Act One

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Act One is set at Covent Garden at 11.15 p.m. during a sudden heavy summer rainstorm. The rain creates confusion, movement, and tension right from the start.

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The opening stage direction creates a lively and crowded atmosphere. The sudden rain and hurried cab whistles make the scene feel urgent, while the sheltering crowd brings together people from differe…

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The Note Taker is a brilliant but insensitive phonetics professor. In Act One, he is not named directly and appears only as the Note Taker. He secretly writes down the Flower Girl's speech and treats …

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The Gentleman is Colonel Pickering, an elderly and courteous military man. In Act One, he is called only the Gentleman. He behaves more politely than the Note Taker and defends the Flower Girl from su…

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The Flower Girl is Eliza Doolittle, a poor flower-seller with a Cockney dialect. She is described as dirty but not ugly, with much-worn boots, a shoddy black coat, and mousy, unwashed hair. She is pro…

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She is upset because he says she was born in Lisson Grove, a working-class area. She reacts defensively, saying it was not fit for a pig to live in and that she had to pay four-and-six a week. Her rea…

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He says he can place a person's origin by accent within six miles anywhere, within two miles in London, and sometimes within two streets. This shows his sharp ear and his confidence in phonetics.

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Phonetics is important because it becomes a tool of power and social judgement. The Note Taker uses speech to identify class, background, and origin, showing how accent can control first impressions i…