Harold Pinter Criticism
Harold Pinter stands as a towering figure in modern English drama, renowned for his innovative blend of absurdism and social realism that has left a lasting impact on theatre and screenwriting. His body of work, which includes celebrated plays like The Caretaker, The Homecoming, and The Birthday Party, is often characterized by its exploration of power dynamics, failed communication, and psychological tension. Pinter's distinctive style, marked by strategic pauses and the rhythm of everyday speech, captures the nuances of human interaction and the complexities of modern alienation, as noted by critics such as Evelyn Schreiber and Neal R. Norrick and William Baker.
Pinter's early plays, including The Room and The Birthday Party, helped to define the "Pinteresque" style through their fixed settings and ambiguous character motivations, probing deeply into human relationships through language, as discussed by Katherine H. Burkman. These works, termed "comedies of menace," effectively blend absurdist and realist traditions, contributing to the genre's psychological depth and tension.
Beyond the stage, Pinter's prowess extends to radio and film, with adaptations like The French Lieutenant's Woman showcasing his skill at translating narrative complexity into a cinematic form. This aspect of his work is analyzed by Peter J. Conradi. Pinter's film scripts, like The Hothouse, reveal his satirical edge and critique of bureaucratic systems, as highlighted by Rudolf Stamm.
In his later works, Pinter continues to delve into themes of time, reality, and identity. Plays such as A Kind of Alaska examine consciousness and existential questions, contributing to ongoing discourse on identity, as noted by Martin Esslin. Even as he explores more political content, his focus on human relationships and existential angst persists, with works like Betrayal utilizing structures like reverse chronology to explore deception and memory, as analyzed by Enoch Brater.
Pinter's renowned "comedy of menace" style, combining realism with unsettling ambiguity, continues to resonate with audiences and scholars alike. His interest in the superficiality of dialogue, which underscores a deeper inquiry into communication's limits, is critiqued by James R. Hollis and Gareth Lloyd Evans. Despite arguments from critics like Michael Vestey and John Simon that his style can be repetitive, Pinter's exploration of identity, truth, and existential struggle continues to hold significance in modern drama.
Contents
- Principal Works
- Pinter, Harold (Vol. 3)
-
Pinter, Harold (Vol. 15)
-
Films: 'The Proust Screenplay'
(summary)
In the following essay, Stanley Kauffmann argues that Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of Proust's "À la recherche du temps perdu" transcends typical adaptations by reimagining the novel's essence in cinematic form, despite inevitable limitations of character portrayal and narrative focus, demonstrating Pinter's genius in screenwriting.
-
Harold Pinter: A Retrospect
(summary)
In the following essay, Peter Thomson evaluates Harold Pinter's plays, noting their themes of existential uncertainty, social critiques through dialogue, and evolving focus from black comedy to sexual rivalry, while expressing concern over the later works' perceived shift away from dramatic engagement towards lyrical abstraction.
- John Updike
-
From Flux to Fixity: Art and Death in Pinter's 'No Man's Land'
(summary)
In the following essay, Thomas P. Adler examines Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and argues that the play explores the power of memory as a creative force, contrasting it with the finality and fixity of death, which renders memory inert and aligns it with art's static nature.
-
Looking Back
(summary)
In the following essay, Brendan Gill critiques Pinter's "Betrayal" for its lack of depth, as it fails to reveal significant character development or communication insights over time, portraying immature emotions despite the characters' advancing age.
-
Passion Plays
(summary)
In the following essay, Terry Curtis Fox argues that Harold Pinter's work, particularly in Betrayal, consistently explores themes of power, sexuality, and class through a naturalistic style, emphasizing the inevitability of events and the pervasive, yet unacknowledged, influence of irrational passion in human relationships.
-
Square Triangle
(summary)
In the following essay, John Simon critiques Harold Pinter's play Betrayal for its comprehensibility and lack of depth, arguing that its reverse chronology and use of pauses fail to elevate its banality and ultimately portraying the characters as mundane despite Pinter's reputation as an artist.
-
Theater: 'Betrayal'
(summary)
In the following essay, Harold Clurman critiques Harold Pinter's play Betrayal as a work that, while clear in narrative and crafted with meticulous skill, ultimately relies on ambiguity and fails to engage or haunt the audience due to its portrayal of hollow emotions and spiritual emptiness.
-
Journeys to the End of the World
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Brustein critiques Harold Pinter's Betrayal for its focus on the trivialities of overcivilized characters and argues that while the play demonstrates Pinter's dramaturgical skill, it ultimately leaves the audience with a sense of detachment and emotional aloofness akin to Pinter's own perspective.
-
Films: 'The Proust Screenplay'
(summary)
-
Pinter, Harold (Vol. 188)
-
Stream-of-Consciousness and Freud's Primary Process: Comprehending Pinter's Old Times
(summary)
In the following essay, Schreiber discusses Pinter's use of dialogue in Old Times in terms of Freudian psychoanalytic theories of the unconscious mind. Schreiber asserts that Pinter's dialogue resembles the stream-of-consciousness flow of private internal thoughts.
-
Pinter's The Homecoming
(summary)
In the following essay, Bernard comments that Pinter's The Homecoming is structured around a contrast between America and England, according to which America represents a fantasized promised land and England represents the harsh realities of life.
-
Two Quartets
(summary)
In the following review, Kanfer praises Pinter's No Man's Land for its fresh humor, but criticizes the play for its use of ambiguities that seem to be merely gimmicks.
-
The Prime of Harold Pinter
(summary)
In the following essay, Gussow provides an overview of Pinter's life and career.
-
The Slow Unbaffling of the Pinterwatchers
(summary)
In the following review, Campbell praises The Birthday Party for its effective humor and tone of menace. Campbell comments that The Birthday Party is “seen as one of the defining plays of post-war theatre.”
-
Pinter's The Birthday Party
(summary)
In the following essay, Edelman explicates a one-line reference to the game of cricket in Pinter's The Birthday Party.
-
Oh My True Love
(summary)
In the following review, Ford praises Landscape as “one of the most resonant of Harold Pinter's shorter pieces.” Landscape is one of Pinter's dreamier performances, and is certainly less viscerally shocking than anything he had written up to that point. Nearly all of his earlier plays build towards specific and irrevocable acts of aggression which lead to the pivotal characters being either appropriated—like Stanley in The Birthday Party—or expelled, like Davies in The Caretaker. In Landscape, however, the urge towards violence is denied any active dramatic embodiment.
-
Metalingual Humor in Pinter's Early Plays
(summary)
In the following essay, Norrick and Baker assert that much of the humor in Pinter's early plays derives from his masterful use of typical, everyday speech.
-
Review of Old Times
(summary)
In the following review, Ford asserts that Pinter's Old Times is ultimately an unsuccessful play. Old Times, written in 1970, is Harold Pinter's most recessed and uncertain full-length play. It is concerned—like much of his drama—with a triangular relationship, in this case between a man and two women. The characters are all in their early forties. Deeley and Kate are married, and live in a converted farmhouse in the country; here they are visited by Anna, with whom Kate shared a room in London twenty years before. It is the first time they have met since then.
-
Squeak and Bubble
(summary)
In the following review, Morley asserts that a central theme of Hothouse is a triangular power struggle between the characters. Morley comments that Hothouse is both sinister and hilarious.
-
Pinter's The Homecoming
(summary)
In the following essay, Cardullo explicates the significance of Teddy's Uncle Sam in Pinter's The Homecoming.
-
Echoes in the Moonlight
(summary)
In the following review, Abbott offers high praise for Pinter's Moonlight, and discusses its central themes of living versus dead and past versus present.
-
A Kind of Alaska: Pinter and Pygmalion
(summary)
In the following essay, Knowles discusses references to the ancient myth of Pygmalion in A Kind of Alaska, as well as several of Pinter's other plays. Knowles asserts that Pinter's references to Pygmalion function as an allegory for the creative process.
-
Harold Pauses, Antonia Is Silent
(summary)
In the following review, Gill asserts that Pinter's Ashes to Ashes ultimately does not make sense.
-
Review of Collected Poems and Prose
(summary)
In the following review, Rusinko asserts that Collected Poems and Prose demonstrates that Pinter is an accomplished poet, as well as a dramatist.
-
Buried Alive
(summary)
In the following review, Jensen discusses the theme of the confusion of memory and desire in Pinter's Ashes to Ashes.
-
Politics & the ‘Pinteresque.’
(summary)
In the following essay, Steyn discusses elements of political commentary in Pinter's plays.
-
Territorial Imperative
(summary)
In the following review, Morley praises Pinter's The Homecoming as a magnificently plotted drama that is both comic and sinister.
-
Down and Out in London
(summary)
In the following essay, Greer offers a brief, negative assessment of Pinter's career and reputation as a dramatist.
-
The Plots Behind the Plots
(summary)
In the following review of The Life and Works of Harold Pinter, by Michael Billington, Barnwell criticizes the author for providing an overly laudatory biography of Pinter.
-
The French Lieutenant's Woman: Pinter and Reisz's Adaptation of John Fowles's Adaptation
(summary)
In the following essay, Dodson compares the novel The French Lieutenant's Woman, by John Fowles, with its film adaptation, by Pinter. Dodson concludes that Pinter's screenplay is a brilliantly structured, highly faithful adaptation.
-
Harold's Hat Trick
(summary)
In the following review, Kellaway offers praise for Pinter's plays A Kind of Alaska, The Collection, and The Lover.
-
Man and the Arms
(summary)
In the following review of Three by Harold Pinter, Morley praises A Kind of Alaska, The Collection, and The Lover, asserting that this “Pinter treble of unresolved menace is a remarkable tribute to his unique stagecraft over the last thirty or forty years.”
-
Words and Silences
(summary)
In the following review of Various Voices, Scammell asserts that Pinter is England's greatest living playwright.
-
Pinter Power
(summary)
In the following review, Morley comments that Pinter's Betrayal is stylish but ultimately empty.
-
Midnight Excess
(summary)
In the following essay, Stone argues against Pinter's vocal public support for Kurdish nationalism in Turkey.
-
One More Go
(summary)
In the following review of Various Voices, a collection of Pinter's poems and prose, Imlah observes that its principal value is as a companion to Pinter's plays.
-
Various Voices
(summary)
In the following review, Sterling asserts that Various Voices provides valuable insight into Pinter's work and is essential reading for scholars and students of British drama. He further observes that Pinter's prose is intelligent, insightful, creative, thought-provoking, and enjoyable to read.
-
Our Own Jacobean
(summary)
In the following review, O'Toole discusses the development of Pinter's political commitments as expressed in his plays.
-
Harold Pinter: The Odd Dissenter, a Professional Mr. Angry Who Is More Victor Meldrew Than Vaclav Havel
(summary)
In the following interview, Riddell explores Pinter's fierce and contentious dissent against political and social issues, highlighting his disdain for Blair's policies, his reputation as a polemicist, and the personal complexities that underscore his public persona.
-
Various Voices
(summary)
In the following review, Cusac applauds Various Voices, observing that it provides valuable insight about Pinter and his plays.
-
Pinter Double
(summary)
In the following review of Pinter's The Room and Celebration, produced as a double-bill, Morley observes that both plays, like much of Pinter's work, explore themes of sexual jealousy, nameless terrors, and violence. Morley asserts that Celebration is Pinter's “funniest script in years.”
-
A Party for Pinter
(summary)
In the following review, Kellaway asserts that Pinter's The Room and Celebration, produced as a double-bill, are marvelous companion pieces.
-
Plugging Pinter
(summary)
In the following review of several radio broadcasts of plays by Pinter, Vestey asserts that Pinter's dramas are deeply unsatisfying.
-
Missing
(summary)
In the following essay, Jays laments the neglect of Jewish writing in British theater. Jays comments that Pinter's Jewish background is rarely mentioned in critical discussion of his plays.
-
Pinter Surprise
(summary)
In the following review, Morley applauds a production of Pinter's The Caretaker that emphasizes the comic elements of the play.
-
Plying the Little Phrase
(summary)
In the following review, Wassenaar applauds Pinter's stage adaptation of Marcel Proust's novel À la recherche du temps perdu. Wassenaar discusses the themes of snobbery and sexuality in both works.
-
Harold Pinter
(summary)
In the following interview, Pinter and Cusac discuss Pinter's evolving recognition of the political dimensions in his plays, his views on power dynamics, and his experiences as a conscientious objector, emphasizing the influence of political events on his work while maintaining that his focus remains on the human condition rather than overt party politics.
-
A Room of His Own
(summary)
In the following essay, Copeland asserts that the time has come for a major reevaluation of Pinter's career and of his legacy to British theater.
-
My Lunches with Harold
(summary)
In the following interview, Pinter and Perloff explore Pinter's enduring fascination with language, character development, and theatrical transformation, illustrating how his recent play Celebration reflects both a continuation and evolution of his creative journey in the theatrical landscape.
-
Harold Pinter's Celebration
(summary)
In the following review, Mendelsohn provides an overview of theater festivals paying tribute to Pinter, asserting that the Harold Pinter Festival ultimately “exposed Pinter's weaknesses and pretensions as much as it did his strengths.” Mendelsohn applauds Pinter's most recent work, Celebration, as both the funniest play he's ever written and his first “deeply and movingly political” play.
-
Review of The Lover
(summary)
In the following review, Hall applauds Pinter's The Lover as a comedy of sexual manners.
-
New Plays and a Modern Master
(summary)
In the following review, King applauds recent productions of Pinter's One for the Road, Mountain Language, and Ashes to Ashes. He discusses Eve Ensler's Necessary Targets, highlighting its themes of conflict and the emotional disconnect experienced by the characters.
-
Face Off
(summary)
In the following essay, Jays offers a brief overview of Pinter's screenplays.
-
Top Hats and No Trousers
(summary)
In the following review, Morley comments that the stage adaptation of Pinter's novel The Dwarfs doesn't really work as a play.
-
Stream-of-Consciousness and Freud's Primary Process: Comprehending Pinter's Old Times
(summary)
-
Pinter, Harold (Vol. 27)
-
Katherine H. Burkman
(summary)
In the following essay, Katherine H. Burkman argues that Harold Pinter's plays are deeply influenced by ritual, revealing archetypal patterns and primitive qualities beneath their surface, which shape his unique dramatic world and emphasize both the absurdity and profundity of human existence.
-
Pinter As a Radio Dramatist
(summary)
In the following essay, Mary Jane Miller argues that Harold Pinter's radio plays, such as "A Slight Ache" and "The Dwarfs," are ideally suited to the auditory medium of radio, where their themes of claustrophobia, identity disintegration, and complex human consciousness are enhanced through sound, allowing listeners to engage actively and imaginatively.
-
Pinter Land
(summary)
In the following essay, Russell Davies examines Harold Pinter's evolution as a playwright, highlighting his initial poetic influences, the impact of Eliot and Dylan Thomas on his style, and the thematic elements of communication and identity that permeate his work, with specific reference to plays like "The Birthday Party" and "Betrayal."
-
'The Hothouse': Harold Pinter's Tribute to Anger
(summary)
In the following essay, Rudolf Stamm examines Harold Pinter's play "The Hothouse," arguing that it serves as a satirical critique of hierarchical and bureaucratic systems, utilizing Pinter's characteristic techniques to create a "modern hell" that critiques power dynamics and communication through language.
-
Cinematic Fidelity and the Forms of Pinter's 'Betrayal'
(summary)
In the following essay, Enoch Brater argues that Harold Pinter's play Betrayal uses a cinematic approach to structure and time, employing non-linear sequencing and offstage presence to explore themes of deception and self-deception, effectively transforming theatrical storytelling with techniques derived from film.
-
'The French Lieutenant's Woman': Novel, Screenplay, Film
(summary)
In the following essay, Peter J. Conradi explores Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of "The French Lieutenant's Woman," highlighting how Pinter ingeniously translates the novel's complex narrative structures and themes into a filmic context, though some of the novel's subtleties do not fully survive the adaptation process.
-
Pinter's New Play
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Brustein contends that Harold Pinter's play The Hothouse distinguishes itself with its dynamic energy and farcical urgency, contrasting with his typically evasive style, and suggests that Pinter might be moving towards a more engaged and volcanic phase in his career.
-
Other Places
(summary)
In the following essay, Martin Esslin examines Harold Pinter's evolution in style through his work in "Other Places," suggesting that Pinter is both preserving his signature 'Pinteresque' elements and advancing toward a deeper exploration of themes such as memory and the nature of reality, as exemplified in "A Kind of Alaska."
-
Bernard F. Dukore
(summary)
In the following essay, Bernard F. Dukore examines the thematic evolution of Harold Pinter's plays, highlighting how his early works, characterized by menace and absurdity, gradually shift towards greater realism while maintaining an emphasis on power dynamics, memory, and the human condition, culminating in his exploration of isolation and disillusionment.
-
Pinter's Progress
(summary)
In the following essay, Roger Scruton analyzes Harold Pinter's minimalist style, contrasting it with Beckett's approach, and argues that Pinter's work, particularly in plays like "A Kind of Alaska," focuses on realistic human communication and vulnerability, distancing itself from metaphysical themes and instead emphasizing the tangible impact of language and interaction.
-
Katherine H. Burkman
(summary)
-
Pinter, Harold (Vol. 11)
-
A Room and Some Views
(summary)
In the following essay, John Russell Taylor argues that Harold Pinter's plays, characterized by their "comedy of menace," skillfully blend everyday realism with unsettling ambiguity, ultimately evolving from a focus on external threats to a deeper exploration of internal psychological conflicts and communication barriers among characters.
-
James R. Hollis
(summary)
In the following essay, James R. Hollis examines Harold Pinter's unique fusion of absurdist elements and conventional realism, highlighting Pinter's exploration of communication failures, the significance of silence, and the psychological depth of his characters, while emphasizing recurring themes such as identity, truth, and existential struggle across Pinter's plays.
-
'The Homecoming'
(summary)
In the following essay, John Simon criticizes Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming as formulaic and lacking in meaningful language, arguing that its characters are inconsistently developed and largely unappealing, and suggesting that the play's latent homosexual themes contribute to its oscillation between emotionlessness and sadomasochism.
-
Harold Pinter—The Deceptive Poet
(summary)
In the following essay, Gareth Lloyd Evans explores the unique characteristics of Harold Pinter's dramatic language, arguing that Pinter's plays, through their poetic and metaphorical writing, create a stylized yet evocative reflection of real speech, focusing more on emotional states than on psychological realism, and using theatrical elements to deepen meaning.
-
A Room and Some Views
(summary)
- Pinter, Harold (Vol. 1)
- Pinter, Harold (Vol. 6)
- Pinter, Harold (Vol. 9)
- Further Reading