George Bernard Shaw took the premise of the Pygmalion myth and turned it into a play. The central theme of Pygmalion is that a Cockney flower girl will behave like a lady if she is treated like one and that a woman who is a lady in name only is not a lady at all. Professor Henry Higgins proves that education can cover all sorts of lacks, but it is inward strength that counts most. Higgins attempts to take a willful, spunky Eliza and turn her into an ice goddess. The climax of the play brings back hope because Eliza refuses to remain inanimate.