Pygmalion: who's who, timeline and places
Everyone in Pygmalion, what happens when, and where, without spoilers: tell us how far you have read and we show only what you already know.
- ElizaA flower seller who fears that a stranger recording her speech is a police informer.First seen in act 1
- HigginsA phonetics specialist who identifies people's origins through their accents and claims he can transform the flower seller's speech.First seen in act 1
- PickeringA colonel who meets Higgins during the encounter with the flower seller.First seen in act 1
- FreddyHe searches for a cab and knocks down a flower seller's basket.First seen in act 1
- Mrs. PearceShe questions Eliza's arrangement with Higgins, supervises her washing, and challenges his language and habits.First seen in act 2
- Alfred DoolittleA man who obtains five pounds from Higgins and leaves Eliza in his household.First seen in act 2
- Mrs. HigginsHiggins's mother, who questions how Eliza will support herself after the speech experiment.First seen in act 3
- Act 1
Freddy knocks down a flower seller's basket while searching for a cab, and his mother pays for the damaged flowers.
- Act 1
The flower seller fears the stranger recording her speech is a police informer, but he identifies himself as Higgins.
- Act 1
Higgins meets Pickering, claims he can transform the girl's social presentation, and gives her money for a taxi.
- Act 2
Eliza visits Higgins's laboratory and offers a shilling for speech lessons so she can work in a flower shop.
- Act 2
Pickering offers to fund the experiment and challenges Higgins to prepare Eliza for an ambassador's garden party.
- Act 2
Mrs. Pearce questions the arrangement and takes Eliza to wash, while Alfred Doolittle obtains five pounds and leaves her there.
- Act 3
Higgins brings Eliza to his mother's gathering, where her appearance and pronunciation impress the guests but her conversation unsettles them.
- Act 3
Mrs. Higgins asks how Eliza will support herself after the experiment, but the men offer no clear plan.
- Act 4
Higgins and Pickering celebrate the experiment's success without recognizing Eliza's distress.
- Act 4
Eliza throws Higgins's slippers at him and demands to know what will become of her.
- Act 5
Higgins and Pickering seek police help to find Eliza while Mrs. Higgins conceals her upstairs.
- Act 5
Alfred Doolittle blames Higgins's joking recommendation for an unexpected income whose social obligations make him miserable.
- Act 5
Mrs. Higgins reveals Eliza's whereabouts and rebukes the men for failing to acknowledge her work.
- Act 5
Eliza credits Pickering with teaching her self-respect and confronts Higgins, leaving their disagreement over her return unresolved.
Hidden until you have read that far.
- Wimpole Street laboratoryHiggins's laboratory, where Eliza comes to ask for speech lessons.First seen in act 2
- Mrs. Higgins’s drawing roomThe setting for the afternoon gathering where Higgins tests Eliza's speech and manners.First seen in act 3
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