Due to the changes that Elise underwent with Higgins, she lost her right to ma eek decisions for herself. Higgins insisted that in order for her to settle after movie Eng on from Pickering and himself, she would need to marry.
Elise blames Higgins for this requirement when she says, "l sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me. Im not fit to sell anything else" (Shaw 103). Elise becomes frustrated when she was told that the e only way for her to fit in is to succumb to marriage.
When she used to sell flowers, she did not need to live up to anyone's standards but her own.
In fact, her standards for herself were what motivated her to go see Higgins for lessons in the first place:
..."I want to be a lady in a flower shop s dead of selling at the corner of Atonement Court Road. But they wont take me unless I talk moor e genteel" (Shaw 38). These changes have stripped Elise of her ability to do what she wants to d In addition, Elise was obligated to constantly please others.
After the garden p arty, the dinner party, and the reception, Elise throws Higgins' slippers at him and yells, 'there are your lippies. And there.
Take your slippers; and may you never have a day's luck with them! " (Shaw 100). This is when Elise began to realize that Higgins was taking advantage of her simply because she would do as he says without hesitation. She only did this because e she believed that it was what she had to do. Higgins
trained her in phonetics so she could speak I n a more polite and socially acceptable accent, but he did not stop the changes there.
He also shah peed her into a different woman that would suit his needs; he did this to Elise by convincing h r that women tended to men because it was the proper etiquette. Therefore, when Higgins altered Elise, he made her need to put others before herself. Lastly, Higgins' effects on Elise makes her dependent on others for the things that she needs. When Higgins says that she can go and find someone else to take care of her, Elise shows how she feels by saying that "[she] can't go back to the gutter, as [they] call it, and that [she] has no real friends in the world but [Higgins] and the Colonel. Higgins] knows well I that [she] oldest bear to live with a low common man after [them] two; and it's wicked and cruel of [them] to insult her by pretending [she] could" (Shaw 131). Since Higgins alter deed Elise and introduced her to the uppercases life, she now needs to be dependent on 10th errs to function properly.
Higgins is implying that if she wants to leave him, she must find some body who will support her and are care of her, because now she can not do that for herself. Elise has lost her ability to fend for herself.
Higgins's effort to help Elise with her poor speech habits brought other change s upon her that took away her rights. Once freewill Elise needed approval before making chi choices. In addition, she was always expected
to do what was asked of her, with no hesitation.
She completely lost her independence when she could not function in society without the support of a male. Before Elise began working with Higgins, she had freedom and the ability to do things for herself. After he conformed her, it seems that she felt that she was much better off when she could make her own decisions and be her own person.
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