The Representation of Gender Roles in Harold Pinter's Play "The Birthday Party"

The Representation of Gender Roles in Harold Pinter's Play Author: Nathalie Schmitt
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3346717445
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Koblenz-Landau, language: English, abstract: How is Gender Represented in “The Birthday Party” and to what Extent Can It Be Seen as a Portrayal of Stereotypical Gender Roles? There is no doubt about the importance of the gender discussion over the last sixty years, especially since the start of the feminism movement in the 1960s. What exactly is gender and how should gender types behave? Out of these discussions a certain kind of awareness about gender arose and people started to recognize gender roles patterns in almost every part of daily life. But even when gender roles have changed significantly, there is still a traditional or stereotypical understanding of what gender should look like. Even in the entertainment industry - which also includes drama. Concerning the gender discussion one playwright should get our attention: Harold Pinter. Victor L. Cahn said that “Pinter always dramatizes men and women as fundamentally contrasting in nature, with distinct values and desires revealed in the seemingly eternal struggle for power”. One can assume that there has to be a certain pattern of gender role representation in Pinter’s plays. The Birthday Party from 1957 is his second full-length play. The leading question of this term paper will be how gender is represented in The Birthday Party and to what extent it can be seen as a portrayal of stereotypical gender roles. We will first have a look at gender roles in general (chapter 2) including a view on traditional female gender roles (chapter 2.1) and on traditional male gender roles (chapter 2.2). In chapter 3 we will have a look at several scenes from the play and compare them with our findings about traditional or stereotypical gender roles.

The Representation of Gender Roles in Harold Pinter's Play "The Birthday Party"

The Representation of Gender Roles in Harold Pinter's Play Author: Nathalie Schmitt
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3346717445
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Koblenz-Landau, language: English, abstract: How is Gender Represented in “The Birthday Party” and to what Extent Can It Be Seen as a Portrayal of Stereotypical Gender Roles? There is no doubt about the importance of the gender discussion over the last sixty years, especially since the start of the feminism movement in the 1960s. What exactly is gender and how should gender types behave? Out of these discussions a certain kind of awareness about gender arose and people started to recognize gender roles patterns in almost every part of daily life. But even when gender roles have changed significantly, there is still a traditional or stereotypical understanding of what gender should look like. Even in the entertainment industry - which also includes drama. Concerning the gender discussion one playwright should get our attention: Harold Pinter. Victor L. Cahn said that “Pinter always dramatizes men and women as fundamentally contrasting in nature, with distinct values and desires revealed in the seemingly eternal struggle for power”. One can assume that there has to be a certain pattern of gender role representation in Pinter’s plays. The Birthday Party from 1957 is his second full-length play. The leading question of this term paper will be how gender is represented in The Birthday Party and to what extent it can be seen as a portrayal of stereotypical gender roles. We will first have a look at gender roles in general (chapter 2) including a view on traditional female gender roles (chapter 2.1) and on traditional male gender roles (chapter 2.2). In chapter 3 we will have a look at several scenes from the play and compare them with our findings about traditional or stereotypical gender roles.

Comparison of Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” and “The Homecoming” with a Special Focus on the Female Characters

Comparison of Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” and “The Homecoming” with a Special Focus on the Female Characters PDF Author: Sandra Beez
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3668244790
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, , language: English, abstract: Pinter’s plays are good examples for the theatre of the absurd, although Pinter himself probably would not have called them this way. He knew how to create his characters in such an absurd way, but also realistic at the same time that the audience was often left in astonishment and confusion. This paper will deal with the two Pinter plays “The Birthday Party” and “The Homecoming”. These are outstanding plays, foremost concerning the female characters. Both plays include mainly male characters and one outstanding female one. There is a second female character in “The Birthday Party”, but she only plays a minor role. It is interesting to see how Pinter contrasts the more or less strong female characters in otherwise all men plays. That is why this paper will pay special attention to the female characters. This paper will start by first giving an overview over the plays and short characterisations of the male characters. Furthermore, there will be a comparison between those two plays and in how far Pinter’s plays may have developed. Continuing, I am going to focus on the female characters of the plays, Meg and Ruth. First, I will discuss the representation of women in the plays in general. Then, there will be a comparison between the two characters to see in how far their characteristics and their function in the plays differ.

Comparison of Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party" and "The Homecoming" with a Special Focus on the Female Characters

Comparison of Harold Pinter's Author: Sandra Beez
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783668244801
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, language: English, abstract: Pinter's plays are good examples for the theatre of the absurd, although Pinter himself probably would not have called them this way. He knew how to create his characters in such an absurd way, but also realistic at the same time that the audience was often left in astonishment and confusion. This paper will deal with the two Pinter plays "The Birthday Party" and "The Homecoming." These are outstanding plays, foremost concerning the female characters. Both plays include mainly male characters and one outstanding female one. There is a second female character in "The Birthday Party," but she only plays a minor role. It is interesting to see how Pinter contrasts the more or less strong female characters in otherwise all men plays. That is why this paper will pay special attention to the female characters. This paper will start by first giving an overview over the plays and short characterisations of the male characters. Furthermore, there will be a comparison between those two plays and in how far Pinter's plays may have developed. Continuing, I am going to focus on the female characters of the plays, Meg and Ruth. First, I will discuss the representation of women in the plays in general. Then, there will be a comparison between the two characters to see in how far their characteristics and their function in the plays differ.

The Birthday Party, and The Room

The Birthday Party, and The Room PDF Author: Harold Pinter
Publisher: Grove Press
ISBN: 9780802151148
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
In "The Birthday Party", a musician becomes the victim of a ritual murder. Everyone implacably plays out the role assigned to them by fate. "The Room" becomes the scene of a visitation of fate when a blind Negro suddenly arrives to deliver a mysterious message.

Pinter's 'The Birthday Party' and Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' - a Comparison

Pinter's 'The Birthday Party' and Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' - a Comparison PDF Author: Julia Pastak geb. Kupfer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 363881016X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Anglistik /Amerikanisitik), course: Expressionism and theatre of the absurd, 13 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: It seems that the Theatre of the Absurd is not considered as civil theatre and that means that there must be big differences between the drama we know from Shakespeare or other famous authors and the work of Beckett and his companions. This work is going to define the differences between a classic drama (a comedy) and a modern drama (theatre of the absurd) and it will make them clear using examples from both "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "The Birthday Party" written by Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter, respectively.

The Plays of Harold Pinter

The Plays of Harold Pinter PDF Author: Andrew Wyllie
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1137315679
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
This Reader's Guide synthesises the key criticism on Pinter's work over the last half century. Andrew Wyllie and Catherine Rees examine critical approaches and reactions to the major plays, charting the controversies which have arisen in response to Pinter's critiques of political and sexual issues. They consider criticism from the press and academics, on the themes of Absurdism, politics and gender identity. By placing this criticism in its historical context, this guide illustrates a transition from bewilderment and outrage to affection, fascination - and more outrage.

Harold Pinter and the Language of Cultural Power

Harold Pinter and the Language of Cultural Power PDF Author: Marc Silverstein
Publisher: Bucknell University Press
ISBN: 9780838752364
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
For all their attempts to "own" language, Pinter's characters discover that words constitute alienable property; that language forms, de-forms, and re-forms subjectivity; that, as a system preceding the individual, language carries embedded within it the values, desires, and imperatives of the Other - the dominant cultural order. By introducing questions of subject position and ideology into his discussion, author Marc Silverstein shows how the plays exhibit a political dimension largely ignored by the bulk of Pinter criticism, which attempts to classify his oeuvre as a form of absurdist drama. It is Silverstein's contention that Pinter does not concern himself with the fate of the individual lost in an incomprehensible and meaningless universe (the "absurdist" Pinter), but instead explores the vicissitudes of living within ideological, discursive, and social structures that always exceed the subject.

Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter PDF Author: Graham Saunders
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000890945
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Harold Pinter provides an up-to-date analysis and reappraisal concerning the work of one of the most studied and performed dramatists in the world. Drawing extensively from The Harold Pinter Archive at the British Library as well as reviews and other critical materials, this book offers new insights into previously established views about his work. The book also analyses and reappraises specific key historical and contemporary productions, including a selection of Pinter’s most significant screenplays. In particular, this volume seeks to assess Pinter’s critical reputation and legacy since his death in 2008. These include his position as a political writer and political activist – from disassociation and neutrality on the subject until relatively late in his career when his drama sought to explicitly address questions of political dissent and torture by totalitarian regimes. The book revisits some familiar territories such as Pinter’s place as a British absurdist and the role memory plays in his work, but it also sets out to explore new territories such as Pinter’s changing attitudes towards gender in the light of #MeToo and queer politics and how in particular a play such as The Caretaker (1960) through several key productions has brought the issues of race into sharper focus. Part of the Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatist series, Harold Pinter provides an essential and accessible guide to the dramatists’ work.

The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party PDF Author: Harold Pinter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780571160785
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 87

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Book Description
Stanley Webber is visited in his boarding house by strangers, Goldberg and McCann. An innocent-seeming birthday party for Stanley turns into a nightmare.The Birthday Party was first performed in 1958 and is now a modern classic, produced and studied throughout the world.

Pinter at 70

Pinter at 70 PDF Author: Lois Gordon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135347395
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
This comprehensive and authoritative casebook includes cornerstone essays on Pinter's creative process, his politics, film adaptations, and acting career. It also includes a collection of photos found nowhere else that document Pinter's "golden time"--his early acting days in Ireland--, a substantial introduction, a chronology, and bibliography.