History Theatre / Pygmalion

* PrecisionFStrike: An accidental one, as Shaw likely didn't realize how serious the word "bloody" is in British vehicular, but it has the same effect.

* BoyMeetsGirl: One of the plot threads (in the original play at least) is Freddy and Eliza's budding romance.

* DoggedNiceGuy: Nice guy Freddy is madly in love with Eliza and courts her day in and day out, but she never shows any interest in him. Eventually, however, they do end up together.

* [[IronicNickname Ironic Name]]: The language expert Nepomuck is named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Nepomuk a Bohemian saint]] famous for being martyred for refusing to divulge the secrets of the confessional.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Pickering.

* BoyMeetsGirl
* CrashIntoHello: Freddy and Eliza

* {{Deconstruction}}: The "PygmalionPlot" was actually very common in the day before this. This actually shows what's wrong with TheMakeover.
* DoggedNiceGuy: Nice guy Freddy is madly in love with Eliza and courts her day in and day out but she is not taking any interest in him. Eventually, both end up together, in the original play anyway.

* FailedAttemptAtDrama: After the ball Higgins delivers an angry TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Eliza on the stairs but spoils it by slamming the door in the play, and stumbles and almost falls while walking off to his room in the 1938 film.
* FunetikAksent: Shaw initially renders Eliza's Cockney accent this way, but abandons it as unintelligible. (Throughout, however, he refuses to make use of standard English orthography, especially for contractions. He even uses the character 'ǝ' for "indefinite vowel")

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The 1938 film version updated the clothes and some of the references to the present day, giving this feel to the story. ''My Fair Lady'' chose to move the story back to the time when Shaw wrote it.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to his other plays. Shaw usually upheld the importance of AnAesop, but, by popular demand, Pygmalion has a relatively light and humorous tone compared to ''Mrs. Warren's Profession'' and ''Man And Superman'', both of which can seem downright brutal.
* ManChild: Higgins is portrayed as being very childish -- mischievous, manipulative, candid, sulky, ill-mannered, selfish, tyrannical, thoughtless and a complete mamma's boy (much to the dismay of said mamma). He's even described as being like a baby or a child repeatedly by the play's direction and occasionally by his mother. Pickering is this to a lesser extent.

* [[MommasBoy Momma's Boy]]: Henry Higgins (!)

** Worth noting, people have been thinking GBS was full of it from day one. Even the leads in the original production (who would take their bows posed side-by-side like a bride and groom).
** Also worth noting, there is no real evidence to support this (indeed, a variety of BelligerentSexualTension seems far more likely) in the play itself. Shaw later attached an epilogue (that was really more of an essay) explaining why Eliza and Higgins would not be suited for each other, and how she should instead marry a man who is little more than a footnote in the play, itself. [[Film/MyFairLady Few agree]].
* PrecisionFStrike: An accidental one, but it has the same effect.

* PygmalionPlot: The TropeCodifier, unintentionally. Shaw had intended to write a PygmalionSnapBack story, but the original cast refused to play it any way but as a straightforward romance story due to the values of the time. The epilogue was an attempt at ShipSinking to put an end to that, but it didn't work.

* ShipSinking: The Afterword explains why a particular pairing wouldn't work well.

* FunetikAksent: Shaw attempts to do this to represent Eliza's speech at first, but abandons it as unintelligible. (Throughout, however, he refuses to make use of standard English orthography, especially for contractions. He even uses the character 'ǝ' for "indefinite vowel")

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The 1938 film version updated the clothes and some of the references to the present day,
giving this feel to the story. ''My Fair Lady'' chose to move the story back to the time when Shaw wrote it.

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The 1938 film version updated the clothes and some of the references to the present day, even though the story and characters remained rooted in an earlier, more rigidly class-conscious era,. ''My Fair Lady'' chose to move the story back to the time when Shaw wrote it.

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The 1938 film version updated the clothes and some of the references to the present day, giving this feel to a story that was clearly rooted in [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece the England of 25 years earlier]]. ''My Fair Lady'' chose to move the story back to the time when Shaw wrote it.

* RealityEnsues: In the epilogue, when Eliza and Freddy decide to open their flower shop, they find out that having knowledge about flowers is not enough to run a business. They have to spend much time on various economics courses, and even these don't help very much.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to his other plays. Shaw usually upheld the idea that SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped, but, by popular demand, Pygmalion has a relatively light and humorous tone compared to ''Mrs. Warren's Profession'' and ''Man And Superman'', both of which can seem downright brutal.

** Also worth noting, there is no real evidence to support this (indeed, a variety of BelligerentSexualTension seems far more likely) in the play itself. Shaw later attached an epilogue (that was really more of an essay) explaining why Eliza and Higgins would not be suited for each other, and how she should instead marry a man who is little more than a footnote in the play, itself. [[Film/MyFairLady Few]] [[FanonDiscontinuity agree]].
** Worth noting how the above two tropers try to deny the author's intentions. It seems people really are "enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of 'happy endings' to misfit all stories."

** Worth noting how the above two tropers try to deny [[WordOfGod the author's intentions]]. It seems people really are "enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of 'happy endings' to misfit all stories."

** Worth noting how the above two tropers try to deny the [[WordOfGod author's intentions]]. It seems people really are "enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of 'happy endings' to misfit all stories."

Sometime later, Higgins brings Eliza to his mother's At Home day to try her out on Society; Mrs. Higgins' guests just happen to be the Eynsford-Hills. Eliza's conversation, though conducted in a properly aristocratic accent, is thoroughly low-class in grammar and content. HilarityEnsues, as Eliza departs with a shocking vulgarism, leaving Freddy frankly in love with her and his sister determined to emulate Eliza's elegant "small talk." Higgins' mother remonstrates with him, to no avail.

With the ball over -- What now? Eliza's new character has unfitted her to be a flower-girl, and left her financially unable to maintain her character as a lady. The rest you'll have to see yourself. (And even that might not answer your questions, so you may have to read the "[[AllThereInTheManual Afterward]]" Shaw appended to the play after he first wrote it.)

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The play originally ended with [[spoiler:Eliza going off to marry Freddy.]] The 1938 film adaptation [[spoiler:implies Eliza and Higgins ending up together.]]

* DoggedNiceGuy: Nice guy Freddy is madly in love with Eliza and courts her day in and day out but she is not taking any interst in him. Eventually both end up together, in the original play anyway.

* FailedAttemptAtDrama: After the ball Higgins delivers an angry TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Eliza on the stairs, but spoils it by slamming the door in the play, and stumbles and almost falls while walking off to his room in the 1938 film.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to his other plays. Shaw usually upheld the idea that SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped, but, by popular demand, Pygmalion has a relatively light and humorous tone compared to ''Mrs Warren's Profession'' and ''Man And Superman'', both of which can seem downright brutal.

* MilkingTheGiantCow: In the movie Higgins does this pose while delivering a speech about how he pulled Eliza out of the gutters.

* TantrumThrowing: After the ball Eliza is upset and throws Higgins' slippers after him.

* TheBet: Colonel Pickering is betting his friend Higgins hat he can't make good on his boast that he could turn Cockney flower girl Eliza into a Duchess.

* AdaptationalNameChange: In the original play, Eliza and Higgins mention that Higgins has a rival named "Professor Nepean." When Shaw wrote a new scene for the film version featuring this character, his name was changed to "Nepomuck," but in the final film (and ''My Fair Lad'') his name was changed ''again'' to "Karpathy," though his name remained Nepomuck in the published script.

* AdaptationalNameChange: In the original play, Eliza and Higgins mention that Higgins has a rival named "Professor Nepean." When Shaw wrote a new scene for the film version featuring this character, his name was changed to "Nepomuck," but in the final film (and ''My Fair Lad'') his name was changed''again'' to "Karpathy," though his name remained Nepomuck in the published script.

* AdaptationalNameChange: In the original play, Eliza and Higgins mention that Higgins has a rival named "Professor Nepean." When Shaw wrote a new scene for the film version featuring this character, his name was changed to "Nepomuck," but in the final film (and *My Fair Lady*) his name was changed *again* to "Karpathy," though his name remained Nepomuck in the published script.

* ProperLady: Higgins succeeds to turn Eliza into one.

A well-received film version was shot in 1938, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Creator/LeslieHoward and Wendy Hiller. Shaw adapted his own play and won Oscar for his script.