All a Pretty Prostitute Needs Is Her Own Dr. Henry Higgins

To understate the matter, all that the outspoken, opinionated Cockney (a working-class area in east London) woman Eliza Doolittle needed, of course, was a lesson in elocution. Vivian Ward, by contrast, needs a great deal more, not only how to speak the idiom of the Regent but how to speak that idiom without chewing gum. At no point, however, does Edward censor her. She is, at least in relation to him, free to speak her mind. A freedom she exercises to the fullest. (And she does so at least once, as we will see shortly, to the advantage of Morse Industries and late industrial capitalism.) Vivian must not only learn how to dress, but she must be instructed how to dress appropriately (that is, conform to bourgeois norms of respectability); not only how to dress, but how to dress tastefully, how to put aside her miniskirts and wear a demure and fetching brown-with-cream-polka dots sundress. Not only how to wear jewelry, but to choose the most flattering, discreet necklace.

In this regard, Vivian Ward has her own Mr. Henry Higgins, the professor of phonetics who instructs Eliza into perfect speech. The Henry Higgins function in Pretty Woman is performed by the Regent’s suave, understated and paternal (at least in relation to “Ms. Vivian”) concierge, Barnard “Barney” Thompson (Hector Elizondo). (Barney is much less enamored of “Ms. Kit de Luca.”) “Barney,” as “Ms. Vivian” is given to calling him, with unfailing and genuine exuberance (which contains more than a hint of gratitude and affection) provides a crash course in manners. “Barney” takes it upon himself to teach “Ms. Vivian” how to use expensive silverware, glassware, how to conduct herself in the rarefied environs of his hotel.

At heart, however, Vivian is still a working-class woman, sometimes finding herself ignorant of ruling-class etiquette. Sometimes she really doesn’t know which fork to use. For which Barney really cannot be blamed. After all, he only had so much time, and game as she is as a student, Barney couldn’t do much more than provide a quick primer in the art of manners.

And this is good luck for James Morse and his grandson, it turns out, because Vivian finds in James Morse, putatively, someone equally in need of instruction from a Ms. Manners or a Dr. Higgins.