"The ending is about Higgins trying to hide how happy he is that Eliza has come back. Lerner's stage directions make this very clear."
I agree that this is the intent behind Higgins saying "Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?" But I believe the stage directions for the original production then say, "Eliza has tears in her eyes. She understands." And I'm not 100 percent sure WHAT she understands, or why she has tears in her eyes.
If what she "understands" is that Higgins is happy to have her back but can't come right out and say that, and is going to continue to behave that way -- where he's unable or unwilling to come say how much affection he has for her, and is going to continue to treat her like a servant -- then her returning to him makes NO SENSE, because in the previous scene she has already stated emphatically that she will NOT continue living with him under those terms.
Further confusing the issue: In the film of the musical, Audrey Hepburn does not have tears in her eyes after Higgins asks her where the devil his slippers are. And in the PYGMALION film, there is no shot of Eliza after Higgins asks her about the slippers, so we have no idea what her reaction to that might be. |
