# Alfred Doolittle — Pygmalion character guide

> Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Doolittle, Doolittle, Doolittle Sadly, Doolittle Landlady, Doolittle Rising, Doolittle Morning, Doolittle Protesting, Doolittle Sweetly, Doolittle Bridegroom

**First appearance:** 0003-act-ii

## Snapshot

Eliza's father, a cheerful dustman and unrepentant scrounger who is horrified to inherit three thousand a year and the burden of middle-class morality.

## Who they are

Doolittle appears at Wimpole Street looking for his daughter and instead blames Higgins for ruining him: a joke in a letter has made him a gentleman, tied neck and heels to respectability. He was happy, free, and able to touch everyone for money; now everyone touches him. His comic outrage carries the play's sharpest satire on class, exposing how much of so-called morality is simply a matter of income.

## Relationships

### [Mrs. Pearce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters/mrs_pearce)

_social_

Alfred Doolittle interacts with Mrs. Pearce as a visitor to Higgins's home, often with comic tension.

### [Henry Higgins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters/henry_higgins)

_psychological_

Alfred Doolittle manipulates Higgins for money while Higgins treats him as a sociological curiosity.

### [Eliza Doolittle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters/eliza_doolittle)

_family_

Alfred is Eliza's neglectful, opportunistic father who shows up only when it benefits him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters/alfred_doolittle
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters