Pygmalion Discussion Questions - Act II
1. What is the significance of the description of the setting at the beginning of Act II? What do these
details reveal about Higgins?
2. What seemingly inconsequential detail revealed at the end of Act I becomes pertinent in Act II?
3. Compare and contrast Shaw’s descriptions of Henry Higgins in Act I and the beginning of Act II. What
portrait is the reader given of his nature? Consider the extent to which the reader’s perceptions of Higgins
are therefore different than the audience’s perceptions.
4. What significant information do we learn about Eliza’s character in Act II?
5. Higgins’s reaction to Eliza’s arrival suggests what about his character? How does Pickering’s reaction
differ?
6. Higgins refers to Liza as “this baggage”. What does the use of this metaphor reveal about his attitude?
7. What is it that Eliza wants, and why does she need Higgins’s help? Why is Higgins so intrigued by Eliza’s
offer? What does he offer her in return? Yet what is significant about the tone of his offer?
8. Describe the nature of the relationship between Mrs. Pearce and Henry Higgins. What dramatic
purpose does she ultimately serve in terms of character and theme?
9. Compare and contrast Higgins’s, Pickering’s, and Mrs. Pearce’s attitudes toward Eliza and the
experiment. How do their differing opinions reveal important themes in the play?
10. Read the following speech, which Higgins gives concerning his intentions toward Eliza, and then assess
whether Higgins is sincere.
I walk over everybody! My dear Mrs. Pearce, my dear Pickering, I never had the slightest intention
of walking over anyone. All I propose is that we should be kind to this poor girl. We must
help her to prepare and fit herself for her new station in life. If I did not express myself clearly it
was because I did not wish to hurt her delicacy, or yours.
11. How does Higgins attempt to manipulate Eliza when she decides to leave? Why does it work? Is this an
indication that Eliza’s perspective is changing? Why or why not?
12. Discuss the author’s use of irony in Act II and what it reveals about the characters involved in each instance.
13. What is Higgins’s attitude towards women in general? Why is it important for the reader to
understand this aspect of his character?
14. What do we learn from the author’s description of Alfred Doolittle? Contrast this initial impression
with what we learn about him in the scene that follows. What pivotal pieces of information do we learn
about his relationship with Eliza?
15. Examine the complex yet humorous argument raised by Higgins and Doolittle’s discussion of social
morality and the “undeserving poor.” What is so ironic about Doolittle’s attitude?
