“The Lesson” is about a professor and student who are completely out of touch with reality.  The professor gets more and more dictatorial and eventually kills each of his pupils.

The professor starts out pleased with his pupil, but eventually kills her.  He seems to do this a lot, because he gets more and more dictatorial as the lesson goes on.

Pupil : Oh, yes? … Oh, Professor, I’ve got a toothache.
Professor : Don’t interrupt! Don’t make me lose my temper! I can’t answer for what I’ll do……

The contrast between the pleasant, easy-going professor at the beginning of the lesson and the dictatorial, murderous professor at the end is both funny and absurd. We also notice that the maid seems to be in control of him, not the other way around.