A relationship can be defined as an emotional or other connection between people, as Webster's Dictionary reports. A relationship can range from something as minor as associates to a major connection like mother and child or husband and wife. As such, a relationship may also change depending on the situation at hand. The play Pygmalion exemplifies this concept as the relationship between the characters Eliza and Professor Higgins shifts. Their relationship shifts between strangers, mentor and student, and rivals as the play progresses. The circumstances in which they meet, live, and how they feel change each character's persona thus changing their relationship. .
The title of strangers can vary from individuals who know little to nothing about another to individuals who have either never had or lost feelings for one another. Both are displayed within Pygmalion as the type of relationship that Eliza and Professor Higgins begin and conclude with. Within the first act of Pygmalion, the characters, Eliza and Professor Higgins, were strangers as Eliza saw Higgins as just a simple note taker recording the conversations of those around and Higgins saw Eliza as just a poor flower girl. He is taking notes about her and when they come to talk her treats her very badly. (Unknown 1) Professor Higgins exclaimed, "Liar. You said you could change half-a-crown." (Shaw 17) With knowing nothing of Eliza, Higgins disrespects her without any type of guilt. As the play progresses, from Act 1 to Act 4, the type of stranger in which Eliza and Higgins are categorized as shifts. Within Act 4, Eliza reveals, "I'd like to kill you, you selfish brute." (59) Filed with rage and regret, Eliza's feeling for Higgins take a turn for the worse as she attacks him by throwing his slippers at him and slinging herself with full effort to harm him. Now, with Eliza trying to harm Higgins, the characters' relationship shifts to individuals that hold nothing but hatred towards each other.
