# Mrs. Higgins — Pygmalion character guide

> Mrs. Higgins in Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Higgins Oh Henry, Mrs. Higgins Henry, Mrs. Higgins Shaking, Mrs. Higgins Rising, Act V Mrs. Higgins

**First appearance:** 0004-act-iii

## Snapshot

Henry Higgins's elegant, unflappable mother, whose drawing room becomes the stage for Eliza's first public test and whose wit punctures her son's pretensions.

## Who they are

Mrs. Higgins receives her son's phonetics experiments, stray dustmen, and startled guests with the same dry composure, correcting Henry's manners with a single raised eyebrow. She understands him better than he understands himself, diagnosing his inveterate bachelordom and warning him that Eliza has rights. Her drawing room is where the play's social comedy sharpens into judgment, and where Eliza's transformation is first seen by the world.

## Links

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