The Lesson: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Lesson" is a thought-provoking exploration of power dynamics and human vulnerability, conveyed through the interactions of three central characters: the professor, the pupil, and the maid. The professor, an older male figure, begins as a mild tutor but gradually reveals his authoritarian and violent nature, culminating in his irrational rage and eventual homicidal behavior. He uses language as a weapon to dominate and demean the young female pupil, who symbolizes the struggles of knowledge acquisition amidst oppressive authority. The pupil, an eighteen-year-old student, enters the lesson with hopes of academic success but is soon overwhelmed by her ignorance and the professor's cruelty, ultimately succumbing to physical and emotional distress. The maid, a watchful and resigned figure, serves as both an assistant and a commentator on the unfolding tragedy, highlighting the dark consequences of the educational process. Her casual remarks about the professor's previous victims add a chilling layer to the narrative, suggesting a disturbing normalization of violence within this academic setting. Overall, "The Lesson" challenges readers to reflect on the implications of authority, knowledge, and the human condition in a manner that resonates across cultural contexts.
The Lesson: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Eugène Ionesco
First published: La Lecon, 1954 (English translation, 1955)
Genre: Play
Locale: Europe
Plot: Absurdist
Time: The 1930's
The professor, between fifty and sixty years old, who tutors individual pupils for their “total doctorate” examinations. During a session with a young female student, he is meek at first. He becomes more intense and authoritarian as the lesson advances. Eventually, he becomes irrationally, even absurdly, angry; disallowing any interruptions of his barrage on philology, the old man grows increasingly excited. First, he attacks the student using language as a tool of dominance, power, deception, and, in the end, violent cruelty. Finally, he loses all patience and sinks into a homicidal mania. He aids the maid in disposing of the student's body.
The pupil, an eighteen-year-old woman wearing a gray student's smock with a small white collar and carrying a student's bookbag. A new student of this professor, the young lady is hopeful of passing a “total doctorate” exam and has engaged the professor as a tutor. As the lesson progresses, she displays an absurd lack of elementary knowledge, such as the capital of France and the seasons of the year; she can add and multiply but is unable to subtract. Faced with what appears to be a remorseless and ominous personal attack, this pupil develops a toothache that eventually spreads over her entire body. Midway through the lesson, she unexpectedly musters enough courage and composure to defy the professor—without success. Reduced to an aching helplessness, the young woman becomes the pathetic victim of the domineering and maniacal professor as her body falls, “flopping into an immodest position in the chair.”
The maid, also called Marie, a stout woman between forty-five and fifty years old, wearing an appropriate apron and peasant's cap. She is proper, detached, and resigned but watchful. On one occasion, she interrupts the lesson to warn the professor to remain calm; on another, she interrupts to warn him against moving the lesson into the realm of philology: “Arithmetic leads to philology, and philology leads to crime,” she scolds. The maid seems slightly annoyed at the results of the professor's stabbing session and calmly complains about the number of students (this is the fortieth) that he has victimized this way, because she is obliged to aid in the disposal of the bodies. Like the professor, she wears a swastika-like armband during the removal of the pupil's body. With no other apparent concern and in her original attire, she ushers in yet another pupil.