My Fair Lady ending explained

What happens

Eliza walks out after the ball, and Higgins, rattled by her absence, finds he misses her. She returns to his house. He calls for his slippers, and the film cuts away without saying what happens between them.

The last image

Eliza comes back into Higgins's house, and he settles in, calling for his slippers as if nothing has changed.

Three readings

1 · A quiet romanceHiggins has finally admitted he needs her, and her return means she forgives him.

2 · Back to old habitsThe slippers suggest she is slipping back into serving him, and little has really changed.

3 · Respect still unsettledNothing is promised, so whether he will treat her as an equal stays open.

What it says

The film leaves its answer unspoken because the real question was never the bet. It is whether Higgins can respect Eliza as a person, not a project. The soft ending sits against Shaw's sharper original, and people still argue over it.