George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion tells the story of Henry Higgins, an expert phonetician, who takes Eliza Doolittle, a poor flower girl, as a student. With Eliza as his linguistic protégé, Higgins tries to alter Eliza's speech and transform her into a verisimilitude of a duchess at ease in a polite society. Higgins is stubbornly self-righteous and a spoiled eccentric. Upon mentoring Eliza, Higgins demonstrates brazen disregard for her and women in general. As a result, he cannot succeed in controlling Eliza, and she rebels. Higgins is chauvinistic and convinced of his own superiority based on his condescending attitude toward women and his inhumane treatment of Eliza.

Higgins' sexism is shown by his disdainful attitude towards women. When Colonel Pickering, Higgins' friend, questions him about his morality regarding women, Higgins states that "[women become] jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance" (38) whenever he is with them. In...