Name : ' Jmes UaLson Peters

I'i-tle of Thesis: Cmelty as a Drarnatic Kethod A Study of the Plays of Haro'id Pinter

Eka~nlning Corn i t t e e :

Robert D, Gdlahan Baminlng Coimittee

Date Approved: 8 September, 1969

imd membcrs of Lhe CommiL~bce

ABSTRACT

The bas ic a:h of the t h e s i s was lo show how the Br i t i sh playctrright,

Harold P in%e~ , has mbodied marzy of the theor ies of the &ench poet a d

vistonaxy, Antonin Ax%aud, i n creat ing a modern Theater of CmelQ. I?

%ras decided t h a t a d i r ee t irifluence of Apltaud on P i n t e r vrould ba dlfficu1.t

to t r a c e bu.t it vov3.d be worth+dnile t o show s i m i l a r i t i e s i n concep-t, arid

whereby one charactor confronts ano-Lher i n a b a t t l c f o r contro2, domjnaslce

and sumj.va10 ShZs type of encounter pteoduces a vic"cj_m mc! vict imieers , 3 AU ~a t iona l i za t i o l a s , s-ixratagzmc oi. dcfcnce: mcehanisiils are revnoved in t h i s

onty tb proeess of vic"c6zation bat 5.s d c o the resul'c of Lhatviictuni-

Antonln Asl..i;auc! concluded the preface t o h i s 1938 on -i;he Theater

of CmeZ-ty, Ths !CheaLer~ and Jts Double, - with t hc rol louing poragraph:

. . . when we spe3.k t he wand ff1iEe, U i.t rnust be understood tre axx? not referring Lo l i f e as we know it froir, its surface of f ac t , bwb to that f r ag i l e , f luctualing centre which fonns never x a c h o And if the re is s L i i l one hel l i sh , trULy accussed .bhulg In our kirne, iL i s our ar'cist:',~ dal ly ing r&.bh f o r m , ins'cead of being l i k e vicLLriis bu.rnt at %Lhe sLaL;e, sig~oJLing tho-crgh t h e ilanes. 1

Hamld P in t e r made "che f ok9_or&ng coi-ment Ln a prog-oams noLe forp the R~ya3

aclmot~3~edged no dtrect influenco from t!~e FYench poe-b and visionary, He hac 7

M a u d attaclcs t he res t r ic t ixre na-Lure of mch foa.ms a s languzge, which

are l i k e Sandages covering t he rar? Sore of r ea l i t y . h t z u d thought the I

Theater of C m d t y shovld expo se the wound.:

. . . t h e donlain of t h e t hea t e r Ls no t psychological bu t p l a s t i c and physicGLlo h d it i s no t a question af whether t he physical lang-aage of t hea t e r i s capable of aeltieving t h e s&ne psychological resolut ions a s the languagc of wosds, whether it is able Lo express feel ings and passions as p r e l l as words, buk trhether there asne no t a t t i t udec i n the redm of thought and intelligente t h a t words a r e incapable of grasping and th&

precis ion than thsy, (p 71)

1 gestures and everflhing parbalcing of a s p a t i a l l a q p a g e a t t a i n ~rith more

&re is Harold P i n t e r ' s s t s tenen t on t h e a&iculateness of s i lence:

There a r e ttro cilances, One when no t~oald is spoken, The otherp when perhaps a t o r r e n t of laizguage i s being enlployed, This speech i s apeaEng of a l a r i pagc lockced beneakh it. ThaL i s i"c coontinual referencc, The speech W@ h e a i s a x indicaition OS %hat trllich we donl t hea.r, 1% i s a necessalcy rjrvoidancc, a violent , cly, m.guished o r ntoclgng smoke scseen t?h.i.ch keeps "ce other i n i % s pl.ace, Mien t m e s i l ence falls we a re stj.11 l e f t wL%h echo bat are nearer iaakedness. Ons way of Looking a t spvech i s t o say that it i s a constant stra-bagern t o c m e r na-kedness, 4

P i n t e r t s conccpt of nalc s ic, I thinlc, vergr c lose %o or~e aspect of wha.t

Artaud niea-nt by cmel-t -- t h e P i n t e ~ canon, a man 5 s most nctked when he is

nakedness i t s a l f , The stratagcms a r e removed through inevitabble confron-

t a t i o n s tdLh other t he ctxouggle t o acquire the bas ic

nececs i t i es of I i f e sv.ch a s fosd, s h e l t e r and clothing, and t o s a t i s f y 'I-

bas i c emoj2.ond- denands forc sex, love, frienclslrip; i n "Ce nececsi ty t o

s n d u ~ e p2&1, Lorzclinsss, fear , and, uS_tin-a%ely, &aAh; i n the stmggle

t o a c q u i ~ e s u ~ l i nacess i t i es cuid satisiy such dexmds, "L'he r.:@aker inev i tab ly

The confr e bu t this violence

is a consequence 0% the confrontations and no t Lhe cause, In the sane wax I

violence i s no t the cuu-se of cmel'cy, a s cnvisioned by Artaud, no-s i s it the

c m e l t y i-tself, buk may oeeur as a r e s u l t of Lhe existence of cruelty, !i'ixis

5s an imporbmt n t s t inc t ion which should be kep-1; i n nind in PU discussion

of t he %erin.

Cmel ty i s b a s i c d l y an a b s u ~ d i s t and eAxislentiaS. viewpointm A m a n i s

facing Lhe crrctel'rJy of existence when he f inds himself s t ~ i p p e d 0% ztl pre-

tence, helpless, uxable Go defend himself; f inds himself clfnging t o l i f e

when he h o v s iL i s absurd and meaningless; ~rhen he finds, l i k e Hamq, i n

BeckeLLfs E n d e 9 b l i nd m d helpl-ess, Gha% there an? no more bicycle trhevls -- o r painkciller :

HRI4X (.Appal'$cd) Good . . d (Pause) No Rose painn-kiikii3.1er,

CLOV YeSe l3W@ now iV'c anp-byo ( ~ w c e ) CLCJ skzrfis t o move ab& -1;hv room, He is loo!&ng f o r a place "c out down the a l a m clsdr .

W43'i ( s o f t ) Wha-t '3.1 P do? (~ause, Ln a se:t.eilisl) I;lhatflI1 X do? . . . 5

There i s no cruel ty without consciousness and without the a"ppl.icalion of consciousness, It i s consciousness t h a t gives t o the exercise of escxy a c t of l i f e i ts blood-red color, i t s c w e l nuxnce, since it i s understood t h a t l i f e i s a Lwa$s saneonc's death, (p, 102)

The victimization - in Pinter 's plays i s clocely linked t o the sCmggle

the V..v form - of manipuiation of one characler by anothex o r by a group of

characlers. The victiniization may - - - - - . have a sextid. . basic, a s i n The Hornecmln g,

klora, brLngs &out the impotencc OS her agirig husband through a desire t o

keep young and v i t a l o VictkLzation rmy be socid., as i n ahe h n b

Waiter, where Lhe organization victimises i t s o m members, o r i n l ~ h a 1-

Bi1e-t;hitay Pa??td7p, w'hese asa .Lntended victim becomes an exe cutioner, botki of

end resu2.t of tha t vic"cnlza,-kj.on %hat const i tutes cm.elty, as Panter m a n i - J

fes t3 ik, and as Arbaud envisioned it. CruelGy i s Lhe inevi-table iliovement -----W- %

plan, A co~1ventiona.1 p1o-t casino'c r e f i e c t this noverii.en"cecai~se it e~:ploys -- a beginriing, midd3.e and an end, Life moves i n e v l t 2 ~ l y bu-b irra-bionally,

according t o necessity, The process of v ic th iza , t ion futv'oi.ves pressure,

which i s also eru.sl. VicJ~imiea-i50n i s the closest dra ia t ic s.ppro,bniation

%f the essential! theater L s like %he plague, it i s not bec2use it i s con%agiouc, bi~C bvcause Zike the plegue it i s the aevclati-on, the br inging f ~ : ~ $ h , t'ne ex%c~~iori.za-ticm of a depth of h t en ' c cruelty by mestvls of wMch d.1, perverse possibili+r;ies of the i~lzrnd, whether of an individnal OS a p o p l e , am localllzed:, Like the plague the "cieater

is a tim of ev i l , t he i;~iuxiph of dru~k posrers t h a t a r e nourisk~ed by a powsr even more pTo•’ omd wtil ex-t;incLioi, (p, 30)

This Nlateri.b cxxeltyH is equated 1 6 t h t he meJcaphysic&, accorLllng t o Artaud, I

becaucc it rcprescn-ts cvcmhing t h a t 5,s unhovn, pewerse, mystmious,

fearftiL, both wiLhin man a d cu~rounding him, 'rhe process of v i c t h i z a t i o n

i n P i n t v r t s p lays uncovers th5-s me-Laphysieai r e j l i t y . The Ikbchsel ler i n

A SLight Ache is a g ian t symbol of tMs metaphysical awwenesse He i s L__ - mysterious, un~o-rring, an object of fear , yet possessing a t t ract iveness .

Fe corresponcls t o h r taud ts Vabnaicated Beine;,1t an imnge t h a t i s savage,

e lementa , v iolent , dlsquletLng:

. . a fabzpi_ca.ted Being, made of wood and cloth, e n t i r e l y Ir~venLvd, correspondbg t o nothing, y e t disquicking by nature, eapable of re- introducing on Lhe stage a LIJGtle b rea th of thari; p e s t nictaphysica.1 f e a ~ rdhich 5s a-G the roo t of i I b ancient-bheater*., (pb U$)

ano-ther reason w1-y A~banCi used t h e analogy fior his Theater of Cmelty, The

t k s aeS Z'eself, It is t h i s force which &%aud s a i d chouid . r e d t i n pir-~i-

Our long h&l-b of see!&ng diversion has made u s fox9get t he idea of a ser ious LheaLer, which, over%umbg a11 our preconcep%ions, i n sp i r e s us ~ 5 t h t he fie-xy magnetisnl of i ts Itiiages and a c t s upon us l i k e a spiri l iual Lherapeut5-es whose touch cnn never be forgotten,

&ery-bhing tha-G a c t s i s a c m e l t y , 1-b is upon Lhis idea of extrem action, pirshed beyond a11 limits, t h a t t he theatees? nus t be (pp 8h-85)

1% must be ernphasixed here t h a t the scope of %bis 'chesis dces not i ;~c lude

the result osn e f f e c t of thu Theater of Csnuel%y on thc spectator, sirrt is

t o dosc-cjbs n method by which IJamld F in t e r has c r e a h d a modvrra aSlea.-ter of --

purgation works o r no t i s no t -the i s s u e in thls -ihesis, It i s a s po in t i e s s

as debating whether o r not Brechtf s theoxy of a l icnat ion works. We c2n s t i l l

describe the lcind of plays Brecht m o t e an6 t be theowy he fomula%ed. In t he

s m e wgy, we can discuss Pinte?? 2nd his methods arid show similari."cies i n

technique and i n t e n t ~ d t h h t a u d without s t a t i n g t h a t Pinter fai thful ly

followed t h e &-i;au&lan concept of cruulty clesigned t o purge the spec-katr

of 16s own rnost v io l en t ~ilr,puisesO

I be l ieve &-tarudls coiicep% 02 c m e l t y r e f l e c t s U. broad phil.osophical

butlook on l i f e iIl~Lch goes beyond Lhe mero e f f e c t of the Thezter of Cmel ty

on the spectator, Be thought t he -thea"eer of his time was bou.:rgeois and

ar-kificial and d id no"cccur8:bdy r e f l e c t man oy KS wor1d0 RobelnJ~ Co~rigan,

eclr'cor of -Ghe reccnt anthology, Ths 1qoder-n Thea-L% sa id %hat the plays of -P--

modern? p laymlghts Ifexpress t h e conknporary t hea t r c 's tremnalo~rs concern

/ t o f i n d a mekphor fosn 1rnkwxzL1 modern inan a s he l i v e s on the bl"ix11c of

d i s a ~ " c v r , ~ ~ 7 A.rbud 5:as sta.ling t'ne sarne th ing back i n t he 1930's:

\+Je are 2 iv ing th~ougl i 2. pcriod probab3y unique i n the h i s t o ry o f -ihv wctyld, when tlic 1~10lo3.d, passed t h ~ o u g h a sieve, sees i"C old values

a l i b e r a t i o n of the ba ,ses"cnsthcts , a craclCLing of bum'r; llves pre-

i . cminble, Oiar ccilcined l i i e i s dissolv ing a t i t s base, and on the rnoral L

OP s o c i d 1evel thts is expressed by a mons.t?nous uxloashing of appet i tes , /

matulsely- s x p s c d 'co f1;ilne. (pp 115-11.6) , /

-7-

There i s i n l i f e s flzne, l i f c .; appcti lv, l i f e t s ima'cionzl j_rnpil sion, a E n d of In i t i a l . pemers i ty : t h e decire charac 'cerist ic of Eros i s cmclty s ince it feects upon c0ntingenci.e~; dcath i s a cmel ty , resur- rec t ion i s cmel ty , t r ans f igura t ion i s cme l ty , s ince nowhere i n a c i r c u l a r and closed wo~'id is'there rooni f o r true death, s ince ascension i s a rendtng, s incs cloced space i r s fed ~ 5 t h l ives , ard each s t ronger l i fs tramples down the otherc, conmlifing then In a rnassacre 5ihich i s a

// tmns f igu l~a t i on and a bl l s sa In tl-ie maniiested t~or ld , metaphysically speakirig, e v i l i s the pemanent law, and what i s good i s a~ e f f o d ? and d r e a d y one more c m e l t y added t o the other, (p. 103)

Only one production of A-r4;andts Theater of Crzielty took place and t h a t

was fhe -9 Cenci based on t e x t s by Shelley and S-tendhal, ~ = ~ h i c l ~ Arbaud directed

in 1935. The proc;luction was a corimercial Sai lure . A plamcd prociuction of

&her ' s I4oyzeck -P nevesn came of f , 1% i s i n t e r e s l i n g %o note Mai3.dts choice

of t h i s p lay f o r %he Theater of Cmelty, beeause Woyzeck, wilh i t s Plhencs of

madness, isola:tlon, v io l enw aad death, is often conaidered " c h e f i ~ s t .t;.rzzl.y

modern d r m a aind pref igures Lhe Theater of Lhe Absu~d and Brecht, The play

Adaud d id no t live t o cee many of his theor ies put i n t o practice. IIe

had bcen propolaindiuig M.s theoxties as e a r l y as 1925 a.nd Ln 1927 he helped

f o m d t h e Alfred. Jamy Theater, By 1937, he was suf•’elring f i t s of insanlty

brop ighhn by me-d.ngitis, sllffercd when he was a chiLld, Ee coni;rac"ccl cancer

i n 19L6 a.nd died i n 1948, b.Mle many o l k t a u d f s theor5es wem Ynv product

of an tenbalanced mind and are couched i n f ~ e n z i e d md Zmprecise langvage,

8-rtau.d was, in many respsc-Ls, t he one who pavecl t he way f o r much 'chat 5s

vital. i n %he theaLer Loday. Hls theory o i a t o t a l spectacle, with the

audience seated on swiveP cha i r s watching scenes of violence Laking place on

catwalks aSove the a ~ ~ d t t o r i m i , was t h e procluct of an unatable i:Lnd, But the

basir: ideu of cxxeY:i;gr embodled i n The Tksoater - and Jts Do~tble ..--- i s a vab5d olle

arid has found e q r e s s i o n not only i n t he worlc of Harold P in le r but i n the

p lays of Jean Gene%, lonesco, Sar t re , Recitet-i;, John Arden, Wvard f i bee and

Peteza Shaffer, Cnaelty f o r Ionesco, f o r exaiple, i s a t\rorld fv3-7. of Eear

~%;?oli.ch re-c?&X_re,c: nxm ioi %h.e sp

- beb.0 U ys.-. c;r,j'f~la& JE PL,T?%~~, +;j?i-s i ~ ~ q ----- I ..+ - ...._,. _ " , ,_ - . izay~c;ia, EJ~L; & . ~ ~ . . : ~ 3 ~ ~ i i ~ g I I zp~;c.y of the jo'3.sv zaa&s o:FI cj-5_Lxz?.kjiozz, 2~327 e?n&!i~h,

inner reali-by, rnelaphysical awaltensss o r consciousness of seJ I" that i s cixe jiq

toLalLy manifested, P in te r f s plays havc a sociai context buC he i s f a r frorn

being a social r ea l i s t . 1 Society, l i k e the past, i s anothor f o m which t r i e s

t o r e s t r i c t the. individual 's capacity f o r gro~rth or decay. This idea i s most

forcibly expressed i n The Bidhday Pari,yS i~here -presentaL3_ves of t1,e

sysbrn, Goldberg and i n t h e i r attenlpts t o make Stan'Ley Ffebber a -

. u s e f d member of the orgmization, rel-easc instinc-buai. Eorces wEch give --

StanLey a bplef, but violent, Gdentity, and conwie hin, ,'

struggle, onc Person i s vic-kirn 2nd the others are viclimizers, If there

i s one room and tbzee p e ~ p l e t o share i%, one or more persons are ejected,

If Lhere are t v o lnen and one wornan, ehe men rims-l; eiLher share the man o r

f igh t f o r poscessiorq i • ’ there as-e Lwo inen and cne cheese ro l l , one inan eatc

and perliaps PinJcerls finesJc vlsua.1 Image of t he Theater of Cruelty, the

ttzro gmmen fa.cing each other as kictitn and exccutioner a t the climax: o f

The Dumb Wai.ter, T h i s t he s i s w i l l aktemp-L t o show hori crue1P;y i s mani- .- fes ted th-rough t he process of victjmiza;l;5.on, and t f l l conclude with a

discussion and s m a q of the conponents of P i n t e r i s Theater of Cm-elty,

wi th enphasis on i t s beginnings i n his firs'c play, --. The Room and i t s

ultirnate refinement i n M s l a t e s t play, L a i d s c a e A comparison tLl.1

be made with l%chnerts ~ d o y m c l ~ ~ a nineteenth century f m e m m e r of the

Cruelty i s above al.1 lucid, a land ob" r ig5d control and subi~lission Lo ne cess i ty . There is no c r ilelty 'rithout consciou.sne ss and wcithout t5e applicat3.cn of consciousi~esc. 1% 1 s consci.nui;necs ttiat gives t o t h e excrcise of evelly a c t of l i f e iLs blood-red color, i t s c m e l nuance, s ince i?; i s uiiders tood that lifc is d r r a r g s so,neone'c deathQ (P., 1 0 2 )

n M I s tmgg le of h m n beings f'or dominante, control and surr ivnJ0 j,he necessi-Ly j

an effect ive expression of "LSs concep-t of cruelty cnvisioned by k~dxn~.d

appears to be -thc d i smp t ing force i n Lhe 1-5ves of so brothvrs, iilck 2nd

Aston, %&eil he i~ broug'nt hom as a guest by one of them. &-L lia.viec 3.r

the plzy with 1qho:ll thv a.u.cij_l:nze 5s -E;o sympaMiim, ITe is -bhe pm--

'- 7 tagonisJc, as opposed. -to t h e vil?.ai,n, She audi.ence slowly becmcs a.vare L1ia.i; , I

Davies acccpts hosp i t a l i t y f rox Astori, a man he has never scen before,

bocause he i s des t i t u t e , cold, hungry, i n poor health. Tne room w i l l assure / , 1

hlun of su r j l va l , a t l e a s t -Lexporarily. The. motiveb of tlia aGwo iioinariipulatoor

a r e more complex, Aston, t he e lde r brother, who br ings the t raqp hone, has

had an operation t o h i s bra in , e i t h e r a f ron t a l lobotony o r shock t ~ e a t m e n t *

tIe was once v i o l e n t bu t i- now su'bdued. Itick, t he younger brother, i s J' aggressive asid sad i s t i c . ;It i s poss ible t h a t Aston, looking f o r the person

o r persons ~dno hur t kim, sees a scapegoat 7x1 Dzvies, H s br ings the trariip

home fo r t h e nlght, hoping lYck r d l l abuse hlsn, As'ton s e t s Davies up f o r

vic4xhiza'r;ion by I.Eck, f o r example, assigning t o Davies the bed t h z t IbYck

slseps in during E s perioclic v i s i t s , Shen let-bing lticlr discover the tramp

has been sleeping i n it, Aston is su'oclued so tha."ce cannot vent his yever'ge

on whoever has hu r t him, bu-l FBek i c v i o k n %, Ac"cn, theref o:re, rnay be

using Nick as h i s i n s t m c n t of rsvenge,

The degree o f Nickt s a,naseness of wha"cston i s doing i s lef-i; i n dolrb-L.

But Nick seems "GO enjoy toment ing t he old man, and AsLm de f jn i t v lg s e t s

up s i t ua t i ons whcss~eby f4i.ck can przctice his sadism. The t ranp has l i t t l e - - - -- -

avareness of 13la.i; the bro"chers aro doingc iiii_n?ed i s t o su-mive by acquiring

t h e ba s i c neces s i l i e s of l i f e -- food, shel ter , clothing, companionship, HE

has t o t n m t someone 5n order t o a c q ~ ~ i r e %hese Vnings, o r he must manipul-ate

cmeone Lo g s t t h m , Davies aL no time poses any real Lhrea,t t o ehe securi-Ly

of t he brotbcrc, Thvy inzlnbin -Lheir s o l i d x i t y o

CS vic~timizsti.one The s ~ ~ b t l l e s h i f t i n emphasic a ~ l d ln sympatky accourlts f o r 1-

t he ex.i;raordinarv pomxr o f t he play, The audience xil.1 to l e r a t e Davies a s

an i sacc ib le o l d ma~ , conpl-xlning about his bed and Lhe shoec thaL do no t f i t ,

-14-

and atteinpting t o manipulate tthe ~ J O b ro thers f o r h i s owri benef i t ; however,

it w5.D not t o l e r a t e tmo yowg men tomen"cng an old rnan i n the n;a,mer i n L

trhich Nick and As'con t o m e n t Da,vi ese The-re i s a charige i n perspective on

'che p a r t of t h e audience, and it i s through the conscious vic t imizat ion of

the o ld tramp t h a t thls change i s brough'c about. The vic t imizat ion ascures) I!

survival f o r 1Eck and Aston. This i s -bhe ba s i c E n d of situa-tion t h a t ARlcaud

envisioned as one oP tlie key cor;iponenLs of his Theater of Cruel-by: Ir . . . it i s mder.stosd "chat l i f e i s always someone's death,Ir (pe 102)

The t raxp i s inv i ted t o the house by AsLon; he i s not an inLrudese T h i s -- i s impo&ant f o r a proper underst3,nding of the play, Hot.~ever, as soon a.s

DavLes becoms establ-lshed he t r i e s t o consolidxbo his pos i t ion i n t he house-

hold. by a.t"cnp-Ging t o play oiie brother of f agarnst the o'cher, Davies, of

coume, i s t he in"ce~~cied. viclirn of %he other two, b u t the e x t m l arid. qiral-i.ty

oi h i s vlcti.ri:ization o i y becom apparen-b ~ h e n he fai ls Ir, his ef•’cl-%s Lo

crack t h e i r I 'm i ly so l idar i ty . Daviesl i n a b i l l t y Lo work, h i s t e r r i b l e -\ I L:' inseca15ty and fezr, h i c g e n e r d ~meLchedness and honelessness, his laclc

\ t,

of ina."criai. possessi~onc, tfie f i l t h y condit ion of E s bocly- and clotl-ies, Vnv 9 \ a

h c k of any pos i t ive idenLity (he c a U s hi.rnself Berna.rd Jenltins bu'c sayc h i s

pi r e c a n m e f s Ilac Davits) a r e all f a c t o r s w e d as the ba s i s for ri.dicule,

conteeript and scoxn by the brothers, Sosfleho~~, Daxries erneyges a s a pos i t ive

enti-by f o r tha audience, soneoRe %hey can i d e n t i f y rsilh, Through the 7 victirniza,'clon of Davies, we gei; a p i c t ~ r r e of m a n , nakea, defencelesc,

'V'

vulnerable,

1% i s the nece5sii;;r of Davics t o hase food, sliel'csr, a bed t o SI-ecp in ,

t h e cczpasionship of o-bhor huinans, tha-l; L e a d s hirri t o accept Aslon s Xnvi,ta-

t ion , T h i s is s e l f p~esc~va+ , ion , hcnce concciousness on "clc pawtt-af Davies, -

7--

,hr?e stmiggle in Ac'conts house for con-trol, d d n a n c e , and survivalt a l so

jnvolves a search for idcn t i ty . Davi-es hopes t o ge t t o Sidcup t o f i n d tIle

man who has his identi-Ly papem, Daviec hopss Ac-ton w i l l give hirn a gootl

pair . o f shoes t h a t rli71. make has joumey possibl_eo Thus Davies, who goec by

the nme oi' Ermard Jenkins but i s reaJ_I-y liac Davhs, struggles t o get to

Sfdcup bu t rnevts Acton and his brothcr iEck on L119 way, arid a secondary quest

f o r i d e n t i i y develops, The three d-eline Lhemselves sharp3.y in the

J t r a g i c sit'~.a.'cion whi.eh dcvelopc as a rcsult of t h e i r encountcr, I r o n i c d l ~ , - Pin te r sevejLs t h e digni ty of IIarks by showing t h c ssmox~& of %]-E tfamp f s

l a s t shred. of y e s p e c d ~ ~ b i E i t y and hope of sumi-saS, The sneeta tor 5 s grudually

made awam -tfiaL Davies Is no t J u s t a dir-Ly, wwtchad o3.d Grmp, buht a hmmz

being, who, i n the ibal stmgg2-e LO asser l E s otrn wosnth, ends iip d o n e

and frienceles se3-

Pintey7 c Ti~e calneLaker f s a brLZJPiant drmztiza"cion of tIhe esseritial i - t~xt3, that 5x1 'tim worldng out of thc stxruggle f o r existente, rn.arits bacic

\

hmanity i r ; r zvc j lcd ,?nd h i c worth evcllua'~-.d, ' This is the core of " r , ~

AY*t;audi~m concept of cruel-by:

manipulate Mie brotl lers are shom t o be f u t i l e and pettjl", ancl we a re incl fned

t o look do~m on harne But the vic"c.ization of t he Lranp produces fee l ings I

of p i ty , and at?;iosph~m 02 t e r r o ~ i s crcatcd b c c x s e t hc t reutxunt i s

brutal 2nd sad i s t i c . P i n k r wondered why people laxghed a t Lhe London prodnction

of -. 'i'he Caretaktzc, because t he p lay is n o t intended t o be comic, a s he explainecl

i n an interview ~ . r i lh Leonasd Russell of The Sunda.y Tines: F

I did not in tend 5.t t o be merely a laughable fa rcco If Lhere hadnt t been other issu.es a t s take t h e p lay wouZd no t have been ~.Jzi-Lten . . . . From t h i s lrind of easy j o l l i f i c a t i o n 1 must, of course, disst>ciate myself , (, AI; far as I g m concemed, -.- The -*M Care t a l t e~ i s fmq, up Lo a p o h t , Beyond t h a t po in t i t ceases t o be funny, and i-t, was because of *,hat po in t t n a t I ~ r r o t e it, 2

Pinte- had more h say aboul 'che r e l a t i o n of humonl 'che s tmgg le f o r

Do you consciousLy rna.ke c r i s i s s i t u a t i m s hu?n.orous? O f k n an aw-diente a t your p h y s finds i-Gs l a u g h i ; ~ ~ L u m b g aga ins t i"c;dL a s i t real izec hrhat thc si:hla-%ion i n khe play ac tua l l y is,

Ycs, thatls vely 'crrie, yes, I f m rarely conscious~-y vn-it3-ng hwnor, bu t /

( some-bima s 1 f ind myself laughing a t sone pa~-l-icul= p ~ i n ~ h i c i - I has \ sudcienly stmcl: me as being f u ~ m y , I a p e e "chzL more of t sn than no t

Jche speecb o n i y seeris t o bo funn -- t he man i n question i s ac'curialy -- fight-lng a b a t t l e f o r his life, 5

beeause his nesd fo r s e l f presewvation inev i tab ly poses a threa-t t o the

exls tenrx of others, I-re i n tarn i s nizn%puh.teci, but, i son i ca l l y and LragicaU-y-,

play he is s t i l l pleading t o be a l l o m d .%o sBory i.n the rom, s-tiI.1 tx=y%ng to

conseioumess, As%aud said) arid ult5ma"cl.y d a s t ~ o y e d by %he othee* two

chalractsTs i n the play, Davies cdnsciousJ_y t r i e s t o r n m ~ p l a t e l3iclc arld Aston

arid i s deleated, Through -- P -L this coniplex in ter- re la- t ionchi of three men, P i n k - ---- ---

- -

defines thc ulrZverarjll hiurmi- stm.g@e and buslds up a generdized h a g e of t,he

cond5'ckon of inan i n the modern wofld, Dmies becaes an a~chetypa?. figure,

symbolic of' Iifefs continu6l fluc.ixation beb~cen hopc arid despaiy, 1% saw

arid E*),usiveo This behavious of t h e chcrpa,cP;ers i s caused by t h e i r confj-nenent

i n a s m ~ l space and t h e i r continued inter-action, Davies s e t s about con- ,

solidating h5.s posi'cion as soon ab he gets a roof over his head and a bed t o

sleep in. He xI.1.Z adopt any dvfmsive measusnes ~iecessary t o a~roid being ,' i

* I

e j e ~ t e d in'co thv oxtside -c:o:~ld, rr'nich hir 'c'!linl:s i s host2lc,

Kick is the more aggressive of t he brothers, 'rhin1:s Davies s t i nks and

wanls t he old man out, Aston i s not as benevolenhas he seens, and apneairs

to be so;newhat ind-iffercn-l; t o Davics froii: the beginnins. I n i t i a l l y , he i s

more curious about the -t;I"mp than concerned over 'che old man's welfare. In

the opexling Scene, Astor, Lets Davies do nzost of the tjLkingo 1% i s significan'c

tha"c5,ck i s a h n e on "che stage wlhen t he play opeiis, I$hen hv hears As-Gon md

Davies cciming, he goes ou6. FLck apps-ren-bly knows VnaL Aston has brou.'ght hoxe

a v i s i t o r a,nd I %hink As%n 1eno.r-rs Isiicl: i s i n the house t-rhen he br ings Lhe

tramp horne, As%on md Davies are d o n e on t he s tage unkI.1 n e a the end of

f i r s t enfxy k t o the house, throzsgh kks b e b g assigned the bed amd fieeping

throug1-i the nighi;, Aston never once men-bions t o Davies 'cfia-bhe has a brother,

l e t a l o m an aggressive one 1-ike Iiicfc. iben niore signiiican-L. is the Sact Lhat

the bed hs-Lon ass ips %o Ik.vles belongs Ix l t i c ! ~ II; seenis pro5&le, fsom t h i c

evidenec, t h a t YAck i a i n the hors.se, has coim f o r one o i liis per iodic v i s i t s

and t imt h2 Icnows As-Lori has hone the mud-dy old derel2c.t (he c o d d have

been rzratcK-ng Sma J ~ ~ ~ C X I -GD coxe ho~ric), 1% seeY,1s 1iircl.y As.boil delibesoa'ccly

giver; Davies 13.c'Xfs bed -bo mCugonrize h i s b~othclp, hopinz 1.licli r&13 at-l;a,ck

Darlese PossibJy Aston i s t r ~ j 6 n g t o ingrxbj.a.S;e hzi?self ~ k t h h i s bro-thcx aild

~ h n s t o u.se Davies a x "ehe scapcgoa'c, He rnay be LWJPlng %O malm 13xk jeaCLous

by p j . e tcn&q t o bePyiend Davle~i, Thi s taov1.d ind ica te t h a t h v i e s 5s %ha

brother, b u t I say aFpeam because Davies i s not Bni-tially responsible. Davies

is i m o c e n t and lmows no-Lhing of the household o r i t s afrfairs, As-ton i s res-

~ o n s i b l e f o r Daviest presence i n the hause, therefore kston rnus-t be blaned

if any dism-ption o c e u r s ~

a?td collected. Davies cone c in , homves, l1 shmbling, breathing heavily,

s;lndttlso Daviec 2s obvious'ly in psor hea l th and desti.tu-l;oe His med f o r food,

shelteie, c lothing and conpanionship, is obvious. TnThen Askn of fe rs hjln a sea-l;,

D A V I E , S i t clotnz? Huh . . . P haventt hccd a good s i t 'dom . . . P haventt had a proper s i t ci-om, well, 1 co6Ld.nft tel1 you, , . .

ASTOX (placing t h e ~hair)~ Kere you ama

DAVITS. Tcn rriinubs o f f f o r tea-break i n Lhe niiddle of t he n i g h t i n t h a t plaee m d I co~il.dn"t f i n d a seat , not o n e ~ RLZ t h e ~ ~ Grecks ha,d it, Poles, Greeks, Blacka;, -Lhe 10% of them, EU %hem d i e n s had it, And they bad me wo~kl.ng thvrc3, . . Jcliey had me vrorking. . . .

hCToi.3 s j t s on t h e becl, %&es out a tobacco t i n and papess arid begins t o r o l l himself a cigaret%e, DAVIF23 t~x5~chri.s I-LVn,

unkno'c.m quamtit ies %hat pose a t h r e a t t o his exis-tence, arid he -i;kiere.fore f e a r s

themo They a re a maj o r i t y agains-b Davies, vho i s only one. Daviesf ,

i r r~ t - iond . . fear i s one of the pxincipal reasons tshy he turns do~m the Job

of caretaker, A s carelalox-, he would have t o Open -ekie door a.nd p e ~ h q s

i n the aJ iense He t~ou ld a lso have t o ~7e2r a unifom, which i s a badge of

recogni.lion, and a l so represents confomity. l)av-ies would be t i b t hc cleycy of

Aston and ISck, a.s W s employers. Xn o ther woi-i-d~~ Davies i s exposed t o alP the

ha2ard.s of the uccu.pations he chooses, i4an, i n oloder "co exis-t by eaming 'hls

keep through a Eeg5-bimate occupalion, must niake krnse'lf vulnerable. 1 r o ~ -

callly, Davies has made hLnlself m l n e r a b l e "ce rnonent hz s teps in-to Aston's

hause* Davios doss not recognize h i s encinies when he rceets .ther!!n, He f ~ l s

t o recogmtze %hat E.3.ck mcl Aston are more &ien Xnm the 131acksu

Davies raveals h i s basicalZy defensive nature during the ttLoosenLng upn

routine ( P a 8) a Hz wan-Gs t o be ready t o counter ally LlireaS, o•’ a.ggressiveness

against ISm, Aston defines hirnce3-S by associatfon v i t h "ihc tobacco c m , Lhe

e l e c t r i c plug und the t oa s t e r ~ i h i c h he i s coris-tantly repalring, a l s o the slied

I he i s bui lding behlnc?' the hause, Ea,& of the charac"r.ers psscesses ob jec t s I

i

one eha rac tw i n l m d e s i n t o the aeea oS another o r t r i e s t o possess o r deslroy

an o b j c e t b e l o n g h g 'Lo soineone e lse , thxL c o n f l i c l L s aroused, When Ast011

-21.-

DavieS is i r a s c i b l e and abusive b u t h i s dcmands througliou~~ Lhe p lay are, f o r

the mosL p a ~ t , sensible ancl reasonable. When he sGates t h a t he has had a I

few attacks, he should be believed, f o r L t Ls reasonable t o e q e c t poor heal th

in an old man, p a r t i c i ~ l m l y one i n Daviesl metclied condi t io i~, Dades, d s o ,

has not lost h i s sense of disc.rinination, and po in t s out t o Aston exac t lg

he considered bis job i n Lhe cafe t o bez

DAVIES. . . . I t f s n s h y job t o talte out Lhe bucket! They got a boy tbere f o r talcing out the bucket, X vracnrt engaged t o take out buckets. P@ j o b l s cleaning the n o o r , c lear ing up t h e tables, doing a bit of washing up, nothing t o do ~ i t h ta.klng o u t buckelse (p. 9 )

taker, Darvies i s P in t e r t s symbol of t he universal human need f o r love, com- - panionship, food, s h e l t e r and. c3-othingq a u t h s m e time, hv is th3 synbo9.

Y f o r t he ul t imate r e s u l b f man s j oumeg -i;hipougl~ 1ifz.e--cold, pain, lonel lraess,

despair, dezath, The por-tmit of Daviec cons l i tu tes one of thosv "bu.ming \

images" %hat Ajni;av.d conceived skiou3_d be "ce b a s i s of ehe Theateer of Cmelty, '\

can ge t down t o Sidcup and @L h i s identi ty paprrs f ron a man he l e f t %hex

yearc a,go, Yowever, consciously, o r unconsciousfy, he h o v s he will

ever get t o Sidcup, Triings lJL3-1 never be exact ly ~ k g h t t o enable hin t o

ake the j o i e x ~ ~ e v ~ Da.vies a.dmlyas Lhe shoes A s t 0 3 gives hhi, buk says Ghey

\

h e n and i f he eves ge t s t o Sidcup, the man 11e l c f t the papers virith n i l l

-22-

hem Daviec w i l l h a m t o go out i n t hc cold, This i s why hv t e l . 1 ~ Aston

constitu.i;~ a technique Davies has fomuia t ed f o r e n l i s t i n g cympathy frorn

~ t h e r people and. rnanipulaling t h e h The Sidcup s-brata.gem breaks dorm a t

the end, wi%h Daviec pleading t o be a l l o ~ ~ c d Lo stay i n the room, Thv aizdience

sees Lhrough the stratagem, b u t beczuse he has been c~ .xe l l y vic2;imized,

tmmndous p i t y anci sycipathy i s arouscd fo r -Lhe t r m p i n t h e final momci?-Ls.

The Sidcnp papers ~eprecen-i; a.n imaginary i den t i t y ; Davies real- i d e n t i t y

is expresscd by what he sa,ys and d-oec and by wha the c a r i e s wi-lh K m , h i s

sagged clo-thes, f o r example His nam may be Bema:cd JenHns o r Jhc Davi.es

but he is, q u i t v sirr-ly and na tu ra l ly , a trm-p, An objeet which h n d s t o / ider1ti.f~ Davies i s hic bag o r v d i s c ! wkich he has lcf i ; in the cafe.

The bag is Doviest i.medj.a,le id-enl i f ica t ion bu t it becomes one of 'che chief

objecLs uced. bgr As-ton a.nd Mi-clc -i;o to?.ment the o2d m a n , The other p r i n c i ~ a l

ASTON. Are you?

DAVIESe U T J ~ ~ S have been, 91)

The %rwnp -is t q r i n e ; t o wang1.e an im6-ta"cion t o clezp i n Asbn 1 s bcd, t~hj.ch

is w e l l out of ariy draugh'c, He does no t know a t t h i s point t h a t Lhere i s

a second bed which As%on keeps Eor 14ick during his occasional v i s i t s , This

second bed, wi th the d~aughty winclow &ove it, i s offered t o Davies, Aston

only o f f e r s Davics f4ick's bed, b u t refnses t o close the windo:~ when

Davies requeslx 5Z;, A drmgh-iz trould not bother a yoriing incm l i k e tJlick,

hot~e4~eln~ it CO-ald conceLvably br ing on pnemonia i n a,n old. man l i k e Davies, I

~1x1 5s a l r eady whsezing and couglrilng, The business over the bed is j u s t one

more indicat ion ol' Asten's conipl-icity i n " c h e vic%iiniz,alion of Daviece kston

i s of ten deliberxbely evasive with Davies o

DAJiIES, This y o u ~ Ilouse then, i s it?

Pause,

ASTON. l % i i n Charge,

DAVIELS. You tlle landloTd, assc you? ( p e 1 2 )

makcs no ises i n h l s sleep, ~ 1 6 . ~ 1 1 Rcton objecii,~ $0, Davies denries haxing

made any noiceso

D A V I E , I donVt,jabbez9, mano Nobody ever told me tha.t be fo~e .

Pausu,

$/hat would 1 be ja3berlng a,bo.iit?

ASTON* J: don 'L lmowo

1 . i rneaa, wheref s t he sense 5-13 iJc?

Pause,

Nobody ever 'cold me ktizi; befox3ce

Pain se ,

You go% h o l d of the wong bl.oke, ~nxke* (p, 23)

1"IICK (tmri?lng ?&m o f i ) , Xtve Seen t h i s bag before,

DAVITS. Tha-t s niy bag l I

I.IZCK (elu.ding him) , Thj s ba y s ve33 f an.i-i.lri.ar,

D A V I G . Tdhat d.o you man?

IXKK. r;Jhereld you ge% it? (p, 38)

Hick and Acton proceed t o pla,y a t o s s g m e 16th t h e bag, le"chg Dzvies ge t

t h e bag, Lhen Lalfirlg i t a w z y from him a,gain,

ASTON. Here you are. (ASTOIJ o f f e r s t h e bag t o DAVISS).

EsiICK gmbs it, ASTOFT takes it, EJlICY grabs it, DAVIE5 reaches f o r iL ASTON takes iL IdICK reaches f o r i L , ASTON gives it t o DiVIES. 1XKK grabs bt , Pause ASTON -I;akes it, DAVIES talces i'co I*XCK Lakes i-t0 D A V I E reacbes f o r i t r ASTOX Lakes it, Paucc ASTON gives it to PZCK, P4TCK gives i-t %o DAVIESe DAVIEC grasps iL t o hin, Pause HICF loolts a"LSTON, DAVIE rnovec a:aay with the ba.g, Tbey watch h b , Iie ppicks it up, Goes t o h i s bed, and s i t s , ASTOig goes t o h i s bed, s i t s , 2nd begins t o r o l l a cigarct'te, PECK slands still., (pe 39)

Davies Is to~mcntvd agd victimizzd here beeause the bag (vhich he thinks i c

his) 5s o l l he possesses except f o r t he ragged c lothes he wears; iL is t he

chief objec'c by which he can be iden t i f i ed , Not only lzas AsLon fooLed the

old rnas l inJco thj.l~k-Lt~g the bag i s hLs, buC h.e has once again s e t Eavies up

bu t we can be reasonab1.y suse fzsorn wha-t h~ says %hat thc bag i s I&ckts, I

do no t thirl'x As-ton has been ou'c of -the hou.se, Aston celzS,zi.dy did not go

t o t h e cafe p ick up Davies' bago 1% i s a f r a id t o en te r cafes after what ----- -- --

the men did -i;o h h i , 1"ts Zilcely he took Lhe bag out of a ~ l o s e @ , /-- W- - . -

Uie door, 'I

u n t i l they catch Davies

The p r i n c i p d Scene

i n a squeeze p lay whem he i s forced -%o act ,

of vict i inization and exp~esc ion of cru-elty i n the

flay i s "chat i i i t ~ ~ l ~ i n g T k k , Davies arid. V"che e l e c t r o l ~ i x ~ Tne seeile p rw ides

' a complex iinage of m a n , iieak, corrardly, defensive, facing darlness, an unseen

menace, perhaps death, Ekch man goes t he route of Davies bwause the t r m p

represents aI.1 men and eve~y~rl iere the re i s a PIick ~Jho i s a nipulator, who 9" i n f l i c % s the c rue l t y which i s the condition of existente. Piick i s the

cor>scious maillpulator of -t.hc old nan, dest~osrjllg him sloxly, seer;Zng to enjoy -- the exper ieme ~ ~ C I S I ;o~, ients Da.vies beyond enclurance u n t i l the old. tme tch,

knifo i n hand, stands sc reming i n t e r r o r a t Wie unknown t idng t l ia t i s coving

b u i l t on Lhe exact comsberpoint be tmen worcis m d

other, and ti?e s e t t i n g enhancing both. P h b s ' s

ancl s-i;,-uc"cirrcd an6 Ls Par irorn being -tlie a X e s s ,

7 o? everyday U f e . Every word, ever j l i ne , enery L E ~ . ~ Y - L P M ~

desrigned "io contribute $0 tthe t o t a l effoct . 9 , r ~ ~ s

Pin-&er's dXLope re in forees t h e visuaL i m a p w1Gch he is bu-ilding up, Notice,

as t he sccne p:cogs?esses, hor.: dLdof?.ie a.nd actLon a-ce in"cr%>~hed cmd r e i n f o r e

each other, Davies coi!ies i n t o the darlteiied room looking f o r the l i g h t s ~ i t c h .

DIiVTES ( m . ~ t t c r i n ~ ) ~ I41at's this? (11e SI&-Lches on and off , ) ? i i a t r s t h e matter w i t h tkis datm light;? (He s t ~ t c h e s on 2nd off .) Aaah, L)onlt -bell rne the darm l i g h t ' s gone now. * .

. Pause,

Ile ffeelc i o r niat,chcs i n 115s poc!&, takes ou% a box and l i g h t s one, Ble mu-ixh goec out, The box fallse

PkaL 9 s Lhat? l h t ?

Pause, He n~oves,

(>;toopinfi;) Mmrc ' s the bloody box?

Whese ' s my box? It was down here.

Silence.

Come on, Who 1 s t h i s ? Who l c go t my

Pause

lJhof s in here l

Pause,

I~J'lio1s 'chis? riJhols ~ o v i n g it?

box?

I got a knife hese. I ' m ready. Come on then, who ase you? ( P ~ . bh-45) i The movement i s dialogue.-acLion-dla3ogu~, purictuated by pauses. P in te r 1

, chooses ac t ions arid s e l ec t s pslops p ~ e c i s e l y and care fu l ly Lo motiva-te Daviesl

t e r s o r aad inclrease t'ne suspense, The firs'c "Cng Davies does i s t o t-q the ,

l i g h t mfitch, The 1:-ght does noL riork, Fe repeats t he act iono Then he t r i e s

1igh"cng a ariatch. The match goes ou-t, t he box falls, and Davies s t a r t s

gsoping f o r Lhe box. Soxeone E c k s thhe box, Dwles i s on h i s hznd.s ar'd

knees, g ~ o p i n g f o r Lhe box. W y a f t e r the business r&th t he l i g h t svfitch,

t he rnatch and t he box, does P in te r j.nt~.oduce 'che elvctrolux, t he principcll

instTmient of v i c t i n i za t i on aad terrore have been subt ly prepared f o r the

real Lemor by sLea,dy p~ogress ion. Each mal1 act ion t h a t Davies perfomc,

each f m s t r a t i o n t h a t he undergoes, iqcreases h i s Lemor. Davies uces simple

words and only one 1-ine i s gi-cren t o express whxb takes pla,cc i n e x h ac-tion,

althougf successiv.e r epe t i t i on of Lhe l i m s is used f o r added emphasis. Thic

i s prlma15~l-gr a v i sua l scenc, the dialogue used Lo reinforec Lhe actioii,

Dialopm hzre svxves as a ba-~oticter of the pecmrc Davies i s beizg subjec-l;ed

Lo, After Dmies pultls o u t t i l e knife, he moves, s t w h l e s , f a l l s , then whlrqxrc , i

and stands, terrifzied:

-3 0-

The figure t a h s oat Lhe e2ect,7i.olt1r, plug irorn the l i g h t socket a ~ l d f i t s t he bial.be The l i g h t goes on, DAVLEC f l a t t e n s himsclf against t he 3;igh-t; w d J , knifc i n hand, lIICK stands on the Sed, holf ing Lhe p1ue.e I

I.TSCK, I rras Jus% doirrg sane s p 5 n g cleaning, . . . (p, h5)

P in te r has prepwed us me'ticulously f o r the f i n d horx*ilic ei-iec-t, which

is punckuated by YLckls laconie reniark about spr ing cleanlng, fiken liizck says,

1rHow do you thinlc the place i s loolcing? I gave 5.t a good going over, we must - -

be aware of t i ~ irony, becanse it i s no t t he place, bu t Dcivies, ~ r h o has got Lhe -

here 5,s of jlmmense imporvE;an@e, If Nick pv-rsuec Davies too long with t h a t

nozzle, t he trhole e f f e c t i s destroyed, A few t h r u s t s wLth t he nozzle, Lhe - j m p on t h e bed, then the Jcumiing on of ths l i g h t , a pause, before Puck de1.ivers

his punch l i n e o There i s a luiigh a-L "Ce cl-5.nicw; b u t t h i s i s ca-used by the dis-

, crepancy bei;i?ve~~ w12at Kick says 21e Ls doing =cl what i s achually tdcing placv, 1

i

hrho does spf ing cleanrbrig 211 t h e d a ~ k ? Flick l i e s i n waiL f o r Da,vies i n L21a.L I

I

darkened roonlo This i s pro-ved by -bhe f a c t tha-b t h e l i g h t does no-L tcox+k vhcn I

1

Daii-3~- enbcrs (Nick has probably unscrewed the bulb), and soriieone liickc the +- 1

box o f natches rzrhen Davies d-rops it, Kick has the vaeum cleaner a11 s e t up I .-

taking place, Tm technique ii; sirnilci.:r.. 'co t h a t used by- abcurdists l i k e Ionesco,

where dialogue i s i n oppositi.on t o even-bs on t h e slage.

After tezlrorix5.ng Davies with the elec'crolux, Kick proceeds t o a.ll8.y his

fears, o f f e r l rg him a sanddch, l ead ing him i n t o a converca.t;ion. He uses a

f arCi.iar brxinwashing Lec'imique -- break the 31-b j ec"co7rn t:hile pre'cending t o

be his Sriend. Puek nroceeds t o t s ap DavLes into ~nakiing dmogcttory sta'ce;:~en.ts

abou'c Acton Ynat he c a i use a s a bac i s f o r at tack,

NICK. He's sursposed t o be doing a l i t t X e job foi? me. . . I keep him here t o do a l i t t l e job, , , . but 5 donl-i; k n o ~ . ~ ~ . . I 'n coixiiig t o th con- cliasion hc ' s a s l o ~ r WOI?ICC.T~

Pause,

FIkat ~ ~ ~ o u l c i y o u ~ aclvice be?

DAVIE3. 1.JelI-, . . he % a Smny bloke, your bro.i;'ria?, I

(

I PlICK a TfiJh~t? 1 ' I

DAVIES, I was sayhg , he se . he ' s a bi-i, of a fu.nny 'bloke; yous? brother. I

TsiICK. Fuimny? Why? i I I

Davies does 130-G have zn tdca t h t l i i.E.ck b s sinply throwing h i s t:oir.cls back i n h i s

'l face, Even a:&r t h e business with thc e l e c t ~ o l ~ x , Davies i s ~ i i 7 l i n g t o l i s t s n

t o Nick and be his confidant;, Itick now proposes t h a t Daviei; -Lake 011 the job I

as camtalcer, Lhe sane proposit.ion %hat w a s rnade by Aston, Davi~:s 2.s now put

in t he perfec-b pos i t ion to Lry t o play O ~ C b r o t h e ~ oBf against the olher,

D a ~ i e s thinlrs he can niaslipulate then, bu t they a r e realSy manipula.Ling him,

Mick arnd Aston actvm2ly fosce Davies t o try t o d i s m p t Vneir re la t ionship .

The nex-L important exchange, near -Eie end of Act Tr~o, siiows Acton's

pla ins about the r a i n corning in ori his head lfnen he i s s3_eep-ing3 bu tAs ton

refuses t o c lose Vne windolr,

ASTON. I couldn l t sleep i n here xrit.hout t h a t ~&ndow Open.

DAVIES. Yes, bu t ~.fia"chow.t me? ISlaL, .. . td~at you go'c t o say about my- posi t ion?

IISTGlr, !,li'hy donl t you. slesp "ce oLher way aromd?

DAVIIE. What d.o you mean?

ASTOI'S, Sleep with your f e e t t o Lhe window, I

DAVIES. I~Jhat good t~oul-d %hat do? ,

ASTON. The s a in ~ o u l - c l n ~ t conle i n on your l-iead, (p. 53)

Daviec 1 requesl i s pe r f ec t l y reasonable Aston, as a considerate host, trould

not h~s i t a ibe Lo cloce the window, Daviec i s an old man* Tlie rain coming i n

f e e t t o the t~indo:.r ins tead of h i s head i s pure nonsense* Davies i s qu i te

no riatUi;er which end of h i n i s facing the window, The clue t o As"col?s r e d

a"citu.de h r e l i e s in h i s m i s in t eqxe t a t i on of Daviesl rernark abouthhis Itposi-

t ionf t . Da.vies i s referriril: t o the rclEi-ij:vc pos i t ion of a mari ~rho has to sleep

Th& i s why he suggests Davies turn t he o-Lber t q y around. Astonls misinter-

pre ta t ion, I believe, i s deiljkerale, He i s j u s t t ~ i n g t o confuse Wie oLd.

man, and he has nov become completelY ind i f f e r en t t o the t~eifare of Dav5es.

We sec, i n h i s 10ilg spcech a t t he end of Act Taro, about the mental hospital ,

t h a t Aston i s l o s t 3.n a rever ie , A t t h e c lose of the Scene, a s P in te r p ~ i n t s

out i n Lhe s h g e dircctLons, the l i g h t has g r o m dim, and only Astm can be

Seen c lear ly . Aston' s rerna~k about 'cne cafe (P. 54) s e t s him off th inking

,&out the inen who have hur t him, and about h i s session i n the mental hospital.

when they perfo?nnied t he lobo'coiny o r shock trcatment. Despite the b ra in opezia%ion,

thsre a r e s t i l l slrony, fee l ings of resen-bment in Aston as he r e l a t e s hosi 'die

men cane arid pu-t Liie pinceys on him:

ASTON, . . . So I stood up and then one o r %wo of them c m e Tor rne, weil., I was younges? then, I was much s-tronger l h a i I am nora, I was qu i te s t rong then, I l a i d one of then out and I had ano-ther oize round t he throat , and then suddenly t h i s chief had these plncers on ny s W 1 and I h e w he wasn t supposed t o do it while I was stancling up, t h a t Is

why I. . . . . anyway, he did lt* So I did get ou"c , ., . (peS7) I

t o vhat i s happening Lo D&-es. AIthoug1-1 Uavies does n o t have pinceTs on hLs

skull, he too has been e f f ec l i ve ly brainwashed and victirnized. I Lhink Astonls

last words i n t h e monologue lend credence t o thie -tl-ieory %hat he has been t ry ing

Pto hur t Davies beeause someone hurt h i n i , y e a x agu:

ASTOX, . . . The th ing is, I should have been dead, I should have died, Rnymay, I See1 m c h be t t e r now, But I d o n r t talk t o people now. I s t e e r c l e a r of places l l k e t h a t cafe. I never go i n t o them now, I c'onlt t a l k t o anyone, . . l i k e '6ha-L. I1ve oftvn ti-iou.gh.t of going back and tsykng f i n d Lhe man who d id %hat t o me. But I wmf, t o do soxcthing fi-rst. I wofit t o bu i l d t h a t shed ou-L i n the garden, (P- 57)

Whcn As.Gon refe;*s t o goi.ng back, I tilink he means the cafc, not Lhe inental

hospilal-, siiice t h i s ?ras Lhe sourc-v of h i s tr0ub3.e~ h d so~ehow, If he carl

get t h a t shed hu51l, As-Lon ~~511. rcgczin his former strength, 7: thi-nk h i s

evcn wore than

incoherence of

yoim ge -P th an

rno" (p. 5 7 ) , The pa,st tcnse suggests Lha-t Aston has h i s time sequence corifusd..

I n t h i s kind of s t a t e , Aston coiild very e a s i l y b r ing horne a tramp as h i s guest

and os . i ;ensibl~ %reat h i m ~ r i t h kindness t ihi le t m n g t o f i n d out i f he i s t h e

one I&O hurt him, I a l so pointed ouL t h a t Aston might be t r y ing t o make 1-Iick

jealous. Pr! may a l so be trjcing t o antago-:ize his brother, hoping xill

throii the tramp out. To a person of Astonts men"i;ity, this gestuse on t he

p a r t of Nick could be i n t e r p m t e d as an e q r e s s i o n of loyo l ty . i n any case,

Davies i s ul+'tirria%ely " ce victiim. Fn90nz t h i s po in t on, l )mies t e j ec t i on f r an

t he house L s assumd,

Since Aston has becoine i n d i f f e r e n t t o lern, Davles tries t o tu rn hBck aga ins t

h is brotherr, hoping t h x t Eick xil-1 assum h i m tlie job of caretaker, t h c making

h i rnsdf m d Nick a teain. Davies t ~ e s 'co i n g r a t i a t e himself wi th Itick and

14ick, being the aggressive one, looks 2s i f hc could dominate Acton. Davies'

at'cemp-kd manlpula-tion OS 1.iick i s 3kP.il.e and only Semes 'co assure his own

eventual rejecti.ione Davies f a i l s t o r e a l i z e "ce sol- idar i ty of t he brothem,

even aFte r IZck rnakes t112~t l ong speech 2n Ac'c Three ahout redecoraljlag the ilzt:

, . . Deep azurc-blue car-et , unglazed b lue m d w h i k ccurtains, a bedspmacl wi.t,h a pa t te rn o i anal-l b lue roses on a rrhite g rou~d , dressing-lable with a l i f t - u p "cp containing a p l a s t i c t ray , tab7.e 1-mp of r;r'nit;v x*affia, . . ( I ~ I c K slts up) it wovldnl-t bc a, f l a t i t l d be a pal.acee

DAVTF.5, J 1 d say it would, m . m e

F+-CCK, A palace

D N T E . k?ho ~ ~ o d d l i v e there?

K C C L I would. Ky b r o t h e ~ and mo, (pp. 69-61)

DaTies t r 3 . e ~ t o ingral;iate hiracelf wi th I G d c by running down As-ton, P5ck

j uc t l eads h i m 03, buf, thzn Davj-es bera t2s Aston t o h i s facep t'hinking "chat he

and Kick a.Ye t o bc! pa r tnvm i.11 lldc?coratj.ng t he ~ ' a i ; . ITfx!ri ks-lon agaLn offei-ss

]Davi~s a p a i r of shoec, it i s not s o much out o i gei!ercsi-ky a s a de s i r e t o get

Davi-es accusec Aston of hing mentally unbalar-iced. Davies puLLs a knife and

Aston asko hirn %o leavc:

ASTOX. I. . . E think it s ,zi)oil"ci.me yov Sound. somerd-lere else* I den t tlnLnk we're h i t t i n g it off ,

DAVIE. Find someshere elce?

DAVTES, I%? You ta lk ing -to rne? Not me, m a l Yoixl

ASTON, 11That?

DAVIES, Youi You b e t t e r f ind sorfiei.,here e3.seI

AST@!?. I l ive here, You don't, (pe 68)

As Davim picks up h i s bag and goes t o the door, he cays, Wow 9 know who I

can tmst" 6 9 ) , wilich i s the clj-ncher %hat. prepares t he way f o r the f i nd .

e j ec t i on of Lhe tramp.

Flick's sma,shing the Bridciha s ig r i i i i e s the end of victimiza'cion of the t r m p , ,

ac; cloes h i s ges-hre of p q i n g Davies o f i f o r 'che care-Lnking v~or?c he h2s not -

man, They now p r c p a m t o e j e c t him, After Nick sma,shi3s t he Rxddlla, Davies

makes a f i n a l apped t o AL;-Lon t o be al loved 'cct stay i n " c b v room bu t i s sL~pl_y

The Buddha, represents si lvnce, Yepo r e, peace, con lenhent , b u t the choice \ of such an o~~nanc i l t f o r the house of Nick a.nc1 As-ton can only ba i ron ic , Since

h e m of pcace and repose dest:feog.ed. by violence and pa.ine Eick s mashing of t h e

T1?e Buddha f igure , then, i r on i ca l l y ref lec- ts t he C-mclty of existence, and I

Nickts mashing of it lends support 'co %bis idea of cme l ty . AfSer i l i ck I

I i si~a~shes the Buddha., Aston zle-bwns and l he s tage d i rec t ions indicalc t h a t he

faces >Eck and both sinile f a in t l y . Tific seems t o fu r the r indicate "ceir so l i - ,

dari ty. Davies, i n E s appeal t o Aston 'Co rsmain i n fihe soom, proposes t h a t

they s ~ i i t c h beds. Aston can Iiave t h e bed wit'n t he draughty window and the L

window can remain Open. But As-ton 5.s a s perverse a s Davies.

ASTON. No, I l i k e sleeping i n t h i s bed,

DAVXES. Butyou don l t undei?stand rty rnezning9

ASTON. Anpay, t h a t ollet s my bro ther l s bed.

DAVIES. Yom brotner?

ASTOX. Any t im he s tays here. This i s my bed, I t l s %he only bed I cxn d v e p in. (p. 76)

Davies' f i n a l apnej l fio be a l lomd t o s t a y 5.n the roon i s a moving and

drarnatic example of Artaxd' s concept of deteminism, The end was inevit&l.e

f o r Davies becmse the I-aw of existence i s t h a t the strong survive and the

treak perish,

DAVIES, . . . \fixt ani I going t o do?

Pause,

\hat s h d l I do?

Panse t

TEJhare am X going t o go?

Pawe 0

If you v r m - t ma t o go, . . 1'11. go, You just say the word.

Pause .

ASTOU remains stil.1, hi s back t o him, a t l;fle ~rindow,

Lis-ten. . . i f Ie . . got dom, . B i f I was t 0 4 . g e t my papers, . . would you. . . would you l e t , ,. would yoii. . i f I go t down, . . and go% rny, . . . (pp. 77-78)

Davies expresses bcLh hope and despair i n thts speech and Lhat i s the source

of t h e anguish. The furnction of man i s Lo exprsss hopc, even when l-te icnows

it i s futi l-e, a s Recket,tls t r a i p s do i n ' m o r GodoL, P i n t e r l s o l d

tramp kno~rs the end has come but he keaps f igh t ing it off9 s t i l l trs.j_ng t o

manipulatu Aston with h i s mse of Lhe Sidcup i den t i t y paoers, The s e ~ i e s of

pauses and. dots punctilalz Da,viesl flue-i;ua%ions beJci.reen hone 2nd despair, bu t

Lowards t he end of tlie speech, Davies becornes l e s c artiicirlate, Thru pauses

becoine longer as he r ea l i z e s the firlcai.ity of Astonls clecisiono The f i n a l

stago di rec t ions callling f or a long s i lence adds ?;l?e f i n d note of angiish,

The groat i rony i s t h a t Davies i s as mizcli a victim of h i s arm fundamental

des i re t o pcqe.bua.l;c h i s life as he i c a vict im of Aston and I.lic!co At the

Sam tj-rne, if kcton and Nick are t o survive, &mies nius-b pesrbsh, even though

he rcp:r^-csents a conpa-e'atively minos thlae:zi; Lo Lbeir so l idar i ty . Pin-Ler- i s

i i l u ~ t ~ a t i n g ono of the l m s of existente i n depicting Lhe s tmgg le of 'chvse

t h r ee men, Davies i c a victjm of h l s o m necessi'cy t o sumive arid ht-, i c a -

vict im of t he riecessi-by of o lhers P;o pe~.l?etlmte t h e h o m individual l l ve s ,

Harold Pinter's --.---- Th2 Birthdav PR=&^ - (1950) presents a trictirni.zation

through brainmsking and tc r ror iza%ion, s i m i l a r Lo L h d rddch Lakes place

in The Ca~edca'wr. -- The intended victkm ir , this case Lc 3-kanley '~Jebbes, a

nondesc~ip t p_imis t l t v i n g i n a seas id .~ boarding houss , The %wo rmxiperlatoss

are Gol_dberg, a s.rexl..thy Jew, and IkCann, a defrocked pr ies te The rnen go

Z;h~orrgh an elabomtc 7Pitw3. OY syskemic b%=ain~?aching a.nd -berroriza-i;ion of

SLanl-ey Webber, dudng ~ThjcEi t h v y stage a ' lbirthdaylt celebration f o r hkn0

In Ghe f i na l scene, S"cnnley appeam, formal-ly dressed, meek and ~ ~ ~ b n i s s l v e ,

and i s car ted off i n a b ig b l ack c2r by Lhe tvo men -I;o a place, o r pelason

ca l led tfi~Imty,l' GoXdbe~g culd EkCmn can be scen as agents of the "sys-b~~rii~~

2nd Lhe po in t seems t o be "cl-iat you cannot 3~~11-i amy m d pursv.e stn indepenclcnl;

exic'i;en<se becansc thero I s always a Golcberg aad U c C m who wL1l emerge fi-um

the shadows and t ~ k e you back m d Lry t o make you confonn,

The dif f i c i i lQ is t h a t P b her' s l i l ays are n e v e ~ tha-i; simple, The Birthdav --..--------

hi s f i ~ s L f~ii.l-lengbh w r k , provldcs a good il+Lusl:ri.a%iorl, G o l - & x ~ ~

confomity, buk as a. rnurd~:r,~t?r and mpis-i;, Goldberg i a v i~ ibT.~r - --

inexomble cleteri~iinism which Artaud sai6 was an es sen t i a l ingredient of the

Theatzr of Csxelty : ,

Fron t he po in t of view of t he mind, c rue l t y s i gx i f i e s r igor , i n lp l a r~b l e i n l en t i on and decision, irreversLble arid absolute deteminism. . . 3-1 t he p rac t ice of cl"ue2tg there i s a kincl of h i g h e r deteminicr! t o tihich tlie execiitioncr-tomeri.te.p kirnself i s ~irb3ected and which he must be de'temined I;o endirre tfflen the "cie coineso . . (p, 102)

Goldberg 2nd IkCsmn a r e S-S;deyls executioners and tomente rs , but, i r o n i c d l y

he i s t h e i r exscul;ioner and t omen te r a s ti~ell. Whi-le they t r y t o malce S t m l e y

use fd t o t h e sys%em, they f ind "cey thenlsclves are of no use to i4, Fecause

they a r e u n ~ b l e Lo m\e it work e f fec t ive ly* Pinker rqay be trying t o sho5~ .the

uselessness of d.1 abs t r ae t systems t h a t Livy t o inold the inciivid~id. t o t h e i r

own shape, The representa t ives of the system, i n tzngring to make non-confoming

t h i s Icind of incxorable prenr :

Znne t hea t e r will.., never f i n d i t s e l f again--ie consti-tute a n~e,uls of 'cme 5llusion--except by fiin-Lshing -L112 spectal;o-r wiLh t h ~ L-mthf~fl. p r ec ip i t a t e s of &earn.s, i n w'nich h i s t a s t e f o : ~ crbir?e, h i s e r o t i c obsessions, MS savagelrjr, h i s cliirriems, his ulopian sense o•’ l i i e and malter, even h i s c a n n i b a l i s ~ , pour ou.t, on a level no t coimte~d'eit and L l lu s iona~y , b u t in-berior, (p,92)

essential hUr;iani.t-.--1-~is Zoneliness, h i s fear, h i c need f o r fooc*, shel.i;er,

to n,--a7p'~1rz.t;c othcru Ln ordcr %D ge-t Lt,, In the ccarlie~ p2qy9 5ke__?-ii:~xId~ I

P c z r b Printer L=.; v5wlic,at5-ng i;Sae r5.gh.i;~ of t-hc Zi.11rl5.9rJA.1aX over UIC PFeSSW'C: ~ & L 2

of gro112 con:?oruity, Davies, in fiize Caret+er was a 'cic%.Lm i~1-m a - --%L=z2

h e ~ o .Lhrou& Lei-g vic.i;isnizdo %lize CarcLc?!-,c,:1*. thougk. rrnt-ben lc?,Ccr -km P--%--

The Birthdr7.y Bartty3 r : x d3-svu ssed fLrs t brcawe "cSxp, H.n-i;ei- tee:?mni.q~e I s most -a- -2-

clearly def-hed in that play, Stml..ey bkbber, in Qbe Ri~~ thdsy F'?'x5z9 is a -- vjc+i;ljiil rdio becmes an cxccut2ancsi th~cwg'rn b e i ~ x6xkb,?uzcd, As 2.11 The

C a ~ e t ~ e l - t;e a ~ e 0 1 1 7 ~ g-raciuall-y rnade mars of x,ka-L 5s rcal'iy h~;3-pcrd.n~ 5.n ..-------@.2A

can have no prc?tensicns afi;m Goldberg and T4cCmn g e t through ~ r i t h hkn.

I ronical ly , nz i t he r can Goldberg an6 McCann, The in ter-act ion of victirn

and vic t imizers s t r i p s them both raw. In t r y ing t o rriaslipulate Stanley,

Goldberg arid NcCann a-Pe venturing i n t o unkno~rn t e r r i t o r y , The human being,

sa,ys P in te r , i s an unlcnown quanti-ty, a rd i s irnpseclictable. i/ When Goldberg and i"lcCann take Sbanley off a t "ce end of Lhe play, they

t e l l Petey, lieg's husbracl, t h a t they a re talcing him t o Wontyrl, whzch may be

the centre ol" govemnent, the hub of Lhe syc tzn i s opera'cionl;, o r pex3haps a

Person, even %he c i i r e c t o ~ of t he organ5.aat5.on and. boss of GoLdberg and KcCarm.

Go18oel.g 2nd Tv~cCann have fai.led, a ~ p a r e n t l y , t o cure SLanley of h i s an t i -

systern tendencies , Ins'cead, Lhey have rendered hin1 inar-T;ri~ed-ate and useless.

P o r h a p 910nLyf1 w i l l be able t o recLify t h e i ~ error , Ju.dgl.ng by Si;anleyfs I

condition a t tiie end, t h i s ~1611 be d i f f i c u l t i f n o t Impossib3-e. Stanley has

had. hi-s i n s t i n c t m l I.ife, hosever br ieS it was, The inanipvla"cor, i n txybng

to give hin a f a l s e i den t i t y which w i l l coniom t o -Lhe i dea l s of "che organj-- d

zation, reLease tha-G ins"c.incJ~ual a i c i e~i.3. exkstence which destroys hin,

the i a c t tha-b 5% may

i n t o a funcz6a1 celehrat ione Stanley i s dmssed

i n a dax*k su i t , t i e , T&-i'ce s h i r t and3owl.er hat , when he i s l e d amye Gold-

b e r g f s ca r is b i g and bl-aek, and, a s he explains 'co Petey, has Vooin i n " c h e

f r o n t and roox i n tlie back,"

/ sense, because they releace t h a t b r i e f flash of i.ns"cinc-tucQ l i f e i n Skuley,

But 'thcy ara forever types, pocsessing I l i e t l e individudi-Ly, a t h o u g h we get

attac!ts HcCa~ri, The manipu.1ators represent the ineffecti.vencss of the osgani-

tneir i a i l i z ~ e %anley l s exti l ict ion prevents hig lorm being zation, because of . '

unprcctictabi3,iGy of k;lx~.n nuttl.:.~, whi.cli no osiganizatioii w i l l w e r Be abfe t o ,

control , 1% i s t he c f for t JGo controlg t o mmiuulate, t o vic%ir4ze, t h a t

br ings t he p s rve r s t t y t o the surface, I ron ica l ly , %bis p e r v e ~ s i % y exisbs in

Gol-cfierg ancl ikcaim as rx321, and i n Llicir efforl ; t o nnalce Stmley confonri,

the c h a r a c b e ~ s are confined and i n vhi.ch "e~e actior! of v-ictirn5.zation tzkec

the o'cher ancl tliere i s rio Lii7:~ f o r %ruc dca-i;htl (p. 103) o r s lox dec2.y and-

P i n t e r cxploits t h i c i & a t t o Lhe f i u l e s t . 6 h e ciinrnctcrs i n his plays, confinod 1. . - - - --

together i n a. m a l l spacc, t e a r each ot!ier t o s h ~ e d s i n t h e i r e f i o r t c t o survLve,

al%horip;il Xi ss Dick adrfiit s the t lp~oteck ive solidari-i;y prove s "pre L.ty i ne f .Te c-

I -4P-

proposec it;, ].leg, i ~ o n i c a l l y , a ids Staniey by contributing dco .the re lease J

of .i;l?a% which ~oilst i t1~1tes b i s i n s t i nc tua l l i f e and thc only g e m n e

She gives hirn a t oy a7-mn (a sexual biiiiage) rrhich dr ives him

.t;o frenzy when fie bea t s L t , and slie con-tiniaaily f l i r t s with hinf t@ng t o

sed-uce h i m .

SLanleyf s sefuge fmm the system i s a sea-side b o a ~ d i n g house mn bg $?eg .

and Petey Bol-es, The seaside, i n conven"cional teryns, means peace, quiet , a

c'nance t o g e t aida.y from it; al.1, b u t i n "ce Pin te r world, t h i s heavcn is a l so

hel l , The boarding house semes the sam kind of i r o n i c and symbolic ftrnctionl

He cwinci-t hidz and c h u ~ exis-tence, -&ich meanc con•’roritatlon with o t h s ~ hm."u1

nrea.rls violencn, pain, pemerseness, lonel inoss , despair, m ~ i i s h . And we s a ~ ,

is revec21erl, Pin-her exglaine d h i s a t t;ilude t o v i olen ce i n the Eicnsky in-tn,mie-r.i

There ' s z. sense of t e ~ r o ~ and a, threa"c oP violence %n most 01' your , l a s Do you. see the ~~rorld. a s an e s s e n t i a l l y violen-L place?

4

The woyld i s a p r e t t y violei l t place, i ' t ls as simple as tha-G, so any violence 511 Yhe pp7ys corlcs out qvi-l;e na.turallyo 3i% svexs Lo IiiS

e s se rk i a l and :knev=iLa%le f a c t w e The oiole17ca 5 s seal3-y only an expyession o i t h c qu.esl;ion 02 ciominaflce arid sribsscnrience w h i ~ h i s

( poscibly a repec7,ted -l;he~.ie i n iriy plays, . . . A threah i s coiis'cmtly there: itf s g o t to do i i t h t k i s quesiion oi. being the uppcrmost /

! posi t ion orci atf,e-tLng t o b e a T h a t f s smetiling of xfi~a.t a-t,%racJ~ed ne \ t o do the scroenplay of ----.--.------9 Ths S e ~ v a i i i rvhich was so.?cone c!.sols stoxy, Lyou knox, 1 isoU-Ldri'l c d - l t h i s viol.ence a.s mute a,s a bat-ble f o r

, &s. PJ_ntei* aciao.crl.edrr,?<: Uze bat%-e f o r control., doi*i:r~a~cc: and sumiv$.

of t h i s stmggle and an expression of tt,, The confrontalion of StavlZey ~ 5 t h

Goldberg and McCann ancl the vic t imizat ion wiilicli taltes place contain scenes

of violence, but it is not the violehce t h a t produces t h e cruaity, a s I aril I

txyjng Lo define it i n tenns of h t a u d . Vlolence can be seen as an expression i of t h e c~w.el%y %hat e x i s t s b e c a ~ s e of t h e inevi table confsontationc of hman i beings* Cxsielty cones from the tension ex i s t i ng behreen opposites and -i;h-is i crue l ty lnay be expressed. through v io l en t means. xhen the action is prrched

t o i t s o~~te~ . inos% Pinii-i;, a bseaking point i s rsached and violence m2y resnit.

Nt it i s not violence f o ~ i t s ulnm szle tha-t produces crJ.elty, accosding t o

The act ion of Tpe Careta&w - -- tooic place i n mid-ruinter, wlnicii added to the ,,/"

,'

pathos of "ehe vict imizat ion of .Lhe olcl Cle~=eZicb Davies, Z"re Rirthdav P a l r t ~ #I

takes place i n mid-surmcs, wllicli suggcs-ts, l i k c t h h e sca.si.de se t t ing , an

enjoying t h z i ~ breuldas'c of corn.ffakes arid f r i e d bread, 'i'he scene $s f u l 7 of

comonplace, meaninglesc &alopic aid. neactionso P in t e r zims t o s i r e s s the

engage ,

MEG. I1ve got y o u ~ co:mflakes readyo (She diuappears and reappeass,) Fiere s your com-fiakess,

Y3 r i s e s and -takes t h e p l x b f ron hss?, sits a t %hc Lzble, props up klie paper and begins -i;o eak, I4EG en t e r s by Lhe ki'schen d001le

Am they nbce?

PETR. Ver- nices

PE-EY. Yes

ME;?. 1s it good?

PETZY* Not bad,

ME$. Idhat doev i J c say?

PE'I'EP. $Io"l;h-i-ng rrilrcl~, (pp 9-10)

nis atmosphere of s t c r i l l t y , represented by sog7g.y corm2akes a.nd du11 con- . - -

versation, provides a corit~rast t o t h e v i o l e m e arid t e r r o s rdd.ch is soo-li t o J

L

brczl: upon t h e sccnc. S t a - ~ l c ~ i s no t m inaffensivc l i t - t l e r ; a l i k c Fetcy, - --- - -

bu t Goldbcrg and. IicCcan rna.ke t h e mistalce of t h l n l t b g t l ~ a t he is. Wien

Stariley Comes dowr, t o breakias t , Meg asks h in hov he slepl;, 2nd he ssys he

d i d n t t s leep a"c a l l e When she asks him hoir the cornil.al;es are, he says

lfIlorribJett (pD l h ) , It is apuarent from th i s , and bis subsequent ren~ark

abou.t thc r n i l . 1 ~ being "offl ' (p, 15) tha-t Stanley is veiy nmch t h s non-conforrn-ist,

StanZeyls s t rong sexu& na.-tum is sevcaled in the exchange with Feg over

f r i e d bread:

Later, Stanley refess -bo Meg a,s a, llcuccvlent o ld was'hing bag" (P. 1 9 ) and

Pieg i s s e c ~ e t l y f?..a-tti?:eds S tmley , horuever, Is no t amused,

STmnEY. Oh, you are. I ' d r a t h e r have you than a cold i n the nose aqy day.

I/iEG (sensual, ct:rskj.mg liis aa3m), Oh, S-kmSI tha-t 's a love ly roox, I 've had soze lovely afternoons i n t h a t room,

recoi-1s f -o~~i hv.ra hand in dispst , cI;arids a.nd e x i t s yu j ckly by the dcor OTI %!W 3 . e ~ ~ . . , (po 1-9) *G &&n~d *Y i ! ~ ~ f f c f f ? ?

/

-14G- I + ' , .~,",*uJ L',

~ c e L L i V L > 7 1 / 1 0 & U ? - 36%&

StanLey is nursing a gz~udge, Fe has beeri t1 i~~ar%ed in hii; m b i t i o n t o 7

bccome a concert p i a r ~ i s t . Re i s cupposed t o be considcring a job p l ay ing Lhe

BIEG ( s i t t i n g a t the t ab le ) . Have you pl.ayed the p i m o i n those ?laxes before?

STAIJ3,lE. Pla,yed the piano? I1ve pla.yed "c-E piano all over the rrorld, A l l over the covntry. (pause. ) I once gave a concerte (P. 22)

Here we sce expressed once again t he gap betmen expectation a n c l r e a l i t y , which - wa; a major "che~ne i n The Caretakere Stad-ey has been able Lc give only one

concert, although he l i k e s t o dream t h a t he has gtven 2nd will give concerts

aiI over tkrv wo~3.d. His firnt concert was a success b u t t h e o f i i c i a l s , a f t e ~

promising hirri a second one, cancelled it.

STAi\n;EY, . . Ca-med nie up, I-t was a l l arrunged, ihwas d1 workcj. out, Piy nvx-t c o n c e ~ L, Some~rhelre e h e 5% tsas. Sn ~sj.nCes. I m n t dolrn ichere t o 133_ayc Then when I got theTe the h a l l vms closed, t h e p1a.w 'ras sh~~"r,temci up, no t even 3. caretakkar. Theytd locked i L q~ , (F. 23)

Sta-11-ey i s soon t o stage another concert, Ulis time 1 ~ 5 t h a t oy c i m i i incteead

of a piano, Through "ciecc f lmt f e r ~ scenec i n the play, r.:e ge4; a p ic tu re o f a

biltecr, disLllusioned, sem a l l y mpre s sccl and potenLia11y violerlt young Pan 'tfio

haa come to I \ k g t s boa~ctlng hause, no t beeaiise he is meek and tirfrid and a f r ~ i d o f

t he ~03*1d, bu t hecafise he has re jec ted t h e world, Ctanleyfs scpsessed bu t

the r5.gh-t houce, Then he aslts Go lcb rg abo t~ t '~he job,

GO.T.~DB1BCa The inaln i s sue is a c ingu la r issue m d q u i k d i s t i n c t f rom youw previous vosk . Cv??taLn elements, however, r n i ghtxell approfimate in p o i n t s of procedure t o SORE of y o u . ~ oLEier ac.Livi-lLes, A3-I i s depend2n.G on thhe a-ttituck of our c~~bJecL, ki; aU events, IkCann, I czin assu~e , L

yovl t h a t t'ne assi.gnrnentwill. be ca r r i ed ou.t and Che i.nissior1 accoi-~pl.ikhed with no excessive agg~ava;Liorl to you o r inysclf.

I

i

Catisfied? (p. 30)

G d ~ d b u r g r s e q e c t a t i o n s are n o t fulfj.ll.cd, as we discover in Act IThree. The

mission r e s i ~ l ~ t s i n concider+le aggravat ion, BuL GoZd3erg, he~:e, is all

Stan1egrs bi?nlhday, Golciberg sees t he opportv.ni%y he ha.s been waiting for,

have xxde a ricii.euk.~.us ~ ~ o : Z C C I ~ p i~M,ng OM T&ga~ place t o P r i s i k E1eg, Eze s~~ys,

' 13 em,zy9 i3i.x1 sw:cec is i c a c ~ n g ~ ~ s ? n up tiic ga$sn pnil i (p, W) . StanLcy,

?t I bci:icrc9 i r 1 I c i r q o ; - i . ~ 11ec;im lie s m s w t a t 1:cCziii.

is .li*2,r;3ii,i of FIILI;!$cZ~~ Rc: iKtt bc txJ&lg t o 'c?.n.i?. fkC3~~ii1 nga?J;s"b @~lc%;?:g ~;i lzGl

he LuZI1s IkCam hr: 5.s be-2x0 nzxk a f o o l oS (po 1 ~ 2 ) ~ b p

a s I w i l l shor t ly poin-t out* The sarae th ing occum i n ------.----.."--9 The h;ib 7 a i t e r

which TC~-11. be ciiscu.ssed i n Chap-tes? V, Peteyl s rema.rk about rernen~bering I

childhood i.s j.roulic, beewse he imp2-j-es, a s Gold.ber& dovs t h a t childhooc?

is sornething idyl l ic , , when actual ly , it was t e r r i f y h g . 2'

CrO1,DBERG. . . Chi1d.hood. Hot water b o t t l e s , Rot m3.14, Pancakes, Soap suds. 'IiJhaJc a. l i f e , (p. 43)

After h5.s eul-ogy on c i~~ldbood , Coldberg comes out i n p r a i s e of bir thdays: ,

GOLDREBG. . . .Wh& a thing t o celebsate --birthd Li-ke get2,ing up i n 'che m o h n g . I4a~1vel.loust Scme people don 't Like t h e ide- of gett-ing up i n the raoming, 1% heard t h m e Getting u.p i n Lhe morning, they say, whxt i s i t ? Your slcinl s crabby, you need a shave, yoiur eyes a.re full of nuck, y o u ~ mou'ch is lili-e a boghouse, the palras of your hands are f u l l of sweat, your nose i s clogged up, p . l j : f e s t s-Link, what are you bv.L a c o q s e wait ing .to be ~rushed? Dhencver 1 heci~ tha'c po in t oof priew I f e e l cheeslu.1. Becaxe I lmow it i s t o wake up with -bhv sui.1 shlning, t o Lhe sound o i the ~ ~ F J I I X ~ I O T ; ~ ~ ~ , a l l the 1it;"Cle bi.i&9 t h e s~:.elI 02 thv grass, church be l l s , t o n x h juice--

Gol~%ergls speech foreshado-cns the end of thr ploy becauce a corpse is

/;;washe$Ji/lri the process--brainsashc-d. Foldbergls speech a l so ref lecls the

w i s t l s ccncern f o r tlic discrepancy bet.ween e q e c t a t i o n and r ea l i t y .

Han e x ~ e c t s t o be f i t i n the moming, burs t ing ~ r i t h l i f e and enerpy wkm,

i n actna.li-?,y, he i s a wallrjng cow'pse vri-th s t inking foeL, Goldbvrg cas t s

him sei f i n t o t he phyri c;Xiy cheexful , ~p-t imi s t i C ro l e , b ~ i t thi 1

5s a pose • ’ 0 ~ Si;mleyls benefi-L, The ba-ttle f o r control, domiriance and

Stanley, homver, 1s very nmch a l ive , iLe Goldbergt s taunts, and proves

it by kicking Gol-dberg i n the stomach. When Goldberg f a l l s , S t ~ l - e y stands.

He a,nd HcCam thon sc ize chai rs and begin t o c i r c l e each other. S h l e y has

l o s t the n o m r of speech but has revea3,ed the violencv which i s an e s s e n L i d

park of his nature. T ~ J S , the ve-rbai brain?~ashing, while renderinp Staslley

J ina r t l c~ la . t ; e , hus made him c a ~ a b l e of violence, McCann i n a d v ~ r k e n t l y a i d s \ the re lease of these i n s t i n c b m l fo r ce s i n Stanl-ey when he snatches h i s J

glasses, 9

The glasses are Starileyf s outm-d synbol of r e spec t i b l l i t y . When

wearing Lhem he i s ab2e t o articula'cc and appea,rs ra-kional, ihen they

are rwoved, W@ See t h ~ r e a l Stanleye It i s when 1Us glasses a re rernoved J

I

t h a t StanSey rnenaces ~1cCann 16th the chai r , Stanley's rnurderous ctssaulJ~ on

OE h i s g lasses , Thls t im I:cCmn smshes thzin by breaking the f raxeso

Staslley r m e r spealts an in'cell.igible word f o r i;he rest of Lhe play, bu t h i s

-54- ,

t'nreacls of r a t i ona l behaviour i n Stan1.e~ Nebber, GoZdberg and X!cCann, 1

%hink, a r e p ~ o p e r l y svrprised a t t he reac-tion of S~banlley t h e i r garne. I J"

They have undwestimated SSan3.e~. Their ac t ions a?.% general , --- The;r i;&e

rmo account, f o r exanple, of S k J - e y t s repressed sexual i ty and h i s fee l lngs

of h o s t i l i t y t o Hsg, Perhaps they a.re unawam of these things. The blind-

fold rc leases Stanley fror? inhibi.tion a s -the glasses held hiin back, a ~ d he

a c t s ins t lnc t ive ly . 31 the fi1.m version of the play, the par ty scene was

shot i n blaci: ar7d %?hi.te9 d~ r io s t e x p ~ e s s i o n i s t l ~ j l 7 7 i r IJC was a lnost l i k e

seeing S h n l e y s bra in expl oded.

Tne Last tkhing rcre a i e aware of a s the ac-i; closes, a:re t he shadowy f i gp re s

. of Go1dber.g and NcCamn convergj-ng on S"canley as he stands backed. against t he

td.1, giggling, Lu.Lu i s l y ing spreadeagled on the table, 2nd --.. t h e l r concen

appears t o be her rescue, not the vi.ctlmization of Stau~lsy Vebbsr, The ta'oles

have appasently be en tu-ioned on %he manipula.tors again,

MCCAI\JNe She s not h e ~ e .

IICCAIUH finds the t o ~ k h on tkie f loos, shLnes it on t h e t ab le arid STAh!,EY. LlJLU i s l y ing sp~ead-eagl-ed on G'ne tab le , ST:?-?LEY bent over her , STiINLT'f a s coon a,s the to rch l igh t iUts him, begins t o gig@e, GOLDBt3E"nG amd 1.i:CCANji move towards Iii.ni, Ile backs, giggling, t h e t o ~ c h on E s facec Tlney follow hirn ups-Lage l e f L ,' He backs a.gaifis2; t h s hatch, giggling, The to rch grows closer. 3 is . .g ig@e r i s e c and grows a,s he f l . a J~ tens himself againc-t the val-1,. The i .~ f i g w e s converge upog E r n e (pp, 65-66)

C4LB3-LRG (&.tqYQ) T?lia"Ft?7,?~> ou-cr 325a? Iii-edrdoiaa, I&-, Boles, I-ekx-e and s iq$c . I%~"IWPI,S bredcdom, (p, 71)

-56-

t o Petey, ;nro7-i&l-y h o p i n ~ 15s br i cf cx&ma-f;ion i ; iZZ s~i_-"2ice, bu i r,hw Pe ijey

pcrs is ts i n h i r quest?.nliir?g, G o l c l b l i r ~ a s t o folmilatc a more c l~bnra t e

explanati on f o r Stanlcy s brcdsclorm, GolCioc~g :i.s cx"crene2y nerv0u.s ;lxd kc 5 &(06~q J

hesi.l,zn-b, 5.n con.i;rc.sl, f o r ezr,-;p%c, t o k.51; Cei.:nr,~u~ in Act Odec h x i q ur-w~ze.~ j,&,/&it,p~+ heb-

P Birt 132a-b broughL 5-t; on so ~ ~ d d e r ~ i L ; l ~ ? 1 c ~ a u u ~ 7 ~ t ( J

gonc aceordrixg t o pkm. I2 Gol.Chwg a,nd IRcC:nxi Iiop~c.2 -La rnake S t d - e y a

Mccann is de l i be r a t e ly cvacioe when 'Gnlckerig asks him Iiow the g lasses got

broken, 1% wi.1-i. not corifess he snappd the f~uriies and cmnched tk~err:. The

breaking of khe g lasces was not i n t hc p l . ~ n o f v i c t i n ~ z a t i o ~ i ~ wKch i s W"

provect by the fact t h a t Go1dbv:r.g has knom nothing of the incld-ent. Tfie

his f i n a l im ri ob ili:by,

McCmn begins -I;o t e a r up str-ips of paper agairi, bvL t h i s time the g e s t w e

getc on Goldbergt s nerves,

COLIlB?RG. S top doing th a tO

MCCAillJp I\fi~zt?

GOLDPJF?G. G?uestions, q ~ ~ c s i i o n s , Stop aski~ig fie SO xany questinns. Wiat cio you tkcinlc I au? (p. 7 5 )

Goldbcrg s i k sand b:coods, while I\icCann keeps de~nt?.~sding "c know what i s t o be

done, Finally, he p~ovolces a rmrderous a s sau l t fxboni Goldbvrg by ref e r s i n g

he has shatte~ned h i s o m conventional armor, a t l e a s t tem,ooraril.y. Goldberg

t r i e s t o r e a f f i m his old position:,

GOLDBFii:G. , . . Nothing's cliatq@* (lie geLs up, ) ~ i n y Itve reached rn;y posit ion, McCann. Because I 1 v e always been fit as a f ida le . A l l my l i f e I1ve s a i d Jche sarne, Play, p lay Up and play the gane, Nonou~ tliy f a t h e r and thy rcothcr. All along the l i n e , Follo:.r t he l i n e , the l i n e , I.icCann, 2nd you ~ 2 . ~ 2 t go morig. What do you think, I'm a sclf rmde maq? Nod I ca t whex'e I was t o l d t o sit. I kept nry eye on the ba l l . School? L)onlL %alk t o me about sehool, Top i n al1. subjects. And f o ~ why? Because Itm t e i i i n g you, I ' r n t e l l i ~ g you, follow my l b v ? Fo1l.m~ my mental? k a m t by hear t , Ncver wri te dom a thing, Arnd dont t go too izeat+ the >rates. Aiid youglL find---that what 1 sajr 2s t ~ u c , Becawe I belie-ie Lhat the ~ o r 3 ~ d ~ . o (Vacant. ) e , a . Because I believe Gha.t t h e world* . . (Despera.k.), . , . BECAUsE T: BELIEVE THAT T I E lIzrOPJJI)~ e ( ~ o s t , ) , . (PP. 77-78)

This i s "ce Iray the WOX.),~. endc, - -"-P

move so:ne-whera d o n g the l i n e has t h - s o ' ~ ~ the machiiiesy of vict5miza"con out

of lcaZ.t;vre

Goldbergls b:cea!:dorm explains why l-ie necds McCami Lo blov i n his rnov."C~,

Rrsath f ron the de-.-fx*ocked p r i e s t w i l l supposecil_y scL Gol6.berg back ari the

hand, WS sve t&at Si;aral_ey i s dressed. i n a wolJ- cut, da& szi'c, r7hi-k e0ollc7.r~

a,nd "cie, and hc i c cl-san slizmn, Despite bis fon:ial aLtire, vEch indica-Les

ano-ther pa i r of glasses, bu-L "Chis ~513. be v.scless, besame eVen 1?i%11 -&8

aid of glasses, S t a ~ ~ L e y 3,s not likely to be able t o perfom, Golxiberg I

Stanley sits,

his screaming

ab,olut.eIy r~otiioiiless, throrzghout the ~rooing, i n 30

arid v io l en t b e h w i o w , during -the brnintrashing i n Act Tvro.

Brait-mashing and .Ler~u:(..izai,icjil psovcd t o b4 aii L~~adcq i~z .L~ mcrins of a.ss:lri.ng

confomi-by on t h e p a r t of the sub,ject* The r e s u l t s wem ulpredictable, s o

now Gol.dberg and HcCvnn proceed to put honey on t h e % J O U ~ ? ~ S i n t he hope Ghat

of the ~ O O Y , PeLey i s i n decpair:

escapxl. the clu%ches o f the sys-ten bu t thc price hnsbeen bmirir.rashing,

t e r r o ~ i z a t i o n , of arkicula t ion and viM- energy. Howeve~, in Vne p:cocess, 1 I

I

Stanley has liacl a br i e f but v i o l m t existente, I b i s not a t r a g i c hero he-

couse "c~-ivre 2s iio s e l f laiowledge acquired on kis par t , o r a t l eas t he cennot

express i "c f tliere i s , r3uL the va.1v.e of the indiv.idtia3. has been vindicated

in t M . s p lay as i n The Carctakej-., IronLcally, Pinte-c seeris t c be sayiqg - - - - F e

t h a t the 0x13-y way man's essenti.al c i i p i t y can be :re~w&ed i s throuzh v i c t i r 5 -

zat lon arid te:~rorl.i,a"con, which, i n t1ii.s case, brings out t h e 1 a t c n L perverse-

ness m d C-mell;y i n I~ is nature. This pesvenieness is par-boof l;he tru.e

nature o f maa, even i f it d.oes r e s u l t irr 1ias-G md. atte~iipted inurder, I n

SEXUAI, VTCTIl4IZATIO~~T

INTROEJCTION

Semal-iiq is a principcil co~njonent of c m e l t y i n many of Ham1.d. P i n t v r l s

an.d R Sli.ghL A.che. Ecposulie of l a t e n t sexual-ity, o r v ic t ln iza%ion by mems -.-,--P

of %he Sen drive, cons t i tx tes cni.el-Ly, since the Sex drive is man's meta-

p h y s i c d COIX. I?; is ?;he source of h i s I i f e . I-lc Lr ies constantly Go hidc

h i s se:cuali.Ly, o r clisguise it, by means of stratage!nse In the sexual

confrontations, manipulaLions and vic t imieat ions , as with o t k r types,

@hese s t r a t a g c r ? ~ a r e semoved,

times che ind-trectly a ids the vict i inlzers. A woman may be asked t o pplay

mo-bhcr o~ ~ h o ~ c , 01- both sinlu4.i;a.neo-ils1y9 but refuses, o r f inds hcrse l f unable

-to pe l~ fom both if~mcticins~ In t h i c case, "ce ro le -iay be s p l i t be-tzieon ttro

women, The riother-w1io1:e f i g u r e i s n %anl%l%ar one i n drarna, the mos t •’3,-ous

exmple being Jocas ta L11 Oedlpus %X, A l e s s f m i l i a r exanple, da rec t ly

Woyzecl:, Ibla:r<~e has had a chLZd by I+Joyzeck, out of redl lock, and. th5.s is a 1 - r _ U

&g: inclix-ec C i y atds tl-15 mr~ni?ulai;os^s, Goldberg and l:c~,rnn, bvcaiisv SIW helps

ironicalI.y, she i s a l so aidj-nrig Stanln,y becmse t M s l a t e n t sem&.ity is p a r t

of ar~ eme~ging identity-, the only rtp.7 one he has. The repressed hatred

Stanley f e e l s for :kg cornes oui; i n the hir thday r i t u a l when he t r i e s t,o

s t ~ a n g l e her, The anbiguity o f &g's character is expressed in her reference

t o Webher as llStanll and HStannyll when she c d l s hini f o r breakfast :

NEG. . . . Ctan. SLannyl [ ~ h e l i s t en s . ) S-banl I t m coning t o f e t ch you i f you don ' t coome dotml (1'n coining upd I 'rri going t o count three,' CheJ ?t;ro1 TIlreel I1 r ; i coming t o ge t youl (P. 13)

?J@ dZs,-iisvs hzr l u c t f o r Stanley- as a ch i ld ren l s gam. This is furl'ner

emphasized when she gives Stanley the toy drum, which becomcs an i n s l m e n t

of sexual release. Neg vict ini izes and manipulates S - h d e y by t m n g 'l;o

rnokher h i m , hidiizg h e r l u s t foso k i m beneath h e r ino-therly exterior, But

his 1ancUady a-nd. he vicLimixes her by a'ttemptl.og t o s t r anae her, In t h i s

Iiis hand sc~e.~.rs t he cigarbt-te. He l e t s i"cd.1 on the cax'pet.

(outraged. ) VnaL do you think yout re doing?

Sha s l a ~ e s a t him.

Pick i t up! Pick t ha t j up , I t e l l you! I t l s my carpet l . . . AZBEiT (se iz ing the cloclc frora t he rnantlepiece): DOX1T >lUCK HZ ABOUT!

Albert had e a r l i e r threatened his rriothe~ with a cloclrj now he symbolically,

and in fa.ntasy, f in i shec t he job by t e m o r i z i n g the g i r l with a clock.

Albert; must sibdue the nother iriiage -bhe g i r l i s presbentiiig because his

eniergi.ng aggressiveness cieinaridc it, J u s t as his rnother t r i e d t o !teep h i s

sexii.:ility i n 1-hbo, so the g i ~ l tries Z,he sane thing, Albert destroys the

mother image dkich has been r e s l rLct ing h i s rnasctfiinity, Hoi~~ever, Albert

does not hme sexual rel-a"c.ons with the ~diore , 1"ca.y bbe %hat %he moti3er1s

influence has been pmmanently dm~aging, t h a t Alber-L; rnay have k o k e n the

domination, energed as aggressive zricl inasculine, buL i s umble t o move one

s tep fu.r-Lhe:~ in-l;o n o m d semial r e l a-Lion s, Pinte% leave s the qles t i o n o f

Albert s f~ .Lure sex l i 2 e unanmered.; howeve r, Albert, s general a t l i t u d e t o

women seerns clear., Hs will. degrade therr,. Fe rnakes tlie whore t i e up his

shoes, and, on leaving, f S i p s her a coin anc! says, I1Biiy yourself a seat . . . buy y o u ~ s e l f a. s e a t ata ccir9cusaU (p. 6 9 )

AlbcrL i s c'cill. the diitifi~l. son and. t h a t he never thrcatened hes with a

clock, kt the nav sec show h e r unce~tain-Ly.

IiOTI!ER: , . . You '~e good, youlre n0.L bad, you're a goocl- boy, + , 1 know yoU am, . . you ase, ax-t-nttyou? (p. 87)

nnelts 5 s pe~haps Ifmi-Led, bu% the cmelty t.kiieE1, she mariifests i.3 none-Udess

pobent,

. . * Pinteris rciiarks p-rovide the kcy t o a cor-rect underctsriding of The -.-

Teddy, a jrovng pMlo-

sophy profeslior who has Eived in Arnerica for six years, b.rLngs his xife, I?u.th,

home %o England. t o m e t h i s fa ther , Kax, a rcl.dor;,rer, and bis bro-tiiexis, Lenny

arid Joey, Ru-Lh i c attracled t o tbe Ren and "cey t o her, bnca,use each pnrt,y

sences h-i; has a need th3.t t h e can fill, &%h ricceives a proposa?, by

i the men thut sl-ie re;nxiii.n with the tlfuriiily't and earn hexa lreep by prcistit~zting

arid, - ~ilvmi1<~qa n f R:s.t,h's I presencc in t h e fio~.se~ an:? her sexud.7.ty i /,'

W ru-Lh7ecsl.y ;tbco:i?3 h ~ r into t h e d%-m,le hoirsahol.d -bo red-ace t h e l o r - t ~ e s k i e

Both Ru.l;h .md. T u d l r , tci. -k.lriis mn<je , are then I

rr. nP o - i o ~ Cl P t h e play ~ ~ ~ 1 1 - nunen '

(-C 1vs so:ont2h-i -@hey w 2 1 - i Y$. The nen, riothorless, perhaps

d /

sexiially ir,.po'cm%, depriveci of thc inr2iionce of trornan f o r yeass, are

suddenly conf ronted 1 6 t h a wonian v?no 5s both ma'cemdl-y ard sexually desirablei

says &out her. Ruth mzy not w e n bs vvry sv-xy, bu.L che is -- _- _-- __L--

Thsrt: a,>..e - -cyr).:qas S~Y-S j.ri .I;he

+Ni- tries to p t i i i r i e -,-.--.M o r >izthFr-patr5.irc~

dcxninata h i s sonc;.

bal;-t;ff c f o r cor-1 t rol- . .. . . , . .

khe vhore i n s-GincL, &J.Y~ --

t o be once agr*i.n Wi7c-: c c i i t ~ .---------- - -

a&nired fcmale once aga, ine, Shv - ---.,

\ i, FIe a l s o t-;.F$ t o doi:iri.na te sa~ii, h i s h.rctncr, Tlie~e is\y/l 1

DavLesr nced was Tor a good p ~ i r of vhoes and i dvn t i t y pxpers, %adey

Kornecoinii~~, is imiersed i n hi s philosophi cXL vorks . _ R L I ~ ~ l'_n nale ii

/, "4

a tabl jsh5.a~ the f amily, i The Horne coming c lo scly parallel- s Thc Caretalcer i n dra:!a-tic kchnique.

-P

and Joey 2.n rnuch Lhe sme way as Asten and itiick toy with Davies i n The - 1

Caretaker* IJe SEIT how Dav.iesr anguish a t khe -final se jec t ion was intc:zsified , F

-'--M - r bec3.u-so of the p r e s s u ~ e of Aston and Kick s z \ I the sexual and ~nal;ernal fr-u.stratZonc of Fax and. his sons kzcaus.3 she aifousei; /--------- ---..I---p-- ---- ------- --I- ---- - " _---=--- ---- =------_-_ -

i i i

then from s t e r i i i t y a2d. imnotence, bu t she i s i u i c l ~ t = ~ a . _ c f y - t t h y . Zither / 1 F _---

she i s no t capable of doiiig so, or sh2 cleliberately refuses, o r she laclcs

8r'cicle l o ~ Satl,irrc!~~i ? 2 t r h ~ ~ S ' C C U F ' j - n t e ~ t>lh& The Howcomi n r ~ was abo~it , aild ---*---= ..-.---22 ---*--_l-----S2

whethej.1 the faiqily represented a o'ishtogi.a i;i.cn in-to pure evif , *arid. Pin'cer i I -

repl icd:

1 % ' ~ a110u.t Love n n d l a c k of love, The people a.re harch and crmcl, t o be sure , S t i l l , t heg areri'l ac-ting a f b i t l - a r i l y 'out f o r very deep-sea'cecl rcacons, , . .

I

Them ' s no qi1.e ct5. nn %hat khe f am5S.y doe be?~ave ver; ca.lcd.aCedI..y and p r e t t y hor~.513ly t o each .other and 'co the re turning son. 'ciiey do i-l; ou t of the hx-Lure of -thei.r I 'v 'es a.nd f o r o t h e r reasons which o.re n o t e v Z b1& cligh-t;l y desperate 9

the

arid is p a ~ t o f an o l d hause :in i lor th London, Pi .nLe~ seens obcesseci 1 4 t h -..I. .. _ ,_ - ------.l ".....--*->-*".-..----

II___ j

epid, -bti.-Uigs3 like houses and t ~ ~ ~ i ~ p s ~ b t t s of 2.n c i e n t furriitizre , ! ' .

lrike the'bed 5x1 Tl12 Car.e-hake'r &2 o 2 d anci ti0~11 O U ~ CI-olhing:, dus'cy blam.lsets, i

-t;a.Lio:i zrjd reali-ly i s vepj c l e a ~ l y defirled he-m. he agony of people l i k e \ i Mzx l ies i n the dlchotomy between whzt L i f e should be l i k e and what it \i

LEi'hlY. Flug i-t, tsil.3- you, you s-tizpid sod, I1ri t x y i n g t o rvad the papvj?, \I U

r

i s irtnresC;1qg i..; I4ay's snLf c i_~~ecation, vJ'nich i s lilcely ~r'ny J~enny says i I

he 2s denciitcd, Ih.x's ca l f ha-b~ed and tiisguu"cmay lla.ve so:-etking t o 20 irit,h i i 1

a s s a r t i o n s aboui, the M.nd of J i f e he has l ed , bu i i% i s Zrnpor.ta.rrJc, becauss

hric dec'la-r.a.'~inri alaou-i 1:izcnalng a rood horsc rdriien Ile sces ons, c s p v c i a l l v a

MKf, . . liv-c! go t a Rrriy .j.o'.e.-, yI~erl.l.. do -th ~'~LFLJ i.01 r.s3 yos?,.r;a?~t .to b5t3 %e,SI nse us, shzi--t mkc txoe oi usp 3: c.22 -bell

,&ib -i;C) bi?-b? y ~ r " ~ o g z C- ~~1.293.. j:LL :<OII T?---' (PO 8L) I

i

-i;hL~<s Ru.t:.h 5s an f!-a~~eli3.ble i_'&~fi ,?vfi 2~s.b flsb.~;~'ey, g~i: -~:~c-il&& 2"s ( -1 - -tFlt?.% hts . J ; t a ~ i . ~ b e b h:is m?n?.ed h h ;2339~2JTI Ru:th ~ ; O O In,-l;ro DJ C3j-s t2ii~i'nv shr has

alroa% XIS& thes?. t~ 3, considcia~~le cii.gpee, I I 1

--W

ca r ly ing on i n Sanqs c a r wi th soreone, i s b o m e out by h i s tone and h i s

insis 'cence on knorring who the n o t h e r pcop1er1 trere. S m t o o is covering

up, Wben ihx sugges ts he br ing h i s bricle hone, S m says he would no t

b r i n g a girl "co Ka:cls house, t h m he has tens t o assure IIax t h a t hz could (

never g e t a b r i d e l i k e Jes s i e . (so 16)

The p r i n c i p a l ques t of t h e men i n " c h e p l a y 5s t o f k c l a replacement I

- >--

i I

* f o r J e s s i e , and I&cx cornes oiit wi th iL a s soon a,s Joey en te r s : I

JOE'Y. Fee1 a b i t hungry I

SAH. Ne, too,

I IJXX. bdho clo you th ink I an, your rnoLher? ? Honest, They wzlk i n *

here every t im of -ehe ciay and n i g h t l i lce bloody an imds . Gc and f i n d yoursc l f a mother, (p. 16)

i J

stand kt:

Lm;TSI, Nhat Lhe boys warit, Dad, is your olm cpecial. brand. of cookiny, . Dad. Tha t ' s what t h e boys 1001: forwa-rd. t o , The speciai. of fuod, you linov~, t h z t youlve got, f

X . Stop c a l l i n g rGe Dad, Just sLop c a l l i n g me Dad, do you understand? 1

L5'flE. Br>% I t i i i your son, You used t o tuck mo up i n bed every ii ight. I-Ie tucked. you i ~ p too, clidn't he Joey? (P, 17)

Joey confid-es Lha,t he has been wo-rking ou t i n t113 hoxing ring. HEX

75 -

Once you% :ias"csred Lhoce ci.:cts you can go s t r a i g h t t o t h ~ , top,

Pause. ,

J JOEX. I've go t a prettly good idea. . . of ~ O I T t o do t h a t , (p. 18)

Ihx iss i n e f f e c t , k l l i n g J ~ e y Lhat l-ie does n o t 'nnos.~ a t h i n g about; boxi~lg ,

s ince t h e r e ure oifiy t ~ r o pos i t io i i s i n , t he r ing , a s i n l i f e , delense 2nd

(

at-back, and Joey has no t l e a m e d e i t h e r . I r o n L c d l y , I thin!: Pini;er is

saying %ha t I4a.x has n o t Leamed thesi eiLfle~, The boxi.ng r i n g paxa21l.els t h e

room o r enclosed c a c e a s t b v ayena vhereLn t h e b a t t i e s folr s:qrernacy t ake

place. J o e y l s paxst! i l l LE?e mid-ull-e of h i s l i n e showc tha'c iie red3.y h i ~ no

idea of hor,~ Lo defend 1Uiaceli' o r atLac1r. 1

The inalxilLty of Kuc t o p l a y the fa:bhur r o l e sidecpc).-tdy has s o m t h i n g I t o cio r a l bh IUs abt-Lti.~!e t o k i i s o w f a t h e r and t h i s corzes o u t qu.i.te cleafly

in E-s next l ong specch, straight o u t of hi-s reco l l ec~b ions of chi.ldhood,

r e c o l l e c t i n g 1hi.s chi1ci;iood. Xar, d-ocs not sentlrrentullize a s Goldberg dozs,

7 T A . L . . . Our iaLhej:? I r e r ~ e i ~ b e r him. Doil't ~ o j i r y . Yoz k id yoilrsej-f, 3e ~ m e d Lo come w e r t o ine and. 100k d o m ahme. Ky o l d rfian did, Fe 'd.

. - bend r i g h t oves ne, Lhen hz'ci p ick 1.w u.pc I was only 'c'nat big. 'i'i~en he 'Ci danclle me. G5ve me t h e bot'sl-ee !.:ki.pe me clean. Give me a sr i i le , \ P a t mmv on Lhe b v ~ , Pass ine a ~ o v n d , p a s s me fronl haid to hand.. Toss m e up i n t h e air , Catch rie cornirlg dow. I miiei:iber my f a t h e r , 1.9 )

The s'taze is noi-i seJ6 f o ~ t h c e x t r m c e of Teddy md h F h . The major con-.je;

a s sx~ ic the donfnant r o l e bu-b i s irnuble Lo rx&e h i s auCho:-i-Ly ieI.t , f!ct

had three ci-ii.lclmn&e~ are extremvly i J - l at ease, especiaZLy Teddy. I -

TEDDY. You don ' t have to CO -Ln b ~ d , I 'ri n o t sqy-ing you haxw %ob I rnean, you can st27 up with ine, Peshaps IIU make a CU? ol t ea o r s o w t h i n g . Tkie o d y 't'ning is TE don ' t wan-l; Lo make t o o much noine, tre d o n l t r~ar1"co wl:e aiyoiie U?,

(

TEDDY. 1 know you're not ,

(uently, ) Loolc, i-L's a 1 1 right;, r e d l y , 1'13 here. I raeai?, . . I l m

with you. Therels no necd t o be nervous. Are you m m o u s ?

TEDDY. There 's no need t o bee (p, 23)

Ru%% is clear1.y in con t ro l here a-nd Teddy i s 'cbe one who is nervous, 3u.Cnfs

decisioi l Lo go out; on her oim i n the nildd7.e oi the n i g h " ~ and g c t a bma-t;li

front; cioor, hc pee3:s auf; .i.'rie wiiidow afiei: h r and "ehetrs XS Irnu~':2es,~~ (p,2L)

Lenny introduces himself rfiien he ~ ? o e t s Ruth coinbg i n frorn her r.~allc,

inwires if she i s cold and Lf she wan ts a drink. Ruth dscl ineso He 1

tkien t r i e s Lo Ililp7-ess her with his in-iellcctuual c a p b i l i t i e s 74th regavd

t o the rel. a t ion ship of c l o cks and the s i~pernalural . LIX'?K. Eh, l i s t e n , I ~ronclel: if vou. ca.n advice ine. I1ve been having

a b i t of a rough tline with Ghis cloc!~. The t i c k ' s bem kecping me u.p,, The GroubLe i s I f n no t dl. convinced it was the cl-ock. I rnem the:ce are lo-Gs of th ings t h a t t i ck irr1 the nigbt, d o n t t you. find tha-L. All SOT%S of ob;jec-L~~ which, i n ths day, yox won1dn1L c a l l ari~*hing else bu.t coxmon place. They give you no troublc. Ddt i n the n2gh-L any given one of a nu-mber of G!iem 5s I i z b l e 60 s t a ~ t lehLting o u t a b i t of r* -i;:i.ck, . . . (p. 2 9 )

Ru-th. I1Isn1t it furiny? I i v e got --4-

my pyjamas on mcl youl s:e f u l l y drecsed?ll ( p e 29 ) T b n~eaning here i s t h a t

hqd been old enoug1-r t o have been a solcki~cr i n the l a s t war, he woiild vost

c e r t a in ly have gone w i t l i his bat la l ior i t o lldeal- o l d Venj-ce" 30) is

absolute nonsense, S11rce l?u.tl-i has been i n Venice, Lenny fe igns fariilia,riJ;y I

with the pl-ace, juck -to ingra.t iatc hknself 16 th he:~, F i s nex"ci?ove 5.s Lo \

asl: t o hold h e ~ hanU,

L-;iTNY. . . . Do go~1 r?-j.nd if I hold yous band?

R u m . Ilnly?

LEEGTY. Jus t a t oucl-1

He s t a i d s a_~d goes -'GO heys

s.tralageni, t1xi.s onc designed not or&y -to inpress Ruth - ~ ~ i . t h 16-s sex.uaJ-

desira.b~l,i%-y, bu t ~~i-tk) h i s tjrute slcrength ac weil. Lmny enphesizcs the

tiiat hr(: f s n o t a m m 1;o 1'007- &out ~ ~ j . - t ; h ~ ELI-L ~112% C ' C S I ~ ~ S 011% nost

strongly here is L0nn;y.f s uttempt a t purj . tanim. The arhole speech i s parado;cic$l.

1 He, i s not ayerse t o h a v h g sex with a prosLitute, b u t h e draus the i i z e a t a , I I

diseased one, He first intends t o k i l l her bvt decid5s it is t g o much bother

t o g e t L-jd of the coqxe .

LEKdY. . . . So I j u s t g m e her anothe?? b e l t i n the nose and a couple of turnc of the boot and s o r t of l e f t it at ti~a-L.

(

RUTH. HOIJ did you how she was diceased?

LEi'W. How d id J. know?

F ~ I . . s v ~

I decided she was, (P. 31)

Ruthts re joinder s'noiis she i s questioning the vhole f a i x i c of Lennyls story. / If he did. not have in-bercourse x . r i t k i t he worii2n and becom di.ceased. himself,

how d id he kncu shs was d- iseas~d? T I

I he ha.s no ready ansvrw, sirnply b c c a ~ . r ; ~ Lhcre was I-IO woxan, 110 discase, no

\ nothing, Lenny has riiade the whole s t o ry up t o impress XuLh and sbe s h r e ~ ~ d l y

guesses Lenilyfs ctrategy. Lermy qulcldy changec tlic subject then he has no

ready ansver t o her qu.estion. TJvnnyt c next s t~ata .gcn, invol.vinfi %he s n o ~

LBGJY. . . . So .there I was, doing rt b i t of shoulders on ixith the inangle, rls1dng a mp-bu.re, cmd t h i s old l a d y was j u s t s~an&!g -hexe, "mving Ne oz, no t even l i f t i n g a Xi-LtLe f i n g e r t o give me a hvlping bad, So a f t e r a few i.iinu-Lee, 'L s a i d -to her, now 1001: h.ere, tils;~ do:nlt you c k f f this i ron rnan&l.e up y0u.r arse? Anymy, 1 said, tQheylre out o f date, you want t o ge t a spin d . r i e ~ * I hacl a good niind t o give her a vorkover 'clhere a2rd Lheii, htit a s $ tras f ee l i ng jubi1a.n-L ~ s i t ~ h . thv sno~r clea15ng I just gme her a sliojnt-a?m jab -bo Lhe b e l l y a ~ c l jumpecl on a b~3.s ol~:i;s.ide, Fxcilse rm, sh2Xl. 1 Lake t h i s ash.l;rqy out of your way? (p. 33)

Iheth, no doubt bored by Leiinyfs poctxring, now proceeds Go talte ccmancl,

LEW?JE, . . . lind notr perhaps 1'1l re'iieve you of you?: glass.

Ru'TW. 1 havcnt t qui te finichcd.,

LEJNY. Youtve consumed q u l t e enough 5-11 my op-inion.

RUTH. 1To, I havenlte

LRJNY. Qilite ssufficicnt, i n rny orri opini.on.

RUTH. XoL i n niine, I ,eona~d, (p, 33)

TiJhen Lenny cleclares tha-i; he w i l l -Lake t h e glass, R U t h rnakes a dec lamt ion of

her 0mi:

RUTH. If you t a k v the ;Lass. e IfSX take you.

Ruth 5nvi-tes I ~ n n y JGo sip f~noi~i her glass and sie on her l a n , Vhen he declines,

she L e l l s b i i n t o lie on the .IZoor asld she rai l l pour Lhe d - ~ i n k domx h i s th'c"oate

RUTF-. Lie on the ~ ~ O O Y , CO on, 1'11 T~>O~LT 5.t down y0u.r throz-t,

She 13,u.ghs shor t ly , d.~ains the gla-ss,

?& She ~ 1 1 i . 3 . 1 ~ ~ at hin:, putz Lhe g1ass dom, goes irito the h a l l amd up & k staim, ES! •’ol~lo.c~s h t o the hall. arid ~iiou'cs up t he s"caj.~c, +

LtF:!\SY. W b % was %hat sirnposed bbe? Sonie k ind of p ropod . ? (PP. 3b-35

m a t e o f f s p r i n g o l J e s s i c m d MacGregoro i n zny cace, Lennyl s o r i g i n s Eire I I

ob s cure . I~E~IV~, . . %hat nigl i t x i t h ikm, what ~ a . s it; l i k e ? Eh? When I was j u s t a - g1in-t; i n youy eye. Vkia-t was 2.t; like? IJ'nal was t h e baclcgromd t o i t ? 1

I m a n , 1 I T ~ J ~ t o 1not.r the mal f a c t s aboul my backgroirnd., I mean, f o r iris'tancc, is 5% a f a c t yov had nie i n mind a_ZI Lhe tim, o r is it a f a , c h %hat I was 'che las"c.hing yeu hctd Ln inind? . . .

L 3 II you p r e f e r t o a n s m r t h e quect ion in wri t ing i f v e got rio \ ob j e C ti.on. \ '\

\

Nm.a Ioolc what you1ve done, 1'11. h a ~ e t o Iloover . i ;k~a t in Llie norning, you laiow, (pp, 36-37) '

f l i c t 1% pinod~lces, PZn-i;erls o b j e c t i s n o t t o give spect f ic a n s ~ r e ~ s -i,o c,ueslions

7 l a c e r a t i o n %hat talres place and L h i s is cnl.el--Ly exa,cUgr a s k-Laud defined it,

Nax 5.s a t 1li.s con'cradic-boxy best i n -Lhe speech he rilalies tto Sm, juc-1;

nia,rrieci. b u t Itax i s incisten-L, He t d l s Joey to throw 'chei:; ou te Joeyr s

Pause ff,

A Doc'cor OS Philosophy, Sem, you waa7.t t o meet a DocLor oi Fhilosophy?

Plax S.s unahle to rno-?7e, IIe c a m o t go to Tecld-y arid give him ai'.fccJ~ion, nor czn

he ~ e c c i v e Lhe af.fec-Lion he crat.csQ TrIc cu-y-t;aiiyl &oppht-; r:lien 5.k does scc~iis

PW. You love your old. Bad, eh?

{ 'Y r e % v m ~ i n g so;^ In a r m f i s ~ 2 1,KLc . f ~ l $ i j , ~ a 1 ~ 1-i: 12~::& .$E ~i~il:i:l1 Y ~ S L ~ Y C h f ~ *W

: j L 1 -* 0 1/11 m~scal5r~:i>,y, bu.t IiiiiJ1, as ?:C? &,:j,ll j . ~ 1~l;bl.c to p.rLo?m L - Q - L ~ f i l~~ci ion ,

I I I ~ i ?I

I

Pause,

he preacks . Teddy's speech i s p a t i l e t i c wd sho:rs he i s dcsperately t ~ i n g

t o affim h i s :?ari5.age and 1-ife i n h l e r i c a as good,

1 I i

t o be ari o b j c c t of. discwsion znd observa-Vlon, but rrostly, she uoirld like t o i /- Be a&qircde W.----- i i k e a f i n o piece of f u m i i u r e . The sans,ial i ty Miiich she nrouses

f- - i s l i k e n cIoJch on a h i ~ ; h i y po l i shed t a b l e , obscuring th;: g:ra?-n and firl ish. I

1 1 \ i Tlie tab le arid c l o t h b e a r t h e sa7e r e l a t i cn as l e g afid undervea~* thaL R u h '1 \

I I

speaks oi'. TTncn she rnoves h e r l e g , the mideri~eer noves 16th it, but the under-

x~~axan h a m cletirlg ceased t o have any neming , 7 3: t h i l i l c sem.alii;y ha.s

ceased. t o hme much rneming i o r &tth as .(.rcI.l, A:though sile . is s-ti.l.1. able t o

-.81.. I 1

i J u s t before we TEWL "c; !me~ic,i. I went do~m there, I wdkcd froir! "ce i

s t a t i o n t o t hc gate and then I valkecl up tiie dr ive* There were l i ~ h t s i

Ons I ctood i n the drive 0 and the house rras vew l i g h t . 57--58\ I

Notice the sense of freedocl exyressed in t h e recollections--lhe Open spuce,

t h e t r e e s , the b i g houce, There were l i g h t s on i n the house, Ruth emphasizes

t he facl; t h a t the house rms very l i g h t . Light i s obviously equated hese v i t h --. , .

appiness. I\To wonder R ~ t h i s dwying t o reczpture the past. IG - 7

r e p ~ e s i n t s an l i f e ~rllich she once enjoyed bvt has no l o n g w , She rras -

/

&-L confined i n the roori 01- enclosed space, Thare w a s a house, but 1% W.S

pre)ati't~?.Ls~ 5--L 1s RuLh 1d10 takes coarbrsl of t . 2 ~ si.tv.atin~, not t32e r 0 2 i ~ ~ l i

Ti?hi.le %l;h seekc cont ro l , Teddy t r i e s t o laemain detached. from t h e

coxplcxi ty of l i f e , a s he shows i n h i s d i scuss ion of his c r i ' c i ca l wosks. I

Max and t h e r e s t of their j would n o t t1rlclewt:cnd E s cr5t.ical- vorks . Teddy

can add two and txo, ca.n keep t h i n g s i n b d a n c e arid. maintaiii his ecpil j -briwi.

TEDDY. . . . To see, t o be ab le t o see i T i m t h e one ~11o c m See, - ' h a t 1 s ~ d l y I can .irriCe n;y cri-LicSi. vorks. F igh t do you good . . . have a l o o k a t theni, . . See how c e r t a i n people can maintain, . . i n t e l l - ec tua l c q u i l i b r i ~ m , In%el l . ec tud cquil ibr ium . You Ire j us t ob jec t s , You jus-t, . . move about, X can obserfe it. I cari see t&at you do, I t l s thc s a . e a s J do. RU^ youlse l o s t i n i'c, You t s o n l t g e t rne b i n ? , . . X worilL be 1-OS% j n 5t, 62)

eddy ' s e a t i n p of Ienny' s chcese roll. f t ~ r t h e r ernpl-iasizes h i s senara t ion

from t h i s C+-call-ed f ~ n 5 l . r u n t t , Teddy, i n effec-L, givec Leniiy some of

h i s olm i?ie&icine, Lewy has b e w t q r i n g 2;o seduce Ruth, i n other? words, - - . -

t o vi.ctirlize Tecidy, so Toddy proceeds t o g e t h i s orm back Bu-l Teddy i s F*-" .- .

i q d i r e c t l y 3neved t n g thc; C shnesc, t h e r id iculousn

LE-'TXY. Sou -Look iriy chee s e r o l l ?

TEDDY, Yes,

L";i;NTY, I ma,de ,t+ol.l nq~sell . S cuL LI; and. pul; the buYcer on, J. s l iced. a picce of c k e s e and p u t i t be-heen. I puJ6 5.t on a pla-ke

pu t i-t i n t h e c i d e b o a ~ d ~ I did. jL1 %hat before 3: ~ien-L out ,

TEDDY'.

L 3m-Y .?

F,-- lhnw.

Sinee Teddy

t h i s ccenn,

ancl Teddy's

coxe baclc and you've e a k n it,

Slell, what are you g0in.g t o d.o about it?

I 1 i n wai-hing f o r you t o apoT~og-i-ze~

R U ~ G T t001.: i-t del.ibera,telyg Lenng. 63)

i s app."-'rmtly m c k i n g t'r,? Sairiilg- s-Ln~c;t i~re and se l a - t ionsh ips i n

Lc i in~~ ' s l . o q speech, a3ou-L thc s lructus,?l un:i.ty o f -L% fami lg

p lace i n i J 6 can o~zly be i r o n i c and ludicrous , 1knny1s 'I. . .

your;sn 651, i s a non-sequbtur, a s Is his a s s d Z o n t1ia.t Teddy, vri.th

h i s iy~'s.~.,I.l.e&7al_ bact:g;i-ou~ld, s e b si s2;c?iidri:icl tha-l; $ 1 2 ~ tmci h i s sons l o o k up t o ,

There i s notM.ng remotely resernbling a d ~ i r a . t T r i o ~ affec-tion o r unders-~a.ndi.3~ i on t h e pax% of h l a ~ and kiis younger sons -bot.ra.rd the o l d e ~ : Srotlier, Teddy.

I

The sepa ra t ion i s 2s ~ f i d e 3.5 i r l t ~ 1 1 c c t ~ a i . b a r r i e ~ s , th2 A t l m t i c occcn I

a ~ d six years of non-contact can m!cc it, d I

Iken Joey corrles dmm and confides t h a t hc has had Ruth tvro

houms and "d ldn ' t g e t aY!. t h s way" (p. 6 7 ) , Le-nny h i n e d i a t e l y a s s u m s that

Ruth 2 s n o t only a t ~ h o r e buk a tease . Tn h i s l i n i t e c l vier7 of exLs-Eence, -,-""I -I-

w@r;lm as e l t h e r a ~ . rh@r~? OY ;( calnt , v i L i i n o t h i q in be-t;~res2n~ He cm 20 . ^ _ ^ _ _ _ , - - - . * - - -- - - - ---*--

more fa'chom a woraarl of Ruthls conplexi ty than ?e can undelnstand e f i y Teddy

took h i s c i ze~se r o l l . If Ruth l i e s bc?si.de Joey on a 'oed f o r two hcurs, she

inus-bbe a t-ihO1?sO If she d.oes 113-L give him what 1.2 wa.n-Ls, she i s a teac-.?,

Nax th inks Ru:i;h i s a t ease , too. Joey, a.fter h i s encoun-Cer with Iiu'ch,

becomec j ea lous and possessive, p:robably d t e t o his sexi~.a.l fsus-'crat,ion.

Whea Lenny s a p "cat 'Teddy ltge*Ls 'c'rie gravy, obviously rneaiing sexual

intelicownse f roir Ru-bh, Joey blows u.p .

Peusc ,

J FJo he don? C;l I& don 't g e t no gravyi T t m 2;9124.:~g yoi-I. I "c1I:i.n~ 211 of souo 1'11 kill. 'ci?e next man who says he g e t s tho grayv. (p , 69)

i

'cfi~en ],lax g e t s -bhe i d e a o i keeping FLu t h i n %ile hai ' l -Y, he simplg tpnor s s ,

I J o e y d.5.scu.s~ Tb~Z;h's p ~ o p o s e d r o l e as a prost i tu-Le a s a p ~ a c t i c a l bus inecs

v e n t u ~ e , o b l i v i o u s t o aiiything Teddy says. Bwt t h e i r p ropoc i t l on tums

i n t o one of' 'c'nose p ipe d r e m s tlia'c have l i t . U e chance of r;i.n-l;erid~i.zing.

They e-cren proPose Vnat Teddy become t'neii? United C-bates represen.ta-Live,

.s?nding ove r p ~ o s p e c t i v e c u s t m e r s f o r his o7.m wife s s e m i c e s Y'he

absurdi.l;y of Eiaxls d a y d ~ e d n g i s er~phasiz,ed by Tedd.ylc a c s e r t i o n about

Rutli agi..ng f ron t h e e f f e c t o f p r o s t i t u t i o n : ItShe1d ge'b o l d P . . v e r y

q u - i c U y g f ~ (p. 75 ) Tedd-y i rnpl ies Lhere woKLci n o t be time t o buil-d up an

intzma.tion,?CI clieiiJ~ce7e b e f o r z Riith go t o ld , He is, i n e f f e c t , t d - l i n g

14ax ~ lha. t ~- .- hPs p r o p o s i t i o n i s abmrd . I tchlnk Tedd.y appears 'GO accep.1; t h e

proposai. o f P k x , h n n y and Joey, tha% Ru:th s%ay, because 1x2 ~rat~ts t o See

1.ri1a-L Ruth's reac t i -on t o t'ne p r o p o s i l l o n w i l l be, Ruth i s s a r c a s t i c at

f ilrstc?

TEDDY, Ruth . . tche faini ly ha.ve i n v i t e d you -I;o S-bay, f o ~ a l i t t l e ~d~i3.e langer, A s a. , . . ltind of <guest, If yov. l i l i v t?le i d e a , 1 donf t nind, We ca.n rnnnage veyy e a s i l y a t home, . B uil'cil you cone baclc,

C- - 92 .- I

Iris a rgmen t i s t h a t Ruth belongs i n tile far86l-y, %hat she i s W t h m d

kin" 75). The i s sue cones to a head a f t e r Ikx ind-icates t o Ruth I

she w i l l have t o earn he r keep* Teddy i s sti l l hoping sbe w i l l coqie back

t o America with h i m , I

TEDDY. @r YOIi czi-i cor~ie hone .rlri-ith me,

I M~in'x it i s Lhe prospect o; f her o m arid being independent - X. / k i t h asld kin, secoind P -__ motlncr _ -- ancl I

I

wife Lo liax and his sys . Before Ruth has f i n i shed rRth the nien she has ! - /------- . - --- -- 2__d

ex t rac ted a pronise fron them t o svpply the f lcapiM.. i n v e s t ~ e n l " (P. 7 7 ) '

coiiveniences. Rutn ir-eat s t!ie proposit ion s t r i c t l y a s biisiness. After i Triv.t'nfs derrle.rids f o r a f l a t and personal maid, the suggestion of Ihx z n d .

Lenny " c a h h e could "do a b i t of cooking," "sc:mb the place olitif 2nd

Samts co l lapse conies bccai~se he is dicgusted 8.t dnat !Ia and h i s sonc 1 I

a r e Lrying ti: do t,o 311th~ Thcir propositi.on b r ings back Lo him a:l.l t h e /i X,' /'

/': SiQ4 ( i n one b-r .~ath) . IIzcG~egor )lad J e s s i e i n t h s back of rny cab as - -'

I I

I h x f s speech i s p sc t t y i ronic , s ince he hns had a. "corpso on E s fl.oorl' for

yeam. Ths fanily has bcen tldradti s ince J e s s i e passed aray, -----------"-- -%.--m-L+.----.-*rr"

One of the POS?; j m p o r l m t Cnings t o notc aboutThe Homecor?ing -..------- i s t h a t

Ruth does not defini . tely accep-t, the proposd of k x and h i s sons about th.r

f l a t , nor do iikx and the boys male it a h s o l u t e l ~ c l e a r 60 Ruth t?rhat she i s

t o do a t t h e fl-at, The trho1.e propositioil i s delibezzLely l e f t V a s e * But

said:

and r e & . ~ m + &xyjOsim t o -M.s siLua'cion, %hat they have very

/ is being drcidcd here, n o t iiiiat 5 s going t o hapocri t o t l a , L ~ n i i y and Joey. I

Donltt becor-e a stranger. (p, 80)

The f i n d sccnc hus Ruth t h e c e n t ~ e of t he m a l e circl-e, Yax, Lcnny

and Joey a11 c lmor ing f o r her at-tention. Rrth s i ts i n her chair , re- 1 / '

l.axed. 8 0 ) ~ Ruth does not cpeak during d l of i4ax1s plea.dingo "" /

merely siJk and touches Joeyls head, l i g l ~ t l y . Yow t h a t the woman is.&a- I I i I

ren%ly g o k g t o stay, m d the pi*ospect; of sexual g r a t i f i c a t i on apnears irminent, I

\

liax malces a desperat2 p lea fo r love. %t Iiaxls deei~e has becorie %hat of a\

f ' 1 ; -till a t t r a c t i v e arid desirabl.e,

old, I supposv. She thinlcs 1 '1n an 01-d mzx. 1

Pause. I i

I ' i n not such an old mcms I

Pause ,

(TO RTJTH) . Yoz -tlri!.nl: I I rn too old f o r you? (p, 81)

Max, a t t h i s point , i s f r a n t i c becaiise k~e does not thinlc Ruth has got tha

Pause, .d

I' t l Yoi: iinders-band what J rnea~? Listzn, I1ve got a. funny idea s k e l l l do j

I I

i the U i r L y on nc, you w m t to bc"c She ' l l use iis, she 9-1 mal* use of I j ,-

uc, I can t e l l youd I c8.i sneJ.1 it! You. want t o bet?

Pause,

so grea t t h a t 5% ou.%weighs hi.s reason. The necess i ty f o r such

f o r reassurance t h a t he s t i l l has s-@sta_rice as a man, malres hir! -

I plea&, eveil t'il01:gli he 1-ealizes Ruth i.s uriirioving, The smie kind of necessi-Ly

J

f o r Lhe bas i c g r a t i i i c a E o n c in l i f e dsove Davies Lo plead to remain i n the

room i n Lhe f i n d scene of The Caretaker. Maix 5s even more pa."c'iietic than ----*------

Davies, Ruth is urmoving and he !mows it, yet he a l so Imoz;rs t h a t if she gces,

\

he can do nothing else, PinLvx3 hac p e ~ l e c t 9 y el:q-vcssed Arlaudls cencept ef

I n A S1i~ii-b Ache ( 1 9 5 9 ) ~ Harold PinLct3 pmscn ts a coiipl-ex e ~ a - ~ p l e o f -- sexuzl vicl;ir,iizci-tion i n whf ch a woman, dno ma3- represen L nature o-s the

l i f e force, i s sho~rn i n t he process of robbi-ng her husbard, ddi?rard, of bis

polency i n her e f f o r t s Lo keep him young and v i t a l .

To represent this process of sexual di.sintegration, Pinker has chosen

the rnys-berious and d i s q u - i e t i n ~ ficquse of the l l a t c h s c l l ~ r ~ IIF! is olle o I those

vicual. iniapes the Theater of Cruel-ty enploys when verballzal;ions become ina-

dequzte Co express 2 part iculai- rrieaning. \The IsIatchseller i s alch t o r;.hctt

. . Lhe unforeseen not i n s i tua t ionc buk in. 'chings, the abrupt, untimely txarisi t inn fsom an inteU-ec'cual i m g e to a. Ln.e .uriage; f o r exarrple, a rrian xho 5 s 't~laspl~einliig sees sucidenly ancl r e a l i s t i c a l i y rnate.-d:iJki.zcd before htm the iriiage of hi.s blacphemy, . . . (p* L h )

The I~a,tcliselle-F then, i s not a character i n Che pLay b u t a a iliage,

rna-miage 'GO l'lora, a senmmus woman. The i'~ia.tciisellerl s changs fron an oLci

her rirtrne ancl Siie fact; she i s identif ' ied s,R.Lh p l a n l s such as c2eni.a-bis, cor~vol-

Waus, honeysircW.e a:ld japonica,, The f i r s t Chrce a re cl.imizbing vines with

a l s o mol;izcrc 1 6 ~ 1 in her. effoxts t o I

the use of t h i s objective, d r m a l i c device, reveaic what is happerii.i~g to t h i s

kept i n inind thha a vvariety of r o l e s and rneanings can be assigned t o such

an image, ,

is mid-sumer, the hpight of the natura.3. grobring season. F lo ra a sks Edmrd

EDiprARD : Oh,

Pause,

if he h2s no t i ced t h e honeysuckle, t hen c l a i ~ s it was convolvulous, coy-

l?LOiZA: The whole garden1 s i n f lower t h i s inorning. Tne CI-ema.-i;is, The coizvolvudou.s. I was ou t a-i; seven. I stood by t;he pool.

B k : Did you say--thaJc t h e co;~vol.vulous vas i n flo7,;v:r?

FLO3A: Yec, ,

EDJ~2iZD: Giri; p o d God, you jus-t dexied. t h e r e was any.

FLORA: I was .tal!cing about t h e IioneysuckIe,

A : Sb out, Lhe r.~lia-L?

FI,OBA: That s co;-~volvulous,

Ed'i.~awd, liere, lias rio in-Lc,xiesL i n ?.rol?kLng i n t h e ga:rden. He is a f r a i d , becallse

thz weathe,: i s '~txeacherous," l?or,Mi.~ard, t h e day is S a t ~ r r d q ~ , i;he end of

t l i ~ week; f o r lQora, i.t is ti-i;lie 1origes.t day of the yi.areT! (p, 10) ZkI~rarcI

does n o t d-i.splay any i n t e r e s t i n working i n t h e garden u n t S af-ber he iells

the %Tasp i n the ma.md.ade. I~Jhen the wasp i s dead, ECiwa~d i s able t o enjoy f;he

floswcs, b u t this is becau,se t h e g have no sensuous a t t r a c t i o n fow. hin1 zny

more, Ed~.:ad, kiinsel-f, 5s t h e m s p , bu t vrhen he is dead ( sexua l ly ) he

apgrccirr tes ths n o x e r s buL is no t a-L-tracted t o -~'LI.sG: as a ijasp ia a-l;t:i.ac-led

Lo thein f o r I A e i ~ e c t a r , A l t e r t h e m s p episocle, t h e w a L h e r i s no 1.onge.r

t r eache roum

The wasp i n the namial-ade i s the most imporban-L i!nage i n the play, nex t

"c t h e F a t c h s e l l e r , mEZ s e m e c t h e s a m func t ion , The m s p , a n aggress ive

i n s e e t , inust he associ.aJi;ed wi-Gh the male, r.rhile t h e r?ar!aab.de su.gges'Cs ~.ro-,an,

ED51ARD: Vhat a beau-tii'ufL day it is, B e a ~ t i f u l ~ I %hink I shca13. trork I n tiie gasderi Vlis morning, I h r e ' s t h a t canopy?

KO-2A: I t l s in the shecl, ,

I-D:>JliRD: Yes, -Eie rms-L ge t 2% out. Ky goodness, look a t t11a.t sky. Not a cloucl, D i c i yoir s q - it was the longest clay of the year Lo&;~?

FLIRA: Yes,

ElY+JARD: kh, itf s a good day. T f e e l it i n my bones. I n riy ri?usc7es. I thinl: 1'11 s-tretcii my l e g s i n a niiriute. IIOWI t o the pool. Yy God, look a t t h a t floweriny s1iru.b over -there. Clciaatis. ?=hat a wonderful, . . (pe 14)

trasp i s deacl m d t h e I~latchseller appears. Ed~.~a-d f inds teriporary r e l i e f

the meaning of onels pa s t l i f e , Ed-ward, from t l - s point on, s t a r t s recol-

l e c t i n g h i s pas-L, t . h n he was young a.nd v i t a l , 2nd. could Live

with bis dcsi res ,

Ed~~a:cd, fmmd by Flora, Ilicling in the darkened sciilleq, says l-ie has been

i.rriting an ecsay on t he wdimensionaX.ty and contiritiity of space. . end

time, . . io:? yearsri (p, 17)> -c.rkii.ch 2nd-icates t h a t Edward has been concerned

with the pyoblei7i of h i s ovm exis'cence f o r years. A l i t t i e l a t e r he ind ica tes

i.;!iat s -Lha-t;? 1s W1a.L a b?r?.loek 7 I.G X ,. goodncss, yow CSJI sec lxLx .

h&zr, HSYC yosl bsen .rratchrii~g (PO 1.7) ,

matckres t h a t a r e soggy l i k e fungus, and a bad sxell-, a.11 ii:dicai;e steri1i.t~

and decay, Edwasd says t h e 1'4atchse;L:ler i s lishiv-ering" arid l'sapging" 2 7 ) ,

whlch l e n d s f ~ r t h e ~ support t o t h e i d e a of decay,

Edward s p e c i f t c a l l y e q u a t ~ s t h e Iia,tchselLes w5.a hirnsel- f :

EDYARD: . . . Come, gwich-, quick* Tnere. S i t here, S i t , . . s i t i n t h i s e

The PiATCIIS3:rjI,13'EZ sJ~uzibles 8.n.d sits, Pause,

AaaahO Youl :re sa%, A t I . a s t , T1.Snat a ~ e l - i e f . Yoll must be "bix'ed, (Slip!it pa.ilse,) Chair corifojilab2e? T bought i"c i n a s a h . I bought dl the fuwni-tvre i n t'nis house i n a sa le . The Same ca le , vhen I was a yogng man, You. too, perhaps. You Loo, pe_rhc?.pso

(pause, )

A t t h e s m e tim, perhapsd

(pause. )

(14uttelning,) I i~ius'c gc'c sorie air, I ri-ust g e t a brea th of zlilo, (P, 27)

Edb~ard indica'ce s i;!iat he ~5.11 dj-scover -the rceson f o r -the i ;a-tchsellcr 1 s

ari.l-irzX "by i~ight~fa1-lIi (p* 28), and nigi i t is accocia.i;ed r&%h the end of

l i f c ' s 3ou.mey o-r death, Sj.nce t h c 2:xbchceller, mong o t h e r th i ags , starids

for Ecl-irnrcl-'s slow rcal iza-bion of h i s qoproac'ning iiiyotcnce aad death, f.i; i s

o l jel1.y. Fe canf -t; sec s t r a i g h t , a glass cye, Ikls ZLrncsi; s tone

dcaf. , . . aJ_riost, . . not quite. He 1s vepy near ly declci on bis f e e t* ?fhy sl-iould he fr ighten me? No, you.lre a xoman, you know nothing, . . (p. 2 9 )

, R o m l i k e n s the f,lalchseil.er t o n poa,cher r.iho r a p d her when she was

young, b u t she adrnits t h a t she l e t Wie poacher o f f t.?nen he appeared before

her, when che s n t on the bench as a Jus t ice of the Feace (PO 311, The

poacher i s a scx in l ixntasy, possibly an image of Edsrard as ii2oi.a ima.giiies

she wou3_d lilce hira t o '02. n o r a nmr expesses ciZ1 of hor sexual and

rnatvmal i n an i~~a.ginaqy s e m d r i t e vk%'ri the I'.iatchsellere

She firids hjxr. old a.nd ugly, "qui."c ee.epelleilt,u 1~5th a Itvile sxellf l (P* 32),

so che decides Lo tx4nsfoni h i n by gi~iilg hin a ba th and c d l i n g hir? Ramabas;

then she ~~rill. keep hirn, The bathing is an exp1:ici-L sexu.d inage, n o r a

1~il-l yesto-tie ~ i ~ n i . - i : , y t 0 ti1e old m d d i r t y Xatchseller, and makc hin a %hing

and v i r i l e , jnstead of becoxhg old and irnpoLcnlo

Thc refe:ceri.ce to .i;he 1,Ia.i;ciiseller as a fldreadfil. chapll who has "giceat bj.g

I3d.irnn.l T ~ O U ~ ~ C ? 1-S;e -'GO 1e.t go I x ~ t Rosa (nakxe) 1611 not 1c.L MXI, 9.eacis

h i n i n e ~ b - -i;o 5,.lsotej~b .arid f eehle ext3n,ctici~s, The ccnj-ng o f the

FLOXA: Yhe man i s desperately i l l l

W : I11? You %ying s lu t , Ge% back t o your .!xonghJ (P. 33)

E&ard s final. conf ron-tation r ~ i th tlle i&Lchsel ler i s a visual. expres sion

of Flora.' s wish f i~l f i l lxen 'c for.. Edtrard Lhat he sho~il.ci re1.a-Ln youn~;. Fhxt

Edward sufi'ers agony and i s brou$t t o thv point of dexth i n the Scene,

When Flora passes %c!ii~a~si 'c!le l ' la tchsel ler ls t r a y a-t the end, she inZica.tes

tha'c rene~ral- has 'caker, place. I n actilali'cy, it has noto Edwa~d and the

E:atclrisellcs havc becolne one and Flora leavcs, triuxphan-t, havinp accomplished

her pu-rpose, winich i s both a f f i m l n g and renewinp; l i f e and ciest~oytng it a.t

t he saze t b e .

The conf ron-k t ion amd dtalogue shows hnw Edmrd i s tj?,an c f omed. syibol i -

c a l y in-Lo thhc i ; t i t chse l lc~ , Re s t a r t s of-f with r eco l l ec~ io r i s of his vouth

when he TES a t h l e t i c and "kep-l; sci.cke"cd ba t t ed n~~3be-r sevenoH (p. 3i;)

sunn .aid the hoilse, banic-krs , s t a l r rods ~ i n d czrx%ai.n rods vere ail

Edwa-rd c r i e s . I4lhe-/i Ed~mrcl snecztis arid says he has caught a "gerrntl i n Lhe eyes

(p, 3 8 ) , t h e f i n a l rnonicnt of " c t h i s near. Iri. t5c speech t h a t fo l lo :~s ,

'chelie fis b o t h hope and despair , rn aff imat i .cn and a. dcni-al of l i f e . A s

his nausea and hov-ms grow aL the r ea l i zak ion of h i s c o d n g dea-tki, Fdxard

E39bJARD: Mo-t "cha-2; I liaci any dilfLcu1"cy i n see ing you, no, no, it %ras n o t so rnu.ch niy sj-ght, sight 5-s exce l lent - - in win-Ler L m n ab0v.t wi th notl l ine on buk a p a i r o f pol0 shor-Ls--no, i - G was n o t s o m c h my de- f i c l e n c y in rny si-gh-t ac the a i r s bet;licen me zind my object--don!t weep-.- Lhe cltmge o f a i r , W1e ci trsents obtairling in t l ~ e space betwven nie m d my objec t , . soinelL~les, uf couwse I TJOIIL~ .Gake she l t e r . , , . Yes, I would seek a t r e e , a cmnny of biishes, erec-b i n y cnnopy and so :-la!ce she7,tr3ro i?nd m?s-t, (Lw rnii.nmc, ) k4.d then I no langer hoard the :find 03- saw t h e su- , NoLhing entvrea , nothing l e f t i3;y noolr, I l2,y on i;~y side i n niy pol0 shor ts , mjr f ingers l ig>;!~-t l -y i n cc)ntac~t wi-th

. %Eie b1.ad.e~ of g:rass, tho eart l !aowers, tlle peta.1~; of the ea~;.thfloriers f7!d&xiOg 7.yi1lg ox m;t- pd.ii?, t h e underside of Sl1 t he great f o l i a g e d a ~ k ~ &ove me, . . ,

( ~ a , u s e , )

toge%herX1 singgcsts t l ie ebb and flow oT t im 5qd. t h e ~10%: mar ine ; away of

t h e sex U-rge, and the irminence of deayn. The t ransfonnat ion hass taken I

t h e gaydvn, b u t now he i s too mal:,

IWqrAED: . . . I F~oul-d l i k e t o j o i n youo . . exp3.ain. . . shou you, . . t h e gnrdeno . . exp la in . . . 'c'rie p l a n t s , . . where I run . . . my t r a c k , . . i n t r a i n i n g o . . J: IW.S n i ~ ~ b e r one s p r i n t e ? a"c Hor.rells . . . vh.en a sLriplSrig . . . no more than a s t r i p l i n g . . . l i cked . . . men twice rny s t rength . . , when a s t r i p l i n g . l i k e you-rself.

(Fit11 great, f i n d e f for t -a -c&ispcr,) kiho rre you.? (-. 3 9 )

Flora cal l ls o f f s b g e , as i f i n a i~s r : e~ t o Edm-rci's quest ion, ' :Ba~n2~bas?~ '

(p. -39) Che "cnkes t h e I ~ a t c h s c l l e r by t l ie hamcl t o shor4? hllil the garden--

t h e ja.?onj.ca., convolvuJ.ow, honeysuckle and cle:m@is--becrcvse tlsuii~ze~: i s

comingIf (pe 1 ~ 0 ) ~ Flora , Vnen, retu- tns t o a rrore y o ~ ~ t h f u l -tim, the ap-

made a. recovcyy of t h a t V e l i g i o u s agc! 1riysti.c preference" of t ~ h i c h Artaucl I

s a i d t h e modern theat:r.e has coqlc.l;ely l o s t the sense:

The ques-tion f o r the Jdt-ieat,er, i s t o creale a me.Lupliysics of speech, gestiire, and expression, i n order to rescue it f ~ m i t s se rv i tude -t;o psychol-ogy and. %uman i n t e r e s t . I ' But all t h i s can be of no ucz u n l e s s befind such an ef foyt the re 5s Sone kind of r e a l rnetaaphysical i.ncl.in.a.tLon, an a.ppea.1 to oe:r%Lan unhabituzl i.cleas, which by t h e i r very na tu re cannot be l in j . t ed o r even fomia,lly depicted, T'nese ideas which touch on Crextion, Becoroing, and Cha.os, are 21-1 of a c o m i c o rde r and furnis'n. a primary notion o l a doma.in frorn ) ~ h i c h

s- "I

t h e Lheater 1s now enti i rely rzliei-J., Shey a re a.ble t o c r e a t e a. l&nd of passiona"ce equat lon Ise"i;i.reen Ikm, Soc ieQ, Watu-re and Cbjects. (p, 90)

T 3 2 PA-TY

Harold ? i n t e r t s P Ten Pa* wri t ten So" ttelevision i n 1965, exminos

except %hat it; i s more diffirce, less poetic, and substitu.Les several

visual i r~ages of -the destr-ilction insbead of a single one, l i k e the I.:atch-

sel ler , These irnage s iriclucle ping-pong baU.s, a cigaret- te Ligh ter , a

chif ' f in scarf a ~ d a baridage,

The p l q - depicts Disson's gradu.d ee:?asc~j.lation becmse of c o n f l i c t

between the necessi-ty of rqxinta.ining a sle:;pec'cable husincss f r o n t and

twin sons, m a ~ r i e s 211 rniddl-e age and, a.t tlle s m e tiw, h b e s an a.L-Lractivs

secre-i;a.ry, The wmen, Dima and iknd~~ b r i % h the hvlp of the

h i s own neeess i ty f o r s e n d indixlgence. 1 t'runlc v1e haxie, in Tea i>a?%~_~~

drive specificd-1-y causing Lhe suffering,

Xxii-Lar ins"cj_nctuc21 forces a x re leascd Ln Ei-cson, buk hcre bis extinciion

i s niore gsaclud and therc is Y ~ O sense o f i d e n t i t y establi~hsd~ Disson

7

-112-

The opcning sequence showc Bisson intemierr ing a prospect ivc near

secx.eta-ry, Ilendy, I-re appears t o bc sceking an eff ic ient ei:!ployee, soneone 1

who 'i.ri1.l. be a c r e d i t 'Lo In; s fj rrl and hi7 p swoLh ou"LA.s operations.

h i m , t h e only i ieans hn has of r e l i e v i n g t h e boredom of rau-tim bu s i n e s s

existente and a marriage 1~3icl-i S e m s t o be ~riaLril-y one of convenience, put

wlU-le scvld-ng r e l e a s e f o r h i s se-tucd f a n t a s i e s , 13i sson repeateoly denies and

h ? i l e seerningly exa t in ing Vendyts r e f c r m c e s , j3;lcsori 2s scru ' t in iz ing hor

legs, t~l-ilcii she keeps c ross ing and re-crossing:

DISSGX, Youlve hezrd of us, have you.?

IJZJDY, Oh yec,

IKJDY crosses h e r 3e.f.b l e g overi her ~ i g l z t ,

DISVT. I.Jsll, do you th ink you'd be in - t e res t ed i n . e e in thLs arca. o f wori;?L3

~ h e pause i n t i ~ e mrlddl-e of thc l a s t Imine shoirs t11a-k Disson :i_s disturlbed by

DTSSON. km I?

2e %akes her hand,

heroes, thv siijoface pre- tensionc am rermved dur ing Yne inter-acllon witk

o ther chamc- te rs arid t h e r e a l Person einexages,

P i n t e r l s "cch~iquc in Tea h - ~ t y i s "c ddepict t h e s i lu -a t ion r d ~ i c h causes ----- Disson ' s b ~ e a k d o m , in one scsne , ar!d Lhm provide a concrete i11usJL~a t ion

and h e r wiggling a h o u t in Lhe cl1a.i.r bothers hin, s o 11e asks hek Go si t on

the desk, She has di:fficulty clii?bing up, f i m l l y piittsiiij h e ~ i"&e-L on a

chair and hol..;ting h e r e l f onto -\;he desk, Disson walches every move she

e m w x l x b i o n t t m t has "cakcn p l ace iri the p ~ e v i o u s sccne. JGre tSre have

another exanple of ArLaudls concept of the lJobjectZve unforeseen." ( p e klt)

DISSOiT. You sent rne t m bal-1.s.

MILLY. No, no, Only olleo

DISSON. Two.

Pause,

JOI-rj. One, Dad,

l>ISSO;d, 141ai;?

TGU. he.

Pau se

WILLY r ~ a l k s t o DIS">O:JIS end., b~l ldse

WIS-LY. Look.

Disley. There i s nothing p h y s i - c d l y wrong with 131.sson1 s eyes, "cey rr,.-rely

r e f l e c t Lhe agony of tlie ssxuai p res su re he is being si.~.bjected bo EdT,:ard9

Pause,

The

'C1'ha.t were you loolring f o ~ ? Get UP. 1 DISSO3 ( s t a n d i ~ i ~ ) DonlL. q e s k t o iae l i l te t ha t , I!ow dar? you speak

t o me l i l i e t h a t ? i ' U . h o c k you r1 Leeth out0

She covers her facee

)&a"Jr:.v~c s . 0 1 ~ doing j.n there? I -:J-iov~ht youl d gone bor?e, PhaL 'irrere you doing i n Lhere?

DJANA. I carne back,

DICSO'~?. You rnean yoii were i n therc dith both of ihm? 3-1 the-ce ui-th boLh of L'neri?

DTKjTA. Yes! So iahst? (P. 67)

nc.::-L Scene shom c l e a ~ l y Dissonls conf ' l ict betxeen tlle n c c e s s i t y of

DISSQS. NO* Sbay. Youlre very valuable i n t h i s o f f ice , Gocd wor'lcer, E ~ c e l l 5 n ' s . ~ If you have compl-aints, j u s t tel.1 rne. f '11 soon puL them rigl-i'~, Yov.' r e a veqT e f f i c i e n t secretaq- , Sornething I 've always needed, FIa.ve you. eveqt l? ing you want? Are your t rorking condit,ions s a t i s f a,cloly?

fnEXDY. Perfect ly

DTSSOIT. 011 Good.

Disson appeays not t o

li&t o f Gay, onl-y i n

Pemeption of wha-1; he

~ o o d . . . ~ o o d . (pp. 69-70)

be &I-e t o a c t ou% h i s s e m d f an t a s i e s in the c1ea.s.

the da:&, o r when his e;fes are bandaged or cove?:ed.

i s doing rnakes Disson stop, She screen goes b lack I n

t h e next scaiie arid. Xsson l e e l s !!endg i n tl~e bl.o.ckoutr, 3wcciia:Lel;r a f t e r

t h i c , he goes t o M-SI-ey t o have h i s eyes checked aga in , khen ehe bandage I I

I

o r t h e chiPfon sca3:f i s apol-ieci, everyday r ed i - t y is bloJc-ied out and fan-tasy

takec over. A sexual re lease i s e f fec ted and it i s t h i s release t h a t causes

Discon 1 s brea!;d;o:.~, The sal-e Itirid ol" d e s t ~ u c t i v c rcl_ea,se operatcd i n

DTSSGX. 1s t h i s you? T'nis I f ee l ?

W

DTSS02?. i?ha"c, a l l t'riis I c2.11 feel?

hedri.a:bely a f h r t h i c Ili cson of f e r s t o make IJ5.11~ h i s l lpartms?fl, t.7ants

t o "skiau'e f u l l r e spons?b i l i t y , ! ' On t h e suu'face it ap1,enrcs t h a t Disson ,

wants Vil.ly t o b c b i s bus incs s p a r t m r , buk %hin!< h i s raords c a r q a

sexual i n p l i c a t i o n . Di.sson irieans %ha t I.dilI-y should s h a m hi-s s e a . a l ganies

w i t h Kmdy, perhxps sha re Diana i n a. sexual ~ . y as r . ~ e l l .

The sccne b e t t ~ e e n 1~Jend.y and. Diana, i n which t h e two trornen c3eci.de t o

h a m Iixnch and d i s c w s men touching womn5 ssems t o PLnt a t a coJ_iabora?;ion,

56th Disson he ing tr?7e scapego-.G, Tke n e x t Scene 5 s again IIJi!il.ly and Essen

and a game o f ping-pong. Hwe, Yne i m g e of e~nascifi-ation i s even more

e x m i c i t l y pse sei l te d '~~11a.n previ ou s1.y. D i s soiz i s s1101.m p l s i i n g wi.1 d2y and

defensi.vely, A s rdil1.y slams a chot a"cisson, Ghe scxeen goes blac!c 2nd

Disson sk ids , When v i s i o n Comes back, Disson i s b e n t over, c lu l ch ing t h v . '

t a b l e as if i n pa in , ldilUly throws t h e pj-ng-pong b a l l on Ghe tab1.e and it

bounces gm-Wy ac:ross 5.t. 77) l .ki l lyls vici.ou.s SI-an a.nd t h e b a l l bouncinp;

gent1.y on t h e dd3.e si.m t o stiggest cast;ra.lion,

l~&m3y t i e s a chiffon a ~ o u n r l Dicsont s e y e s i n o r d e r t h a t the sexu.d games

i n the o f f t c e may pinoceed, bu{; t h e ch i f fon prroves t o be inadeqca te f o r L'ne

purpose, Uisson i s n o t ab3.e Lo perfoan. Disson talces o f f Z;he c h i l f o n and

phonn s Dlsl.ey, Fe now needs :J. 'cighLer baridage

Y Don'-i; you li!ce iny c h i l f o n czr!ymo~e, Lo p u t T O U . ~ ~ . 37-OUY eyes? E@ I. ove ly ch5f f on?

Pause, 1% sits s-LZl.,

I aiimvs f e e l like k i s s h g you t.ihen you.'vc @-I; %hatOn roimd p u r eves, Do ycu Imox thhat? Hecaxs:! you I re a 1 1 i n t,hc darl:,

Paz~.ne,

l'ut itJ O n %

She p i v k s irp -Lhe eki f fon 2nd f o ld s i - L ,

1'11 put it on, . , f o r you, V e q gently.

She leans f o ~ ~ a ~ c l , He touches her, ,

Diana and IJendy, 1% i c nolcrro"chy Loo -i;ha.t Disson had decided not t o go to

SpaAn f o r a hollday but I U l y , %.an$ and %ndy dccicte t o go together, fl

c i ~ ~ a - t y ~ ~ llas dgg&ope;i tfiei.'~ &2,ly hac taiten o u e ~ as the liead of thi3 hwem,

and Ilissoil has becwe t2ie einasculatrd ex-leader, Lhe ouJ~t;ast f ron %he r"am'ily,

He is a victinl of his oim semd desi-res and from " c ~ e psiessura irv3u-ced by

the mm,ipul.ations of t h ~ o t h w th-rae chulacJmrso They are Ms executboncrs

and he i s h i s o-tm exeeutioner ac wel-I.o

IrJorksn (1959 ) a ~ i d ltApplican-t, " Harold P i n t e r sho t~s "caG an ab s t ~ a c t ~0~ i .21

systern daxages i t s e l f by reducing i t s hwnan m e ~ b e r s l ~ p h puppeGse The ori ly

aitema-t;ive "c ddet~uc 'c ion of bo%h system arid i n ~ ~ ~ ~ o Xs an impossible

c o n f ~ o n t a t l o n a ~ d s t j lcmate , trhich we see 5n some of P in t e r s s playss P in t e r ' s

most perfec-L visual Lrilagc of t h i s s'cakemate between socle-ty and t h e ind i -

v idua l 5 s tha t of Lhe %wo gnrnnen, Ben ancl Gus, facing each o ther as vic"cm and 'i

execu-bisnes~ at, Lhe eE2mxx sf The b ~ 2 b Wai%s_r, I.'c i s a l so a Fine exmp3.e o f

B e revue stce.i;ches a m exmp1es OS wha?; A&aucl. c d l e d "hmnsrous poetxy

i n spacen becawe "chcy emp'loy wha@ he temcd flinv-ersions 051 f o m " and

tfdispLace.ivnttr; of signifl.ea.tIion" (pe k3), I& do no t eirpect the emplsyees o f

a firn %hat mmufac-tuFes "cpered sp2.y.d.. flw& r s a ~ f i o ~ s Lo want Lo make b ra~dy

bjll.5, as in, fTrouf3lo in Ghe Il!orle~,~' nor d.o we expee'c t h a t e f f i c iency exper ls

like M s s PLffs i n " A p p l i ~ a n t ~ ~ r~%l_l, displziy sexuall- obssscions dux5ng an

emp2o~cnerit interview, Finter, Zn Lhese skelehes, brortks dorm preeonceived

ideas about "cechnol.og~-, emplomenl in'cemiev~c, irlass produc'tion, e t c . Plnter ,

tfFJi'9_son," ' I ~ ~ I O % a p out dCea mps f o r the tm gmmen, is i n charge, Who i s

t o be extenninated m d when the job is t o b s done i s not made c lear , EuL

Ghe essential poin"c i s %hat, as far as ~e ho-i.r, Cus i s not "ce intended

victfm a t tha begiiining buk, becomes the vicLim of Ben and t h e system Lhrough

Y b ac t ion of 'che pi.zye 1% i s %he -----z- necer;s:'b"cy OS worleing together i n partner-

ship, conf9.ned jrn clove quarkrs , and t f ie t ens ion produccd by t he job, " cs

Wdting f o r the ~ m ~ d dien "eo begEn, %hat cause t h e s p l i t beheen the t r ro

l o n g e r of aly value t o the systeii, I n The D m ~ b 'Chen, ?E have an -P-

sxecl~tl_one~, ITv bxqe ."ce r-o~elise of Shu l3irYt;hda-y Pa~- ty wh~re the vietk?

becari?~, t o som ex"cent, lhe executioner, But paradoxically, Ben rnay a l s o

Even in 'chv opzning sequcnee, bcfore a line of d i d o g e i.c spoken, Gas i s

i n his shoss, looking for makches and cigarc"c.l;es, Gus i s rest l-esc m.d in-

the lavatojiy. doea not flush. The two men have obviousl..y

in the past and a routine has been established, but now I

they are boked ~ 5 t h it, Gus wocLld lilce t o have a l&ndow in the basement

room:

BEI?. klha-I; do you +TL~TTL a windsw for?

GUS, Well, 1: l i k e t o have a bit of a viow, Bene It vfniles aray the time,

I mean yo i~ cone u l t a a place when It ' s still darl:, you cone i n t o a room youPve never soen before, you. sleep 313. d,g, you do y o u ~ $ob, arid then you go way i n the n5-gh-L agalYle

chee"cs are c?ir"by, Ho thinlcs smeone else has becn i n i;he roon before I

thein, s leeping i-n the bed,

GUSe I though"~ these shects didntt l o o k too br igh to I thought they ponged a bit. I was t o o tired t o not ice r h n I goi; i n thls moming, EI, Lha t f s taking a b i t of a l i b e r t y 3 i s n t t i.t? I don -L W=-t %o share my bed shecJ~s. I Lold yon %&gs wcre going d.om thv drain, 3: mean, se 've a3.tray-s had c l o a ~ ~ sheets l a i d on up til1 now, Ltve noticed it,

B Ho17 do you k n m those sheets werr.cntt clean?

GUS. What do you mea.n?

BI%. How ds yoia lcnow they rfereri't clean? Youtwe spent the wliole day i n thexi, haven you?

GUS. They say put on t he ket-e'lx,

BEd Who says? e 14hof s the senior par%ner here, me o r you?

GUS, You,

BEN. I t m o r ~ y looking aftezl. your interestcs, Gus. Youfve got t o learn mate.

GUS. Yes, b u t I1ve never heard--

BEN (vehenen-t;ly) Hobody says 1igh"che gaci What d.oes the gas l i g h t ?

GUS, Vhat does the gas--?

t h a t 6oldbere was. Tlie characters na in t a in t h a i r :;tratageins f o r t h e i r

own p~oJCec$km, as long as possibl-e. The d-ifference bet t~een Ben and Gus is

t h a t Ben i s a l d Z t h e s conce~med x i t h pt~eserving 'c!ic image of conf 01m.it-y~

Ke is the effi.cient, worlcing member of "c~e o~gar~izxbion. k s is the one who

.PS question5.ng evexything md shoxing, that he has scnsit5.vi"cy and fecling,

Ben despurately LsoLes 'co hide Lhe f a c t 'eha,L he too is sensitive ancl 9.8

bo"c~e:t.ed by t he job he has t o do, The nexspapzr is a str~atugein he ean usc \

t o h i d e his ~LiCne~abilil-y, GIS, by aslting queslions uid con t inud ly pmbing

E h 9 s reactlons, is aetucilly vic'ciirLzing h i s paY.her becarse he i s effec-kively

bmaking durm Ben's protecti-re c o v s ~ and d e ~ t : ~ o y i n g him as an ef l ic ieni t

E s pcapc-3 btrt Gus w i l l no"i,-et him, Fe dernands

a m t o do 2nd who th-^ vbctini i s t o be, Ben

%fies t o evade the issuo and Gus neeaes him ab0u.L reading the Paper,

Guse . . . How m a n $ t h e s have ,you rea,d tha'c paper?

BEN slailis t l i ~ Paper dwri and r i ses ,

BEN (angr21y), 1.Jha-b do you rnean?

OUS. I was jus'c wondeualng how many +Arms you'd-

BEN, F h a t are y o u d o h g , criticising W?

f o r what Ben and (3.1s have bro-ught w i L h thein, The firc-L order i s f o r b ra i sed

steak and chips, Sago puddings, two teas without Sugar, A sacond order

f ol lo~rs f o r l i v e r and onions ancl jan t a r t . Ben despera:bely t r i e s t o

approxiniatc what i s sequi~:ecl, p i l i n g evezwhing t h a t they have on a plate--

b iscr i i t s , a bar of chocolale, ha l f a p t n t of milk, an Eccles calce and cXpispso

f3uL the dfurib wai te r goes up w i t h h o - L t h e p l a k of f oodo

Back coriles "cbz dunb waikr wiLh an O T L ~ C T f o r Macaroni PasLiLsio and

OnniLha isIaca~ounada 58)o The ollder f'or t h e exot ic CIishes seems t o

ind iea te i n c ~ e a s a n g pressure on Lhe men, from thv organiza-bion. The men

send the pla-2;e up wi.Lh evelything they have p i l e d on i L But t h i s f a i l s LO

Gus is disgusted because tbe org~ui-izd~iolz, \~~ilsoan, o r ~rlioever it i s

t h a t is cont ro l l ing th2 dmb ~ ~ a i t e , ~ , wmts a cup of tea and 0 . s has nothing

f o r h insel f , Ous does no-t wzders-band %hat by cornplaining, he i s s i g ~ i n g his

Gm. . . . 1ie send h i m up a l l welve got m d he's not sa.t;isfied, Mo, honest, i J c l s enough Lo make the ca'c laugh. d5.d gou svnd him up d.1 tl-iat (Thouqhtfully) Why did I send it up?

Pause,

14-10 Imom r;haL h s P s gohups'cairs? lIers probzblg goL a s d a d bo:il, They must have sotnethlng up tbere* They wont-t, g e t nach froin dorm here, Yon noatice they dich1% ask fos* any salads? Theylve probabl-y g o t a salad bo-~rl up " c e ~ . Cold tieat, radislies, cucw~b:berso Water cress , R o l l mops, . , . They do alXrighb, don't tiorry about Lhat,. You don l t th ink -Gheytre justgooing t o sit Lhere and wait f o r s-tuff t o conlc up f ron down hwe, do you?

i r o n i cuJ-ly,

EZY f r o ~ x l s and presses Xs forehcad,. \

s t m b l e s in, minus h o l s t e r and gm, und ccnfronts Ben holding kts j.%volver,

The omi.ss lon in the r o u t h e bothers Gsis t e r r ib J -y and provokes m o - b h e ~ I

visef ous a s s a u l t from Ben. Ous beginc t o vi.01 ent7.y qu2s-l;5 on t h o x h o l e

purpose of t he ass igment , Ben decperately t r i e s Lo pretend tha,t nothing

GUS, . , (violenL1yo ) We3.1, whaV s he playing &I. Zchese gmes for? Tha.t1s what I w a n t t o knowe 1Jl1a-G's he doing i-t for?

BEN se izes t h e tube and f l i n g s WS, amy, He f o l l o ? ~ ~ GIJS axd s laps him h a ~ d , back.-handed acrocs the chest, (pe 68)

I

leaclc -Go a passage m d the door.' on Lhe l e f t l e a d s t o the lavztory and kitcheno

It i s pocsible the passage connect? Goth atneas of the house, In any case,

h s entevs as thv vic'Lin arid km .tu:ml.ls, lcvel_ling lxis gwz a t IWn, The .b~~;r-so

men confront each other and a-re s t a r i ng as thc cur ta in fallse Thqre i s soi?e

kind of r e d i z a t i o n passing betxeen them a-1; the end bu t the nature of it i s

u n ~ p e c i f i e d ~ Xeither nan seeins I;o have been awam %hat t he organizz-kiom

has been d e f t l y t u m i n g them agzinst one another through the tssts, Ben

s e m s t o coiif~oiite?: with a f u ~ t h a r t e s t a t th2 end becav.se h i s choice is

be tmen neglect ing t o kill h i s frie-ad, Gus, and becorning an outcas t frm

the organization, p ~ o b a b l g rsndsr5ng hP:-nself e l i g i b l e f o r execution i n the

noay fi turv, o r carrying ou"cne ass ignmnt , k i l l i i ig his f r iend, ard main-

t a in ing hLs s l a t u s as ;Li e f f i c i e n t esecutioner f o ~ thv o r g a n i ~ a t i o n ~ Pinter ,

t y ~ i c a l l y , leaves Lhe final choice as "c what i s going t o happen, up Lo the

audience, Rut the confronlation r e c u l t s i n a s t d e n a t e o The organlzation - has dsstroyed one of 5-1;s o:;m rnexbex-s ras) and may ha.ve destxoy~3d another

as we1.l (Ben), s ince many of hEs prolec.bive defenses wem renoved during

the t es t ing . And T.= do not knor;~ ~rl-is%ner he wii.1 pass 15s f i n a l t e s b o~

not, The organiza-bksn rnus"c,&ii.t a. f l 3 i . r 5-11 i t s s t m e t u ~ e when 5.-L has Lo

\ oaqdder t he execution of one sf i t s 01m rie14mrs gor hcompe'cence asrd weale~ioss,

and Lhe yoss-ible execv-Lion OS a second memheso

P in t e r seems Lo be here ks t? .ng the v a l i d i t y of abs-iisact soc ia l powr

stmci;uiaes agaj-nst hman v d u e s siach a s f r iendship* Tf Ren f a i l s t o k i l l

Gus, -iib Q-c-Lern 3 s dzad, The only ind ica t ion we h a ~ e %hat the hman values

migh'c pi-tva5l i s t h a t Ben has dc~ronstzated, through events an tfie plav,

Lhat he i s h - ; n m o Gu.s hac been able t o crack 15s s h e l l of c o n i o ~ v i t y and

ambiguity of the sys-teno 'Lts menbem are human but i t s pr inc ip les are

abstra,ct, In t xy ing enforee i L s pr-inciples, it a;t-kinp.i;s t o neehanize I

its human members, but only succoeds i n exposing t h e i r knab i l i ty t o ac-l;

as machinec a t the iriornent of 6l.isi.s. The systsm must con"cinue t o des'croy

i t s human mernbers i n i"e eeffo~Ls t o malce them confom. The s y s t m has no

choice bwb t o cintinue t o peqetteate i t s e l f o r it ceases t o by a system,

I think we have, i n The hmb Matter, 8.n exce l len t exmple of Ar"cud ' s

theo~ry of r igorous deteminism azd the execulloner-tomenn'i,es concepl,

REVUE SKETGIBS

I n Lhe skoLch ~~T-m•‹oubI3e in the ? lo~ks , Er, Fibbsj the manufachurer of

the tapered spiral flute rearners, t he hemi m i b a i sphericaJ_ rod end a.nd the

gumne.ta1 s ide o u t l e t r e l i e f x i t h hhands~hcel, 2s confronted by the emnloyee

representative, Pk, tJBlls, who places I J ~ ~ Eibbs i n a posi t ion of l-iavhg

t o deTend hzs procluc-bs, MY, l&llsj wiVn h c r e a s i n g pressu.~e, convinces K r ,

PLbbc %hat h3.s erzpl.oyees aye no longer in"cesnos2r,d i n zny of kis products,

31mLS. They hate ancl de t e s t gTour Lovely p a r a l l e l male stud couplings and the s t r a igh t n a g e punp con rec to~s , and back nutz, and f ron t nu-bs, and the bronzed-rnw o f f coek .tri.th hmdwheel ard the bronzedrm of f - cock without Irand-wiieel,!

FIBE: Not the bronzc&aw of f cock w i t h haxdgneel?

FIBBS : 16thou-i; handwI~erl?

PIBBS: Not wikh hand~iheel?

WILL$ : And v~i thout handwheek ,

be an aml, and 'che pa.xQdLeJ male s tud couplings might well repre.cent t he I

geni ta l Organs. l?ill.s a l so assev-kjs t he super io r i ty of t he human over the

nechariicd systein, But " c ~ e coi~Pronta-Gion r e s u l t s i n a ctdema-te beccuse

is obvioi~sly Lqposs2bl.e f o r the riachinery ~ i h i c h mmufactures tapered

s p i r a l f lutv reamem t o bc adapkd f o r 'che production of branciy bails,

fn "App l i can~ , " t h ~ confsion.tation i s between PEss PifLs, 8. supes-

efficien-b representa t ive o f the s:i.slem, m d Lar~b (W s ignif icance of t he

aale becomes O ~ Y ~ O L L C F T ~ I 'Lhe slaughLer cor~~nencos), an eages, cheerful 2nd

enf,husiastie yo~mg iiiaui, N i s s P i f f s soP6ens Lmb up by pukbing e lect rodes

on E s p d m s and earphones on h i s head and giving him a j o l t of e l e c t r i e i t y

t h a t sencls h i n 1 o u h o l h i s chxir , R e i - r~ te~"roga tor Lhcn proceeds t o

t'intexviewll La& with a t e c h i q u e t h a t s t a r t s xi%h g e n e r d q ~ ~ e sJcions and

P I S : After your clayls wo-slr do you ever feeL t i r e d ? Edgy? Frctty? I i t ? Rii a loose end? 1Iorose? Fructrateed? Horbld? Ui?&le t o concen-trab: Unable t o sleep? Unable Lo eat? Unable t o rezoin s e a b d ? Unablc Lo r m a i n iiprigh%? Lustful? Indol.enL? . . . 4

Riss PLf f s TLPLUI-L "C lmow if he 2s %i-lego in-I;aclafJ a a l ii womn frigkten

MT (pp, 135-~-36), S ~ E then prescvs a but ton which plunges the stage i n t o

~edncgs, ~dhich flashes on m d of f i n time vsith her qucsf3.oxzs,

an applicarri; f o r a job, bwb an a p p l i c a n t f o r IEss ~iff's ssxual favors as I

weil, The brahwashing 2s mpposed t o r e f l e c t t h v ~oeehaniza"cion of: 2n.-

dustxy and show how such ~iechanization vlc t imizes hman beings, birt ac t i ia i ly

it 2s E s s PifX"Ps sexxal obsvssiori (hmian) t~hich becomes the v i c t l n i z e r of

Lanb and herself, In L~ying t o manipuiate Laib, Niss Piffs mveais t h z t

she 2s a sexwally. obsessed neurotic. Her emp1.o-yerc have not been abPe t o

supp~ess the instTnctztciE p a r t of her na tums In Lhis skelch, TE see again

how the j.rzevi"cbls confrontation removos t h e surface mask and exposes th?

r e a l pexson beneath,

CETAPTER V1

T B ELE4ETJTS OF Cl~OEL'i'Y-- COITCLUS EOIq

1 I

TEE R00N

All the elements of t he T'nea'ccsi of Cmel-Ly aye present i n Harold P in t e r ' s

I d ~ c e s t he cx't~elty i s not ad-equately developed. P in tv r introduced in his

J '1

\

flrst play thc room o r enclosed space :.rhere t h e bat.i;Jss f o r con'evol, do~njnancb I

I beneath a cmonpla,co ex'tzrioxt. The b l ind k g r o , RSey, i s "ce agcnt thilJG,

supposediy produeec victi_riizatlon, arid. 'chus exposure of t he inner l i f e o i , /

the cha~acterc, In Lhz proeess of v ic t in iza t ion , thr N e g ~ o i s ?si.mself

vietixlzed and destroyed By Bert Ihdd, Pin-i ;e~ fa3-1.s Lo ma!m t he &gso

an ef fec"ci.se agent 09 t-ic'tYnizabion cmd exToswe, Confu s ion i s cmated by

t 3 e n;eLod~mat%c ending when Ber'C, who has no t spoken through -tkre ea~lgr paint

p l a ~ , makes a long spcach about h o ~ he drove E s vm, and strilces " c h e

!moelting h t n i down, and kielcs lxis head agains'e t he gas stoveo Es the \

Negro memt Lo be Lhe vi~tlm oS BerL o r i s t he Begro supposcd 'CO be the

agent wl~e~eby- Eerb ' s e ssen-t ; idly vio'ren-t nature is xeleased azzd giveii expre s-

sion? I h l r e thg LaYtvr vi.~5br bu@ the emphasis i s conf13sed~ The blin&ng of

Rose a l s o creates confusion because th3 g e n e r d assump-l;io:il i c tha"c"ck 5bl.indin.g

touched the Negro, no t from Bert assaul t ing him and eausing a t r ans f e~ence

OS grUlt t o the ~ J i f e , manifes-bed a s blindness, The Negro i s rneant t o ,

cause c? change 5.n t he li.vt?s of' Eert md Rose by affec-l;j.ng each ono of t,hern

independently, re leas ing t he metaphysica3. o r inner lif e witi?in Lhern, ht

~ o n f ~ s i o n recu1Ls frorn t he fact t h a t there has been no M b r - a c t i o n between

Bert and the Negro befol- the asca ,~i i t takes place, In odcher words, the

Negro has no t al-tempted Lo man5pnlate Bart 2n the tmy %hat he has "ued t o

man2pulate Roses Ber"c' s ac"ei.un i n s-i;rtlcing "ce Mega comes froin a des i r s

t o bSit Sche strength hs has accpired dr iv ing anzd guidring his van over an

i c y road, H i s speech about the vaq, t he only long speech he. hac i n dche

BETI', . . . I caned h e r aIong, She was p o d 5 Then I gotback , 7: coulcl See t he r o a d a l l gnighto Tlzere T-mc no carc, One there was, He wouldn ' t movee I b i ~ ~ p e d h5n. I goL my road, I had a l l n y way.

'There a.gaLn mc3 back. They shoved out of it, I kept on the sLraigfit5 Tlier-e was 110 mj'iKing it, Not ~ & t h her. Sha was good. She wen% with me, She don '-G mix it -r.&-bh neo I use ny band, Like tl?aJc. I got fio1.d of her, 3: go ~chero I go, She took rne -t;liesieo She brought me back,a

The b l ind Gcgxo, I believe, is mearrt t o semw a fimction s i n i l a r t o

characlers has bven l i f%ed "co soine ex%enJc, especially in the cace oi B~?r-b ,

bu-L there is n o t thhat sense of necessity or absolute d o t e r n i n i m woridng

Harold Pinte: es a high l e v e l of d etwl o p e n t

i n the one a c t p lay f o r voices, L a i l d c c ? ~ presented on BBC radio, April 25,

1968. Pin te r cuggestc the pi.ocess of vici;irnization and the c w e l t y 0 i

existente sol-ely "c~rough th3 d idogue of tlhe two charac-bers, Beth and Daff, a

middlo-aged eoup2e. Violence has coxpletely disappeared from t h e p l y and

so has t he melaphysical h a g e such as 'che 14a.i;clzsel-ler and LI?v b l ind Xepo,

B& -Yne inner 15-vos of Beth 2nd kff are st-bll m t h l c s c l y edxposed, no t through

t he in tmsioi? of an ou"ci.de agenl, but through -i;lieir own ~ f l e c t i o n s , T i ~ s e

a r e t he voices of % Y T ~ souls i n torinei% The imny i v tha'c BcLh and hff xp-

pear t o be coniplefxly unawai?e of rrha"chey are doing 'co each other, and. they

do not appeaT t o hear each othxr, But both a r e I-onging f o r love and coxpuiion-

sXp, %eZr inabi%l.ty ts acilieve t26 s Pntirnata coyri~rmica'cion whLle u t t e r i n g

angubskasd p leas f o r it, cons- t i tx tss the c rue l t y i n %he ~ 1 2 . y ~ 'f3e"c and Duff

aye sorrants in, a 1 z ~ g e corrn'cry es'cate, l i v i n g and trorking together, but

rnemorks. Pinteer has csea"cc1 a NLandc@apetl for eaeh of then aiid these tvo

$ S a rough, mascilliize ale, made up of the atnosphere of pubs and park xalks

th@ hancl2fing of beer kegs:

A cell-amia~-~ i s t h r man xesponsibie, He's the ea-rlies-i; up in the r n o ~ n i n g ~ Give -th drapnan. a hand wiYn the b a r m l s . Do~m the d o p e throiigh tlie cellavil,?.p~. Lomr theiii by rope "c the' rocks, Rock them om the be l ly , pu-t; a r5-n up then, use bdancc 2nd leveraga, M-ke 'c3.c;~ up oll-to Lhe l^ac!cse 2

Bethfs Imctseapc i s the sea sind sand, aiid m i s t on the x'iver, Hc>r

shows boLh 1evel.s operating s ~ ~ % a m o u s I y bu.L mver i n ha~nony, The pZay

mcl. -&e CI$-(.-I; of pezs, pisscs tm -'&e r ~ a 9 3 . und is conder!mcd by W i r cloetosn bacaiinsa

i n a sense, ic txying t o r i d hbseif of

tilna'ce chi ld by hin: and t h i s i s i con-l;r Ibu t ing fac'cor 'co h i s sense of

victimj-za1.ior-1 by 'che doc-tor which h a s b::ov.ght Idoyeeck t o Lhe s t a t e cf

rnahess whers he can perfo:tqm the k i l l ing . The 'ehr-ee month diet of peas,

t h e t h r ea t s and ini;ir,-j.daGion, combined x i t h j e d o u s y and a sense of gui1t9

WOYZECK Are you freezing, Mv,rie? And s"c1 youlrc so warn, Your l i p s are ho"c,s cocaist Hot as coals, Lhe ho'c b rea th of a whored And s t i l l I9d give up heaven just t o k i s s Lhcm zgain, Are you freezing? 'kfiun yopxf~e cold through, you wonlt freeze any more, Tle moming dew von t t , fl-eeze you.,

MA3JE bhat are you tsllcing about?

WOYZECK Nothing (s i lence)

WOYZEGK Lkkc a dword washed in blood,

l.iOYZEClC (s tabc xauLy) Take %hat and tha"c ?&y ccin f t you die? Tk.,eTe J lliereb Ha, shs s sti l l chiveringl S t i l l BOG dead? Still shiveri.ng? ( s t ~ b b i n g a,L her again) Aye you des-d? Deadd b a d 2 (be drops the M f e and -mns amy) (pe 17)

In Lhe conclizding scene, an Lhe morgue, S~oyzeck s-tands i n th3 inidst of

a graup of c iv i c offie:id-s, l o o k h g dwinbly a t the body of plarieo Th:: stage

m a n has energed cirid dlod, Voy-zdc, a'c t l~s clirnax, 1s an au-tornatcn, ~ r i t h a

modern ago and const i t i i tes a t o t a l and ~gadicai. b~eal: ~ & t h the c l a s s i c a l

t r ad l l ion . Voyzeclc is a victLqP bot a c l a s s i ca l hel-o:

. 1% is rough, v io len t 2 ~ d wr i t -hn i n a popuiar idioin: above al l , ho~rcver, it abandons the c l a s s i ca l conceptioiz of tragedy i n thaL it has no hero i n the classica3. sense, an excep%i.onal indivilua.)_ vhc defbes the rnom3. order throu.gh gu3J.t a r i s i ng fron the depths of his personalli'cy which he nohly and proud2.y @a.kes upon h3hseI.f. Buclmer's &neck i s no such hero---he i s a vict im driven t o g u i l t by a socie ty t h a t manipulates him l i k e a pnppe'c, T b doc'cor t:ho uses poor fdoyzeclr as a gujnea-pig i n a. s c i e n t i f i c e-xperirnent and so involv'es kim i n personai. tragedy and g u i l t i s an a . s % ~ n i s h h g an'cicipa'ci.on of develop- ments ~rhjch Xr, Rzlc'nne~t s o m tim2 on ly a gewiius of a2mos.t superm-an p~cscience coiil-d c31vinee E'or here we haw m a n enslaved by scbence, t h e basic problei, of our own age, from E'c ler!s con en t ra t ion cmps t o the e f f e c t s of nu.clear Jcests on m b o m child-LIene 5

a cenhxy &-i;aildgs vls ion of man and E s concept of absolute deteminism:

9 have been sLudyPng the his-toxy of t he Fx~nch R e v o l ~ t i o n ~ 1 have feEt as i f cnzchgd br.ica:th the gmesoine fa.lct/rl.sn of HisLojrys L 523-nd i n hm~;*ri nature a -t,eri-if3-ing samenzss, i n thc human condition an

I exora,ble fort-, gymted t o d3 axnd t o noneo The incllviiiual rriere iyoi":q on the mvs, greatne& sheer ehance, t h s rnastvrgr of geniuc a. rilarionette pl-ay, a ri.dlculouc struggle aga5nst brazen l a ~ ; "c or ognize %L9 "ce suprenie achievenien-L, 'co con-Lrol. it impossible, . 8

i n the gi1os"c.c sense of a l i v i n g whrirl~6nd "tat devours t'n2 d a r h e s s , i n

t he sense of Vnat pain aps% from rfhose bneltic.table necessi'cy l i f e c o ~ i 2 ~

no t continue , (pp, 102-103).

i n the r:o:ck of Earold Pinkxl:

W e r y t h i n ~ fs fumy untiZ t he horror of 'che h17zi22-n s i t na t i on r i s e s %c t h e siLx%2:rce . . . I S e ES f'urmy becnuss it i s arbi."cary, based or i X u s i o n s und self decc?p-t;ions, I5.l:e Skmley 's d r e m t h a t he 1s going on a w o ~ l d ~ O P W as a pi3nicl , beeause it i s b u i l t out of ps."i-.teii~e zmd thn ~ P O ~ S U I I B wer-estiilicztion each indivir iu~l . maites of h i r ~ s c l f , But 2.n orrr ~msen t -day s.ro~ld, every-bhing i s unce:c-Lab arid rekaljL.e, Them is i-io f ixzd poir1.t; 1%:~ oPc ~i r~i~our ic l$d . by thv 0 7

Esd-hn then quo-les Pinter dircctly, on l h e next s.i;ep: "e . . the f a c t

%hat it is verging on the unlcno>mlleads uc t o the zlext s-bep, which seexs

t;o occm i n my plays* Therv i s a kind of horros about and I t h k k t h a t

t h i s horror and absurdity t o togotiier.li

It is t11a-t "hom*or of Lhe hman s i l u a t i o n rising t o tlh surfacc,Il

as EssLin says, %hat cons t i t u t e s cruelty, and the princripal method by

whrch t h i s c m e l l y i s nianifested i n FIarold P in te r ' s p2a-ys 9 3 t h r o ~ ~ g h

vic t imiaat lon,

FOOTNOTES

CHAPTER I I

Antonin Artaud, The Theater and I t s Double (New York, 1950)$ p. 13. All subsean~n"cef'eeseences Lo, and?fuia-ti-ons f'";om, The Theater and ILs Double are frorn t h i c edi t ion, --

b r o l d P in te r , Prograime note f o r perfomance of Yne Zoo~% 2nd The - Dunib kJai"cvr, Royal Cow-t Theatre, London, March 1960, ci ted b 7 ' l a r t i n P

~ ~ ~ l l ~ h ~ Theatre of Lhe Absurd, rev. ed. (liannondsworth, l~~icldlesex, -- 19681, pp4 2 7 3 - 2 7 7 -

3 3 a ~ o l d Pinter , i n an interview rvith Larrrence H. Benslcy, Paris Revie-z, XXXIX (Pd1 1966), was asked wlrich ~nxi"ce7.s inflirenced hirn the Est, and he said, %xl<e-i;t and Kafka stayed with me Lhe most--I th ink Rsckett i s b e s t pross w r i t e r l i v ing t l (pp, 19-20)

5 Cmu& Beclcett, rf&$ga~e,~ The I!odem Pieatre ed. Robe& 31. Corr igm --.=.-.-;-9

(?km Yoric, 196h) , po 874.

Ii The concam iribh t he season of the yyea r d a t i n g t o thc even.ls i n the l ives oa" human boings rnc?y-'mEiec.'G PinJcerts i n t c ~ e s t in a eyc l iea l EerKii4,jr x5i-i;uaJ,. The i r o n i c con-kmst be"cw8en thc sca,son of thc yea: ancl th9 E n d of e u e n h takinf ; place high-bens i n t m e s t :in the play, Si~iee Pin-ber i s ou."co build. up a coniposike picture of rzan as hv reall,%y exis'cs, he laay b e tuyine; t o show us -i;lic cyc1.e o f mmls existente Ssn<srn binsth t o d~ath, through r e l a " e ~ g a.rche%ypdly t o Lhe seasons of t he year, --.-~&-.-L-.J A Sli.~h'i; Aehe concerned. ~ri.Gh i;cx~xd. victriidzxlion, a l s o t 2 . k ~ ~ pla,ce in. i n i d - s m n x e ~ , tliz height o f t f i v grotaing saa,,son, For zn

ci'ced iil

Cha.8-e s Karowi ts, Pin.i;e~-im i s Bxinrrnmn Tension Tiirough Kr&ainn Info~mstion, New Y o ~ k Times Ma~areine October 31, 1967, p, 92, ------------- o-- 3

/'

Guichmr'~avd~ Iloclem F m m h Theat-c, p. 228 ------*---

D Ibid. 9

TeSe B.l.ci$ IT"i':: Iio1Io.r:. Ecn, Selcc-bed Poms ( L O Y ~ ~ O I I ~ 1956) pe 8 0 ~ -P-------

Harold Pinter, I1A Kight OcL, H ---P- A Sligii t . Ach-aer Plays (London, .-. ---. 1.961)~ p, 82. subsequent references and qu.o'cations aTe frorQ this edi t ion,

Essl in, The Thexbre of the Absurd9 p. -P-

287.

,

Harcld Pinter , "Trouble i n Lhe Tr'oric-., -2 A S l i r h t Ache 2.3d Othcr Plays-, London, 1961), P. 123. A i 1 subceqiient references m d quotations are f r o a t h i s ed i t ion ,

Harold P i n k r , "Applicant, Plavs (London, 1961) p, 1-35. A l l subcequent ~ f e r e n c e s from Y f i l i edi t ion.

Harold P in te r , The Kooin," Ths Room and t h e Dumb Naiter (~ondon, 1960) p, 32, All , subsequen"~ references and qu=-~ions a r e frorn -bkils edi l ion,

* Harold Pinler, Landscme P-- (hndon, 1960), p. 7. All subsequent references and guota-tions ase Erom t b i s edi t ion,

Earo3.d Pinter , i n h w i e r r u l t h H a l l m Tennyson, c i t -d by Kartin Ess l in i n 'I'he Theatqe ,of -bbe-A?& p o 2739

Burhan, Ka'ches5n.e He l l P i n t e ~ t s A S l i g h t k h e as Ri%uXL. XE, iii (Dveeuibc? ~ 9 6 8 ) ~ 326-.435.

Dick, Kay, liTi;rr, PinLvr and Jche Yearf ii2 Matter, Texas Quax%erl_v2 SV, jij. W" w------"-&.,-

(Au-hxn b961-), 25;7-26So

lonesco, %gc"nc, "WoLu:? on 11% Thecbre, Trans, Leona~d C, Pm;lko, Tu.3-ane --W-

VZI, 3.5:; (2Jpy.i-ng 19 6 3 ) , :%27-:i-L;9 @

____n____n_______n_3-

. Lntexview 16th Nallam Tennyson, Cihbed by Ika%in EssZin in 'fie -P-e Thea"ere of the Ab=-. rev. ed, Hamondsl.ro~?Lh, F4iddlecex9 1968,

272.

--- . Progrzxm~e N o t ~ f o r perfommnce of T&&o~md ThcyQurA l ~ ~ ~ r R e y a l Court T h e a t n , London, 14xxch 1960, CiLed bg i a r t i n E c s l i n i n I ' M ~ LkeaLre of 'ekie Abs-xd, rcv, ed, Harmondsworth, Ididdlesax, 1968, PP. -Lpf"4~% *

S~hechn~ r, Fichard , flPuz.zZing Pin-her, !' 'hla~ie Dmma Review X I , ii casl-aim~"*-^-.i-rii-a-^.ild (bJin'tcr 1966)~ 3.6%

Allen, Louiso 1fAnt.on5.n Artaud: CruelLy and R e d i t v , " I)i~r;iam Unive~si'bv Journal., JJVIII, New Ser iec , AXVIL ~~~mZd:------ . .

hend., Vic to~l E. I r Harold Entere-Some Credits and Debits. 11

?'Iodem LSi.am, X, &i ( s e ~ t e x b e r 1969, 165-171.\, .

____M

IlStajnlc Att i tudec i n the \?est EhEi TZ:e~*.tre, '6he R 1 5 t i s h L%irm'tion ---* : A C : r r i ~ ~ ~ - S ~ y q r ~ : f ' t he At%s, Reprir~ted f rom %"iE-J&~x3.~.-qy S-~mlgIF-p.~ London, Cas seSX arid Canpmy, 1961, 96-%03.

-- . ffT29k of Lhe Sown, !I New Yorker, Februnq- 25, 1967.

Ayd.en, Johl , I1Fot? t o Unders-band. Hell, Ir T_,It__L.,th P=- CenLllp~ ( ~ ~ i n t e r 1961~-65) ,, %'-J-OXe

---__U-

ItEeyond b a l i s r n : The na.ys of Ha,rold Pintey, 1' Mode.im Drama, VILE (SepA~ernb'er 1 ~ 6 6 ) ~ 181;-191. -------

Bryden, %snzld, tfThms Ne11 in a R o m g v Mcw Stxkesman LVIX . ~ ~ _ _ _ _ _ ~ - , . " 2 (JVII~ 26, 196/4), %OOhO

-----W* ltA S~in lc of PinLer, -----A Mew S t a A e ~ m a a 5 X I X ( J U ~ 1-1, 1965)~ 928,

Chabrove, L,E, Vha Pains of B d n g DCT ~ t i f i e d , ' ~ Kcnyon Revier XXV, i (b~iinter 196:) , 142-d9. - . - -29

Cook, Daxld, Huriold Fe Rrookso "A Room With Tnree V i e w s : Hrtrol.d PbnLrst s P = The Care.P;akerb d

-."--2 Koms I ( ~ 9 6 7 ) ~ 6 2 ~ 6 9 ~

Dulcme, Bemard, tiThe Tneatre of Haro1cI P in t e ro t l Wane Drama Revier.~, - VI, iii (Narch 1962), 43-53.

. "A Wonianqs Place. Q w . r t e ~ l y Journal of speech, LII 1966)~ 237-2LJ-e

Kerr, Wai-ter, liThe Careta 'xe~,~~ The Thzat-~e. 3j1 Spi-te o f ItseZf , New Yorlc, Simon and S C ~ ~ Y T ~ T 3 ~ f j : ~ ~ 0

Kershaw, J o h , The Present Stage: P k w Directions in the The a-i;m T o d a v o " - " L o ~ d ~ n ~ ~ ~ a s g ow, C ~ ~ ~ ~ a ~ books, 19b67im

and Faber, 1966,

FkllRiinnie, Bonzld, In tvr- r ie~r by !loberb Rabens, Tsansatlm tic; P------.

Revie~, X I 1 ( spr ing 1963) 311-36. P"

Malpac, Edvani Re 1fA Cz21;ica.l Arid..ycis of t h e Stage PLays of IIarold PinLer, kpubl ishod d o c t o r a dissvrtabion, University o f ~~dicconsin, 1966, ,

IJiaroe:rE-i;z, Chayles, I ~ N ~ I J \iJ;k~-e i i l a Dead Ssao f f A Qiia~Jcex-+jy Reirie~r -W. '.--.-.---3

I, iv (October 1960)~ 270-277,

Mash Gerald, llPinLesn's Ikme coming, Drwa Su:mey3 vx, asi ( s p ~ h g 1968)~ 246-27b

Crimes oL' Passion: The P;rrfSi;tr7 on The Sta i r ------_Y_rr_=. ]qrp<n ghnm Ccin p. Y ] ~ o ~ ~ T - - ' ~ - - ~ x ~ ' - - - * - - - ~ - - ~ e-Lhwii, o l , u--=-ir-*iu ----a 2-

I

Pesta, John. " P i n k r s Usurpers, Ir D r n a Survey, V1 (spring 1967)~ 54-65.,

Simon, Jok.1, "Thuatm Chronicle," --- Ths Ni~Ison R ( sp r ing 1967)~ %OC;-Uke