Theater Discussion Group #3- My Fair Lady

When Higgins first takes Eliza into his home to begin his teachings, Ms. Pearce (the maid) disagrees. She wants Higgins to think of what will become of Eliza when she is done.

****Or is it the amount of work she (Mrs. Pearce) will have to do in the mean time?***

Higgins says "What is to become of her if I leave her in the gutter? Answer me that, Ms. Pearce." Ms. Pearce replies "That is her business, not yours, sir." And Higgins answers "Well, when we are done with her, we can throw her back in the gutter, and it will become her business once again." Is this right of Higgins?

***Speaking for myself, no it is not right because any feeling man wouldn’t do that to a dog.***

I mean- It was Eliza's choice to have Higgins teach her, and it is really HER responsibility to think of what will happen to her. She is in charge of what becomes of her, so Ms. Pearce should not force this issue on to Higgins.

***But was she able to understand the entire scope of what would happen to her as a result of that teaching? She wanted to become a lady in a flower shop. Higgins made her “fit to dance with a king/prince”. This was far and above what she asked. I doubt that all flower shop girls were so refined as to go to a ball the way she did. What real choice did she have? It was the wager that makes Higgins interested enough to take her on as a student. At no time did he indicate that he would have trained her otherwise.

If he had, I doubt she would have lived in his house, been given nice things to wear, been fed. She would have just showed up maybe once or twice a week for lessions. Again, it was the WAGER, not any concern on his part for Eliza, herself, that seemed to motivate Higgins.

In a way, it shows an appalling lack of any type of feelings on Higgins part as a human being. Does he honestly believe that Eliza is a plaything for his amusement? Something to be used and tossed away when he is finished with it? Just another bored rich man with no care or thought to what would happen to the life he tinked with?***

Also, what is it exactly that attracts Freddy to Eliza?

***I believe that’s called “love at first sight”. There is no logic to it.***


And, how effective is this ending? It's wonderful, and quite an impact on an audience member to hear Eliza when she first started and see her now.

***I wasn’t 100% happy with that part myself because to my mind nothing was really settled. Did Higgins love her or not? He really sounded like he wanted his cake and to eat it too. I think it showed that while she learned much, he still had learned almost nothing.***

Well there's a start to the discussion anyway.

D

"On the Street Where You Live"seemed to come out of nowhere that's all."

--And it's my least favorite song in the show. Freddy always strikes me as rather sappy, much less interesting than Higgins.

"Higgins had not, in fact, really learned anything. It's a good ending, because it does leave the audience thinking"

He probably hasn't learned much of anything unless it is that a woman, other than his mother, could be interesting to him. Eliza has become strong enough by the end of the play to stand up to him. I suspect that Higgins would continue trying to run over people like a bus, but he wouldn't be able to run over Eliza any more.

Shaw said in an epilogue that it would be disastrous for Eliza to marry Higgins, but audiences from PYGMALION on, have wanted it otherwise. The ending of the musiacal at least leaves it to the audience to write the "afterward."

There really is no reason for Freddy to even be a character, other than to be someone for Eliza to consider as a suitor. It's not even like she runs to him after leaving Higgins; she goes to Higgins' mother's house!
I wonder if Eliza really wanted to go back to the professor in the end, or if she felt it was her only option?
He clearly grew to love her, but he certainly did not respect her.

Perhaps Mrs. Pierce was afraid of losing her position to this young girl who could work for less money...or marry the professor, therefore possibly leaving Mrs. Pierce with no job? I wonder if she felt threatened, or if she really did feel he was wrong (which he was). Or maybe, Mrs. Pierce was in love with him herself!!! *Now I'm getting carried away* lol

I always wonder why Eliza does not speak up as to who she is when encountering her friends after she has become a lady? She wants them to recognize her, but then she never makes the effort by saying, "Yes, it is me...Eliza!"

---