The relationships between the men and the women of the play
Higgins and Eliza
Higgins creates a “creature” for his own ambitious project and entertainment. Higgins is the typical male.
When he first met Eliza, he wanted her to speak proper English, meaning correct her pronunciations, become a beautiful lady, and dress like a lady, like if she was a queen. Once he was finished, she became a beautiful lady and Higgins respects her.
The question of who triumphs at the end can be answered in many ways. At face value, and probably in his mind, Higgins triumphs since he passes Eliza off as a duchess and wins his bet. He does not realise how sneering and abusive he is of Eliza and therefore for a lot of the play she feels used, abused and objectified.
At the beginning of the play, Henry Higgins is an unlikeable, domineering, selfish person with no consideration or fondness for any fellow human being. He dislikes women and he dislikes the working class, so it is unlikely he would ever form a bond of friendship with Eliza.
At the end of the play, he has changed, but not as much as Eliza. He is still snobbish, sexist, arrogant and with no manners, but it can be argued that he has learnt a small lesson and become less prejudiced against women and the working class in becoming friends with Eliza. Eliza has become a better person, she knows what she wants and she wants to marry Freddy, not because he is rich or so, but because he loves her. She has totally changed but in a way, she regrets what she used to be.
Pickering and Eliza
Pickering sees in Eliza a human being, not like Higgins who just uses her and he respects her and treats her well. He’s also the one who tempers Higgins’ and Eliza’s arguments.
Eliza sees in him a model.
Higgins and Mrs. Higgins
Mrs. Higgins is Henry’s only woman in his life. He sees in her the model of a perfect lady.
Mrs. Higgins dominates Henry, her son, and she calms her down with the whole Eliza experience.
Eliza and Mr. Doolittle
They don’t have a real father-daughter relationships. Alfred is a dustman and he doesn’t hesitate to sell his daughter. He is selfish and she thinks of him as a liar. They really don’t care for each other and have barely no relationships at all.
Eliza and Freddy
They fall in love with each other but neither of them has any money or anything and they need help to fulfill their dream. Freddy seems to be the only person that Eliza really likes and he probably is the only one who really loves Eliza for what she really is, a flower girl.
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