Ageing classics master at an English public school, forced into retirement due to ill health. He struggles with feelings of failure as a teacher and despise from staff and pupils, worsened by his wife's infidelity. His emotional turning point comes when a pupil gifts him a translation of the Agamemnon with an inscription honoring him as a gentle master. He delivers a candid farewell speech admitting his failings, receives enthusiastic applause, and contemplates completing his own translation.
A strict but ultimately respected teacher-student bond formed over Taplow's final days.
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