Power Struggle in Pygmalion

Throughout history, most significant societies have struggled for power over each other. In fact, one assisting factor in the decline of ancient Rome is that the monopoly had very few motivating challengers as they had taken over almost every surrounding civilization. In Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw, a phonetician named Henry Higgins takes on the project of teaching a low class Cockney girl, Eliza Doolittle, how to pass herself off as a duchess. The two rarely get along; their interactions are marked by bitter quarrelling and drama. Eliza’s campaign to gain power for herself over her teachers and Higgins’ complementary struggle to assert his authority over Eliza helps to develop Shaw’s theme that people are essentially motivated by the chance to augment their own perceived command.
Throughout the play, Liza Doolittle attempts to gain influence over her teachers, Higgins and Pickering. She quickly grasps the concepts of proper speech and manners and expects praise from her teachers. After a garden party that Eliza acts particularly well at, she overhears Higgins expressing longing for his tasks to come to an end. Upset, she confronts him and says “I’m only a common ignorant girl; and in my station I have to be careful. There cant be any feelings between the like of you and like of me” (784). These articulations show Eliza’s feelings of worthlessness; she feels that since she is not being praised for her progress, her teachers do not care about her efforts and thus regard her not as a person, but as a common savage to be tamed. What Liza is truly searching for is the recognition of her improvement, which would ultimately give her the respect and power she desires. Later, she tells Higgins that her education began with Pickering, the assistant, “calling me Miss Doolittle… that was the beginning of self-respect for me” (792). This statement shows that Liza began to feel worthy of respect once she was shown it from Pickering. In her view, the empowerment she seeks to...