Harold Pinter’s Comedies of Menace. Fear and Control in "The Birthday Party"

Term Paper , 2008 , 20 Pages , Grade: 1,5

English Language and Literature Studies - Literature

Converging comedy and fear, that is a strange art practiced in the comedies of menace.
One of the most prominent authors who intermingles the two in his plays is Harold Pinter. But what is the role of menace and fear in a comic play? To examine this question closer the present term paper looks at the role of fear in one of Harold Pinter’s first plays, namely his first full length play The Birthday Party. As we will see none of the characters in the play is free from fear. Especially the main character Stanley, the permanent guest in Meg’s boarding house, is hounded by his emotions.
To begin with I will discuss how Pinter came to choose such a devastating theme and work on it to figure out the fear in the play, along with the emotions and actions it affects. Hereby the menace that the outside world projects on the main character Stanley will be an important factor.

Index of Contents

Introduction

Fear In General

The Outside World

Stanley’s Horror of Meg

Meg’s Fears

A Psychological View on Stanley’s Fears

McCann

Goldberg

The Tormentors in Fear

Lulu

Petey

Summary

Bibliography

• College: University of Trier (Anglistik)
• Course: Proseminar Harold Pinter
• Grade: 1,5
• Author: Magister Artium Lukas Szpeth (Author)
• Publication Year: 2008
• Pages: 20
• Catalog Number: V491640
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668982192
• ISBN (Book): 9783668982208
• Language: English
• Tags: Harold Pinter, The Birthday Party, Plays, british playwright, comedy of menace, fear, menace, modern british dramatist, boarding house, nightmare, comedy, play, drama, British, modern, influential dramatist