Analysis of Plot Structure in Pygmalion from Preface to Sequel

George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1913) is a Victorian-era play that centers on a

professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins, who wagers that he can transform a flower girl into a

regal duchess by teaching her proper diction. The play combines humor and romance to

demonstrate the hypocrisies inherent in society, skillfully leveraging the dramatic structure of

Freytag’s pyramid to weave together several intricate storylines and capture the reader’s interest

over the course of five acts.

Developed in the 19th century, Freytag’s pyramid is a plotline structure comprised of five

stages: introduction (or exposition), rising action, climax, falling action, and catastrophe (or

denouement) (Pugh and Johnson 131). Nonetheless, every narrative is unique and employs this

technique in different variations. If the plot follows a chronological order, it can be called a

linear plot. This device also involves foreshadowing and flashbacks that provide information to

the reader concerning the past or future (Klarer). Pygmalion also makes use of complication,

another literary device, which adds an additional layer of conflict to the exposition and enhances

suspense, eventually leading to the climax (Klarer). 

Shaw establishes the first phase of Freytag’s pyramid, exposition, during the Preface and

Act I. Only loosely connected to the play, the Preface details the connection between Professor

Higgins and an acquaintance of the playwright named Henry Sweet. Additionally, the Preface

establishes to the reader that the play is going to deal with the different accents in the English

language primarily. Likewise, Act I sets the tone to the play by shedding light on the fact that the

play will deal heavily with socioeconomic class as a major theme. As a young man fights the rain

to fetch a taxi for his mother and sister, he accidentally collides with a flower girl. She calls him
Freddy before telling him to watch where he is going. The man’s mother hands a coin to the

flower girl, then asks her how she had managed to know her son’s name, to which she replies

that Freddy is a common name and can be used for anyone. Professor Higgins and Colonel

Pickering are then presented to the readers. Professor Higgins is presented as a very

knowledgeable upper-class linguist who can immediately decipher where a person is from

simply from their accent. By highlighting this particular skill of Higgins, Shaw suggests that the

play will deal heavily with different English accents. Clarifying this argument further, Higgins

Pickering’s conversation reveals that Higgins makes money by teaching people how to improve

their English-speaking ability so that they may improve their social environment. This is

significant as reveals Higgins’s, and possibly even Shaw’s belief that it is possible, in fact, for

upward social mobility to take place in strict British hierarchy. Thus, Shaw achieves the purpose

of the exposition by introducing the major characters and setting, and establishing the major

issue, in this case, socioeconomic class, that the play would deal with.

Act II marks the rising action, as the flower girl, Eliza, arrives at Professor Higgins’s

residence and demands that he teach her how to speak proper English. Amused by Eliza’s

request, Colonel Pickering bets that if Higgins can transform her into a well-spoken lady who

can pass off as a duchess at the Ambassador’s party, then he will pay for the lessons. Here, Shaw

establishes rising action by piquing the reader’s interest as they may wonder if this mission is

achievable and if she could be mistaken for a duchess at the party. After a bath, Eliza is

transformed and becomes nearly unrecognizable, surprising Higgins and Pickering. Here again,

the action seems to rise gradually, as the reaction of the men suggests that a simple bath changed

Eliza’s physical appearance, possibly more resembling of a lady. Thus, this physical

transformation allows for her linguistic transformation seem more attainable to readers. This
further implies, by highlighting Higgins and Pickering’s surprise at her physical change, that

Shaw believes that upward social mobility through changing one’s speech is indeed possible. If a

flower girl from the poorest neighborhoods of London can be unrecognizable after just a simple

bath, what is to stop her from changing her accent and style of speaking? As this act is still part

of the rising action, this question remains unanswered and continues to build suspense

throughout the next act.

In Act III, a few months later, the men later present Eliza to Mrs. Higgins, the mother of

Higgins. Though critical of their venture and annoyed that Higgins disturbed her during her “at-

home” days, Mrs. Higgins agrees to keep silent before her guests, which include the

aforementioned Freddy as well as his mother. Artfully weaving through the crowd, Eliza is

initially able to fool Freddy and his mother with her newly acquired manner of speaking.

However, after getting overly excited by her success, Eliza inadvertently reverts back to her

Cockney slang. which amuses Freddy. He assumes that she is doing it to entertain the guests.

This is a significant part of the rising action, as even though Eliza had a brief moment where she

relapsed into her old behaviors, her interaction with Freddy highlights the effect of just physical

appearance and change in manner of speaking on social interactions. Freddy was immediately

drawn to Eliza with her newly revamped appearance and style of speaking which contrasts to

when Freddy barely even noticed Eliza in Act 1 when she was a lowly flower girl. The effect

these surface characteristics can play on societal standing serves to further emphasize how Shaw

believes that language, in itself, can determine one’s societal standing. Later on, after Higgins

and Pickering choose to neglect and ignore Eliza, Mrs. Higgins tries to convince them that it is

not ethical to leave the girl helpless after their bet is over. Shaw links this statement with the Act

IV as Pickering and Higgins act like Eliza is invisible. This behavior infuriates Eliza, and gives
her reason to quarrel with Higgins. This marks the climax of the play, as the action reaches a

peak from which it needs to resolve. The climax is the “pivotal point in a story’s development, in

which events build to a crisis and turning point” (Pugh and Johnson 132). Here the pivotal

moments include Higgins’s realization that he had done something wrong and Eliza’s angry

outburst. To add, Eliza and Higgins’s quarrel is especially pivotal as the audience is left to

wonder what exactly will happen to Eliza afterwards. She gave back Higgins the ring that

Higgins bought for her, which Higgins promptly threw away into the fireplace. This action by

Eliza is symbolic as it suggests that she is trying to rid her life of Higgins’s control. This

suggests to the audience that she will leave Higgins to start a new life on her own. However,

after Higgins leaves the room, Eliza immediately starts searching for the ring in the fireplace,

which in contrast, suggests that she is not quite yet ready to rid herself of Higgins and that she

may, in fact, stay. This is why Higgins and Eliza’s quarrel marks the climax, or the pivotal point

of the play. From this point on, the direction the play moves completely changes.

Act V reveals the resolution, or the falling action, in which Eliza learns to appreciate

herself and eventually see a different, warmer side to Higgins. Furthermore, Eliza expresses her

desire to get married to Freddy, which irritates Higgins. Higgins seems to have unwittingly fallen

in love with Eliza, and even Eliza feels that she has fallen for him also though she does not

express it. Unfortunately, Act 5 ends before this direction can be explored. Thus, the reader

never knows what happens afterward. Eliza could have married Freddy, and Higgins might try

his best to forget her. Alternatively, Eliza could have married Higgins. The reader will never

know. Here, Shaw leaves the reader with an emotionally charged but unresolved dilemma, which

is quite impressive because the reader can interpret it according to their perceptions.
 In conclusion, Shaw uses a smart arrangement of the five acts to build an effective

plotline structure. Shaw establishes exposition by introducing the main characters, Eliza,

Professor Higgins, and Colonel Pickering, while further hinting that the issue of socioeconomic

class in relation to language will be explored. In the rising action, Shaw continues to build

tension through rising action in Acts II – IV as readers are engaged, continuing to wonder what

will result from Higgins’s teaching of Eliza. As tension boils to its peak, the pivotal point of the

play, or the climax, occurs when Eliza stands up to Higgins in a quarrel in Act IV. Finally, Act V

serves as the falling action and resolution, as Eliza learns to appreciate herself and sees a

completely different, warmer side to Higgins. These five Acts seamlessly flow from one part to

another, without readers becoming aware of the play’s specific plotline structure. Thus,

continuity is maintained, and readers never lose interest.

 Works Cited

Klarer, Mario. An Introduction To Literary Studies. Routledge, 2013.

Pugh, Tison, and Margaret E. Johnson. Literary Studies: A Practical Guide. 1st ed., Routledge,

2013.

Shaw, Bernard. Pygmalion. Penguin, 1913.