The man of Hypocrisy (Analysis of Higgins in Shaws Pygmalion)

The Man of Hypocrisy “Manners are the happy way of doing things” according to Ralph Waldo Emerson. According to Emerson people use manners as a front to make themselves look better. Inherently, this will lead to a contradiction of the front and the reality. One such man who is most concerned with manners is the protagonist of Shaw’s Pygmalion, Professor Henry Higgins. Higgins is a man who displays contradictions within his character. He is …

…the traits must be a false front. This is the nature of the world. When two opposites come together in the same place and do not alter each other, then one of them is kept up as a façade. At any moment in time this façade can move or crack and the true nature of the person will come to light. People who display too many contradictions in character are usually true hypocrites.