Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Pygmalion
References
Images
Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard in a scene from the 1938 film Pygmalion, with Howard holding a small object near Hiller's open mouth as she sits on a sofa.
Britannica AI Icon

Pygmalion

film by Asquith and Howard [1938]
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard in a scene from the 1938 film Pygmalion, with Howard holding a small object near Hiller's open mouth as she sits on a sofa.
Pygmalion Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938).

The 1938 film Pygmalion, directed by Asquith and Howard, is based on George Bernard Shaw's play of the same name. The story centers on Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, who wagers he can transform a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a lady by teaching her to speak proper English. The film, starring Leslie Howard as Higgins, follows Eliza's challenging training and her eventual success in passing as a duchess. The narrative explores themes of social class and the impact of language, ultimately leading to Eliza's rejection of being treated as a mere experiment. The play was later adapted into the musical My Fair Lady.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
3 Britannica Sources
  1. Henry Higgins
  2. Pygmalion
  3. Pygmalion

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.