces that Mr. Doolittle wants to see Higgins, Pickering and Higgins are incredulous when he’s referred to as a gentleman. When Higgins misrecognizes his hand in Doolittle’s ascension into middle class morality, this shows how truly aloof he is about the consequences of his actions.
Creation Myth
A creation myth is an explanation of how a God creates something from out of nothing. From the Ovid myth from which the play derives its title, to the transformation of Eliza from a flower girl into a duchess through her education from Higgins, creation myths form the foundation of Pygmalion. In this regard, Higgins is positioned as a creator. As he tells his mother in Act 3, “You have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her.” Unlike the original Pygmalion myth, wherein a sculptor turns his marble statue into a woman, Higgins transforms Eliza from a flower girl into a lady through her education in learning how to speak properly. Eliza is constantly being molded and remolded, and Higgins even says he’s “inventing new Elizas.” Even before Eliza’s final transformation, the audience is made to believe in Higgins’ transformative prowess and thus his ability to create something ostensibly better with the raw materials available to him. Higgins says as much when he declares to Pickering, “I could even get her a place as lady’s maid or shop assistant, which requires better English. That’s the sort of thing I do for commercial millionaires.” By employing the creation myth, Shaw takes inspiration from Ovid’s story but also subverts it to lend credence to the theme of the limits of creation. Unlike the myth, the creator does not love his creation, at least not in any discernible romantic way. Furthermore, the creation has a mind of her own and an impetuous nature that allows her to speak up for her own worth and independence.
