The Character of Henry Higgins in Pygmalion Essay -- Character Analysi

Shaw has often been criticized for his inability to realize well- developed round voices. His characters are usually seen as mere puppets propelled by the crisis of the plot or as mouthpieces for his socialist viewpoint. However in Pygmalion,, Shaw vindicates himself of these charges by the creation of rounded and feeling-like characters such as Higgins and Eliza. Clearly they are non authorial stooges. They have a peculiar quality that leaves a perpetual imprint on the readers memory. But there is some truth in the charge that Shaw created a mouthpiece for his own ideas and the character of Alfred Doolittle is a case in point. While Doolittle is undoubtedly a staple comic character, he is an artificial and flat one. Doolittle is there for a purpose - he serves Shaws informative needs. As such he is in the Dickens vein of exaggeration. Doolittles character is pull for the sole purpose of ridiculing the Victorian philosophy of the undeserving poor. superstar cannot call up s uch a character existing in real life. On the whole, however, Pygmalion is peopled with imaginative and lively characters. While Higgins and Eliza are excellent, even the minor(ip) characters are well drawn. Henry Higgins Higgins is an extremely interesting character and the life of the play. Although the plays obvious concern is the metamorphosis of a common flower girlfriend into a duchess, the development of Higgins character is also important. The play isnt only Elizas story. One also detects changes in Higgins or to be more precise he appears to the reader in a new light at the end. This is seen when he tells Eliza that he has grown accustomed to seeing her face and hearing her voice. This is not much of a sensitive display of emotions but it is quite diffe... ...ough the character of Higgins. It is obvious that Higginss manners are not much better than those of the Covent tend flower girl. In accompaniment Higgins comes off much worse because of the fact that he has had a ll the civilizing benefits of wealth and education yet he is natural to the point of being boorish and ill mannered, is given to frequent instigative outbursts, and possesses abominable table manners. The fact that such an ill- mannered person is authentic by ball club as a gentleman provides Shaw with an opportunity to ferret out the shallowness and hypocrisy of such a society. Shaw thus critiques a society that views wealth and the ability to speak correctly as the constitutive criteria of a prescriptive gentleman. It is one of Shaws master ironic strokes to make such a rude and boorish egotistical bully the main agent for transforming a common flower girl into a lady.