How Does the Audience Feel About Higgins at the End of the Play? Do We Have Any Sympathy for Him?
Throughout the play of Pygmalion, Higgins is portrayed to the audience in many ways. He is a well educated and intelligent man that, however, possesses horrendous manners and is socially inept. An example of this is shown when his own mother, Mrs Higgins, doesn’t want him in her house when she has company and also when she says that she doesn’t want to attend church the same time as him as he is rude.
‘You offend all my friends: they stop coming whenever they meet you.’ – Mrs Higgins.
‘He cant behave himself in church. He makes remarks out loud all the time on the clergyman’s pronunciation.’ – Mrs Higgins.
Though is it possible that we, as the audience, may have a change of heart in our feelings towards this brutish genius? May we feel some sympathy for him?
After the evening party that Higgins, Eliza and Pickering return to the house in Wimpole Street. Higgins and Pickering converse over how well the evening had gone and also that they were glad that the bet had been won as the lessons were boring and tedious to them now.
‘It was interesting enough at first, while we were at the phonetics; but after that I got deadly sick of it.’ – Higgins.
They say this while Eliza is in the room. She becomes furious by the fact that they were not congratulating her on doing such a good job and overlooking her part in the evening completely.
‘Eliza tries to control herself and feel indifferent as she rises and walks across to the hearth to switch off the lights. By the time she gets there she is on the point of screaming.’
After Pickering leaves, Higgins is trying to find his slippers. Eliza throws them in his face shouting at him. She believes that he doesn’t care about her and that he will return her to the gutter soon enough.
‘Why didn’t you leave me where you picked me out of – in the gutter? You thank God it’s all over, and that now you can throw me back again there, do you?’ – Eliza.
They both calm down slightly after Eliza tries to attack Higgins. After this,
‘You offend all my friends: they stop coming whenever they meet you.’ – Mrs Higgins.
‘He cant behave himself in church. He makes remarks out loud all the time on the clergyman’s pronunciation.’ – Mrs Higgins.
Though is it possible that we, as the audience, may have a change of heart in our feelings towards this brutish genius? May we feel some sympathy for him?
After the evening party that Higgins, Eliza and Pickering return to the house in Wimpole Street. Higgins and Pickering converse over how well the evening had gone and also that they were glad that the bet had been won as the lessons were boring and tedious to them now.
‘It was interesting enough at first, while we were at the phonetics; but after that I got deadly sick of it.’ – Higgins.
They say this while Eliza is in the room. She becomes furious by the fact that they were not congratulating her on doing such a good job and overlooking her part in the evening completely.
‘Eliza tries to control herself and feel indifferent as she rises and walks across to the hearth to switch off the lights. By the time she gets there she is on the point of screaming.’
After Pickering leaves, Higgins is trying to find his slippers. Eliza throws them in his face shouting at him. She believes that he doesn’t care about her and that he will return her to the gutter soon enough.
‘Why didn’t you leave me where you picked me out of – in the gutter? You thank God it’s all over, and that now you can throw me back again there, do you?’ – Eliza.
They both calm down slightly after Eliza tries to attack Higgins. After this,