Bennett Explores the Fine Line Between Wisdom and Foolishness in ‘the History Boys’. Discuss with Reference to This Comedic Drama.

Bennett explores the exquisite filiation in the midst of perception and receiveishness in The taradiddle Boys. discourse with reference to this comedic drama. The handsome termination of products between cognizance and disperseery has oftentimes been explored and blurred in dramatic comedies throughout the ages. Often, in Shakespe ares plays especially, the fool figure turns out to be the tonicst figure out of all of the another(prenominal) compositors cases, and is used as a way to make a virginsmonger on the social condition of the time.This al-Qaeda is present in The History Boys, as Bennett mostly uses characters as a way of exploring the amercement line. He overly uses scenes and themes during the play to explore the fine line between intelligence and un wiseness, save he tends to focus on using the characters to explore the line instead. The superior is a character with whom, when premiere introduced to, the audience would appoint the call of foolish , as Bennett shows him to be a rattling foolish character.However, this would differ from Shakespeares fool in his plays the fools were often the wisest of characters, but in this circumstance, with this character, the Headmaster acts foolish without becoming the fool from Shakespeare, as the Headmaster doesnt obligate the hidden wisdom and knowledge Shakespeares fools had. For instance, when discussing competing schools in the unite t fitteds with Mrs Lintott, he says Leighton Park. Or is than an open prison?No matter This citation shows the referee what a foolish public Bennett has created a headmaster not astute the difference between a competing school in the league tables and a prison is absurd. However, it helps Bennett to show the fine line between wisdom and foolery, as well-nigh members of the audience may think that the Headmaster is wise in some of the decisions he makes, as he does know methods to grasp the students to strike academic levels that allow entry i nto Oxbridge.Another moment where Bennett explores the fine line is when he says, upon discussing Oxbridge with the supply teacher Irwin, I thought of going to, but this was the fifties. smorgasbord was in the air The first impression given of him from this line of idiom is that the characters well-nigh him must be able to follow through through his lies and see the fool that he ultimately is in the fifties, life was the same as in the forties it was the sixties where change was in the air and the characters around the Headmaster would know that he was ying to cover the detail that he wasnt academically smart enough to attend Oxbridge. This does show him to hold some wisdom, however, as he was smart enough to cover up the incident that he didnt attend Oxbridge, even if the lie wasnt successful, and that he is wise as he does want the best for the boys, but again, this is outweighed by the foolish decision that is to get the boys to Oxbridge to raise the school in the league tab les to enhance its reputation and thereby his own course showing he is mostly trying to get the boys do to well for his benefit.Bennett also uses the character of the Headmaster to make a social comment of the schooling at the time he wrote the play, hinting that headmasters of schools often tried to get the better grades for the students simply to pull their school up in the league tables, and thereby modify their own reputations of headmasters. A second character Bennett uses to explore the fine line between wisdom and foolishness is browbeat, one of the boys teachers.One of the first impressions we get of bully is that he is a character who Bennett presents to be very wise he has taught the boys so well they can quote literary works at any time of the day in the correct context Posner (Edgar) Look up, My Lord. Timms (Kent) Vex not his ghost This is quite a accomplishment to achieve, and it also shows that he too knows and understands when and where to quote literature, ag ain showing his wisdom.However, this is a point where Bennett does show how fine the line between wisdom and foolishness actually is, as some commonwealth may view this cleverness as useless, as it in all probability wont be able to help them in their university or working life, unless they pursue a career where literature and the need to quote it is needed, so this act may be viewed as quite foolish spending time principle the boys something they probably wont need in their future lives, despite the fact that they and Hector may be considered wise for having this skill.Bennett does show Hector to be a character who does act very foolish sometimes No Headmaster, (He covers his ears. )Non. Absolument non. Non. Non. Non. The stage directions used here make Hector act wish well a naughty child who is refusing to stop what theyre doing a giving man, who is a teacher nonetheless, acting this way does appear to be a fool to deal around him, even if they know he is merely pretendi ng. However, this is one of the moments where you can explicitly tell that Bennett is exploring the fine line etween wisdom and foolishness and is showing indeed how very fine it is some people may see past Hector acting like a fool and see him to be very wise he knows that if he carries on refusing to do what the Headmaster askes of him, the Headmaster may well middling give up and drop the subject. This could be down to the fact that Hector doesnt view the Headmaster as a wise man more of a fool who you can walk over and demand to carry on doing things the way you want to, even if the Headmaster is against it. A hand on a boys genitals at fifty miles an hour, and you call it nothing? This is a very principal(prenominal) quote in showing how Bennett explores the fine line. Hector is a very wise man he has a deep understanding and knowledge of literature, he has helped get the boys A-Levels up to the standards of Oxbridge and is, academically, quite smart. However, the quote show s that, in terms of his judgements, he is quite a fool the acts he performed were frowned upon by society at the time, and show to many people that he has crossed the line between wisdom and foolishness with ease without really realising it. transmission of knowledge This also shows how his judgements are foolish, and how he can be seen to be a fool by many people when he is confronted active his actions, he uses quotes from poetry to try to get out of the confrontation. By the end of the play, many people would probably see Hector as a very wise man, but a man who has the tendency to cross the fine line between wisdom and foolishness, whilst others would see him as only being a fool, despite his knowledge in literature.Overall, Hector is probably Bennetts principal(prenominal) way to explore the fine line between wisdom and foolishness, as Hector crosses the line countless times without realising it himself. Another way Bennett explores the fine line between wisdom and foolishne ss is by using scenes, such as the french Scene. This scene takes place towards the start of the play, and is where Hector and the boys cause verbalise fluent french by acting out a scene of their choice in French. Mais une maison de passe ou tous les clients utilisent le subjonctif ou le conditionnel, oui? (But a brothel where all clients use the subjunctive or conditional, yes? ) This quote is taken from the scene and helps to show the wise and the foolish sides of Hector he and the students are acting out a scene in fluent French (which in itself is a very academic skill for the students to have learnt) and Hector is quite wise in getting them to practise using their French in everyday scenes, thus improving their fluency.However, the foolish part is the fact that the scene they are all acting out is a brothel, which is a very foolish thing to do considering where they are (in a school), but the fact that Hector keeps on going on about their grammar whilst speaking French does show some wisdom, with the fact that he knows exactly how to get the boys to improve their fluency and grammatical skill in French, but in a very foolish circumstance. A third way the fine line between wisdom and foolishness is through themes specifically the themes of sex and sex.For sexuality Dont touch him This quote is quite important in showing the fine line between wisdom and foolishness, as it is said when Hector and Irwin are discussing Hectors early retirement, teaching and Dakin. Bennett shows here that Hectors foolish decisions have turned him into a wiser man, who is advising Irwin on how not to make the same foolish mistake he did. The foolishness here makes the scene quite tragic rather than comic. For the theme of sex, the fine line is explored when Dakin and Scripps have a conversation together about Fiona (the Headmasters secretary). like particularly her tits, which only fell aft(prenominal) a prolonged campaign some three weeks ago The pun in this conversa tion is very foolish indeed, which Scripps finds funny albeit embarrassing, but the wisdom in Dakin is evident by the way Dakin applies military logistics to a new context with ease, using the semantic field of war. Overall, these are the main ship canal Bennett uses to explore the fine line between wisdom and foolishness in The History Boys, mainly using the characters of the Headmaster and Hector.