George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion,” set in Victorian London, is a didactic work that expresses the connection between phonetics and social class. Henry Higgins picks up Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl from the gutter, and makes a bet that he can turn her into a duchess by teaching her how to speak properly. Throughout the play, Eliza learns to speak perfectly and Henry wins his bet, but she will always have her lower class roots. Shaw shows that Eliza’s way of speaking improves, but he also shows that perfect speech is not the only thing that makes a lady.

Eliza has learned proper English from Henry, but she is still not a lady in the respect that she does not know what subjects are germane to polite conversation. Her lower class upbringing becomes apparent when she speaks with the guests at Mrs. Higgins’ tea party and says, “[My aunt] come through diphtheria right enough the year before” (76). The fact that she even mentions diphtheria makes it completely obvious where she comes from. Her speech may be proper, but no one in the upper class would ever contract diphtheria. Henry covers for her, but the incident shows that her transformation is not yet complete if she does not know what she should and should not talk about.

Eliza unwittingly exposes her roots again when she says, “There’s lots of women has to make their husbands drunk to make them fit to live with…a drop of booze just takes that off and makes him happy” (77). Again, Eliza’s roots come to the surface when it is obvious that she thinks it is completely normal for a wife to get her husband drunk to make him civil. She thinks that a man’s conscience gets the best of him when he is sober, and that drinking will take that edge off. When one’s mind is free from intoxication, one is more likely to have good judgment and follow their conscience; whereas when one is under the influence, their judgment is poor and their boundaries tend to expand. This is how she has been brought up to think, and the upper class would never think alcoholism is normal or all right. Although Eliza’s speech has completely turned around, her conversation skills are still lacking.

Along with not knowing proper things to talk about, Eliza also does not realize there are certain words she should not use in conversation. Eliza begins to talk about her aunt’s death and that she thinks her family had “done the old woman in” (76). Higgins then covers for her, saying: “Oh, that’s the new small talk. To do a person in means to kill them” (77). Eliza does not realize that citizens of the upper class have never even heard that phrase. Higgins understands that they do not know what she is talking about, which is why he feels the need to step in and cover for her. Anytime Eliza accidentally uses street slang, Higgins covers for her and tells the guests that she is using the “new” small talk. Eliza slips again when Freddy Eynsford Hill asks her if she is going to walk across the park and she replies: “Walk! Not bloody likely” (78). Eliza obviously does not realize that the upper class would never in their right mind use the term “bloody” in proper conversation. Henry covers for her once again, and makes the guests think that bloody is acceptable to use. They do not realize it is still as offensive as it has always been, and they think it is okay to start using in conversation with other members of the upper class. Eliza shows that her transformation still has yet to be complete through her use of these words and phrases in conversation.

Eliza’s transformation into a lady is not complete until her last confrontation with Henry. Henry challenges Eliza: “Well Eliza, you’ve had a bit of your own back, as you call it. Have you had enough? And are you going to be reasonable? Or do you want any more?” (124). Eliza thinks she was treated poorly by Henry and Colonel Pickering while she stayed with them, so he asks her if she wants to be reasonable when coming back to live with them. In asking that, he also challenges her to be reasonable, unless she wants them to treat her the same way they have been. This challenge shows that Henry thinks Eliza has become a lady, because it is the first time he has ever given her a chance to make her own choice about something. Eliza also proves herself completely transformed when she defiantly retorts to Henry, “I knew you’d strike me some day” (131). This is the first time Eliza stands up to Henry when he threatens her. She has a new found confidence in herself which she did not have before her experience with him. She knows how to get to him, and she does not care what he does to her anymore. Eliza has become an independent young lady, with class and proper speech, and the ability to stand up for herself, even against the man who taught her everything.

Through “Pygmalion,” Shaw shows that it is possible to change who Eliza is despite where she comes from, but that she will always have the roots she has been given. She can pass for a princess, but she still thinks being an alcoholic is a perfectly normal, common thing. She can look, dress, and speak perfectly, and she can never go back to the way she used to live.