'The History Boys' may be 'merely' a farce up to a point; The use of shocking events juxtaposed with the facetious tone used to create the slapstick elements that Bennett uses throughout the work indicates an underlying polemical message that holds several implications for the reader. Bennett uses farcical elements, although not exclusively, in the play. The comic device of standard characters is exploited in the slapstick subgenre, creating them to provide the material for the inclusion of farce in the play. For example, in the French scene of the first act these elements predominate mixed with an underlying polemical and political message, which is prevalent throughout the scene. First, the audience is separated from the characters through the use of foreign dialogue. This reflects Hector's need to ensure that lessons are "not part of the system". When the principal enters the boys' lesson with Hector, he is forced by Hector to speak French and accept the absurdity of the situation in the classroom. "Porquoi Belgique?" He asks when the boys declare that they are playing the characters of wounded soldiers in Belgium. This lexical choice on the part of the Headmaster immediately betrays his standard character, revealing that he is the buffoon of the play, as this man, with the most legitimate power in the play, is manipulated into believing lies told by eighteen-year-olds and a old general studies teacher of 'studied eccentricity'. Furthermore, this quote also highlights and exaggerates his ignorance and lack of intellect, as the headmaster "was a geographer" and "went to Hull". If one had studied geography at university, one would expect him to know why the wounded soldiers were in Belgium. With the principal... at the center of the card... the slapstick sub-genre of comedy had been employed. to amplify the effect of the underlying themes and messages on the reader. The word “merely” presented in the question implies that there is no other purpose of the show other than to entertain. With the significant evidence of the work, this implication may become irrelevant. Furthermore, the work does not conform to the tripartite structure typical of a comedy; therefore, it could be argued that it is actually not simply a comedy, but rather a tragicomedy, due to the play's appropriate evidence showing that "The History Boys" includes elements of tragedy mixed with elements of comedy. The integration of farce throughout the play shocks and illuminates the extent of the severity of some of the highly unlikely controversial situations that allow Bennett to convey messages about society and our politics..