In Pygmalion, how is the major conflict resolved? In Pygmalion, how is the major conflict resolved?

The ending of this
excellent play has puzzled many over the years, who find it very ambivalent. Although this play
promises to be a romance, we are given no romantic ending between Eliza and Higgins. Instead,
the conclusion of their relationship is left very open at the end. However, the central theme of
the play revolves around social standing and how it is gained. Eliza has successfully moved from
being a poor flower-girl to acting like "a duchess," yet as Eliza says herself in a
very perspicacious comment, "the difference between a lady and a flower-girl is not how she
behaves, but how she is treated." Self-respect is the key to transformation, and from the
moment that Pickering referred to her as "Miss Doolittle," Eliza's process of
transformation had begun. Respectability, as modelled by the other ladies in the play, is what
Higgins has taught Eliza, and is shown as something that can be taught. Yet self-respect is
something more intrinsic and leads to the development of a free-thinking character that is able
to grow. Eliza by the end of the play has learnt the difference between the two states, and
having learnt both of them, is able to judge between them. Self-respect is shown to be much more
important than respectability, as Eliza's new found confidence
demonstrates.