Page 332 - DENG403_BRITISH_DRAMA

British Drama

Notes • In fact the play Birthday Party is built around the exchanges of words, which, though funny
enough, contain hints that suggest the impending doom lurking around to them.
• Pinter creates an atmosphere of menace through a variety of dramatic elements and techniques.
• First of all, he lets situations fall from a light-hearted situation unexpectedly down to one
which is highly serious. For instance, while talking to Meg among other things, he tells her
about a wheel-barrow which will come to the house for some body.
• With the hosting of the birthday party, the play reaches its climax of menace. A birthday
party is expected to be a ritualistic celebration of one’s life, but in the case of Stanley it turns
out to be the greatest ordeal of life leading to his complete mental derangement.
• The play ends with Stanley’s forced removal from the house by Goldberg and McCann who
leave a further note of unknown menace awaiting Stanley in near future.

29.4 Keywords

Mothering : The nurturing of an infant or small child by its mother.
Autocratic : Relating to an absolute and unrestricted ruler.
Lunatic : Lunatic is a commonly used term for a person who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish,
unpredictable; a condition once called lunacy.
Cliches : Cliches is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused
to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially
when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.
Illusion : An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes
and interprets sensory stimulation.

29.5 Review Questions

1. Which character in the play do you most admire? Why.
2. Which character do you list admire? Why.
3. Sketch the character of Stanley Webber.
4. Meg Boles is a good-natured woman in her sixties who want to fill the void in her life by
turning the Boles’s boarding-house tenant, Stanley Webber, into a kind of surrogate child.
Analyze this character in view of this statement.
5. Illustrate the the The Birthday Party is full of disjointed information.
6. Justify that Pinter creates an atmosphere of menace through a variety of dramatic elements
and techniques in Birthday Party.
7. Give a critical view of the following characters in the play The Birthday Party:
(a) Lulu (b) Stanley Webber (c) Petey

Answers: Self Assessment

1. (a) 2. (b) 3. sixties
4. Stanley 5. True 6. True
7. (a) 8. (b) 9. techniques
10. menace 11. True 12. False

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