Menace Betrayal Conflict

As one of the greatest playwrights in Great Britain of the twentieth century, Harold Pinter achieves great success and is awarded many important literary prizes, and he is also one of the most widely performed writers. His being awarded Noble Prize for literature in 2005 promotes him to be globally acknowledged. All together, he has presented the world 32 plays so far.This thesis analyzes three plays by Pinter, which are The Birthday Party (1957), Betrayal (1978) and Celebration (1999), from a perspective of New Historicism. With every twenty-year as an interval, the three plays are written respectively in Pinter's youth, middle and senior ages. It is hoped that the study of these three plays could to some extent catch a glimpse of the whole literary creation of Pinter. In addition to the introduction and the conclusion, this thesis is composed of three chapters.Chapter one gives a detailed introduction to Pinter's life experiences in his youth period and makes an analysis of his menace drama The Birthday Party which was written in 1957. World War II, memory of Gestapo, German Nazi's massacre and all these factors influence his artistic and literary creation in The Birthday Party. In the play, Pinter describes a group of people with no identities or backgrounds. Uncertain factor outside of the room threatens people in the room from the beginning of the play to the end. Throughout the whole play, the powerless characters could do nothing to release their sense of worry and fear. In summary, this chapter uncovers the tragic destiny of the protagonist and makes it clear that his sense of menace is the very feeling of the playwright himself. It is the aftermaths of the horrible war.Chapter two explores Pinter's two marriages and their shadows in the drama Betrayal of his middle age. Similar to the extramarital affairs of Pinter, there are betrayals within betrayal in Betrayal. Emma betrays her husband Robert to Jerry, and then betrays Jerry to Casey. Betrayal takes place among couple, lovers and friends. Before they are divorced, Pinter betrayed his wife and involved in a love. By marrying Antonia Fraser in 1980, Pinter betrays both his lover Joan Bakewell and his wife Vivien Merchant. The chapter concludes that Emma's extramarital affairs in the play reflect Pinter's own love affairs and Pinter in the play makes profound thinking about marital relationships.Chapter three sets forward to explore Pinter's political notions and analyses his work Celebration of senior age. Words are instruments for Pinter to announce his political notions, while the dangerous word in Celebration is exactly the weapon in the thinly disguised and the deceptive politics power struggle. Celebration describes the conflict among people that is caused by over-ambitions. The brash and vulgar conversations in Celebration among the roles are the vivid portrayal of the bitterness and hypocrisy of the world where Pinter lives in the twentieth century. Finally, this chapter reaches its conclusion, using a woman's comment on her husband, which very much echoes Pinter's view that"He doesn't normally go in for naked aggression. He usually disguises it under honeyed words."This is also exactly the true portrayal of people and their relationships in the political world.By analyzing Pinter's works from the perspective of New Historicism, the thesis comes to the conclusion that, although Pinter denies that his life influences his works, his youth experience in the war, his own marital confusion in his middle age and his political awareness in his senior years, all exert great influence on his literary creation and prompt him to explore deeper the human condition. A reading of his plays from the perspective of New Historicism will lead to a better understanding of Pinter's plays.