The History Boys: Act 1 Summary & Analysis

The play opens with Irwin, a former teacher, now in his forties. He sits in a wheelchair. He is speaking to several members of the British Parliament, discussing a bill that would limit jury trials and “to a significant extent abolish the presumption of innocence” for those accused of a crime. This bill seems like an assault on liberty, but Irwin advises the legislators to argue that the bill actually makes people more free—it gives them the freedom to walk around without fear of crime, knowing that criminals will be punished. Irwin says that this type of argument reminds him of school.

We then flash back into the past, to a classroom at an all-boys school in northern England, some time in the 1980s. Hector, a history teacher, enters in a motorcycle helmet and leather motorcycling outfit. Eight sixth-formers—boys ages 17 and 18, who are in their last year of school before applying to universities—enter as well. They are Posner, Dakin, Scripps, Rudge, Lockwood, Akthar, Timms, and Crowther. They remove Hector’s motorcycling gear and show it to the audience, naming each item in French as they do so. Then Hector begins teaching.

Hector opens his class by congratulating the boys on a good performance on their A Levels (A Levels are exams taken at the end of high school in England that help determine admission to universities). Hector calls the exams “longed-for emblems of your conformity.” Now that summer is over, he says, the boys are back to continue with their real education. Rudge asks why Hector is implying that A Levels aren’t education. Hector responds that they’re just “credentials” for the boys’ CVs (resumes). His class, General Studies, is for the “bits in between” those credentials.

The title “General Studies,” Hector continues, is a euphemism. (Posner looks up the word and defines it for the audience: “substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for a harsh or direct one.”) Hector says that, if he were in charge instead of the Headmaster, he would call them “A Waste of Time.” He then quotes scholar and poet A. E. Housman in saying, “All knowledge is precious.” Akthar correctly identifies Housman as the original speaker.

Timms asks if Housman was a “nancy,” a pejorative slang word for a homosexual man. Hector tells him not to use that word, and hits him on the head with a book. Timms protests that Hector himself uses the word, and Hector says that his old age excuses this. Crowther says, jokingly, that Hector is not supposed to hit them, and that they could report him. Hector joins in on the joke, feigning despair. Dakin says that Hector should treat them with respect, now that all eight boys are up for scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge.

Hector sits down, pretending to be shocked. He says that he thought “that silliness was finished with,” and that the boys were going to aim for less prestigious institutions. He asks why they even want to go to Oxford and Cambridge. Lockwood says it’s because they’re old now—“tried and tested.” Hector shoots back that it’s actually only because other boys want to go there. He then bans any mention of Oxford and Cambridge from his lessons, hitting the boys again as he does so. He reminds them that there’s a world beyond those schools.

Dakin notes, “you’re hitting us again, sir.” Hector says that “whatever I do in this room is a token of my trust…it is a pact. Bread eaten in secret.” This is a reference to the Bible, Proverbs 9:17. He also quotes Deuteronomy, saying that the boys should “choose life” rather than Oxford and Cambridge. At his desk, he feigns despair again. Posner says, “Look up, My Lord,” and then he and Timms launch into a scene taken from King Lear, just after Lear’s death. Then the bell rings, and Hector jumps into the Lear scene, skipping ahead a few lines to say that he must go. Timms speaks a line of narration to the audience, clarifying that the hitting didn’t hurt them. It was a joke. In fact, he says, the students “lapped it up.”

Back in the present, the boys discuss the hitting. Rudge says that Hector hits the boys he likes (and that’s not Rudge himself). Dakin says, “happily,” that he’s “black and blue.” Scripps speaks an aside to the audience, saying that he’s the only one of the boys who believes in God. It’s gone out of style, he says, “but the big man [God] is glad.”

The scene changes to the staff room. The Headmaster asks Mrs. Lintott, the school’s history teacher, what her plans are for “these Oxbridge boys. Your historians.” She remarks that their A Level results were good, and the Headmaster agrees. Mrs. Lintott says that she expects to do “more of the same” to prepare them for their University entrance exams, but the Headmaster says that that hasn’t worked before. He wants them to get into the best schools—Oxford and Cambridge—to raise the school’s profile. “Factually tip-top as your boys always are,” he says, “something more is required.” Mrs. Lintott asks what he has in mind, and he says that it’s something like “presentation.” Mrs. Lintott scoffs at this, saying that “properly organized facts need no presentation.” But the headmaster insists that the boys need more charm and “polish.”

The Headmaster exits as Hector enters. Mrs. Lintott asks Hector if he himself tried to get into Cambridge, and Hector replies that it was actually Oxford—he wanted to go someplace “old.” Mrs. Lintott says that her school, Durham, was old. Hector says that his school, Sheffield, wasn’t, but he gained something from that: “I was confusing learning with the smell of cold stone. If I had gone to Oxford I’d probably never have worked out the difference.” Mrs. Lintott says that her school had a good history program, and that she ate her first pizza there, and had other firsts, too—“but it’s the pizza that stands out.” She says that she wishes some of the boys wanted to go to Durham, but both teachers agree that they’ll all keep pushing for Oxbridge (a combination of the words Oxford and Cambridge).

The scene changes as Scripps begins to narrate. He says that one day, he thought he saw a new schoolboy outside the headmaster’s office. It turns out to be the new history teacher, Irwin, who is in his mid-twenties. The Headmaster enters and ushers Irwin into his study. He says that the boys are preparing for December examinations, but that Irwin must already know that, because he went to Cambridge. Irwin clarifies that it was Oxford. The Headmaster says that he himself went to Hull, because “this was the fifties. Change was in the air.” Irwin mentions the poet Phillip Larkin, who was the librarian at Hull. The Headmaster says that Larkin was a “pitiless” librarian, and that artists “get away with murder.”

Then the Headmaster comments that the boys are all smart—except for Rudge. Rudge plans to apply for admission into Christ Church college at Oxford, but the Headmaster says he doesn’t have much chance of getting in. He tells Irwin that the boys “need polish. Edge. Your job.” He says that there is an opening in the History department at the school, and that if Irwin can help the boys get scholarships, he can have the position. He offers three lessons per week. Irwin says this isn’t enough. The Headmaster says that they’ll only be able to find an hour more, given that Hector keeps a tight hold on General Studies. As he leaves, he encourages Irwin to grow a moustache to look older, and to keep better control of the classroom.

The scene changes to Hector’s classroom. He asks the boys, in French, where they would like to work today. The scene proceeds in French. Rudge says he wants to work in a garage, but the other boys protest. Dakin suggests “une maison de passe.” Hector understands, but the other boys ask what that means. Posner translates: it’s a brothel. Hector says, still in French, that they can work in a brothel—as long as all of the clients speak in the subjunctive or conditional verb tense. The boys begin to act out the scene in French. Posner plays a chambermaid named Simone, Dakin plays a client, and Timms plays a prostitute named Claudine. Crowther, Akthar, and Lockwood play supporting roles at the brothel (Rudge doesn’t speak, and Scripps accompanies the scene on the piano). At one point, Posner takes off Dakin’s pants, saying that he’ll be more comfortable on the bed that way. The scene reaches a point where Timms and Dakin negotiate the price it will cost Dakin to touch the prostitute’s breasts, when there is a knock at the door.

Posner, still playing the chambermaid, says that it must be another client, and goes to open it. It is the Headmaster and Irwin. Hector, still speaking French, greets the Headmaster, who begins to respond in English that he hopes he isn’t interrupting. Hector stops him, and says that he must continue in French. The Headmaster asks, in halting French, why Dakin has his pants off. The boys are paralyzed. Hector asks them to explain what’s going on, and Dakin begins, “I am a man who…” but Hector stops him, saying that he’s not just a man—he’s a soldier. A wounded soldier. Hector says that they are pretending to be at a Belgian hospital during World War II. Dakin is wounded, and the other boys are playing medical personnel. Hector tells them to continue the scene, and they launch into a dramatic rendition of a wartime medical ward. Then Irwin cuts in to ask if Dakin might be shell-shocked. The classroom registers this as an intrusion into their normal routine.

Soon, the Headmaster interrupts to introduce Irwin as a new professor at the school. Then, in English, he tells the boys to stop their silliness. He asks if Hector is “aware that these pupils are Oxbridge candidates.” Hector feigns surprise. The Headmaster says that Irwin will be offering them additional coaching, and begins to ask for some of Hector’s lesson time for that purpose—but Hector flatly refuses. The Headmaster says that he is “thinking of the boys,” and Hector says that he is, too. The Headmaster turns to Irwin and says, resigned to defeat, “fuck.” Then the bell goes off. As class is ending, Rudge says to Hector that it’s true that they don’t have much time to prepare for their university entrance exams.

Hector asks who is going home now, but no one responds. He says that he’s sure he can give someone a lift, and asks Dakin if he’s on “pillion duty” (a pillion is the second seat on a motorcycle). Dakin says that he’s going into town. Crowther says that he’s going for a run. Akthar has computer club. Posner offers to come, but Hector says never mind. Scripps says, “resignedly,” that he’ll come. Hector accepts this, and leaves. As he follows, Scripps says, “the things I do for Jesus,” and flashes Dakin the middle finger. The boys discuss this. Posner says that he would go, but Hector never wants him to. Timms agrees. Dakin says that Posner and Timms “don’t fit the bill,” but that they should be grateful for that.

The scene changes to Irwin’s classroom, where he is passing back essays. He says that they are all “dull.” Dakin protests that he “got all the points,” and Irwin says that his essay isn’t wrong, but it’s still boring. Crowther says that this is the way they’ve been taught to do things, and Lockwood chimes in that “Mrs. Lintott discourages the dramatic.” Timms complains that he can’t read Irwin’s handwriting, and Irwin says that it’s the fault of his eyesight, and “we know what that’s caused by.” He’s intimating that masturbating too much is said to make you go blind. Timms pretends to be scandalized by this, asking if this is “a coded reference to the mythical dangers of self-abuse” (another term for masturbation). Irwin says that it “might even be a joke.” Timms asks if jokes will “be a feature,” because “we need to know as it affects our mind-set.”

Irwin pauses. Then he says that during the Reformation in the history of Christianity, “fourteen foreskins of Christ” were preserved, but people said that one church in Rome had the true specimen. Dakin says that Irwin shouldn’t think they’ll be shocked by this mention of foreskins. Crowther agrees: “some of us even have them.” Lockwood says that Posner doesn’t, because he’s Jewish, and that this is “not racist,” thought it is “race-related.”

Irwin looks at them again, and asks if any of them have been to Rome. They haven’t. He reminds them that some of the students they’re competing against will have traveled there and other places, and that they’ll therefore be able to drop in specifics to keep their essays from being boring. This will please the examiners, who are used to reading the same thing over and over. In that context, Irwin says, “The fourteen foreskins of Christ will come as a real ray of sunshine.” Irwin says that they should hate these other students, because they have such an advantage. Crowther asks why they’re even bothering, and Irwin says that it’s probably because they, or their parents, or their headmasters want it. Judging by the quality of these essays, however, Irwin suggests that they should go to a lesser school and “be happy.” Then he says, after a long pause, that there is “another way.” Timms asks if they should cheat. Irwin says, “possibly,” and then the bell rings. As he leaves, Irwin tells Dakin that there isn’t time for joking around.

After the class, Timms calls Irwin a “wanker.” Dakin says that all teachers have to “show you they’re still in the game” by talking about things like foreskins. Scripps tells him to lighten up, as Irwin is “only five minutes older than we are.” Then Dakin asks what happened with Hector on the motorcycle. Scripps says it was the same as usual, but that he managed to slip his bag between them. Scripps says he believes Hector thought that he had given Scripps an erection, when “in fact it was my Tudor Economics Documents, Volume Two.” Posner approaches, and they stop talking.

Posner cuts in with some narration to the audience. He says that because he was “late growing up,” he doesn’t get to be a part of these conversations, and that they think he doesn’t understand. In fact, he says he knows more about “them and their bodies” than they would expect. Scripps then adds his own narration. He says that “Dakin’s navel…was small and hard like an unripe blackberry,” while Posner’s is softer, more like an orange. Scripps says that Posner envies Dakin’s navel “and all the rest of him.” At this point, Scripps says, Posner has not yet identified this envy as love. It is causing him “misery.” Back in the present, Posner walks away, and Scripps, Dakin, and the other boys keep talking.

Dakin says that he sometimes wishes Hector would “just go for it.” Scripps says that Hector does go for it, but Dakin says that he means off the motorcycle. Then Dakin says that Rudge is having sex. Rudge replies that he only has sex on Fridays, because he needs to play rugby and golf on the weekend. He then cuts in with narration to the audience, saying that no one thinks he can pass the exam, but “fuck ’em.” Dakin says that he is seeing the Headmaster’s secretary, Fiona. They haven’t had sex yet, but Dakin hopes that they will do so on the study floor one of these days.

The scene shifts to the staff room. Mrs. Lintott remarks to Hector that Irwin seems “clever.” Hector agrees: “depressingly so.” Mrs. Lintott says that men are generally good at history, because they’re so good at storytelling. Her ex-husband, for example, told a lot of stories. Hector muses that Dakin is “a good-looking boy, though somehow sad.” Mrs. Lintott says, “you always think they’re sad.” She, however, thinks of Dakin as “cunt-struck.” Hector is taken aback by this. Mrs. Lintott says that she thought he would like that description, as “it’s a compound adjective,” which Hector likes. Hector brings the conversation back to Dakin, saying that he’s clever. Mrs. Lintott claims responsibility for that. Hector says, “you give them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it.” Mrs. Lintott says that Hector is better than most teachers at giving his students a sense of discovery.

The scene changes to Irwin’s classroom. He says that the boys’ essays have come to a “less-than-startling” conclusion that poets have a generally bad view of World War I, and that “the origins of the Second War lie in the unsatisfactory outcome of the First.” Timms agrees with this assessment, and the others nod, too. Irwin says that the secondary institutions will welcome this interpretation, but that it will put Oxford fellows to sleep. Scripps insists that it’s “true,” and Irwin asks what truth has to do with anything.

Irwin offers an alternate interpretation, suggesting that Britain is partially responsible for the war, and that they don’t like to remember this fact because of the huge death toll. The commemorations of the war, he says, are a way of forgetting Britain’s culpability. He suggests that the British general Douglas Haig, who is generally considered to have led too many British soldiers to their death at the battle of Passchendaele, might actually have been an effective warrior. He argues that, apart from their poems, many of the poets seem to have had mixed or even positive feelings about the war.

Irwin says that poetry can “add flavor” to an essay. Dakin likens this to the foreskins, and Irwin ignores him. Irwin suggests that they look to a Kipling poem about the war instead of the Wilfred Owen. Owen’s poetry expresses horror about the war, but Kipling at first supported it, then wrote grief-stricken poetry after his son was killed in action. Irwin begins to summarize Kipling, saying, “in other words…” but Timms cuts in and says that in the case of a work of art, “there are no other words.” Lockwood agrees, and Irwin is puzzled. Then Rudge cuts in and asks what the upshot of all this is. Irwin says that Rudge shouldn’t just parrot what the teacher says. But, he also tells Rudge to write down Irwin’s own idea that the First World War was a “mistake. It was not a tragedy.”

Then Irwin tells Scripps that “truth is no more at issue in an examination than thirst at a wine-tasting or fashion at a striptease.” Dakin asks if he really believes that, or if he’s just trying to provoke them to question their assumptions. Scripps and Lockwood argue that “art wins in the end,” and then the bell rings. Scripps begins to quote a poem by Philip Larkin that discusses the way World War I stripped Britons of their innocence. Lockwood, Akthar, Posner, and Timms all chime in with lines of the poem as they get ready to leave the classroom. Irwin asks, confused, how they all know this poem. Then he exits.

Still in the classroom, Scripps and Dakin discuss Fiona. Dakin uses a metaphor of World War I to explain his sexual conquests. He says that Fiona is the “Western Front,” which was the area Germany invaded during World War I. The night before, Dakin says, he had advanced as far as “the actual place,” but ultimately “not onto it and certainly not into it.” Fiona stopped him at “23.00 hours.” He says that previously, “her tits…fell after a prolonged campaign,” and that he can now “access” them whenever he wants. Scripps tells him that’s enough, and Dakin says that at least he’s gotten farther with Fiona than the Headmaster, Felix, has. He “chases her round the desk hoping to cop a feel.” Posner, who has been lingering in the classroom, too, cuts in that the war metaphor isn’t perfect, because Fiona is in the midst of a “planned withdrawal.” Presumably, she’s eventually going to let Dakin have sex with her, so he’s not overwhelming her with force. “You’re just negotiating over the pace of the occupation,” Posner says. Scripps tells Dakin, “just let us know when you get to Berlin.”

Dakin then says that he’s beginning to like Irwin more, though Irwin still doesn’t like him. Posner begins to sing a song, “Bewitched,” while Scripps plays the piano. The other boys come back into the classroom from their break. The scene changes to Hector’s General studies class. Hector asks Posner to recite a poem, and Timms groans that he doesn’t understand poetry. Hector says that his job for now is just to learn it—he’ll understand it later. It’s meant to be an antidote for future unhappiness and troubles—“we’re making your deathbeds here, boys.”

Someone knocks at the locked door to the classroom. Hector begins quoting from a scene in Hamlet in which he orders that the door be locked after the queen is poisoned. Someone tries to open the door, but can’t. Hector asks the boys to name knocks at the door in literature, and Akthar, Posner, and Scripps name instances from Coleridge’s poetry, a Mozart opera, and the Bible. Timms looks outside, and says that the knocker was Irwin, but that he’s gone now. Hector muses about other knocks, from death, love, and opportunity.

Then Hector moves on to a game that they play in class. The boys challenge him to name a reference to a work of literature or art, and if he can name it, they have to put fifty pence into a tin. Timms and Lockwood begin a scene while Scripps plays the piano (they say that they have to smoke while they do it). Hector knows the reference—it’s from a famous movie—so Timms and Lockwood pay up. Then they unlock the door, and Hector and the boys exit. Only Rudge stays behind in the classroom to work.

Mrs. Lintott enters and sees Rudge. She asks him how the class is getting along with Irwin. Rudge says it makes him miss her lessons, and she is flattered. He says that Irwin’s classes are “free-range…you’ve force-fed us the facts; now we’re in the process of running around acquiring flavor.” Mrs. Lintott asks if that’s how Irwin talks about it, and Rudge says he came up with the metaphor himself. He says he’s about to go home to watch some movies that Irwin has recommended, the Carry On films. Mrs. Lintott asks if Irwin likes these movies, and Rudge says that he probably doesn’t. Irwin has argued that they acquire some of the “permanence of art” simply by staying popular over time. Rudge calls Irwin’s lessons “cutting-edge.”

The scene changes to Irwin’s classroom. Timms asks Irwin where he lives, and he gives a vague response. Akthar and Dakin press him, wondering if he has a life outside of teaching. Irwin changes the subject back to their essays—he says they’re “dreary” again. He reminds them that if they get a question about Stalin, they shouldn’t follow the crowd and condemn him—they should find a way to defend him. Irwin declares that, “History nowadays is not a matter of conviction. It’s a performance. It’s entertainment.” Rudge says that he gets it—Irwin wants them to find “an angle.”

Scripps steps out to deliver narration to the audience. He says that Irwin eventually became well known as a historian who always took an unconventional point of view. Scripps says that his method was, however, “as formal in its way as the disciplines of the medieval schoolmen.” There was a formula to it.

Back in the present, Irwin says that the boys should take exam questions about things they don’t know and answer using knowledge that they do have, like answering a question about Rembrandt with knowledge about Ingres. Rudge asks if Ingres was an “old master,” and this leads Timms to quote a poem. Irwin asks if they learned that poem with Hector, and Timms evades the question. Then Irwin asks why Hector works behind a locked door during his classes. The boys pretend to be surprised to hear this.

Irwin asks whether Hector has a “programme” to his teaching, and Akthar and Timms say that it’s about the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. Irwin says that this used to be called “wider reading.” Lockwood says that it can actually sometimes be “narrower reading,” because Hector thinks that it’s okay to know any book, as long as you know it well. Crowther adds that what Hector teaches also has to pertain to “the heart.” Lockwood agrees, and says, “it’s higher than your stuff, sir. Nobler.” Posner adds that it’s not as “useful,” because it’s not “focused.” Timms and Akthar agree that Hector is “blurred” in comparison with Irwin.

Akthar changes the subject, commenting that Irwin is very young. Lockwood asks whether teaching at the school is “just a hiccup between the end of university and the beginning of life,” and Dakin asks whether Irwin likes the poet Auden. He says that Hector does, and so they hear a lot about him. He was a teacher for a time, too. Dakin asks whether Auden would have been more like Irwin, or more like Hector, and Irwin says he doesn’t know. Dakin posits that he might have been more like Hector. He says that “he snogged his pupils. Auden, sir. Not Mr. Hector.” Dakin then quotes a romantic line of poetry that Auden wrote about a student.

Irwin asks them whether they could answer an exam question about Auden, and they all protest. Timms says that Hector’s stuff is “not meant for the exam,” but rather “it’s to make us more rounded human beings.” Irwin says that they must use all the knowledge they have on the test, and Akthar replies that this would be “a betrayal of trust.” Posner clarifies to Irwin that the boys are just joking. Then Lockwood quotes another line of poetry, one that Irwin doesn’t know, and Lockwood says that it’s by female poet Stevie Smith. Irwin says the line could be perfect to end an essay on post-imperial decline, and asks, “how much more stuff like that have you got up your sleeves?” The bell goes off. Lockwood says they’ve got lots more, and Posner and Scripps act out a scene from the 1945 film Brief Encounter. Irwin recognizes it, and says that the lesson has been a “waste of time.” Dakin says that this is just like Hector’s lessons. Irwin says that’s true, “but he’s not trying to get you through an exam.”

The scene changes to the staff room. Mrs. Lintott asks Irwin whether he’s earned a nickname from the boys. He says he doesn’t think so. Mrs. Lintott says that “a nickname is an achievement,” and Irwin comments that Hector doesn’t have one. Mrs. Lintott says that “Hector” is it—his real name is Douglas, but the only person to call him that is “his somewhat unexpected wife.” Irwin says that Posner came into his classroom yesterday with a problem. The following scene layers the staff room conversation with the conversation in Irwin’s classroom. Posner tells Irwin that he thinks he is homosexual, and that he is in love with Dakin. Irwin tells Mrs. Lintott that he “sympathized, though not so much as to suggest I might be in the same boat.” Mrs. Lintott asks if he means the same boat with Dakin, and Irwin says, “with anybody.” Mrs. Lintott says this was a good idea. It’s hard for boys to understand that teachers are human, she says, and hard for teachers “not to try and tell them.”

Posner asks Irwin whether this is a phase, and says, “some of the literature says it will pass.” Irwin, either in an aside or to Mrs. Lintott in the staff room, says that he wanted to tell Posner that literature (i.e. books and poetry) says otherwise. Posner says that he’s not sure whether he wants his feelings to pass, but he knows he wants to get into Cambridge. He believes this might make Dakin love him—or it might make him care less. Then he gives this assessment of his life: “I’m a Jew. I’m small. I’m a homosexual. I live in Sheffield. I’m fucked.” Mrs. Lintott asks whether they talked about anything else, and Irwin says no. She exits.

Irwin, back in the scene with Posner, asks what the boys do in Hector’s lessons. Posner says “nothing,” and adds, “you shouldn’t ask me that, sir.” Irwin calls it a “quid pro quo”—Posner confided in him, and now he’s confiding in Posner. Posner says that he has to go. Irwin persists, asking Posner whether the boys learn poetry on their own. Posner says that Hector makes you want to learn, and Irwin asks how. Posner says that it’s “a conspiracy…against the world,” then tells Irwin that he hates this interrogation, and wants to go. Irwin asks if the conspiracy aspect is what makes Hector work behind a locked door. Posner says that it’s a way of making sure that Hector’s classes are apart from the world, “not part of the system.”

Irwin asks why Posner came to him about Dakin, and not to Hector. Posner says that he wanted “advice” and not a quote from literature. Hector thinks that literature is “everything,” but Posner says, “it isn’t, though, is it, sir?” Scripps cuts in with a narrative aside to the audience. He says that what Posner didn’t say is that he had seen Irwin looking at Dakin, too. Scripps says of Posner, “basically he just wanted company.” Irwin tells Posner that the feelings will “pass.” Posner agrees. As a parting shot, Irwin tells Posner that he should stop being so agreeable, and “acquire the habit of contradiction.” Posner says “yes, sir. No, sir.” Scripps then accompanies Posner on the piano while he sings the last verse of a hymn.

The scene changes. Dakin asks Scripps what he does to practice his religion, and Scripps says that he prays and goes to church, but that mostly “it’s what you don’t do.” Dakin asks if he means that he doesn’t “wank” (masturbate). Scripps doesn’t, but says that it’s not forever. Dakin teases him: “just tell me on the big day and I’ll stand well back.” Scripps says that he feels that he has to practice religion now so that it’s not something he has to return to later in life. He says that his parents hate it. He also says that there are things he still doesn’t understand about religion—like the fact that you should love God just because he loves you. He compares him to “Hector minus the motorbike” and says that “God should get real.”

Dakin says that this is a good line of argument for Cambridge interviews. Scripps says he won’t use it—it’s private. Dakin says, “fuck private.” Scripps asks Dakin to test him on T.S. Eliot, and recites an Eliot poem about a painting by the artist Piero della Francesca. Dakin comments that “the more you read, though, the more you see that literature is actually about losers…all literature is consolation.” Scripps protests that some literature is about joy, and Dakin responds that it’s only written when good things are over, and it’s “lowering.” Scripps asks if he really means it, or he’s trying out some “original thoughts” for the exam. Dakin says he isn’t, but Scripps says it’s the kind of thing that Irwin would say. Dakin says it was Irwin who opened him up to this way of thinking—“I didn’t know you were allowed to call art and literature into question.” He says that the idea comes partly from the philosopher Nietzsche. He mispronounces the name, and Scripps corrects him. Dakin is horrified, realizing that Irwin listened to him talk about Nietzsche without correcting him.

The scene changes to an unidentified location. Irwin and Hector are mid-conversation. Irwin says that he’s gathered that the boys know a lot of information from Hector’s class, but that they seem to think that they shouldn’t use it on the university examinations. Hector says that’s not surprising, because he openly calls exams the “enemy of education” (though he adds, “which is not to say that I don’t regard education as the enemy of education, too”). Still, he says that he’ll talk to them about it. Irwin thanks him, and says that he actually sympathizes with Hector’s view of exams, but that the “gobbets” the boys have learned with Hector “might just tip the balance.”

Hector immediately objects to this characterization, saying, “codes, spells, runes—call them what you like, but do not call them gobbets.” Irwin protests that he was only thinking that the ideas might be useful, and Hector objects to this, too, saying that the poems and movie scenes belong in the realm of the heart, and are “not to be defiled by being trotted out to order.” Irwin asks why they’re learning them, then, and says that education isn’t just for old age—“the exam is next month.” But Hector reminds Irwin that after the exam, life will go on.

The scene changes again. The Headmaster asks Irwin how the boys are doing, and Irwin says he thinks they’re doing well. The Headmaster demands more certainty, and Irwin says that there’s always luck involved. The Headmaster is taken aback by this, and says that he doesn’t want to repeat the failures of previous years. Irwin comments that the boys might benefit from using more of Hector’s knowledge, and the Headmaster says that they’re not likely to do that. The Headmaster can’t see the point of knowing reams of poetry by heart, and doesn’t think that’s what the examiners will be looking for.

Mrs. Lintott enters, and the Headmaster exits. She tells Irwin that if he remains a teacher, he’ll learn that Headmasters are often the enemy of a good school culture. She tells him that Hector’s aim is to be a memorable teacher, and that Irwin should forgive him if he oversteps. Changing the subject, she asks whether Dakin is the best student, and Irwin says he’s the “canniest.” Mrs. Lintott says he’s the best looking. She says that Dakin certainly knows more than Irwin does, at least about the school, because he’s seeing Fiona, the Headmaster’s secretary. Irwin says that he didn’t know that. Mrs. Lintott says that he should, and she suspects that Posner does.

Scripps begins to narrate. He says that halfway through the school term, the Headmaster calls Hector into his office. There, he asks Hector why he teaches “behind locked doors,” and Hector says it’s because he doesn’t want to be disturbed. “Teaching?” the Headmaster asks pointedly. He continues that his wife works at a charity shop in town, and that lately she has been looking out the window to see a man driving a motorcycle with a boy riding behind, and the “man…fiddling.” She wrote down the license plate number. Now, the Headmaster knows that it was Hector. The Headmaster says that he’s not going to do anything for the time being, but that Hector should plan to retire early, at the end of the term.

Hector doesn’t immediately answer. Then he quotes a line of A.E. Housman’s poetry: “The tree of man was never quiet.” The Headmaster says that it’s “no time for poetry,” and Hector responds, “I would have thought it was just the time.” The Headmaster asks Hector why he didn’t stop to think. Hector quotes another poem: “to think that two and two are four / And never five nor three / The heart of man has long been sore / And long ’tis like to be.”

The Headmaster asks if Hector’s wife knows about this, and Hector says he’s not sure, but he doesn’t think she’d be “interested.” Hector says that his wife helps out at the charity shop, too, and that he doesn’t understand how women think. The Headmaster moves on to a new topic, saying that this unfortunate circumstance leads him to ask that Hector share his lessons with Irwin for the remainder of the term. He says that he has always considered Hector’s lessons to be more about some vision of culture than about the boys’ best interests, and that sharing a lesson will also help remedy that. He reminds Hector that he would rather force an early retirement than fire him. As Hector leaves, he starts to say that “nothing happened.” The Headmaster says it wasn’t nothing. Hector begins to explain himself: “The transmission of knowledge is in itself an erotic act. In the Renaissance…” but the Headmaster counters, “Fuck the renaissance,” and “all the other shrunken violets you people line up. This is a school and it isn’t normal.”

The scene changes to Hector’s classroom. Hector sits at his desk wearing his motorcycle clothes, and Posner enters. Hector asks if Dakin is coming too, and Posner says he’s busy going over old exam questions with Irwin. Hector compares this to “pornography,” and asks Posner what he’s learned to recite this week. Posner says he has learned Thomas Hardy’s “Drummer Hodge.” He recites it.

The poem is about an army drummer who dies, and is buried in a foreign land. Hector and Posner discuss it. Hector points out that the dead soldier has a name and a known occupation—he is “Drummer Hodge.” In previous wars, he would have been an unknown soldier in a mass grave. Posner asks how old Hardy is. At first Hector thinks he’s asking how old the drummer is, and says that he would have been younger than Posner himself. Then Posner clarifies, and Hector says that the poet Thomas Hardy was about sixty when he wrote the poem—close to Hector’s own age.

Hector goes on to say that Hardy had a “saddish” life. He also notes that Hardy tends to use compound adjectives by putting the prefix “un” in front of a noun or verb. In this case, Hardy describes the drummer’s body as “uncoffined.” Hector gives other examples: “Un-kissed. Un-rejoicing. Un-confessed. Un-embraced.” He says that this gives the sense of “being out of it,” and holding back. Posner says that he got that sense from the poem. Then Hector says, “the best moments in reading are when you come across something — a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things — which you had thought special and particular to you.” He says that this feels like a companionship with someone you have never met, and “it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.”

There is a moment in which it seems that Hector might grab Posner’s hand, or place his hand on Posner’s knee. But nothing happens. Hector asks Posner to speak the last stanza again, and Posner does. Then Dakin enters wearing a helmet. Hector asks why he’s wearing that, and Dakin responds that it’s Wednesday, so he’s riding home with Hector on the motorcycle. Hector says that he won’t be doing that today. Hector exits, and Dakin and Posner remain behind, “wondering.”