In Pygmalion, despite the intense central relationship between Eliza and Henry, the original play ends with her leaving to marry the eager young Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Shaw, annoyed by the tendency of audiences, actors, and even directors to seek ‘romantic’ re-interpretations of his ending, later wrote an essay for inclusion with subsequent editions, in which he explained precisely why it was impossible for the story to end with Higgins and Eliza getting married. The sequel that follows Act V explains that the play is “called a romance because the transfiguration it records seems exceedingly improbable”. Eliza rejects the logic of the obvious plot and rebels against the genre. Shaw was deliberate in frustrating the expectations of the audience, for their own good. His intention was to make them think about real life and the contrast to the fairy tale that he seems to promise serves this end well.