Pygmalion
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Act 5
Themes
All Themes Language and Speech Appearance and Identity Social Class and Manners Education and Intelligence Femininity and Gender Roles
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Eliza Doolittle Henry Higgins Colonel Pickering Clara Eynsford Hill Freddy Eynsford Hill Alfred Doolittle Mrs. Higgins Ezra D. Wannafeller
Symbols
All Symbols Clothing
Literary Devices
All Literary Devices Alliteration Allusions Dramatic Irony Foreshadowing Genre Hyperbole Irony Metaphors Mood Motifs Setting Similes Style Tone
Quizzes
All Quizzes Act 1 Quiz Act 2 Quiz Act 3 Quiz Act 4 Quiz Act 5 Quiz
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Pygmalion

by

George Bernard Shaw
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Mrs. Higgins Character Analysis

Henry Higgins' mother, who hosts the Eynsford Hills at her wealthy home in Act Three. She is initially upset by Eliza's intrusion into her polite company, but is kind to her. She tries to tell her son not to treat Eliza like an object or possession, but to instead to consider Eliza's feelings. While Higgins doesn't listen to her, she does her best to resolve things in Act Five, at least patching things up with Mr. Doolittle, Eliza, and Pickering. On stage only in her drawing room, she plays an important role and exerts some agency in the play even while constrained by the oppressive gender roles of Victorian society.

Mrs. Higgins Quotes in Pygmalion

The Pygmalion quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Higgins or refer to Mrs. Higgins. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Language and Speech Theme Icon
).
Act 3 Quotes

You certainly are a pretty pair of babies, playing with your live doll.

Related Characters: Mrs. Higgins (speaker), Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering
Education and Intelligence Theme Icon
Femininity and Gender Roles Theme Icon
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5 Quotes

She had become attached to you both. She worked very hard for you, Henry! I don't think you quite realize what anything in the nature of brain work means to a girl like that. Well, it seems that when the great day of trial came, and she did this wonderful thing for you without making a single mistake, you two sat there and never said a word to her, but talked together of how glad you were that it was all over and how you had been bored with the whole thing. And then you were surprised because she threw your slippers at you!

Related Characters: Mrs. Higgins (speaker), Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering
Education and Intelligence Theme Icon
Femininity and Gender Roles Theme Icon
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mrs. Higgins Quotes in Pygmalion

The Pygmalion quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Higgins or refer to Mrs. Higgins. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Language and Speech Theme Icon
).
Act 3 Quotes

You certainly are a pretty pair of babies, playing with your live doll.

Related Characters: Mrs. Higgins (speaker), Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering
Education and Intelligence Theme Icon
Femininity and Gender Roles Theme Icon
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5 Quotes

She had become attached to you both. She worked very hard for you, Henry! I don't think you quite realize what anything in the nature of brain work means to a girl like that. Well, it seems that when the great day of trial came, and she did this wonderful thing for you without making a single mistake, you two sat there and never said a word to her, but talked together of how glad you were that it was all over and how you had been bored with the whole thing. And then you were surprised because she threw your slippers at you!

Related Characters: Mrs. Higgins (speaker), Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins, Colonel Pickering
Education and Intelligence Theme Icon
Femininity and Gender Roles Theme Icon
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:
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