Aghosh
...KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
Pygmalion is set in London in the early 1900s. The physical settings of the play include the Portico at St. Paul's in
Covent Garden, Higgins' laboratory and drawing room at Wimpole Street and Mrs. Higgins' drawing room in a flat on
Chelsea Embankment. However it must be kept in mind that in the theatrical context the word 'setting' may refer to
the physical effects of a production, the scenery and properties, or it may refer to the scenery alone. Although
some critics find Pygmalion's setting to be naturalistic, others tend to disagree.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Henry Higgins
He is a mature, robust and authoritative single man in his forties. In his first appearance in the play he reveals his
single-minded devotion to his career as a phonetician. During the course of the play he transforms a common
flower girl into a duchess by teaching her how to speak correctly. However, he is surprised to learn that his
creation has acquired human emotions and has fallen in love with him.
Colonel Pickering
Shaw describes the colonel as "an elderly gentleman of the amiable military type." Colonel Pickering is the author of
Spoken Sanskrit and an expert on the subject. His caution and good manners serve to highlight Higgins' more
abrasive and volatile characteristics. Pickering thus functions as a foil to Higgins. In fact Eliza insists in the last act
that it was Pickering's courteous gentlemanly conduct and kindness of heart that really transformed her into a lady.
Eliza Doolittle
She is a young, Cockney flower girl of about twenty who is transformed in the course of the play from a
"draggletailed guttersnipe" into a duchess. The play charts her growth and development from a helpless being into
an independent woman of strength and character.
Alfred Doolittle...
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