Alan Bennett: The History Boys

In “The History Boys,” a play by Alan Bennett, a group of English grammar school students’ lives are examined as they gear up for university entrance exams. Dakin is one of them, and he stands out as one of the group’s most self-assured and charismatic characters. The degree to which Dakin can be considered the most assured of the Oxbridge students is up for debate, though, as other characters also demonstrate high levels of assurance and assertiveness.

Dakin is portrayed as having a confident, self-assured demeanour. He has wit, charm, intelligence, and isn’t afraid to express his opinions. He regularly engages in debates with his professors and peers to demonstrate his knowledge. He challenges Hector’s claim that studying history is useless, for instance, in Act One. As Dakin puts it, “How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been?” history is crucial to understanding the present and the future, he claims.