Signifiers to Stand on

In Lacanian theory the process of the coming into being of the subject is considered as a continuous and anticipatory process of interaction between the organizational levels of the biological and the social. The latter comprises what Lacan called the symbolic order ("l'Autre" or the Other) that anticipates the coming into being of the subject. It is argued that this anticipatory function of the Other is at stake in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys (2004). More specifically, by a close reading of Bennett's text, it is shown how anticipation is implied in the. three main themes of the play: 1. in the headmaster's and Irwin's vision on education; 2. in Irwin's view on history; 3. in Rector's view on the function of poetry.