Dramatic Differences In The History Boys Essay

Alan Bennett’s The History Boys makes use of the tension between the characters of Hector and Irwin to provide a framework for the rest of the play and to make comments about the education system . Hector and Irwin as characters are diametrically opposed and the difference between them is shown through their differences in teaching style and in their fundamental beliefs. This means that Bennett is using the comedic clashes between the two characters to communicate his ideas and political beliefs about the education and particularly attacking what is suggested to be an unhealthy obsession with ‘Oxbridge’ and an education system which Bennett suggests focuses on exams at the cost of personal development.

From the first time that they come together in the play Hector and Irwin seem to be fundamentally different. The scene set in the brothel which is being performed by the boys under the supervision of Hector is disrupted by the entrance of the Headmaster and Irwin , and the boys almost farcically create a pretence that the scene before the headmaster is actually a field hospital in the Great War. This reflects in a comic way how Irwin, under commission from the headmaster, intrudes upon …show more content…
The play can be performed with as little as a classroom and a staff room. The play itself does not include many stage directions and this could be as Bennett wanted to the play to retain a natural fluidity, helped instead of than hindered by the style of each actor, rather than the two characters having a false and laboured feel around them. The characters of Hector and Irwin offer two fundamental views through the opposition of their characters. This lack of different rooms within the set highlights the intense comedic opposition of Hector and Irwin and emphasises how Irwin has put himself well and truly into the territory of