ABSTRACT This paper presented a theoretical investigation of impoliteness in an extract of Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. The chosen extract could be considered as a turning point in Pygmalion, since it shows climactic movements besides the birth of an independent spirit in the characters. The impoliteness super-strategies used in this study were suggested by Culpeper (1996). These super-strategies were applied to analyze the lingual manner of two central characters, Eliza and Higgins, and answer the main question of the study: ‘how can impoliteness be investigated as an element of characterization in Pygmalion?’ The results showed how the participants’ language characterized them in the dramatic interaction. They also indicated that the choice of impoliteness strategies differed from one character to another in terms of the social level they belonged to. Finally, the linguistic study of Pygmalion could showed the condition in which the work was created and the way the author used this drama to criticize the society of 19th century in Britain.

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