History Boys Flashcards
Character: Hector
Thesis:
Bennett displays Hector as a beloved teacher and friend to the boys and as the ‘old guard’ of British education due to his holistic teaching style.
Quotes:
- “You give them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it.”
- “Timms, I never understand it. But learn it now, know it now and you’ll understand it whenever.”
- “I count examinations, even for Oxford and Cambridge, as the enemy of education.”
- “Mr. Hector’s stuff’s not meant for the exam, sir. It’s to make us more rounded human beings.” By Timms
- “All knowledge is useful even if it doesn’t serve the slightest need”
Important Scenes:
- French Scene - Displays his teaching style. Lies to the Headmaster about the lesson. (WW2 hospital not a brothel).
- Drummer Hodge - “Lost boy” about Hodge but possibly Posner and Hector.
- Funeral - Spoken kindly upon by others. “His death was a lesson” - teaching style.
Theme: Purpose of Education
Thesis:
Bennett presents education as the standard quantifiable success as well as to inspire personal growth represented through Irwin and Hector.
Quotes:
- “History nowadays is not a matter of conviction. It’s a
performance.” ………….. “And if it isn’t, make it
so.”
- “Truth is no more at issue in an examination than thirst
at a wine-tasting or fashion at a strip-tease.”
- “All knowledge is useful even if it doesn’t serve the slightest need”
- “You give them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it.”
- “Mr. Hector’s stuff’s not meant for the exam, sir. It’s to make us more rounded human beings.” By Timms
- “But they are unpredictable and unquantifiable and in
the current educational climate that is no use.” About Hector’s teaching style
- “His death was a lesson”
Important Scene:
- WW1 scene (with Irwin)
- French Scene - Displays his teaching style. Lies to the Headmaster about the lesson. (WW2 hospital not a brothel).
- Funeral - Spoken kindly upon by others. “His death was a lesson” - Hector’s teaching style.
Character: Irwin
Thesis:
Bennett portrays Irwin as a young, smart man who uses abstract and manipulative teaching techniques.
Quotes:
- “Mr. Hector has an old-fashioned faith in the
redemptive power of words.”
- “History nowadays is not a matter of conviction. It’s a
performance. It’s entertainment. And if it isn’t, make it
so.”
- “Truth is no more at issue in an examination than thirst
at a wine-tasting or fashion at a strip-tease.”
- “It’s not as much lest we forget, as lest we remember”.
Important Scenes:
- Churchill Dentist - Halifax goes to dentist so wasn’t Prime Minister.
- WW1 scene - Shows his teaching style.
- Funeral -
Theme: History and Truth
Thesis:
Bennett displays history as utterly random in both what happens and what is remembered.
- Churchill Dentist
- WW1 Scene
- Funeral scene
Character: Mrs. Lintott
Thesis:
Bennett presents Mrs. Lintott as as a dry and practical teacher who also picks up the pieces of her male colleagues and students.
Quotes:
- “History is a commentary on the various and
continuing incapabilities of men.”
- “What’s all this learning by heart for, except as some
sort of insurance against the boys’ ultimate failure?”
- “History is women following behind with the bucket.”
- “Imagine how dispiriting it is to teach five centuries of masculine ineptitude”.
Important Scenes:
- Funeral - Talks about the students successes.
Theme: Sexuality
Thesis:
Bennett explores the purpose of sexuality in The History Boys through quotations linking sex to education as well as it being a major part in the plot.
Character: Headmaster
Thesis:
Bennett presents the Headmaster as the antagonist in the play as he cares about the boys ox-bridge careers for the wrong reason as well as being sexist.
Quotes:
- “But they are unpredictable and unquantifiable and in
the current educational climate that is no use.”
- “Shall i tell you what is wrong with Hector?”
- “Fuck the renaissance. And fuck literature.”
Important Scenes:
- Funeral - Speaks of Hector in a untruthful way.
Theme: Hope and failure
Thesis:
Bennett presents hope and failure through the teaching methods used. Irwin and Mrs. Lintott are preparing the boys for their success where as Hector is preparing them for their ultimate failure.
Character: Dakin
Thesis:
Bennett presents Dakin as a charming, manipulative and self-confident boy that is intelligent and and has characters that are sexually attracted to him.
Quotes:
- “the start line for last nights abortive thrust
downwards. “ - “All literature is consolation.”
Important Scenes:
- Funeral
Theme: Class and gender
Thesis: Bennett displays class and gender as one of the main themes in the play. Mrs. Lintott is the only female to speak in the play and the setting of a grammar school shows the lower class of the students.
Character: Rudge
Thesis:
Quotes:
- “How do i define history? Its just one fucking thing
after another”
- “They’ll take me because i’m dull and ordinary.”
-
- -
Character: Posner
Thesis:
Quotes:
- “I’m a Jew. I’m small. I’m homosexual. And I live in
Sheffield. I’m fucked.”
- “Lost boy though he is on the other side of the world”
-
- -
Character: Scripps
Thesis: The character Scripps is portrayed by Bennett as religious and studious. He is the narrative speaker for the play and
Quotes:
- -
