Education and Authority

The school setting exposes the absurdities of educational authority, with Mr. Merry's theatrical scoldings, the boys' passive resistance, and the Herricks' detached manipulation of the school's leadership.

Discussions about reading habits and the value of different literatures reflect broader questions about intellectual authority and the education of women and men.

Education and Authority is one of the patterns Pastors and Masters by Ivy Compton-Burnett returns to. The chapter notes above are from this edition’s companions — open those chapters to see how the book stages the idea rather than treating the theme as a slogan.