The History Boys Comedy Essay
The History Boys Essay 13. “Brilliantly funny…. but by the end, tears are as near as laughter. ” To what extent can we read The History boys as comedy? One of the key factors that makes the History Boys such an iconic play is its witty comedic effect throughout the entire book. Using various techniques, such as parody, contrasting characters and clever juxtapositions within the plot, intelligent metaphors, bathos and many more.
But at first glance the history boys could seem a typical dramatic themed book with a group of characters restricted almost entirely to a single location and a short period of time however looking deeper into the play you begin to notice the comedy reveal before your eyes. Within Hector’s French lesson, the juxtaposition of Hector’s character immediately contrasts that of the headmasters as soon as he walks in.
Hector’s strangeness and open-minded character contrasted with the headmaster’s strict adherence to rules, regulations and formality with Hector interrupting the headmaster’s dialogue “Mr Hector, I hope I’m not. . . ” with the informal gesture that is “an admonitory finger. ” The use of the “admonitory” there comically reverses the power balance between the two characters, with Hector playfully showing that he has authority in his lessons, much to the shock of the headmaster who feels both humiliated and challenged enough to try and speak French and keep up with the students.
The Headmaster finds difficulty in speaking French, having to hesitate and show non- fluency features in “Pourqoui cet garcon . . . Dakin , isn’t it? . . .est sans ses trousers? ” having to switch back to English with simple words “trousers” for lack of knowledge showing low confidence which brings amusement to the boys and to the audience. The headmaster is a subject of mockery because of his unlikable character.
This unlikable character is emphasised later in the book with the Headmaster using the word “silliness” to describe the exercise that Hector had made the boys take part in and then taking back what he had said, saying “not silliness” showing that he is hypocritical with what he says to the boys in order to encourage them with their studies, which he only says to allow himself to have his school higher up in the league tables “Yes, yes. I know that, Dorothy. But I am thinking league tables. Furthermore the fact the French scene is allowed to go ahead in lessons demonstrates the boys and Hector are willing to cheekily challenge and mock authority figures with their intelligence, all knowing French to a better degree than the Headmaster. The use of “ma tante! ” creates bathos for the pretend character with “tante” showing desperation for ideas to keep the lie going. The following questioning “sa tante? ” by the Headmaster and Timms’ reply of “la famille entiere” as if the headmaster missed something embarrassingly obvious adds to the comedy because the boys team up with each other to justify and ridicule the headmaster.
Irwin’s unexpected input of “Il est commotionne, peut-etre? ” is another example of Bennett’s clever character juxtapositions but also of using unexpected events to contrast what was being done before it, with the stage directions of “the classroom falls silent” suggesting that the boys’ found it rude and out of place for Irwin to but in. The language “fall silent” contrasts with the hectic and the loud situation that occurred before it, using Irwin’s awkwardness to change the tone of the scene. Hector not knowing what the word means and using the interrogative “comment? ” adds to this awkwardness.
There are many important scenes throughout this book where you can feel the comedy seeping through even though some may say it shouldn’t be used while writing about certain topics, including the scene in which Hector and the Head master are discussing the matter of “a man…fiddling. ” In this scene I really agree with the question in whether the history boys is seen as a comedy as you can’t help but thinking Bennet may have used some of the characters personality traits to bring a humorous feel to a dark subject but not to make an audience laugh out loud necessary but instead to make them feel uncomfortable with inappropriate laughter. Ah think” Hector once again in the book uses his quick wit and intelligence to frustrate the headmaster giving a sarcastic response to a question the headmaster clearly wants answering and for him not to use his poetry and intelligence to get him out of a situation as he normally would do so. “I have no idea. What women know or don’t know has always been a mystery to me. ” using the word women hector tries to relate to the audience and make a remark about men and women in general, suggesting that does any man know what women do or don’t know which may have been intended to make the audience laugh and leave them wondering hy Hector isn’t taking this matter seriously and is instead making jokes, showing how time and having a modern audience viewing this brings shock to us as issues such as this would been taking much more seriously and probably involved police but the headmaster is more worried about how the school may come across if he has to fire Hector then the actual behaviour that he has displayed “ I do not want to sack you. It’s so untidy. The use of historically details of a war battle is another way Bennett creates humour in the play but is also Bennet showing off how the boys will use their intelligence in almost all situations even sex, using “around 23:00 hours our forces withdrew” as metaphorical euphemisms for Dakin’s activities with Fiona, here bennet uses contrast in showing the not so exciting historical details with the exciting details of his own sex life. Bathos is applied when Dakin breaks off from his metaphor and uses the word “tits” and then cuts back into using his military jargon such as “front-line troops” and “territory. As Dakin goes further and further into detail Scripps makes a final comment on the matter “I can’t take any more. Enough” adds a final touch of humour to the matter as the audience can tell that Scripp’s is both jealous and disgusted at what he is hearing. Also highlighting the fact that he is deeply religious but also a teenager and the contradiction between the two of wanting to have sex and not wanting to displease God by doing so. The use of a historical metaphor is showing just how the boys will use anything that they can to make an intelligent joke.
One of the history boy’s many strengths is its portrayal of the various individuals in the play. Using extremely contrasting personalities emphasizes the individuality and purpose of each character. One character that specifically stands out is Dakin, possibly the most socially dominant boy of the class and one of the most comical characters, helping the history boys to be seen as a comedy rather then a drama. Dakin is popular boy in his class, even in the whole school. He is, extremely witty.
He is the most complicated and mysterious character throughout the play and only shows what’s on the surface, he does not show his emotions but his main purpose is to use his wit and desire to entertain and amuse the people around him. Even Mrs. Lintott says that he is “. ” Instead of being bad or naughty like normal teenagers, he plays with others and tests the people around him to create a comedic effect. We can see it through his “love” story. Even though he has a relationship with Fiona, a chool staff, he flirts with Irwin for he thinks that Irwin might be homosexual and would like to go out having some drink with him he might be bisexual yet, he does that just for fun, just for saying thank to Irwin, and just for answering his curiosity about Irwin’s way of life. There is also another funny scene later on in the play where the boys receive a piece of work from Irwin. Dakin is annoyed to find he hasn’t receives a good mark off his teacher which he longs to impress.
Scripps comments on how his writing has changed to be like Irwin’s, Dakin denies it but then Posner, who has always had a crush on him, says “you copy him and I know because I copy you. ” It shows another comedic moment in the book because it shows how Posner’s complete obsession with Dakin And how the other boys can just dismiss this behaviour as normal to them suggesting that the environment they grow up in has a lot of unusual behaviour in it.
This is fundamentally a very funny book. The level of quickness of wit displayed definitely suggest that the history boys is a comedy with no doubt and that Bennets main aim was to show the lifestyle of A level adolescents making their final steps to adulthood before university with many serious and controversial subjects throughout using humour to allow these matters to be downplayed and create a fascinating and a memorable book. WORD COUNT : 1499 (minus the title and question quote)
