The comic headmaster that is abhorred

The History Boys

The headmaster is used by Bennett as a supply of comedy inside the play. He’s used to provide different types of comedic elements, through his hypocritical nature in which he strives to get his institution to do scholastically well, however he him self is not academically audio. Despite the fact he has a better half, his actions towards Fiona, his admin, display his misogynistic thought of women, nevertheless also introduce humour throughout the form of Black comedy. The headmaster’s absurd behaviour can be seen as pantomime-like material, nevertheless , Bennett drip-feeds us this kind of and so shifts the perspective all of us view it at. The headmaster, also known as Felix, is generally pictured as a rigid headmaster who also lives solely by the rule book, is definitely aggressive and impatient nevertheless also fails to maintain any form of value from instructors and pupils alike. Furthermore his tight, dull personality, “Get me personally scholarships, Irwin¦” is roughly juxtaposed by other characters’ open and enjoyable way of learning “Bristol welcomes you with available arms. ” This allows a striking saillie of a headmaster to be produced, lavishly stuffing the get even more funny.

The ethos with the headmaster is just like what was being introduced in the 1980s, wherever teachers had been encouraged to show students to pass the exam rather than teaching for a lifetime as a whole, vit John M. Stinson states “Bennett got devised his own ‘flash’ method for doing well on tests, especially in background, and that this worked. inches We can see out of this, that though teaching only for the exams is usually not the best for the long run, it really works. In the enjoy the headmaster has hired Irwin to show the young boys solely for the exams in order to gain outstanding results enabling his position to be featured as the league furniture will show results. As we know the headmaster is only interested in results and how he could be portrayed and so he won’t care about whether the boys will be successful in later existence but rather that they can just gain the effects for the exams at this point. Bennett himself would have most likely favoured Hector’s route training for later existence and making the pupils more curved, because of this he allows the headmaster to introduce Irwin into the perform in order for him to keep his unlikeable romance with the market.

We can see an example of the headmaster’s characteristics when we meet him inside the staff room speaking to Mrs Lintott in which he asks her “When would we last have anyone in History for Oxford and Cambridge? inches Here we can see that the headmaster only seriously cares about how the school is usually portrayed and viewed simply by others since, just like today, Oxford and Cambridge had been top universities in the eighties when the play was collection and so you needed to be academically excellent to go there. We can likewise see a lot of irony from this part of the play as the headmaster wishes his learners and university to be scholastically sound when he himself is usually not academically sound, we find this out when he satisfies Irwin. “I was a geographer. I traveled to Hull. inches Here the headmaster attempts to cover up the fact he failed to go to among the ‘top’ colleges by making the excuse to Irwin, who have went to Oxford, that he studied location. He possibly feels undermined by Irwin’s credentials.

We can as well see the headmaster as quite a manipulative personality and liken some facets of his persona to that of a spin doctor. Felix on a regular basis changes phrases he uses in the enjoy as he considers what he initially stated did not have its ideal effect. The headmaster understands that the word ‘more’ makes the task at hand seem to very much for Mrs Lintott to handle, and so this individual changes it to ‘grooming’ and ‘presentation’ therefore getting it across in a more digestible tone. Once again we can see this happen afterwards in the play when he retracts his brief review of ‘silliness’ in front of the young boys because he doesn’t want to use such a simple word in their presence when he wishes appearing educated but more importantly as they wishes never to make an attack or criticise their learning for dread he may damage it.

Bennett as well uses part reversal to develop comedy because the headmaster’s authority and role can be turned on their head. For example when Felix interrupts Hector’s French lessons he officially addresses Hector. “Mr Hector, I hope Now i am not¦” In this article he works on the formal subject towards Hector thus putting authority on him and portrays some politeness through saying “I hope Now i’m not” with the verb ‘hope’ leading to us feeling doing this. This is even so juxtaposed quite surprisingly by Hector when he holds up “an admonitory ring finger. ” This really is quite a severe contrast between the politely formal phrases by Felix becoming interrupted which has a rather non-formal gesture. “Admonitory” shows that Hector feels he is the only estimate the room with authority, we can see another case too “L’anglais, c’est interdit. ” The imperative is actually a command to Felix thus generating connaissance as actually Hector appears to mock the headmaster through directly curing his function and highlighting his failure to maintain esteem even coming from his guy employees.

Bennett continue to be present the headmaster like a figure to get ridiculed since Felix seems he offers managed to conspire with Mrs Lintott and successfully convince her being on his area, when in reality she has not taken notice of 1 word and is just adding with him as he has got the authority and she does not. This is made evident through how the girl describes the headmaster “A cunt¦” and “A condescending cunt. inch Furthermore the response give towards the headmaster when he leaves the staffroom is important also. “Yes, headmaster. ” This response is seen as mimicking young school children as they answer drearily completely to their teacher, this carry it across towards the audience that it is routine that Mrs Lintott follows rather than something she is saying that in fact acknowledges the actual headmaster reports. Comedy may again be found here in the form of dramatic irony while the audience knows that Mrs Lintott is just setting up with the Felix, whereas the headmaster feels he offers conspired with her.

There is impatience shown also by the headmaster which can be another reason as to why we all dislike his character. Impatience can be seen as being a childish quality and so show the headmaster as a great uneducated and childish character himself as he is too rapide and works in a way like he would such as the boys just to take their particular exams right now in order for him to gain benefits. We can see low self-esteem too, when he is questioned by Hector’s comment he attempts to reply to rather than manage the situation. He answers in French which consequently shows his insufficient education when he stumbles without fluency, actually adding some words in English. “Pourquoi cet garcon¦Dakin, isn’t it? est without ses¦trousers. ” This inflicts satirical comedy upon the audience as we find his incapability to speak France, which may possibly involve an extremely weird France accent, although also his failure to prove him self to the various other characters therefore also failing to live up to his requirement as a headmaster.

Nevertheless , we can see which the headmaster basically entirely unlikable as if he talks to Mrs Lintott regarding Hector departing he attempts to empathise with her since she worked well closely with Hector. “¦to be frizzy hair I think more appreciative than investigatory. ” Placing “I think” prior to his sentences shows that he’s aware that he can dealing with a delicate situation and talking to someone who cares about him. However it may be argued the fact that headmaster’s purpose is to be disliked as he in that case goes on to use terms such as “I assumed you knew” and “I no longer want to spell it out. ” These both are hurtful toward Mrs Lintott as they attack her and her expertise and placement as a tutor. Using the word ‘assumed’ reveals carelessness as he doesn’t trouble to find out if Mrs Lintott did actually know about the wedding. Furthermore the fact he showed empathy with Mrs Lintott early demonstrates he recognized her feelings and now makes his second option actions show up even harsh to the audience.

In conclusion, we can see quite clearly which the character from the headmaster is definitely unlikeable, this kind of distaste we certainly have towards Felix’s character is usually an argument to get why his character is a great pathway intended for Bennett to cause frivolity through even as can find it easier to giggle at the wrong doings, lack of ability and mockery from all other characters even as don’t hook up or experience as emotionally attached to him compared to a few of the other heroes in the play, thus allowing him to create light out of alternatively serious matters in the perform as the audience can dismiss him as a character employed for comedy worth.