Everyone in The Homecoming Thinks they Have 'the Power'. But who does have it?

Clearly no one in the house has 'the power'. The rivalry caused by the lack of a dominant force is the only reason the 'family' is able to function at all.

Max considers...

The works of Harold Pinter question the traditional views of language and communication, asking the audience to reconsider the hierarchal relationship between speech/silence, presence/absence, and the role of each opposition in the struggle for...

In The Homecoming, Harold Pinter suggests that there are two types of women: whores or mothers. The whore, he believes, can have little success in family life; the mother, on the other hand, can create a successful family. Pinter’s statement is...

In Harold Pinter's Moonlight, discordant scenes create a state of transition for the characters, who are facing the death of family patriarch Andy. Throughout the play, Pinter sets up scenes which would not fit logically into a linear story. Old...

The contrast between illusion and fact functions as the central focus of countless texts in the canon of English literature. The subject occupies a prominent position in a diverse array of genres and forms, among which is that of the modern...

The word ‘absurd’ is derived from the Latin ‘absurdus,’ which consists of the prefix ‘ab’ denoting ‘from,’ and the stem ‘surdus’ meaning ‘deaf.’ ‘Deaf’ can be further interpreted as ‘unable to hear’ or, by implication, ‘unwilling to listen’. [1]...

As a satire of greed and corruption in early postcolonial Nigeria, Wole Soyinka’s play The Trials of Brother Jero revolve around three characters’ markedly different approaches to asserting power for themselves and over others.

Brother Jero’s...

Language in the “Birthday Party” is seen as a major theme of the play, despite its absurd nature. Through the use of language, Pinter creates silences that are monumental to the meaning and overall understanding of the play. With language, Pinter...

Both Harold Pinter and Tennessee Williams depict vivid and intimidating oppositions in their characters Stanley Kowalski and Goldberg and McCann. The oppositions in both A Streetcar Named Desire and The Birthday Party strive to assert their power...

Truthfulness in the Birthday PartyThe presentation of truthfulness in Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party varies during the play. Pinter effectively uses ellipsis, short sentences, lexical choice and stage directions to show the existence of truth...

The drama The Dumb Waiter was written by the well-known playwright Harold Pinter. This drama is considered as an absurd play. Absurd playwrights wrote plays in order to bring out the purposelessness and the meaninglessness of life of the 20th...