Character Sketch of Alfred Doolittle

Introduction
Alfred Doolittle is the father of Eliza Doolittle. Even though his appearances in the play are
brief, he plays a significant role in the meaning of the play. As Prof. Higgins rightly infers from his
accent, Doolittle was brought up in Hounslow, Mother Welsh. Doolittle is a member of what he
himself calls the “undeserving poor”, and is an elderly but energetic dustman. The character arc of
Doolittle helps the readers/audience to see the difference between the classes as well.

In his introduction into the play: His Appearance and His Character
The first appearance of Doolittle in the play presents him as a father who rushes to aid to
preserve the honour and safety of his young daughter. His physical traits are described as “an elderly
but vigorous dustman, clad in the costume of the profession, including a hat with a back brim
covering his neck and shoulders.” He approaches Higgins’s Wimpole Street laboratory and
“magisterially” wanting to talk about serious matters. But he changes his tune soon as Higgins asks
him to take Eliza back and accuses him of blackmail.

Doolittle tries to get himself out of this issue by explaining that he just wanted to drop off his
daughter’s luggage and meet Higgins, and that he could never “stand in my girl’s light” and take this
opportunity to get far in life away from her. His natural, rhythmic and musical speaking style intrigues
Higgins, who says that his speech is “sentimental rhetoric”, and he listens to what Doolittle has to say.
Doolittle is thus seen as a man with a “remarkably expressive voice, a result of a habit of giving vent
to his feelings without reserve”.

But the reader slowly realises that no matter how likeable Doolittle’s character is, he is brutish
at the core. One first notices how he hasn’t even seen his daughter for a long time; “I aint seen the girl
these two months past.” He asks bluntly for five pounds from Higgins, implying that Eliza only meant
as much as the five pound note means to someone like Higgins. He even says that he would pimp out
his own daughter for fifty pounds, and is unrepentant of the thought as he could not “afford” to have
morals, as he is so poor; it was just a practical outlook. He says that “As a daughter she’s not worth
her keep”, and that he wants to claim a share of the good fortune that Eliza has stumbled upon. We
now see that Doolittle was not so concerned about his daughter’s welfare, but just wanted to feel out
the circumstances and see if he could get some money out of Higgins, as his daughter says, “All he
come here for was to touch you for some money to get drunk on.”

Even then, there are a lot of dimensions to Doolittle’s character. He has strong views about
the “undeserving poor”, he thinks of himself as more deserving than a widow as he has more “needs”
than perhaps a widow, whom “middle class morality” deems of being more deserving of charity than
him. He sees middle class morality as an excuse for the wealthy not giving him anything. Even then,
he refuses to accept the ten pounds that Higgins offers instead of the five he wanted, saying that more
money “..makes a man prudent like; and then goodbye to happiness.” He says he would accept more
money later, but sees having a lot of money as a burden as having more financial stability comes with
responsibilities which could cull upon his freedom. Here, we can understand Doolittle’s desire to stay
“free” from any and all kinds of responsibility. This view of his plays an important role in the change
that his character goes through in the second part of the play.

In the second part of the play: His Appearance and His Character
 In the second appearance of Doolittle, towards the end of the play after Eliza’s successful
debut in society and her running away to Mrs. Higgins. His appearance has changed dramatically,
dresses in fashionable wedding clothes with a dazzling silk hat and patented leather shoes. He has
come to find Higgins before his wedding, revealing that Higgins had ruined his life. Higgins’ joke of
recommending him to a Moral Reform Society as “the most original moralist at present in England”
which resulted in him being left 3000 pounds per year by the society on the condition that he lecture
for the Wannafeller Moral Reform World League as often as they ask him. Most people would
consider this a good turn of events, but Doolittle fears the responsibility that comes with the money.

He does not want to work for the money he receives. And with the large amount of money he
has, he has to be responsible. He finds that with money, everyone else does everything for him, and he
had to pay them. He whines and mourns his deliverance “into the unhappy middle class morality”,
which he now sees as “living for others and not for myself”. He complains about how he’ll be the one
having to take care of his family as he has money now. Middle class morality has him in its clutches
and he is forced to marry his mistress in St. George’s, Hanover Square. However respectability fails to
bring him happiness and his previously fiery mistress “never comes to words with anyone now, poor
woman! Respectability has broke all the spirit out of her.”

He claims that he has bee “ruined” and “destroyed” and that his carefree days have gone. He
worries that he would have to now learn “middle class English” from Higgins to now survive; he
doesn’t want to have to work to survive. He is now “Broke. Bought up.”

Conclusion
Doolittle’s character comes with a lot of insights: It was common in the Victorian era to think
of charity as something that “pauperizes” the poor, making them want to stay poor. But Shaw was
more angered by the unequal distribution of work than by the unequal distribution of wealth; he
considers living off of unearned wealth is also pauperizing. This is seen through how Doolittle refuses
the 10 pounds that Higgins offers him.

We see Shaw’s views on politics and religion from Higgins’ remark on Doolittle that he could,
with more training in speech, “choose between a seat in the Cabinet and a popular pulpit in Wales”.
Shaw casts the rhetoric used in politics and the church into the same category.

From Doolittle’s plight after he gets the money from the society, we understand Shaw’s view
that liberty and happiness are the price one has to pay for respectability. He also implies that it is
wrong to impose social constraints on anybody.

Hence, Alfred Doolittle is a very interesting and delightful character. His multi-layered facets
also show Shaw’s approach towards the class system and morality.