Betrayal (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Harold Pinter
- First Published: 1978
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1970’s
- Setting: England
- Principal Characters: Emma, Jerry, Robert
- Genres: Social realism, Domestic realism, Drama
- Subjects: 1970’s, Love or romance, Authors or writers, Marriage, Betrayal, Friendship, England or English people, Adultery, Loyalty, Publishing or publishers, Ethics
- Locales: England
The Play
Betrayal opens with what should traditionally be the story’s closing segment and moves backwards through its characters’ lives during a nine-year period. Scene 1 takes place in 1977 as Jerry, a London literary agent, meets Emma, a gallery manager and the wife of his best friend, for a drink. The two—former lovers whose seven-year affair ended two years earlier—make awkward small talk, catch up on each other’s lives, and reminisce about their affair and the flat they once rented for their assignations. Jerry tells Emma that he has heard she is having an...
[The entire page is 2839 words long]
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