The Lesson

by Maila Huda Shofyana

Structural Elements :
Character and Characterization
a) The Professor, aged 50 to 60
Characterization: Temperamental, emotional, nervous, aggressive, dominating, having sonorous voice, smart ass.
b) The Young Pupil, aged 18
Characterization: progressive, move active, discipline, smart, respect to other,
c) The Maid, aged 45 to 50
Characterization: friendly, jealous woman, kind.

1. Plot : Forward
2. Setting : (Professor’s house) in the office and dining room of a small French flat.
Setting of time : One day In the morning
3. Point of view : First person
4. Style of Language : Grammatically and sometimes ungrammatically.
Sentence construction:
In lesson, the writer or author uses modern English in constructing the sentence. It is structural.
Figurative language:
Personification: “Philology leads to calamity”
Satire : “I’m an adult.”

5. Men versus Society
It is relate with the society. The professor, an elderly man, is expecting a young female student. The third character is the professor's maid who is always worrying about the professor's health. As the lesson progresses, the professor grows more and more angry with what he perceives as the student's ignorance and the student becomes more and more quiet and meek. At the climax of the play, the student is murdered by the professor. The play ends as a new student is greeted by the maid.
Drama Society tackled the problem head on with commendable results. The stage is bare; in the center two chairs face each other; against the far wall stands a small, white, house-shaped structure. From this house various maids issue forth to give cryptic warnings to professor and pupil. This unremarkable set-up comes into its own as the lesson moves on to philology.
Inside the house the maids, silhouetted in a green light, deliver the lesson in an endless stream of words, rendered at speed above the sound of tearing paper.