The play begins with John, a college professor, talking on the phone in his office while Carol, his student, sits across the desk from him. After he hangs up, Carol begins to discuss her issues with John's course. She says that she is unable to understand the material and that John uses language that makes her feel unintelligent. John tries to assuage these concerns by peppering his responses with compliments and discussing his personal life, including an anecdote about how people thought he was a failure as a child. John reveals that he has been selected for tenure and is in the process of buying a new home as a result. During the course of the act, the audience learns that John's work takes an unorthodox approach to higher education. In language laden with academic jargon, John explains that higher education should not be seen as a universal right or an unquestionable good but rather as an option for certain students who will gain value from it. As she begins to understand John's concepts, Carol also grows more opposed to his elitist perspective.
Throughout the play, the conversation breaks down into unintelligible snippets as John talks over Carol, attempting to assert control. Toward the end of the first act, Carol gets so frustrated about not being heard that she yells at John to listen to her. In an attempt to calm her down, John walks over to her and puts his arm around her shoulder. Startled, she screams “NO!” which leads John to attempt to soothe her by telling her to relax and forget about her anger. The act ends with John revealing that there will be a surprise party for him at his new home to celebrate getting tenure.
The second act opens with John monologuing about his love of teaching and obsession with tenure, which, we soon learn, may be jeopardized by a report Carol filed with the tenure committee. The details of the report emerge over the course of the act and revolve around two main claims: first, that John has made lewd remarks and come-ons to female students and, second, that John's work on higher education constitutes harassment of the student body. John says that he was hurt by the report and tries to persuade Carol to talk with him further about the report, as well as share her feelings about the course. Carol, however, reads John's continued attempts to discuss the report as his way of persuading her to withdraw the report, which she refuses to do. As in the previous act, John's phone rings several times, interrupting the conversation. From what the audience can glean, the home sale is starting to go south, which makes John increasingly angry. Looking for a reason to leave, Carol offers that John must be busy with the house but John asks her to stay and discuss the complaint. When she tries to leave, he physically restrains her, which causes her to cry out for help.
Like the previous two acts, the third opens with Carol and John in John's office. John notes that, against his better judgment, he has invited Carol to his office to discuss the allegations against him. Carol takes issue with the word "allegations," implying that a guilty verdict has been reached by the tenure committee. John tells Carol that, as a result of this accusation, he will be discharged. Carol responds by telling John that this is well-deserved, and revels in the fact that he will lose his new house as well. In her newfound position of power, Carol makes a point of informing John that the reason he feels intimidated is because of this new power structure, in which he occupies the powerless position usually filled by his own students.
However, she offers John an olive branch: if he removes several books, including his own, from his syllabus, her activist group will withdraw their complaint. Enraged, John tells Carol to leave the office. The phone rings as she leaves and he picks up, talking to his wife, whom he addresses as "baby." Carol makes a passing comment telling John not to call his wife "baby." This is the last straw for John. He beats Carol and yells at her for destroying his life with "political correctness." Realizing what he has done, John sits back down at his desk while Carol cowers on the floor.
