The Theme Of Power In Harold Pinter’s Play

Harold Pinter is one of Britain’s greatest playwrights in the20th century. The term " Pinteresque" derived from his surname is included in the Oxford Dictionary. He also won many major literature awards, among which the Nobel Prize for Literature in2005is a big credit for his significant contribution to drama development.Pinter’s works start with the daily lives of the general public, a lot of power struggles are hidden under the seemingly unremarkable life. Pinter unearthed "the crisis in daily chat" and reproduced the current human situation.This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is about Pinter’s life and the study of Pinter at home and abroad. By now, the study is mostly focused on the works of his early and mid-lagging and practical research falls far behind theoretical research.The second chapter combs the relationship between the characters in the plays of Pinter, by which we can find that the relationship between them is the relationship of power and Pinter’s plays are also expanded by power relations.The third chapter analyzes the language of the characters in Pinter’s plays. Pinter’s plays are known as the "language drama". Language is a major feature of his work. By analyzing dialogues, understanding their deeper meaning, we can clearly recognize that the use of language is one of the methods of power struggle.The fourth chapter analyzes the classic imagery in Pinter’s plays-"room"."Room" is no longer just the field and "props" of the characters, but becomes a part of people’s lives. People fight for power in the room. Meanwhile "room" also represents power, so fighting for room is also common.The fifth chapter makes a conclusion that a major theme of Pinter’s plays is power. The relations between people are power relations, daily life is full of competition for power.