Class and Names in Pygmalion, Act I

One of the most interesting aspects of the first act of Pygmalion is that of class, and it’s relation to characters’ names.  It is fascinating not because it is there, but because it is so pointedly obvious– arguably to the point of being satirical.

The characters in Act One represent a stereotypical cross-section of English society at that time.  There are the Aristocrats– Freddy, his mother and his sister– as well as the middle class academic Henry Higgins.  There is Colonel Pickering, whose academic and military experiences allow him to span a gap between the aristocratic and the middle classes, and then, of course, there is Eliza Dolittle, the lower class flower girl.

The importance of class in the play is illustrated by the fact that all of the characters are initially known by epithets that either directly or indirectly point to their social statuses.  The Mother and the Daughter, being upper class, are known solely by their familial positions, because those are their only places in society.  The Flower Girl, being lower class, must work for a living and is therefore known by her job title.  The Gentleman, obviously, is exactly what his name indicates, while the Note Taker, while middle class and therefore known again by his activity, is also an academic, as the act of taking notes suggests.  Only Freddy seems to be immune to the classification– a fact which proves significant as more about his character is revealed later in the play.

Even the characters’ proper names seem to have social significance.  Henry Higgins is a name for an “Everyman” if I’ve ever heard one, yet the surname Higgins means “Intelligent.”  Eliza’s surname, Dolittle, can be taken as a descriptive for the stereotypical view taken by the English of the period toward the lower class.  The poorest in English society at that time were typically viewed as lazy and idle.  Colonel Pickering’s name is especially interesting.  Firstly, the combination of a officers’ title with the name speaks of both high birth– because at the time only aristocrats became officers in the English military– and of intelligence– because of two famous Victorian astronomers, Edward and William Pickering.  Freddy, who falls from aristocrat to shopkeeper during the prologue of the play, seems destined for his change in fortune due to the fact that his name, as Eliza explains during Act I, is a common term for an unknown, average man.