Student Question

Who are Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill in Pygmalion?

Quick answer:

In Pygmalion, Mrs. Eynsford Hill is the genteel but impoverished mother of Freddy and Clara. She is kind-hearted and serves as a positive role model for Eliza Doolittle. Miss Clara Eynsford Hill, Freddy's sister, initially appears as a pretentious snob but later becomes socially aware and less superficial. The Eynsford Hills represent a class caught between social aspirations and economic limitations.

Expert Answers

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Freddy Eynsford Hill is a vacuous but nice young man who is in love with the protagonist of the play, Eliza Doolittle, an intelligent and ambitious cockney flower seller. They initially meet as Freddy and his mother and sister are sheltering from the rain at Covent Garden. At the end of the play, Freddy and Eliza marry happily, with Eliza's drive and intelligence guaranteeing the success of their flower business and Freddy's social rank helping with marketing.

Mrs. Eynsford Hill is Freddy’s mother. She has lovely manners and a kind heart, but her genteel poverty leaves he children without economic prospects or much in the way of education. Although her class is singled out for satire in the play, she herself is portrayed as a kind and loving parent, although somewhat ineffectual. In some ways, she does more to teach Eliza manners than Higgins by being a positive role model of bourgeois conduct.

Miss Clara Eynsford Hill is Freddy’s sister and the daughter of Mrs. Eynsford Hill. Initially, she is shown as a rather frivolous and pretentious snob, but as the play progresses and she starts reading the work of H. G. Wells, she becomes less concerned about superficial appearances and develops a sense of social responsibility.

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