Bernard is a main character who is not a scientist and has basically no scientific background. From the moment he is introduced, he is portrayed as eccentric and odd. Here Bernard is described for the first time: "Bernard, the visitor, wears a suit and tie. His tendency is to dress flamboyantly but he has damped it down for the occasion, slightly. A peacock-colored display handkerchief boils over is his breast pocket." (73) The term flamboyant refers to his ornate and rather bold outfit and personality. As one of the most irrational characters of the play, he behaves and acts much differently from the others. Bernard and his constant need to be successful and famous lead him to disaster as he acts with little regard to the truth. Rarely looking for proof when coming up with ideas and theories, he feels that if there is the slightest proof that he is correct then he is able to tell everyone it is the truth. He completely disregards the logical way of thinking that theories can be proven wrong. He never takes the time to see if his theories can be proven wrong.
             Here Hannah shows her dismay with Bernard's irrational behavior: "You haven't established it was fought. You haven't established it was Byron. For God's sake, Bernard, you haven't established Byron was even there," (50). Hannah tries to tell Bernard that he has not discovered enough evidence to publish his theory,yet Bernard believes she is incorrect. He feels that all you need are your own instincts to lead you to the truth. "By which I mean belief in yourself. Gut instinct. The part of you which doesn't reason. The certainty for which there is no back-reference." (50) Bernard is responding the quote by Hannah above. Here Bernard is exemplifying perfectly his idea about how his theories are founded. He uses the words "gut instinct" and "certainty for which there is not back" which shows...