The History Boys- Act One

History boys analysis.

• The physicality of Hector, the boys teacher. He wears a bow tie, is flamboyant and eccentric. He creates slapstick comedy as he hits the boys. 

• There is clear characterization of Dakin at the start he is called the pretty boy and he likes attention from the teachers and is Hector's favourite. Posner is the typical bookworm, with the constant referencing of the dictionary.

• The boys mocking and feeding off Hector by saying the lines of 'King Lear', they encourage him to go off task- showing respect and his authority.

• The issue that Hector grooms the boys, all except Posner- this is a big problem today and would have been at the time- the fact that the boys do not mind about this, or they appear to not mind because they like Hector so much as a friend and a teacher. Towards the end of the Act 1, just after the Headteacher finds out what he has been doing, Dakin comes in and ask about having a lift home on Hectors motorbike, claiming ' its Wednesday sir'. The acceptance and the normality of the malasting is shocking.
•  A rivalry between Hector and Irwin forms.
• Irwin is the outsider of the group, but Posner has a different relationship with him, he could open up about being gay but not to Hector. Also Dakin agrees with the thoughts of Irwin about poems that they are all about unhappy endings.
• The two teachers debate the nature of education. This highlights their differences in terms of teaching methods. Hector is much more relaxed, but he is caring as he wants the boys to be cultured instead of learning the full syllabus as Irwin would do, he is focused on passing the boys through the exams. However Hector is attached to the boys.

Ideas for the essay : To think about the role that hector has for the boys, linked to comedy aspects.How the boys act towards the teachers, it is interesting how natural they are and prefer Hector over Irwin in general. The different teaching methods of the teachers.