# Colonel Pickering — Pygmalion character guide

> Colonel Pickering in Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Pickering, Pickering Cheerfully, Pickering Right, Pickering Oh, Pickering Shaking, Pickering Rising, Pickering Astonished, Pickering Gently, Pickering Laughing, Pickering Quietly, Pickering By Jove, Pickering Doolittle, Pickering Beethoven, Pickering Dressing Eliza, the Colonel, Colonel

**First appearance:** 0002-act-i

## Snapshot

A courteous, well-traveled linguist who takes Higgins's bet and, unlike his colleague, treats Eliza with the small kindnesses that make a lady.

## Who they are

Pickering arrives in London steeped in Indian dialects and gentlemanly manners, the perfect foil to Higgins's domestic savagery. He funds the experiment and shares its risks, yet his instinct is always to ask the girl what she wants rather than to command her. His quiet decency becomes the play's measuring stick: Eliza later credits him, not Higgins, with teaching her to be a lady.

## Relationships

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

_friendship_

Colonel Pickering is Higgins's respectful and gentlemanly friend and collaborator in the phonetic experiment.

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

_friendship_

Pickering treats Eliza with consistent courtesy and kindness, becoming her ally and moral support.

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

_professional_

Pickering and Mrs. Pearce share a polite employer-housekeeper relationship, with mutual respect.

### [Freddy Eynsford Hill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters/freddy_eynsford_hill)

_social_

Pickering and Freddy are polite acquaintances, with Pickering showing mild interest in Freddy's devotion to Eliza.

### [The Parlormaid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pygmalion_se/characters/the_parlormaid)

_professional_

Pickering treats the parlormaid with polite formality as a servant in Higgins's household.

## Links

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