The History Boys: Character Notes

Posner

• Underdeveloped; his voice isn’t broken at 16 years old
• Quiet except from when he sings and when he takes a very personal stance on the Holocaust
• Jewish boy who lost relatives in the holocaust
• Very passionate at singing hymns and show tunes
• Avid reader
• Struggling with his sexuality; low self esteem
• In love with Dakin; loves to impress him

Dakin

• Attractive and is aware of it
• Very overconfident and is almost in love with himself
• Has several admirers including Irwin, Fiona, and Posner
• In a relationship with the school secretary Fiona but becomes more distant
• Thinks sex and relationships are a power struggle; compares sex to war and relationship with Irwin to Auden kissing his pupils (Ancient Greek teacher student dynamic is relevant)
• More experienced than the other boys
• Manipulative and careless most of the time
• Heavily influenced by Irwin; becomes more cynical
• Enjoys having a mutual attraction with Irwin; tried hard to impress him

Scripps

• Acts as the narrator of the play
• Budding writer; records events in his notebook
• Plays the piano most of the time
• Exploring Christianity deeply; refraining from sin
• Posner and Dakin confide in him; priest like figure

Rudge

• Excels in sports; surprises other characters with his ability
• Straightforward nature and is the most authentic character in the play; almost heroic
• Not confident in his own abilities; neither is anyone else
• Prefers Mrs Lintott’s style of teaching; dislikes Irwin’s
• Most hardworking character; writes down everything that is said

Akthar

• Muslim, which is mentioned regularly
• Happy to test Irwin
• Knuckles down to hard work

Crowther

• Keen actor; likes theatre
• Friends with Lockwood

Timms

• Joker of the pack; often overdramatic and using derogatory slang
• Enjoys prying into Irwin’s life by teasing and mocking him
• Gets hit by Hector a lot

Lockwood

• Really likes films
• Interested in politics

Headmaster

• Stereotypical egotistical headmaster character
• Understanding of the arts is limited
• Utilitarian character; thinking everything must have a use
• Cares only about results: wants the school to be better than others and only Oxford and Cambridge is prestigious enough
• Doesn’t care about the students: no regard for their safety and very negative about Rudge; no confidence in him
• Cares strongly about the reputation of the school; doesn’t fire Hector when he finds out about the abuse as he doesn’t want people to talk
• Creepy and corrupt as he sexually harasses Fiona
• Other characters don’t have good opinions of him

Mrs Lintott

• Strong female character; believes in women’s rights and is sassy
• Creates humour in the play
• Traditional teaching methods; teaches facts and not opinions
• Doesn’t allow her emotions to control her teaching; suggests Irwin should do the same
• Seen as neutral territory so is often confided in
• Overlooked member of staff in a male dominated environment; very frustrated about this
• Has the first emotional reaction to Hector’s molestation of the children even though she is removed when sympathising with him
• Boys respect her; especially Rudge

Irwin

• Young History teacher who is only a few years older than the boys
• Studied at Bristol and did a teaching diploma at Oxford despite saying he studied at Corpus/Jesus, Oxford
• Employed for modern teaching methods and to get the boys into Oxford and Cambridge
• Teaches in a controversial, opinionated way
• Looks for original arguments
• Believes in presentation and performance; thinks studying is a game
• Wants the students to apply Hector’s knowledge
• Dismissive and detached when interacting with students
• Associated with ruins and ruination throughout
• Can be false and dishonest
• Mutually attracted to Dakin; struggling to hide his homosexuality

Hector

• Portrayed as a charismatic character at first
• Close to retirement
• English teacher that makes the boys memorise quotes
• Eccentric and unusual teaching methods such as singing and speaking French
• Doesn’t like formal examinations; thinks learning is about culminating knowledge rather than using it to get by
• Interested in popular culture and literature, wanting to make an impact on the students
• Really likes subjunctives and compound adjectives
• Doesn’t care about the Oxbridge system; tried to get in to Oxford but was rejected
• Very insecure; hides behind an act or disguise
• Emotions control his teaching; students become emotional crutches
• Boys favour him in the beginning; soon finding his teaching useless
• Hits the students; particularly Timms
• Ambiguous morality; defends the holocaust but does despicable things
• Teaches and discusses some seedy subjects in lessons: brothels, smoking, and gambling themed games
• Molests the students on his motorbike and tries to play it off as nothing