John, a university professor, takes a phone call in his office while his student Carol sits opposite him at his desk, waiting to have a meeting with him. John is on the phone with his wife Grace—they are in the process of closing on a house, and Grace, who is having some kind of problem with the real estate agent, urges John to come over to the property. John promises that he’ll meet her there shortly before hanging up. John asks Carol why she’s come to see him—clearly upset, she meekly admits that she’s having trouble getting by in John’s class, and can’t understand what the class is about. John condescendingly tells Carol that she’s a “bright girl” and will figure things out before taking another phone call—this time, from his lawyer Jerry, who also urges him to come to the new property. John assures Jerry he’ll be there soon. After hanging up, John continues his conversation with Carol—they discuss his book, a core text of the class, and the ideals within it. John believes that “modern education” is a “curse,” and little more than a “hazing” ritual. Carol confesses that she herself is doubting her choice to come to university in the first place—all her classes just make her feel “stupid.” John tells Carol he empathizes her—when he was in school, he says, he too struggled to understand not just the concepts he was being taught, but their larger utility.
John’s wife calls again, and he abruptly tells her he’ll be there soon. Carol, who has intuited what John’s conversations are about, asks him if he’s buying a house to go with his “promotion”—John is up for tenure, and the promotion is all but a done deal. Carol expresses nervousness about what her grade in the class will be. John tells her that he’ll make her a deal—if she comes to weekly tutorials in his office and really works to understand the material, he’ll give her an A for the semester, regardless of her previous grades. Carol points out that the university has “rules,” but John says he’ll simply break them—he likes Carol, he says, and wants to help her
As the two begin discussing the course material—and the failures of modern higher education—Carol becomes upset, and gets angry with John’s assertion that most higher education is irrelevant. When Carol appears on the verge of tears, John puts an arm around her shoulder to comfort her, but she shrugs him off violently. Carol says she has to tell John something—something she’s “never told anyone”—but before she can divulge her secret, the phone rings again. Jerry picks up and begins talking to his wife and Jerry—who are now both at the new house—and is stunned when they confess that the reason they’re trying to hurry him over there is because they’ve thrown him a surprise party to celebrate his promotion. As John hangs up and tells Carol that he has to leave, she remarks how nice it is that the people he loves are throwing him a party—but John remarks that “there are those who would say [a surprise is] a form of aggression.”
In Act Two, John and Carol are back in his office—but it’s clear that something has shifted between them. John is explaining to Carol that he’s always tried to be a good teacher, in spite of his qualms about higher education. He says he realized, when he was first put up for tenure, that it was hypocritical of him to covet the promotion as badly as he did—but reasoned with himself that taking the job would allow him to continue his professional mission and also provide for his family. John explains that in bringing a “complaint” against him, Carol has delayed John’s ascension to tenure—and ultimately is going to cause him to lose the house he and his wife are trying to buy.
Carol asks John coolly why he’s asked her here. John says he wants to make things right with Carol, and settle things before the issue goes before the tenure committee. Carol says she thinks that John is manipulating her into retracting her statement. John reads from Carol’s statement, which he has on his desk. It includes allegations of physical assault and implies that John tried to bribe Carol for sex by implying she’d get a good grade in his class if she came to his office weekly. John insists he was only ever trying to help Carol—and says that if she wants to “settle” things, he still can. Carol, though, is up in arms about John’s abuses of his power, and his complicity in a system which hurts people like her. She refers to a “group” she’s a part of, and implies that her actions against John are on their behalf.
Carol accuses John of mocking his students, acting hypocritically, and participating in the hazing rituals he claims to detest in pursuit of his own personal gain. John retorts that he’s only human. Carol stands up to leave, insisting that she’d prefer to discuss her complaint in front of the tenure committee. As Carol walks towards the door, John follows her. He grabs her arm and attempts to restrain her from leaving as she shouts for help at the top of her lungs.
In Act Three, John and Carol are in John’s office once again. John admits he has asked Carol back against his better judgement—and she implies she has come here against hers, as well as the advice of the “court officers.” Carol is nervous about being there, but John begs her just to hear him out. John’s phone rings, but he angrily answers it and insists he can’t talk. John calmly tells Carol that he is being denied tenure and discharged from his job. Carol accuses John of trying, once again, to manipulate her into recanting by getting her to pity him. Carol says she cannot recant—to do so would be to overlook and thus endorse John’s egregious behavior. She turns to her notes from class and reveals she has kept a record of times where John has spoken in ways she believes are inappropriate, calling female students “dear” and commenting on their “fetching” outfits. Carol says John’s comments are tantamount to rape. She then proceeds to pull John’s own book from her bag and lambast him for creating a text that deliberately tries to confuse students with bizarre language and lofty ideals.
Carol tells John that she now has power over him—and he hates her for it. He agrees that he does. Carol again refers to her “group,” and says they’re all angry about John’s casual mockery of education, when many of them are dependent on education to pursue the same kind of security John himself is afforded by his university job. John promises Carol that he can learn to change, but Carol calls him a “little yapping fool” and turns to leave. Before she exits the room, however, she tells John that there is something he could do to perhaps get her to recant. She pulls from her bag a list of books her group wants banned from the university. John surveys the list and sees that his own book is on it. He tells Carol to get out of his office, incensed by her blatant attempt at what he believes is censorship.
John’s phone rings, and he answers it—the conversation deflates John. When he hangs up, Carol says she thought he already knew that she was pressing charges of criminal battery and attempted rape because of his earlier attempt to restrain her from leaving the office—her group, she says, has encouraged her to do so. John sinks into his chair and tells Carol to get out. She gathers her things and heads for the door.
John’s phone rings once again—it is his wife. She is clearly upset, and he tells her that everything is going to be okay, referring to her affectionately as “baby.” Carol, at the door, turns around and tells John not to call his wife baby. John flies at Carol and begins savagely beating her. He reaches for a chair and raises it above his head, preparing to bring it down on Carol. At the last minute, he regains his cool and drops it, then returns to his desk and begins shuffling some papers around. “Yes,” Carol says, “that’s right.”
