The play Pygmalion and Galatea, most commonly known for a recitation of the famous storyteller Ovid, has been etched in history as a transformation story which grants the sculptor, Pygmalion, his dream lady. The play Pygmalion, written by George Barnard Shaw, defines a transformation of the main character, Eliza Doolittle. Eliza, a common flower girl from the streets of London, sees her whole life change when she is offered the opportunity to be transformed into a proper lady with the help of self absorbed professor Henry Higgins. Eliza’s common background, and her experience of having to live the majority of her life in squalor, is forced to change immediately when she lives with Professor Higgins and becomes exposed to affluency on a first-hand basis. Within weeks, intensive training by Professor Higgins designed to correct Eliza’s grammar and speaking, ends up forming her into a woman who is more proper, but also a person capable of thinking on her own, and standing up for herself. At the end of the play, she leaves Higgins and begins to start her own life, but in future adaptations of the play, such as the 1964 film My Fair Lady, Eliza ends up residing with Higgins and marrying him. Despite the original myth of Pygmalion and Galatea rewarding the creator, the ending of My Fair Lady is not considered to be the most realistic ending of Pygmalion, due to the effects of Higgins’ teachings on Eliza, and the reality behind Eliza and Higgins’ relationship.
The ending of My Fair Lady can be described as not stylistically in tune with the original ending of Pygmalion, because of the effect of Higgins’ teachings on Eliza. Before Higgins could offer any constructive advice to Eliza, Eliza was regarded as a commoner with a poor sense of English. Her indistinguishable accent led to the fascination of Professor Henry Higgins, a man who prided himself on the wealth of knowledge he attained from language. Higgins’ first reactions are of complete superiority and disgust, as he regards Eliza as “A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds… has no right to be anywhere-no right to live.” Higgins is then shortly later prompted to challenge his friend, Colonel Pickering that “in three months I [he] could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party” (Shaw 18). Eventually, Higgins begins his extreme tutoring with Eliza Doolittle, and has to deal with the reconstruction of Eliza, as she has lived most of her life with the demeanor of a peasant. Higgins’ teachings end up proving successful, in the long run, and Eliza appears to have completed her transformation into a proper lady. Eliza passes a test given from a linguistic expert, Nepommuck, and Henry Higgins successfully completes with his bet with Colonel Pickering. However, on the night of Eliza’s test and after the party at which she passes, Eliza experiences a fit of rage the next morning, and begins to accuse Professor Higgins of the way he had treated her. Eliza pleads for “a little kindness. I [She] know I’m a common ignorant girl, and you are a book-learned gentleman; but I’m not dirt under your feet… I came to care for you; not to want you to make love to me, and not forgetting the difference between us, but more friendly like” (Shaw 102-103). Despite months of facing torture at the hands of Higgins, Eliza has managed to finally break out of her inner shell of no self confidence. Instead of feeling sorry and humiliated over her inferiority to Professor Higgins, she actually uses the experiences of his teachings as a way to finally express herself, and rebel from Professor Higgins’ intense supervision. Eliza has made the full transformation of becoming a lady by having the ability to stick up for herself, and is not dependant on the likes of Higgins or anyone else. Due to the fact that Eliza has reached emotional independency, she does not rely on Higgins any more to give her advice. As a result, Eliza has become a character of her own, and having her marry Professor Higgins would undermine all of the work she has done. This similar point is brought in Stanley Solomon’s literary critic The Ending of Pygmalion: A Structural View. Solomon writes that “It remains for Act V to reveal to us the full extent of Higgins’ achievement. Then we see that Higgins has succeeded so well-he has turned the frightened, easily-dominated Eliza into an independent woman” (Solomon 62). For Eliza to marry Higgins would be detrimental to the purpose of the play, and would prove that she is still reliant on Higgins teachings.
Another reason why the ending of My Fair Lady is not in tune with the ending of Pygmalion is due to the relationship that was depicted between Professor Higgins and Eliza throughout the play. In the original poem, Pygmalion and Galatea narrated by Ovid, the sculptor, Pygmalion, is desiring for a sculpture greater than all beauty found on Earth. His work does not stop until he can reach perfection, and “he labored long and devotedly on the statue and produced a most exquisite work of art… He kept on working at it and daily under his skillful fingers it grew more beautiful” (Hamilton 144). Pygmalion’s creature provides Pygmalion with an only purpose in life, to continue perfecting it until it has reached a point of satisfaction. Henry Higgins’ creation, or attempt to remodel can be regarded as his work with Eliza. His new job ends up becoming a devotion to Eliza, and an attempt to recreate her into someone desirable by the wealthy. When Higgins meets Eliza at his house for the second time, he begins to establish a clear feeling that he is in charge of the next months and that Eliza must obey his every command. His authority comes off as rude and disrespectful, and he views Eliza as nothing more than his property, remarking that he “shall make a duchess of this draggletailed guttersnipe” (Shaw 29). Higgins also threatens Eliza into submission, with the idea of failure resulting in her “head… cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls” (Shaw 34). Even after her success, Professor Higgins never fully gives Eliza the due respect, and always continues to manage her as her own property. Higgins’ views on Eliza seem to be quite contrary to the popular belief that they both would end up living with each other. Despite her poor social standing prior to the deal to transform into a lady, Eliza has gained enough self-respect over the last 6 months to be an independent woman and not marry Professor Higgins. Due to the fact that Higgins will most likely always view Eliza as inferior, and not worthy of his appraise, the marriage between Higgins and Eliza is not likely with the play’s design.
In conclusion, the ending of My Fair Lady can simply be viewed as more utilitarian than realistic. Instead of having an audience displeased with Higgins not reaping the rewards of his teachings, the movie made Eliza and Professor Higgins foreshadow a potential marriage with each other, and a life in the future. While Professor Higgins and Eliza have certainly became close with each other, their social standing and the reality of the situation can help further prove that a marriage between the both is not in tune with the spirit of the play. Ultimately, the ending of the play was supposed to design a rebirth of Eliza, her new ability to live in her own, and not take demands from anyone. A marriage with Higgins would serve to undermine this purpose, so Eliza’s refusal to marry him in the actual play will stand the test of time as the only legitimate ending to Eliza Doolittle’s story.