Pygmalion “My Fair Lady Minus Music” Character Descriptions

Eliza Doolittle: One of the widest-ranged parts of all time, she must go from turn-of-the- century, London street-urchin to Edwardian lady. Initially brash, brassy, saucy, uneducated, and openly mercenary, she does, however, maintain a youthful naïveté despite her days in the streets. Eliza is prone to emotional outbursts; in the beginning, these are simply tearful, in Act II, they are both tearful and angry. She puts on airs, is a quick study, and grows not just from bag lady to real lady, but from isolated girl to independent woman; dare we even say from suffering to suffragette.

Henry Higgins: Make no mistake, this is one of the most demanding male roles in theatre; Professor Higgins is an inexhaustible, exhausting part. A professor of phonetics (the study of the parts and sounds of human speech), he’s a petulant, spoiled, middle-aged brat; the lion’s share of lines are his and the words spill out like a rapidly-flowing river. Selfish, egotistical, and generally quite obnoxious, he sails around as if he owns the world. The line of his that best describes his attitude is: “What is life but a series of inspired follies? The difficulty is in finding them to do! Never lose a chance! It doesn’t come along every day!” ‘High energy’ does not begin to describe his enthusiasm. One might think he’s, at LEAST, a caffeine addict.

Hugh Pickering: Colonel Pickering is bombastic, but every inch the Victorian gentleman. A career military-man, he is, nevertheless, independently wealthy, learned, and a well-traveled man of the world. A wonderful comparison for character study is Winston Churchill; he is, at the same time, commanding and fatherly, as Churchill was to his people during World War II. Throw in a little Santa Claus for the jolly aspect of his character and you’re nearly there.

Alfred Doolittle: If the streets of London were the bounding main, Alfie would be one of the most cunning pirates on the waves. He could broker a deal between the Pope and the Devil. Eliza says of her father that his profession is: “Talking money out of other people’s pockets and into his own.” By his own admission, he has no morals, “I can’t afford ‘em.” He’s a dustman, after all, a garbage man; he works in the streets, parties in the streets, and prefers the streets. If he has enough money to pay his rent, for his food, and for shots and beer, he’s happy. “I’m undeserving, and I mean to go ON being undeserving; I like it, and that’s the truth!” Seriously, think pirate…

Mrs. Higgins: Henry’s mother, she both loves him and is exasperated by him; she probably blames herself for the way he turned out. A widow, she is strong, independent, determined, and an elegant lady, while, at the same time, being practical, logical, a good psychoanalyst, and even excellent at reverse psychology! Mrs. Pearce: Higgins’ house-keeper, she is large and in charge. There’s a love-hate relationship between her and Professor Higgins; one wonders if, perhaps, she was his nanny when he was growing up, but has stayed with him through his adulthood. She is matronly and motherly, but also staunch and stubborn; oh, Higgins always gets his way, alright, but on her terms and within her parameters. She shows no concern that she might lose her job, on the contrary, she’s willing to raise her voice to him, and to lecture him.

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: She’s really lower-middle-class, but aspires herself and her family to appear upper-middle-class; if you’ve ever seen the British Comedy Keeping Up Appearances, she’s a lot like it’s main character, Mrs. Bucket, who INSISTS that’s pronounced: Bouquet! She does what she does for her children, pretending to be above her station, that is, to try and marry them off to personages of wealth and breeding (it wouldn’t hurt at all that she might be well-provided-for in her old age as a result). It should be obvious that she is putting on airs. Freddy Eynsford-Hill: By every definition, he is a mama’s boy, although, in the world of his mother ‘s making, that’s pronounced: “ma-mah.” He is also putting on airs, in the style his mother has taught him to. Underneath the façade of perfect, young gentleman, lurks the reality of clumsy, impetuous boy; he’s not always able to hide the latter. He knocks his sister over, for instance, when she comes between him and the girl he’s infatuated with, sleeps on that girl’s doorstep, and pronounces himself engaged to her even though he hasn’t proposed yet. He has two pratfalls. Clara Eynsford-Hill: Unlike her brother, she resents the caricature her mother puts her up to play; she WANTS to be brash and brassy, to say what she thinks and feels, and to be, very much, her own person. Her mother may win at making her look like a cupie-doll but, below that, she bubbles with street-smarts and probably keeps friends from her true station, the lower middle-class. She is a little more spoiled than Freddy, having stolen the baby-spot from him; she pushes back against her mother verbally and openly.

Female Bystander: A cockney street-woman, common and outspoken.

Male Bystander: A cockney street-person, also common and outspoken.

Butler: Perhaps common, but presentable, even regal.

Bobbie: Also, possibly, a common-person, but above that now, only because he wears a uniform.

Parlor-Maid: As with the butler, common but presentable, with a veneer of respectability.