In London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the
accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society
("Why Can't the English?").
At Covent Garden one evening, he meets Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself a phonetics
expert who had come all the way from India to see him.
Higgins boasts he could teach anyone to speak so well he could pass them off as a
duke or duchess at an embassy Ball (dance), even the young woman with a strong
Cockney accent named Eliza Doolittle who tries to Flower seller.
Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her accent makes that impossible
("Wouldn't It Be Loverly").
The following morning, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, seeking lessons.
Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all the attendant expenses if Higgins
succeeds.
Higgins agrees, and describes how women ruin lives ("I'm an Ordinary Man")