The History Boys Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Hector

The eccentric general studies teacher who believes knowledge is for its own sake—poetry, songs, French brothel scenes, motorbike lifts. Caught fondling a boy, forced toward retirement, he dies on the bike he loved, having made his will.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 2: The Motorbike and the Back Door; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Education for its own sake versus education for the exam; Desire, power, and the teacher's touch; Memory, loss, and what survives

Irwin

The young supply teacher hired to make Oxbridge answers grab attention; he teaches spin, not conviction, and never actually went to Oxford. He survives the crash that kills Hector and becomes a wheelchair-bound TV historian.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 2: The Motorbike and the Back Door; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Education for its own sake versus education for the exam; Truth, spin, and the performance of history; Desire, power, and the teacher's touch; Memory, loss, and what survives; Class and the last ladder to Oxbridge

Dakin

The handsome, confident, clever boy every teacher half-wants and Posner fully loves. He seduces the secretary Fiona, blackmails the Headmaster over it, propositions Irwin, and grows up into a successful tax lawyer.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Desire, power, and the teacher's touch; Memory, loss, and what survives

Posner

Small, Jewish, gay, and in unrequited love with Dakin; he sings 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' and keeps Hector's flame. He becomes a teacher himself, on medication for depression.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 2: The Motorbike and the Back Door; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Desire, power, and the teacher's touch; Memory, loss, and what survives

Scripps

The devout Christian who narrates the play from the piano, a believer among sceptics. He becomes a journalist and speaks the final lines about passing the parcel.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 2: The Motorbike and the Back Door; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Memory, loss, and what survives

Mrs. Lintott

The history teacher and the play's grounded truth-teller: 'History is women following behind with the bucket.' She later writes a popular history book and delivers the verdict on the boys' fates.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Truth, spin, and the performance of history; Memory, loss, and what survives

The Headmaster (Felix Armstrong)

Obsessed with league tables, he hires Irwin, catches Hector on the motorbike, and delivers a eulogy so hypocritical the boys can barely stand it.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 2: The Motorbike and the Back Door; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition; Part 4: Pass the Parcel
Themes:: Education for its own sake versus education for the exam; Desire, power, and the teacher's touch; Class and the last ladder to Oxbridge

Rudge

The least academic boy, a sportsman who confounds everyone by getting into Oxford—Christ Church—by being honest about golf and community instead of clever.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation; Part 3: Offers, Blackmail, and a Proposition
Themes:: Class and the last ladder to Oxbridge

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Fiona

The headmaster's secretary, seduced by Dakin in the headmaster's own office; the affair becomes Dakin's leverage against her boss.

Appears in:: Part 1: Fifty Pence a Quotation
Themes:: Desire, power, and the teacher's touch

How they are connected

Key relationships

Irwin Hector
He survives the crash that kills Hector and becomes a wheelchair-bound TV historian.
Dakin Posner
The handsome, confident, clever boy every teacher half-wants and Posner fully loves.
Dakin Irwin
He seduces the secretary Fiona, blackmails the Headmaster over it, propositions Irwin, and grows up into a successful tax lawyer.
Dakin The Headmaster (Felix Armstrong)
He seduces the secretary Fiona, blackmails the Headmaster over it, propositions Irwin, and grows up into a successful tax lawyer.
Dakin Fiona
He seduces the secretary Fiona, blackmails the Headmaster over it, propositions Irwin, and grows up into a successful tax lawyer.
Posner Hector
Small, Jewish, gay, and in unrequited love with Dakin; he sings 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' and keeps Hector's flame.
The Headmaster (Felix Armstrong)Hector
Obsessed with league tables, he hires Irwin, catches Hector on the motorbike, and delivers a eulogy so hypocritical the boys can barely stand it.
The Headmaster (Felix Armstrong)Irwin
Obsessed with league tables, he hires Irwin, catches Hector on the motorbike, and delivers a eulogy so hypocritical the boys can barely stand it.
Fiona The Headmaster (Felix Armstrong)
The headmaster's secretary, seduced by Dakin in the headmaster's own office; the affair becomes Dakin's leverage against her boss.

Go deeper

The History Boys themes & symbols

Education for its own sake versus education for the exam · Truth, spin, and the performance of history · Desire, power, and the teacher's touch · Memory, loss, and what survives

Themes explained

Read the full The History Boys summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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