Identity Anxiety And Identity Construction

Harold Pinter (1930-2008),2005Nobel Literature laureate, is not only a distinguished British playwright, poet, essayist, director and actor, but also a thinker and political activist. Pinter has written29stage plays throughout his life, which mounts to the pinnacle of British drama in the later half of the20th century and receives tremendous international acclaim as well.One of the dominant themes in all of Pinter’s plays is the character’s identity anxiety and identity construction. Pinter vividly depicts how the anxiety-inflicted characters struggle to find a stable self, while their identities are in a perpetual state of changing. This paper aims to discuss the theme of identity anxiety and construction in depth.This paper consists of five chapters. Chapter one first gives an overview of the dissemination of Pinter’s theatrical works conducted by both Chinese and Western scholars. It goes on arguing the significance of selecting this topic for the dissertation. This chapter also illustrates the theories on identity construction. Identity is not an inborn trait, but rather a product of social practices. Identity is formed and constructed through interaction between the self and the others around, and is subject to external changes. The existence of every individual is bound to be constructed by the others. But as individuals have subjective initiative, they can also take various approaches to actively or even proactively construct the identities themselves. The self-construction and others’ construction are concurrent and interactive. The theoretical framework of this paper is based on the interplay between self and others in identity construction.The second chapter explores the reasons for Harold Pinter’s reflection on identity anxiety and identity construction in his plays. The paper points out that Pinter’s reflections on identity construction are influenced by a string of social and historical factors, as well as his unique personal experiences. To start with, growing up in humble family milieu, Pinter witnessed the hardships of the "marginalized" who struggled to survive. Secondly, his fearful memory of the Second World War, the protracted Cold War and other conflicts increased his sense of uncertainty. Next, as a Jewish descendant living in Britain, Pinter was torn between Jewish and British cultures, which resulted in his inability to develop cultural identity toward either of the two. Meanwhile, years of acting and directing made Pinter further realise the fluidity of one’s identity. Finally, as a well-read intellectual, Pinter was encouraged to deliberate on identity construction by absurdist theatre and its embedding Western modern philosophy. Although Pinter often reiterated that he did not have any pre-conceptions when he was writing, his mentality and psychology, molded by his particular social cultural background and personal experiences are decisive in mapping out his presentation of identity anxiety and identity construction.Chapter three mainly discusses how the characters in Pinter’s plays are constructed by others. This chapter first defines the term "others" and then goes on explain its implications."Whoever or whatever that is beyond oneself, which existence is outside oneself, regardless of its form, visibility, perceivability, is considered as ’others’". In a nutshell,"identity" is one’s introspection of "who I am". One’s self-identification is based on others’identification to him/her. Due to the fact that the self and the others are mutually defined and constructed, the two are not only interdependent and mutually identifiable, but are also in a paradox where their respective identities are the result of their conflicts, negotiations and compromises. This chapter goes on discussing how the "others" in Pinter’s dramas i.e. society, workplaces, families etc., discipline and construct the characters via particular measures and approaches. Firstly, the society has constructed these figures as the marginalised, the silenced and the apathetic. At the same time, in order to "produce" obedient citizens which match the needs of social development, the rulers suppress and tame the people through specific workplaces, organizations and individual families. Some of these institutions adopt approaches such as brainwashing, identity labelling, monitoring, imprisonment and violence to discipline their internal individuals and those outside. Families as basic tools and units of patriarch society are also committed to maintain the male superiority with "internal colonization" practices. However, feminist movements and the awakening of female consciousness have encouraged women in Pinter’s theatrical works to take opportunities to pursue emotional satisfaction in addition to their traditional role as a good wife and loving mother. Therefore, they are often drifting between two categorically different roles—the "angel in the house" and the "loose vamp". The existence of such women, in turn, constructs the identities of men in family relations. They either become "machos" who are strong outward yet weak inside, or "mama’s boy".Chapter four mainly analyses how Pinter’s characters accomplish self-construction. Pinter specialises in depicting the life and struggles of the unprivileged, who are in the lowest social class, and are more sensitive about their identities. Thus they usually take whatever chances and do whatever they can to gain more power, and to improve their identities:physical temptation, discourse power fights, turf wars, storytelling and self-nomination etc. Despite their relentless efforts to construct a socially respectable identity, they do not take actions to stand up to the powerful "others" that construct and discipline them; instead, they just disparage other petty figures much alike themselves to unleash their psychological stress and improve their self-esteem. As a result, their self identity-construction is not effective.The fifth chapter examines the relations of the identity construction motif and Pinter’s artistry. That is, the dominating theme of identity anxiety and identity construction greatly shapes Pinter’s artistic features. In the first place, Pinter’s characters have rather ambivalent identities which are hard to pinpoint. Although they are family members, lovers, friends and co-workers, they can hardly get to know each other’s true identity. Herein lies the mysterious ambiance and the beauty of ambivalence which can be appreciated in many of Pinter’s theatrical works. Meanwhile, the characters are constantly defining and redefining themselves. As a result, these characters always seem suspicious and baffling. The multiplicity, complexity and unverifiability of the characters’identities cause their interpersonal relationships seem both familiar and aloof; the exclusion and interdependence in identity construction drives them to form alliance based on common interests, and fall apart due to mutual conflicts. Furthermore, the competition between self and others are often less than explicit, turning the conflicts in Pinter’s drama to a kind of psychological conflict; while the characters’ambiguous motives, their constantly developing images plus some absurd occurrences and an open end have imbued the drama with a mysterious atmosphere which stimulates the readers’ imagination and curiosity and makes the writing more dynamic.The conclusion part stresses that the artistic presentation of identity construction not only contributes to the diversity and profundity of the social implications of Harold Pinter’s drama, but also brings about the innovative values of his writings.