Abstract:
Harold Pinter (1930 -) is probably the subject
of more academic commentary than any other
living playwright. Born in Hackney in London's
East End, he is the child of working-class
Eastern European Jewish ancestry, and studied
at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
and Central School of Speech and Drama. He is
one of the most influential English playwrights
of his generation. He is regarded as "a complete man of the theatre" (Bold, 7), for he is
equally proficient as an actor, director or playwright. He has written in different genres
and his work displays his expertise in 'various voices'. Using apparently commonplace
characters and settings, he invests his plays with an atmosphere of fear, horror and
mystery. The peculiar tension he creates often derives as much from the long silences
between speeches which are ambiguous, yet vividly vernacular. His austere language is
extremely distinctive. His plays frequently concern themselves with struggles for power
in which the issues are obscure and the reasons for defeat and victory undefined. A
common aphorism about Pinter's play is "A film with the final reel missing" (Copeland,
unnumbered).
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
