Student Question

What style did Harold Pinter use in The Homecoming?

Quick answer:

Harold Pinter's style in "The Homecoming" combines a realist setting with elements of absurdism, challenging audiences expecting traditional plot development and coherent dialogue. The play's progression defies cause-and-effect logic, offering minimal reliable information about the characters' pasts and actions. The matter-of-fact portrayal of Ruth's decision to become a prostitute highlights the absurdity of human existence, prompting viewers to explore deeper motivations beyond the surface language and actions.

Expert Answers

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As in other Pinter's plays of the late 1950s and 1960s, The Homecoming has a realist setting but its style baffled audiences who were still used to reliable plot development and meaningful dialogues between the characters to advance the events in the play. Thus, except for the surface, the style of the play points to the absurd condition of human existence. The progression of the play does not always follow a cause-effect development as the audiences would have expected when it was first produced. In addition, very little reliable information is given about the characters' past and their actions. The conclusion where Ruth accepts to become a prostitute and provide sexual solace to his husband's male family members is given in such a matter-of-fact way so as to create in the viewers a disturbing clash between what they think absurd and what the characters in the play think as acceptable. Thus, Pinter's style in The Homecoming invites audiences to go beyond the referentiality of language and the characters' utterances to explore their deeper motivations and behaviors.

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