The History Boys is unquestionably a comedy and you can see this through the use of comedic effects Bennett has used. One of the main comedic elements involved in the play is: mockery. Bennett often mocks the education system and the way head teachers are more focused on the grades the students get rather than the students themselves. One of the ways Bennett creates humour in the history boys is putting an unusual situation in a familiar setting, this technique is seen from the very beginning of the play where the boys each take it in turn to remove a piece of Hector’s clothing. Firstly, a teacher riding a motor bike in all leathers isn’t the stereotypical image that comes to mind when you think of someone in this profession, straight away…show more content… I believe that the issue wasn’t dealt with in a sensitive enough manner; the lack of appropriate action taken against the abuser and the scenes where sexual harassment are lightly dealt with have the potential to upset readers. Real life situations where a figure of authority abuses their power to manipulate an inferior individual are happening every day and the jokes made of this problem could be seen as offensive and sickening. Bennett shows no sympathy for victims of crimes like this and makes a mockery the situation in question. What I find to be even more disturbing is the willingness of the boys to indulge in the abuse they are subject to. The boys themselves make jokes about the sexual harassment they face on the back of Hector’s motorbike, although this could be seen as a method of coping, again Alan Bennett is suggesting that all paedophile victims cope as well as the characters in The History Boys. He doesn’t show the true seriousness or heart ache that the issue brings into the innocent person’s life. The boys actually volunteering to ride with Hector on his motorbike may suggest they feel they need to ‘repay’ Hector for his teaching (which is evident that they appreciate Hectors abstract teaching methods and his passion of learning the boys knowledge that will prepare them for life and not just exams). Despite teaching being Hector’s job, Dakin…show more content… Situations like this still happen today where people feel the pressure to fit into a ‘stereotypical’ society where the social norm is being straight and attracted to the opposite sex. Because of this people ignore their instinct feelings and often it gets so serious that they don’t come out as gay until after marriage and even sometimes with children. Bennett is almost showing homophobic traits by demonstrating that being gay is something that should be hidden. Posner uses self-mockery to prevent him from being too heartbroken over Dakin, the boys also include themselves with the joking knowing that Posner is seriously in love with Dakin. On the other hand, I believe the boys join in with Posner and his jokes to try to help him cope however it is emphasising the fact Posner is beset by his insecurities and making him more and more self-conscious. Both Posner and Hector share a common sense of exclusion from the heterosexual mainstream. Hector, who has a wife, also indulges in homosexual activities with the boys. Lies are a common theme in the History Boys, whether it is lying to them-selves or lying within society, an example of this is when Posner is willing to lie to get into Oxbridge, he happily shows the universities a false version of himself to impress them the same way he hides his homosexuality to the world.