Representation of marriage in selected Harold Pinter plays

Abstract

This thesis explores the institution of marriage as it is depicted in six plays by Harold Pinter. The married couples in Pinter's plays struggle to maintain the balance between normalcy—the socially accepted behaviors expected of married individuals—and the sexual infidelity that they commit. Pinter creates a pattern in the marital lives of his characters, in which triangular relationships seem to be inescapable and each husband and wife seems to be engaged in an agreement that allows the extramarital relationship to happen while at the same time maintaining the marriage. The Lover, The Homecoming, The Collection, Old Times, Betrayal, and Ashes to Ashes share this issue. The first part explores the ideas of home or domesticity and the cycle of resentment in marriage, and the second part discusses sexual infidelity and triangular relationships in marriage. As the study concludes, marriage in Harold Pinter's plays represents the triumph of domestic order that supports patriarchal power while simultaneously confining or disciplining female desire. As a result, the wives in Pinter's plays find that their desires may only be satisfied through infidelity. This infidelity subverts the domestic order, calling into question patriarchal notions of truth and love. Yet, as Pinter's works demonstrate, infidelity can unsettle patriarchy, but not overthrow it.