As Higgins himself would say: -“Eliza has come to be something like a daughter to me and I hope I have made up for my earlier mistakes by helping her in her life.” I must add here that the story is well known by now and the success of Higgins’ experiment can only lead us to override class distinction in England, with its rigid rules about pronunciation and manners. Higgins’ experiment has proved that exceptional individuals may reinvent themselves through hard effort. Eliza’s only concern was her survival as she was born poor. She is the living proof that within a lapse of three months a flower girl can be taken for an aristocrat. However, this fairy story would not quite have been the same had it not been for the extraordinary qualities of Eliza and Higgins.
As a teacher, he had endless energy, a determination to break the rules of the game and succeed in his lifelong yearning. Eliza was also determined to take advantage of the opportunity to move forward in life and acquire all the proper language diction and skills required to upgrade herself and get a job in a flower shop. An independent girl endowed with a self determination and a strong will, Eliza was unlike other girls from her own background; a self-supporting girl who proudly raised her head above prostitution and fought for her autonomy like a brave and honorable soldier, never failing herself and always succeeding in her clear-sightedness of both people and situations.
It is true however that Higgins had no qualms to exert pressure on “his” Liza as he demanded of her to put in all her efforts, pushing her o the limit, testing her determination and never praising her.
It is remarkable how Eliza withstood this overbearing personality as she retained this temperament she had when she had first come to Higgins’ door and asked for instruction. She kept up with Higgins’ exhausting schedule, determined to put her newly acquired skills to use, and even challenging to break other people into this know-how.
During Higgins’ life there was unnecessary speculation about his relation with Lisa. In fact there was never the smallest element of romance in their relationship. She was a living evidence of his skills as a teacher and a living proof that pronunciation and manners are not an inherited quality of the aristocracy but can be acquired scientifically. We were all trying to achieve the same result but Higgins and I went too far, forgetting to congratulate Eliza after she had won Higgins’ bet by passing as a Hungarian princess at an embassy party. There was a scene. Eliza threw Higgins’ slippers at him. According to Eliza he actually said, “what does it matter what becomes of you?» She had earned her “freedom”. Higgins could not understand her dilemma. Eliza was a social success but only on the surface without money or family. She could not progress forward and also she could not go back. Higgins, with no intention to become condescending, said his mother could find her, “some chap or other”, to marry. She bitterly replied that because of her rise in social status, due to him, she was “not fit to sell anything else but herself”.
Eliza never forgave Higgins, although she and her husband moved into Higgins’ house, with his complete agreement when their flower shop was temporarily in economic difficulties. This was characteristic of Higgins. He was never intentionally unkind but he rejected Eliza’s demands for emotion because he felt himself and those around him should be above such needs. He regarded romantic love and sexual love in particular as animalistic. Liza nagged him all his life and he never dared to tease her. In fact, they were used to each other but they never really liked each other.