Eliza Dolittle

The benefits of acquiring an education are not limited to the academic aspects often associated with it. Part of the edification it bestows includes being enabled to reach new insight, being empowered to cultivate a new awareness, and being endowed with a new understanding of life and of self. In Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle experiences this type of enlightenment as the result of undergoing a drastic change in social status. With the sponsorship and …

…it was in Eliza's sensitive nature to "fetch slippers," now she "won't care for anybody that doesn't care for [her]" (860). Eliza Doolittle continually manifested pride and a touchy sensitivity; however, once educated, the drastic change of experiencing a substantially improved social standing caused the development of visual confidence in her character. Armed with self-esteem, Eliza had the necessary force in her character to face adversity without doubting herself or relying on the strength of others.