December 31, 2020

Thinking Activity: The Birthday Party

 The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter 



Pinter's The Birthday Party is a perfect example of Comedy of Menace. Throughout the play, we find that the hint of menace is inflected upon the individual freedom of a person and it juxtaposes the comic element drastically dilutes the comic appeal. Pinter shows his state in the existential view that danger prevails everywhere and life can't escape from it. Pinter thinks that Stanley, the protagonist, might have committed a serious crime and is on the run for escaping the consequence and legal implications of his life. This is precisely comprehended while he almost never leaves his room and becomes furiously apprehensive when Meg informs him that two gentlemen are coming to stay in this boarding house. Stanley soon tactfully tries to conceal his apprehension by mentioning his successful concert and about a favourable job proposal of a pianist. But we can realize his innate apprehension for imminent interrogation or arrest by the two new guests at the boarding house. 

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