An Ethical Study Of Harold Pinter’s Drama

Harold Pinter is one of the greatest English dramatists of the post-World War Ⅱ era. He has made a great contribution to the reevaluation of drama in British literature. While he keeps on renewing and seeking changes innovatively, the ethical topics remain the core content of his oeuvre, in which the unique "Pinteresque" and responsibility are involved. In2005, the award of the Noble Prize for Literature to him demonstrates the praise and the honor both for his artistic achievements and the ethical ideology conveyed in his writings.In this dissertation, the major approach to his writings is the Literary Ethical Criticism, together with the biographical, psychoanalytic, and social historical criticism, trauma theory, narratology, and the like. Based on the close reading, diachronically and synchronically, this paper mainly focuses on the four ethical themes:marriage, parent-child relationship, morality and justice, and anti-war. In order to explore the unique dramaturgy and artistic innovations, and to reveal the profound ethical ideology in Pinter’s canon, the study is particularly emphasized on probing the ethical elements in his works, including the ethical contexts of writing and reception, the ethical relationship, the ethical identity, the ethical choice, the ethical space and the ethical edification.Apart from Introduction and Conclusion, this dissertation is composed of the four parts:The Introduction makes a brief introduction to the Harold Pinter’s50years of literary experiences. A literature review is on the study of Pinter in China and abroad, especially on the different critical methods. Based on it, the plan, methods and significance of this dissertation are presented.Chapter I places its emphasis on the martial ethics involved in Pinter’s drama, such as The Lover, Landscape, and Betrayal. These plays not only show the reflections on Pinter’s life experience, but also on his active response to the social and ethical transformation during1960s-1970s. By analyzing the artistic techniques such as role-switching, interior monologue and flash-back narration, thispart intends to decode the beginning, development and result of the extramarital relationship as well as to demonstrate the fact that Man is an existence of Sphinx factor, fully involved with the ethical conflicts among rational will, free will and irrational will. The extramarital relationship is resulting from the uncontrolled free will as well as the irrational willovercoming the moral obligation. At the same time, the negative effects resulted from the extramarital love is also emphasized. The study of ethical situations is crucial since the conflicts of wills cause or restrain the extramarital love in different ethical contexts. In construction of harmonious marital-relationship in contemporary China, the ethical edifications involved in the plays could be used for reference. Chapter II makes an exploration to parent-child relationship based on the close reading of The Homecoming, A Night Out and Moonlight. The typical discussion in these plays is about the broken family structure and the discord with each other. While presenting the failed appeal of Luth’s identity in The Homecoming, Pinter tries to illustrate his idea about the family value:the family is only an "empty shell" without the family warmth. Luth’s failure also reflects that the materialized social value pervade and smash the traditional family value and relationship. In A Night Out, the underlying cause of conflicts between mother and son lie on the dramatic changes of the family structure, which brings about the ethical problems in the single-parent family. By designing a one-divided-into-three stage, in Moonlight, Pinter presents an alienated family. Nevertheless, the eager wishes to communicate and to maintain the family bond always keep on. The filial duty is emphasized while the Andy’s three children give different response to the parents love.Chapter III probes into the justice and morality shown in Pinter’s drama, especially about the abuse of authority, authoritarianism and other social injustices in the later oeuvre, such as One for the Road, Mountain Language,Party Time and etc.. One-act One for the Road is a pivotal play, which represents his first extended dramatic confrontation with the abuse of authority as a public issue, as well as the turning point of his literary claim. As an interrogator, Nicolas regards the "authority supremeness" as his only ethical belief and principle. The choice of being powerful-self activates his animal factors, demonstrated by a series of irrational behaviors, which not only brings about a disaster to the Victors but also makes himself lose family’s love and become the victim of totalitarian and violence. By the moral exemplum of Nicolas, Pinter tries to manifest that any governing that makes the so-called "public interests" overpower the individual interests would eventually become the tyranny.The brutality of language, physical tortures, and the family affection are demonstrated in Mountain Language. Avoiding any direct condemns or well-made patterns, these plays present the evils and injustices artistically, and make the readers or audiences think about the ethical edifications involved.Chapter IVexpounds on the anti-war topic in Pinter’s later writings. Taking his ethical stand both as a writer and a citizen, Pinter makes us to reflect on the trauma which is brought by the war and the atrocity around the world in Ashes to Ashes and his war poetry. By presenting Rebecca’s traumatic experience of the loss of daughter, in Ashes to Ashes, Pinter innovatively applies the artistic techniques such as intertextuality and trauma narrative, and extends the profound theme which explores the history of the Holocaust as well as the atrocity in the contemporary world. Accordingly, these writings reflect Pinter’s worries and anxieties during the post-Holocaust times.The Conclusion summarizes the main ideas discussed in the previous four parts. By integrating the Literary Ethical Criticism with other criticism, the dissertation provides a new perspective to the study of Harold Pinter, especially on the formation and development of ethics reflected in his works, which demonstrate the ethical edifications and Pinter’s strong sense of responsibility. Moreover, this dissertation also explores the essence of "Pinteresque", within which Pinter’s drama combines the diverse themes and artistic techniques perfectly. Thus, this study may give enlightenment and inspiration to the contemporary Chinese dramatic writings and the moral constructions when Chinese traditional morality is confronting the crisis.