Act 1:
Heavy rain drenches Mrs. Eynsford-Hill and her two adult children, Freddy and Clara, as they wait hopelessly for a cab. The Eynsford-Hills and other patrons have just exited the theatre after a late night show. As Freddie leaves to continue looking, he runs into flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Dressed in dirty rags, Eliza is not shy about voicing her displeasure, and in her loud cockney accent, demands payment for her ruined flowers. She is overheard by a gentleman note-taker, who correctly identifies Eliza’s neighbourhood simply by listening to her speech. He does the same for various bystanders and amazes all, including linguistics expert Colonel Pickering, who has coincidently traveled to London to meet the famous note taker, phonetics extraordinaire Henry Higgins. Professor Higgins admonishes Eliza for her “kerbstone” English, and jokingly asserts to Colonel Pickering that “in three months (he) could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party.” Pickering and Higgins leave to discuss phonetics over dinner, and Freddy arrives with a cab only to discover his mother and sister have gone home on the bus. Eliza, still reeling from Higgins’s insults, decides to treat herself to Freddy’s cab with the money Higgins threw into her flower basket. Eliza arrives at her small and sparse rental room, counts her money, and goes to bed fully dressed
Act 2:
The next day, Professor Higgins is demonstrating his phonetics equipment to Colonel Pickering as both men relax at Higgins’ Wimpole Street laboratory. Mrs. Pearce, Higgins’ housekeeper, announces the arrival of a young woman. Thinking he can show Pickering how he makes records of his subjects’ voices, Higgins asks Mrs. Pearce to admit the visitor. Cleaned up yet still obviously poor, Eliza enters the study. Higgins tells her to leave, but Eliza insists she is there to pay for voice lessons so she can be a lady in a flower shop instead of a street corner flower girl. Mrs. Pearce admonishes Eliza for her ignorance and poor manners, but Higgins begins to consider Eliza’s proposal. Remembering Higgins’s boast, Pickering offers to pay for the lessons and all expenses if Higgins can fool the party-goers at the ambassador’s garden party and present Eliza as a lady. Higgins agrees excitedly and orders Mrs. Pearce to get Eliza cleaned up. Eliza balks at this new development, and Mrs. Pearce warns Higgins that he knows nothing about Eliza’s family, nor has he thought about what to do with Eliza when the experiment is complete. Higgins is assured he is doing Eliza a favor, and with a mixture of chocolates and harsh scoldings, he talks her into staying. Mrs. Pearce shows Eliza to a lovely bedroom and bath, and scrubs her roughly despite Eliza’s protests.
Meanwhile, Higgins assures Pickering he has only a professional, not a personal, interest in Eliza, as he believes that romantic relationships are too troublesome. Mrs. Pearce warns Professor Higgins that he must watch his language and manners now if he wishes to serve as a proper model for Eliza. Another visitor soon arrives, this time Eliza’s alcoholic and spendthrift father, Alfred Doolittle. At first pretending to protect Eliza’s honor, Doolittle quickly admits he wishes cash in exchange for silence over Eliza’s living situation. Professor Higgins calls Alfred’s bluff, but is then impressed by Doolittle’s tirade against middle class morality. Sensing a kindred, though shameless spirit, Higgins asserts he and Pickering could turn Doolittle into a politician in three month’s time. After a brief encounter with Eliza, whom he does not recognize, Doolittle leaves. The act closes with a sample of the phonetics lessons the sobbing Eliza endures for the next several months.
Meanwhile, Higgins assures Pickering he has only a professional, not a personal, interest in Eliza, as he believes that romantic relationships are too troublesome. Mrs. Pearce warns Professor Higgins that he must watch his language and manners now if he wishes to serve as a proper model for Eliza. Another visitor soon arrives, this time Eliza’s alcoholic and spendthrift father, Alfred Doolittle. At first pretending to protect Eliza’s honor, Doolittle quickly admits he wishes cash in exchange for silence over Eliza’s living situation. Professor Higgins calls Alfred’s bluff, but is then impressed by Doolittle’s tirade against middle class morality. Sensing a kindred, though shameless spirit, Higgins asserts he and Pickering could turn Doolittle into a politician in three month’s time. After a brief encounter with Eliza, whom he does not recognize, Doolittle leaves. The act closes with a sample of the phonetics lessons the sobbing Eliza endures for the next several months.
Act 3:
The act opens several months later inside Mrs. Higgins’s drawing room as she expects visitors. Her house is tastefully decorated and quite the opposite of her son’s crowded quarters. When Higgins arrives without notice, his mother is dismayed and asks him to leave before embarrassing her in front of the impending visitors. Higgins tells his mother about his experiment with Eliza, informing Mrs. Higgins that Eliza will be trying out her new skills in front of his mother’s guests. Next to arrive are Mrs. and Miss Eynsford-Hill, Colonel Pickering, and Freddy. Professor Higgins embarrasses his mother by belittling small talk, the very purpose of at-home days such as this one. When Eliza arrives, her audience is impressed. She is exquisitely dressed and appears quite well-bred. Freddy is particularly taken with her. The talk of weather turns to illness, and Eliza forgets her training when she says her aunt was “done in.” Lapsing totally into her cockney brogue, Eliza astounds her audience. When Higgins attempts to salvage the situation by telling them Eliza’s language is the “new small talk,” the Eynsford-Hills are even further impressed. Higgins signals Eliza it is time she leaves, and Clara Eynsford-Hill attempts the “new small talk” herself, admonishing “this early Victorian prudery.” Mrs. Higgins tells her son Eliza is not yet presentable, for although her appearance is impeccable, her language still gives her away. Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering respond by singing Eliza’s praises, boasting about her quick acquisition of dialect and her natural talent on the piano. Echoing Mrs. Pearce’s earlier warning, Mrs. Higgins is concerned about what will become of Eliza when the men are finished “playing with (their) live doll.”
With the six-month deadline approaching, Eliza is presented at a London Embassy. Professor Higgins is surprised to see one of his former pupils, a man who now makes his living as an interpreter and an expert placing any speaker in Europe by listening to his speech. The interpreter speaks to Eliza, and deems her English too perfect for an English woman. The interpreter is further struck by her impeccable manners and announces Eliza must be a foreign princess. Pickering, Higgins, and Eliza leave, Eliza exhausted and the men exhilarated by winning their bet.
With the six-month deadline approaching, Eliza is presented at a London Embassy. Professor Higgins is surprised to see one of his former pupils, a man who now makes his living as an interpreter and an expert placing any speaker in Europe by listening to his speech. The interpreter speaks to Eliza, and deems her English too perfect for an English woman. The interpreter is further struck by her impeccable manners and announces Eliza must be a foreign princess. Pickering, Higgins, and Eliza leave, Eliza exhausted and the men exhilarated by winning their bet.
Act 4:
The trio returns to Higgins’s laboratory, the men still bragging about their experiment. When Higgins asserts, “Thank God it’s over,” Eliza is hurt. Hurling his slippers directly at Higgins, Eliza accuses him of selfishness and bemoans what is to become of her now that the bet is over. Higgins suggests finding a husband for Eliza, and she is further insulted. Storming out of the house, Eliza encounters Freddy, who has been pacing, lovelorn, outside her window. Freddy expresses his love, and he and Eliza get into a taxi to make plans.
Act 5:
The next morning, Mrs. Higgins is seated at her drawing-room writing table when Higgins and Pickering arrive to report Eliza’s disappearance. Reproaching the men for their treatment of Eliza, Mrs. Higgins is interrupted by the arrival of Eliza’s father. Alfred Doolittle is dressed like a gentleman and is on his way to his own wedding. Blaming Professor Higgins for his newly found riches, Alfred explains how Higgins’ letter to the recently deceased Ezra D. Wannafeller led to Doolittle’s share in the wealthy man’s trust with the provision that Alfred lecture for the Moral Reform World League. Doolittle laments the fact that he has to “live for others and not for (him)self: that’s middle class morality.” When Mrs. Higgins announces that Eliza is upstairs, Higgins demands to see the girl. Eliza thanks Colonel Pickering for treating her like a lady, but accuses Professor Higgins of always thinking of her as a flower girl. Asserting her need for self respect, Eliza says she will not be returning home to Higgins. As the party leaves to go to Alfred’s wedding, Pickering and Higgins both ask Eliza to reconsider. Higgins admits that he has not treated Eliza kindly, but reminds her that he treats all people exactly the same. Admitting that he has “grown accustomed” to her, Higgins tells Eliza that he wants her to return, not as a slave or a romantic interest, but as a friend. When Eliza asserts that she has always been as good as Higgins despite her upbringing, the professor is truly impressed. Though the play ends ambiguously, with the possibility of Eliza marrying Freddy, she and Higgins have admitted their non-conventional need for each other, and Eliza has won Professor Higgins’s respect.