In the English society, social status has always been very important. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was obvious that power in society was greatly determined by the way the language was spoken; the more proper language the person used, the more power obtained. In Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw uses Eliza Doolittle's transformation to show the parallel between language and power, and how better speech induces more power in society. Through Eliza Doolittle, Shaw shows that people are more likely to respect and listen to others that have more intelligible speech.
             In the opening act of the book, it is first noted that language affects the way people think of others. If a person speaks intelligently, then they are thought to be more credible and important in society. Eliza Doolittle, the protagonist of the book, is introduced to the reader with a cockney accent. She is a poor flower girl, and the way she speaks is incredibly incomprehensible. Eliza knows that she is looked at as poor, and as a result she becomes incredibly defensive whenever somebody makes a comment on her accent or background. After Henry Higgins, a phonetician and main character of the novel, makes a comment on the place she grew up, Eliza says, "Oh, what harm is there in my leaving Lisson Grove? It wasn't fit for a pig to live in; and I had to pay four-and-six a week [in tears] oh, boo-hoo-oo-(18)." Eliza knows that Higgins made the comment about where she grew up based upon her accent. Because of this, Eliza takes offense to the comment, impulsively assuming that Higgins thinks she is poor. She knows that the way she speaks affects the way that others think of her. With the accent of a poor person, Eliza does not come off as important, and because of this, she becomes upset.
             During Act II, Eliza begins to recognize that she is capable of undergoing a transformation to become higher on the social scale. She goes to Higgins to ...