1. Act 1, pages 48-57

2. Read Hector and Irwin’s conversation on pages 48-49 This is the first of three ‘intimate’ moments between Irwin and Hector. Why do you think it is placed at this point in the play? Compare and contrast: - Hector and Irwin’s outlooks on education - Hector and Irwin’s feelings/ ideas about the boys.

3. pp. 49-50 Why do you think this conversation (between the Headmaster and Irwin) happens immediately after the conversation between Irwin and Hector? How do both Irwin and Felix undermine Hector in this scene? How and why does their conversation topic/ tone change when Dorothy enters? Annotate the conversation between Dorothy and Irwin. What do you notice about them as characters?

4. pp. 51-52 Look closely at the Headmaster’s speech. How does Bennett use language and structure here and what impression does this give you of Felix? The line that Hector quotes is from a poem by A.E Housman about time and aging (you can find it on the Learning Space). Why do you think he quotes it? Do you agree with Felix that ‘This is no time for poetry’?

5. pp. 51-52 What reasons do you think Felix has for calling Hector in to discuss the ‘fiddling’? What do you think of the idea that Irwin and Hector might ‘share’ the class? What do you think Hector means by ‘The transmission of knowledge is in itself an erotic act’?

6. pp. 53-57 How does Bennett use props/ structure/ language to frame the beginning and ending of this act? What has happened between the beginning and end of act 1? Why do you think that Hector sees ‘going through old exam papers’ as ‘Pornography’? Why is the last scene of the act between Hector and Posner, do you think?

7. Drummer Hodge Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism. Hardy’s poems often respond powerfully to public events. For example he wrote about the sinking of the Titanic in The Convergence of the Twain and the human cost of the Boer War in Drummer Hodge. It is significant that Posner and Hector mirror the approximate ages of Hardy when he wrote the poem and the age of the Hodge in the poem. Read the critical opinions on the next three slides. What does each critic suggest about the scene? How do you respond to each critic?

8. John Sutherland ‘Hector reveals, with a sigh, that he didn't make Oxbridge and had to make do with Sheffield (lucky man, I thought, he must have been taught by William Empson, although his gross misreading of Thomas Hardy's Drummer Hodge suggests he may have been distractedly groping at the time).’

9. Paula Marantz Cohen ‘I was most moved by one scene in which Hector reviews the Thomas Hardy poem, “Drummer Hodge,” with Posner, the most gifted and sensitive of his students. It captures that ineffable process of great teaching that defies easy definition. Hector movingly explicates why it is so important that the soldier in the poem has a name—a crucial aspect of acknowledging his individual humanity. The insight helps student and teacher fleetingly acknowledge their mutual loneliness and, from this, their human connectedness.’

10. James Middleditch ‘The most common use of intertextuality in the play occurs in the recital of poetry, mostly by Hector, but also, by extension, by the boys he has taught. Bennett chooses his intertextual references carefully, using words from the past to illuminate the present concerns of the characters. Thomas Hardy’s ‘Drummer Hodge’, for example, is used to symbolise the connection between Hector and Posner: Posner: How old was he? Hector: If he was a drummer, he would be a young soldier, younger than you probably. Posner: No. Hardy. Hector: Oh, how old was Hardy? When he wrote this, about sixty. My age, I suppose. This misunderstanding allows the parallels between the poem and characters to be made; through their ages Posner and Hector become linked to Drummer Hodge and Hardy. This prompts a moving discussion about loneliness and isolation. In the way that Hector describes the power of literature as being ‘as if a hand has come out and taken yours’, these two characters are unified through words and themes set down at the dawn of the century.’

11. “The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.” This is a well-known and loved quotation from the play. What do you think it suggests about: -Hector -Literature -Bennett’s own ideas? Consider what happens and what is said after this quotation. What ideas do you have about the significance of this moment?

12. Homework essay Much of the play is about trying to find a connection. To what extent do you agree with this idea? You should be using critical and historical context in a detailed way in your essay.