What is the role of Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion? Is he simply a fool cast for comic relief? Or is he more? Explain. Consider him as a mirror image of Higgins.
Alfred Doolittle is Eliza’s father who is a dustman. He is first introduced in the play when he discovers that his daughter was at Higgins’s laboratory asking for lessons. The reason why he went is to ask money in exchange for the men using his daughter for their experiment. When Higgins offers him more money than he asks for, he refuses. The reason being is because he wants an excuse to be able to return and ask they for more money. After Higgins gives him money, he says that he is going to use the money to get drunk. In addition, we also find out that Mr. Doolittle is a felon. He enjoys pick pocketing people and wants stay in the lower class because he doesn’t have to follow middle class morality. However, despite his hatred against middle class morality, he soon had to practice it when he inherited money from the millionaire, Wannafeller, after Higgins sent a false letter to the millionaire saying that Alfred Doolittle is a moralist. Also, we discover that he threw out Eliza two years before the time of the play and never married Eliza’s mother. The reason why he didn’t is because Eliza is a bastard and it’s only part of the middle class morality to marry before having children. In addition, it is revealed that Eliza’s mother would give him money to go get drunk so that he would be more “cheerful” and “loving like”. Thus, Alfred Doolittle is a terrible and rude man but was placed in the play to show the bad side of the lower class.
Alfred Doolittle is Eliza’s father who is a dustman. He is first introduced in the play when he discovers that his daughter was at Higgins’s laboratory asking for lessons. The reason why he went is to ask money in exchange for the men using his daughter for their experiment. When Higgins offers him more money than he asks for, he refuses. The reason being is because he wants an excuse to be able to return and ask they for more money. After Higgins gives him money, he says that he is going to use the money to get drunk. In addition, we also find out that Mr. Doolittle is a felon. He enjoys pick pocketing people and wants stay in the lower class because he doesn’t have to follow middle class morality. However, despite his hatred against middle class morality, he soon had to practice it when he inherited money from the millionaire, Wannafeller, after Higgins sent a false letter to the millionaire saying that Alfred Doolittle is a moralist. Also, we discover that he threw out Eliza two years before the time of the play and never married Eliza’s mother. The reason why he didn’t is because Eliza is a bastard and it’s only part of the middle class morality to marry before having children. In addition, it is revealed that Eliza’s mother would give him money to go get drunk so that he would be more “cheerful” and “loving like”. Thus, Alfred Doolittle is a terrible and rude man but was placed in the play to show the bad side of the lower class.
With this description, it is evident that Shaw uses Alfred Doolittle as both a fool cast and comic relief. In addition, he uses him a vessel to convey his opinions about society, such as middle class morality and distinctions between classes and their manners. When Mr. Doolittle first appears, he tells Higgins and Pickering why he likes being poor. He classifies himself as an “undeserving poor”. The reason being is because he is a fraud and a pimp. He tries to sell his daughter so that he can get drunk. But, the reason why he refuses the large amount of money, along with being able to return to them to ask for more, is that he cannot drink ten pounds worth of alcohol. If he accepted the money, he would have to be responsible for his actions, as he must return to work that Monday. On the other hand, five pounds is more manageable and he will be able to recover so that he can go to work to earn more money. Furthermore, Shaw picks at the idea of middle class morality by having Doolittle say how much he despised it. By doing so, Shaw portrays the irony with the moral along with the distinctions between the manners of the upper and middle classes. Since both classes have money, they are expected to practice it. However, the upper class, being the snobbier class, has excuses while the middle class doesn’t. Thus, Shaw uses Doolittle to show his views against the upper and lower classes and supports the middle class for taking responsibility.