The Lesson

work by Ionesco
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Also known as: “La Leçon”

The Lesson, one-act play by Eugène Ionesco, a comedic parable of the dangers inherent in indoctrination, performed in 1951 as La Leçon and published in 1953.

The absurd plot of the play concerns a timid professor who uses the meaning he assigns to words to establish tyrannical dominance over an eager female student.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.