My Fair Lady's Words

 “Words, words, words--I’m so sick of words! I get words all day through, first from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?” -- Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady

I enjoy musicals an awful lot--as far as stage productions go, they generally rank highest in my book. I have not seen as many shows as some theatergoers, but I appreciate those which I have seen, and they stick with me long after the curtain falls. One of my favorites is My Fair Lady. At the opening of the play you meet Eliza, a young woman with a thick Cockney accent who makes her living selling flowers in the market. She runs into one young Professor Higgins, who is a specialist in phonetics, and he takes her in as a sort of linguistic experiment. He intends to prove that as much as “clothes make the man”, so too do words. In addition to dressing Eliza in the clothes of a proper lady and introducing her to polite society, he subjects her to rigorous lessons in elocution and conversation. In the end, she turns out as the very picture of a society lady (with the notable exception of her fiery demeanor). Her spirit endears her to the professor, who finds that he can’t do without her, and the play ends with the two of them falling oddly in love. The whole play is a witty exploration of the importance of language, which is part of why it is one of my favorites.

The above quote is taken from the opening of Eliza’s song “Show Me”, about halfway through the play. She is exasperated by Higgins, because nothing she does or says seems to please him. Further complicating her mood is Freddy, a young man of society who is hopelessly infatuated with her, despite only having met her briefly. Freddy seems convinced that she is a goddess incarnate and expresses his love for her in the most flowery of poetic terms. These showers of ungrounded praise serve only to frustrate Eliza further, prompting the ranting in “Show Me”. I would like to use the opening lines of this song to illustrate 3 key aspects of communication.

1) Educate, Don’t Exasperate

Eliza was buffeted by Professor Higgins' constant correction and seeming dissatisfaction. Many times we receive “constructive criticism”, but it comes via a painful delivery that provides little encouragement to sweeten the blow.

2) Flattery is Fallible

Freddy's effusive compliments rang hollow to Eliza, because he only knew her "society face". While too much criticism crushes the soul, praise is only meaningful when it springs from truth.

3) Follow Through

Eliza railed against Freddy for his glib speech but reticence toward acting on it. I believe that this is the crux of communication: carrying out your words.

I will explore each of these points more thoroughly in separate entries, since they would make for a rather long-winded post if addressed together. I hope you stick around to read them!