Women as sex objects

Question 1

“Lecher though one is, or aspires to be, it appears to me that the lot of women cannot be easy, who must suffer such inexpert male fumblings virtually on a daily basis.”

Answer 1

Dakin, p.77

a lecher is not something someone would typically claim or aspire to be - shows dakin’s brash personality and derogatory view of women
this quote is hypocritical in itself - dakin admits to harassing women and yet proclaims to understand their struggle in relation to unwanted attention from men

Question 2

“Chases her round the desk hoping to cop a feel.”

Answer 2

Dakin (about the headmaster and fiona), p.29

“cop a feel” idiom, crude
fiona is only mentioned in relation to the male lust (dakin, headmaster) directed towards her
ironically, the headmaster is not unlike hector in his actions

Question 3

“She’s my Western Front. Last night, for instance, meeting only token resistance, I reconnoitred the ground.”

Answer 3

Dakin, p.28

dakin = offense
fiona = defence
makes clear dakin’s belief that women are to be conquered, almost overthrown
militaristic metaphor shows limited experience/concept of sexual relations
introduces idea of sex as a conflict - dakin uses similar militaristic imagery in his loaded conversation with irwin later on; foreshadowing

Question 4

“I asked what the difference was between Hector touching us up on the bike and him trying to feel up Fiona.”

Answer 4

Dakin, p.102

dakin boldly presents the headmaster, or “felix” as dakin refers to him, with an ultimatum - how could he dismiss hector for something that he does too?
pointing out headmaster’s hypocrisy
bennett presents a moral question at the end of the play - makes audience (readers/watchers) think about why they hadn’t already asked that question themselves - is it a gender issue? is hector’s groping of the boys in the foreground because the assaulted are male? is the headmaster’s inappropriate treatment of fiona in the background because she is female and therefore expected to be used to this behaviour from men?

Question 5

“Mrs Armstrong told me she was startled to find she was the object of unaccustomed sexual interference herself.”

Answer 5

Headmaster, p.68

all minor female characters have had a similar experience with harassment - shows male attitudes to women