Pygmalion. Diary entries for Higgins and Eliza

Stage 1: Eliza’s diary

Today it was raining and we all had to take shelter in Covent Garden. I met a young and sweet man named Freddy and he was sweet and kind. I met military gentlemen named Colonel Pickering and he was a real gentleman. I tried to sell him some flowers but he did not want them and told me in a polite and gentlemanly way but he did give me three hapence. Anyway, that’s better than nothing.

Suddenly a young man a stranger said to me “there’s a bloke over there taking down every blessed word your saying” I turned round and looked at him and said ” I’m a good girl I am” . I thought he was a Police informer until a man shouted out ” He’s a busybody, that’s what he is, look at his boots.” Then the note-taker told him he was from Selsey and everyone was amazed and he knew where everyone was from it was as if he was trying to impress everybody and he knew what road they lived on.

I later found out that this note-takers name was Higgins and I realised he was a snob. He was very cheeky and did not have very good manners. He insults be by calling me a “creature” and he called me a “gutter-snipe” and “a squashed cabbage leaf” and I don’t even like cabbage. He was very rude towards me and did not show respect. He said that I couldn’t speak English and he had a very posh accent and spoke perfect English. I overheard him talking to Pickering saying how he could pass me off as a duchess. I was quite shocked me a duchess (never in a million years). I tried to sell him some flowers and he threw me a handful of money. I had ridden in a taxi for the first time when I returned home.

Stage1: Higgins diary

Today I was in Covent Garden listening to the different accents and making notes. They all thought I was a Police informer and it was quite difficult explain to them because most of them could not understand proper English.

I met a true cockney creature today and she was a flower girl. She spoke so much rubbish it was very difficult to understand her and she always made these horrible noises. I called her a “gutter snipe” and a “squashed cabbage leaf” I was referring to her brain but of course she did not understand.

I began talking to Colonel Pickering and I said to him that I could pass this creature as a duchess. Colonel Pickering was quite an interesting man I told him that he was from Cambridge, Harrow and had traveled India. I was going to go to India to meet him but I was quite lucky to meet him here. I took Pickering to dinner and we had an interesting conversation.

Stage2: Eliza’s diary

Today I went to see that heartless stubborn snob Higgins. I dressed up well and asked him if he could teach me some English. I had overhead him talking to Pickering how you can become everything with your pronunciation. When I asked him he made fun of me and treated me like an object or as dirt on his shoe where as Pickering treated me as a lady and I meant something to him.

I offered to pay 2/5 of my wages towards lessons. Higgins offered me a room in his house and I agreed to live in his bungalow. The housekeeper Mrs. Perch reluctantly agreed to me staying. She made me do a dreadful thing she made me have a bath in warm water. Also they made me wear nightdress when I went to sleep I normally slept in my underclothes and I slept in a luxurious room. It made me quite angry and I started to cry.

Stage 2: Higgins diary

Today that “bilious pigeon” Eliza came to see me. I joked around with her at first and I asked for sixty pounds (what a joke from a creature in the gutter). She offered to pay me 2/5 of her wages but I knew this was too much.

I betted with Colonel Pickering that I could experiment with the girl and pass her off as a duchess. Mrs. Pearce asked me to be nice to the creature but it is hard to be nice to an object.

Also today another common-breed (guttersnipe) it was Eliza’s father. He had come for money I could see it but reluctantly I gave him five pounds. He had referred to himself as the “undeserving poor” and I show great respect to people who admit they are poor. I was quite impressed with Mr. Alfred Dolittle (dustbin man). He was quite happy with his money and in sent him on his way.

Stage 3: Eliza’s diary

I went to see Higgins’s mum today (sorry mother. There were guests at her house; there was sweet Freddy, Clara and her mother Mrs. Eynsford Hill. I was quite beautifully dressed no one hardly recognised me. According to Higgins I was talking the new “small talk” or new slang. That sweet Freddy seemed quite attracted to me and I was quite flattered by this. I did make a slip of the tongue because I said “bloody hell”. Higgins seemed slightly disappointed with me but I thought I did quite well for my first test.

Stage 3: Higgins diary

Today I took Eliza to my mothers’ house. This was to try her out in society. I knew that the guests that were there elza had met before and I wanted to see if they recognised the transformation of Eliza and it seemed they were impressed.

One thing that I realised today was that Eliza now knows how to speak but not what to say. Her grammar is incorrect and she uses her vocabulary as the subject matter of the street not as if she was talking in a high society. She uses an awful lot of slang words like “bloody” and “devil”. Also I am quite concerned about that witty creature Freddy he seemed to never stop looking at Eliza.

Stage 4: Eliza’s diary

After the ambassadors reception Higgins Pickering and me were all very tired. I overheard Pickering and Higgins talking. Higgins referred to me as a “creature” and then said, “I made this thing” it was as if I was an object and an experiment or a bet. He said he was glad the whole scenario was over.

Higgins was very rude and I lost my temper and he called me a “presumptuous insect”. I had had enough and I called him a “selfish brute”. He does not care me at all and my feelings. I am unfit for employment because I am too educated. He does not care about me and sees me as and experiment that has worked.

I left the house and was planning to throw myself in the river because I was very depressed. I met lovesick Freddy and we went off in a taxi.

Stage 4: Higgins diary

Today I took Eliza to the Ambassadors reception to see if I could pass her off as a duchess. I had won the bet with Colonel Pickering and I was very happy.

When we returned home that “squashed cabbage leaf” Eliza was very moody and stroppy. I was tired and was about to go to bed I said “Put out the lights Eliza and tell Mrs. Pearce not to make coffee. I’ll take tea”

I was looking for my slippers and suddenly she threw them at me. I thought what was up with that “presumptuous insect”. I was tired and was not in the mood for an argument. I tried to explain to her that I had given her every thing. She thinks that I am using her as an experiment which of I am not (It was only a joke”). She thought I was going to hit the “infamous creature”. I would not even hurt a fly. She has “wounded my heart”. She made me leave a note because she wasn’t going to tell Mrs. Pearce. In a rage she stormed up the stairs and I decided to go to sleep.

Stage 5: Retrospect

Eliza’s diary

I think that if I had the chance to do it all again I probably would. I think that learning to speak proper English has improved my lifestyle. I have learnt how to speak proper English and I could get a good job and maybe be someone of High-class society, which obviously I am not. On the other hand maybe I was meant to be an “undeserving poor” and maybe I had to big ambitions. I should mix with people of my society and who understand me more. I should remember my roots. I was quite happy where I was and nobody laughed at me or made fun of me and treated me as equal as them. I think that I could have led a happy life even if I was poor.

Also I think that Higgins should have made it clear that I was just an “experiment.” I think the biggest blow was Higgins being nasty and did not respect me and I was an “object”. What annoyed me the most was that at parties and receptions he could be a true gentlemen so if he can do that at parties then I should try to him respect me.

Higgins does not see me as the “new” Eliza but as a “dirty flower girl” who has transformed due to his experiment. He thinks, ” I am mutton dressed as lamb”.

The adult Higgins actions are the same as a child.

Looking back I think I would have done it all again but a few minor adjustments. I would have seen what sort of person Higgins really is and see if would like to be part of his experiment. All in all it did not cost me anything and I have learnt to speak proper English and Higgins only gained money. (He won his bet won Colonel Pickering)

Higgins’ diary

I think that if I had the chance to do it all again I probably would not. Eliza is too moody and cannot fit into high-class society. England is full of people who can’t speak proper English I would have picked someone quieter and someone who does not complain as much. Eliza must like me for who I am and if she does not like it then tough. I find it very had to talk to people from the gutter because they don’t understand them and I try explaining to them to learn proper English. This experiment has helped me gain confidence that I could pass anyone as a duchess. All in all I would not do it all again with Eliza I would pick someone more suitable. There is plenty of the “gutter snipe breed”.