Babel

by

R. F. Kuang

Professor Playfair Character Analysis

Professor Playfair is a professor at Babel. He is one of the first teachers who Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty meet. He has a theatrical teaching style, and Robin and his cohort enjoy Playfair’s classes. However, after Robin kills Professor Lovell, Playfair attempts to trick Robin into confessing that he is a member of the clandestine, anti-colonialist group the Hermes Society and into giving up the Society’s whereabouts. Robin sees through Playfair’s ploy and escapes with his cohort. After Robin and Victoire take over Babel, Playfair and others form a rival group that attempts, in vain, to counteract Robin’s attempts to sabotage the British Empire.

Professor Playfair Quotes in Babel

The Babel quotes below are all either spoken by Professor Playfair or refer to Professor Playfair. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonization and Racism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

‘What was lost at Babel was not merely human unity, but the original language – something primordial and innate, perfectly understandable and lacking nothing in form or content. Biblical scholars call it the Adamic language. Some think it is Hebrew. Some think it is a real but ancient language that has been lost to time. Some think it is a new, artificial language that we ought to invent. Some think French fulfils this role; some think English, once it’s finished robbing and morphing, might.’

Related Characters: Professor Playfair (speaker), Robin, Ramy, Letty, Victoire
Related Symbols: Babel
Page Number: 107
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Babel LitChart as a printable PDF.
Babel PDF

Professor Playfair Quotes in Babel

The Babel quotes below are all either spoken by Professor Playfair or refer to Professor Playfair. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonization and Racism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

‘What was lost at Babel was not merely human unity, but the original language – something primordial and innate, perfectly understandable and lacking nothing in form or content. Biblical scholars call it the Adamic language. Some think it is Hebrew. Some think it is a real but ancient language that has been lost to time. Some think it is a new, artificial language that we ought to invent. Some think French fulfils this role; some think English, once it’s finished robbing and morphing, might.’

Related Characters: Professor Playfair (speaker), Robin, Ramy, Letty, Victoire
Related Symbols: Babel
Page Number: 107
Explanation and Analysis: