Harold Pinter
Second Edition
Bernard F. Dukore(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
Book
Hardback
184 pages
978-1-041-36377-4 (ISBN)
Description
Harold Pinter (1930-2008) was already highly acclaimed in 1988, when this book was originally published, and went on to become one of the most influential modern British dramatists, with a career that spanned over 50 years.
This study reveals Pinter's dramatic and theatrical stratagems and his place in contemporary drama at the time. Five of its eight chapters are devoted to his plays and their performances. Chapter 1 introduces them through short quotations from his plays, each followed by how they show his methods. A biographical survey is next. Chapter 3, "Menace and the Absurd," treats his early plays, including The Room and The Birthday Party, as "comedies of menace," a pun on "comedies of manners," and as theatre of the absurd. Following this, "Toward Greater Realism" explains common features of such plays as The Caretaker. "Struggles for Power" features The Collection and The Homecoming. In "Memory Plays," Old Times is prominent. "Recapitulations and Fresh Starts" analyses No Man's Land, Betrayal, and A Kind of Alaska. Stage productions are a vital part of these discussions of his plays. Finally, "The Place of Pinter" summarizes his oeuvre and his position in English drama.
This study reveals Pinter's dramatic and theatrical stratagems and his place in contemporary drama at the time. Five of its eight chapters are devoted to his plays and their performances. Chapter 1 introduces them through short quotations from his plays, each followed by how they show his methods. A biographical survey is next. Chapter 3, "Menace and the Absurd," treats his early plays, including The Room and The Birthday Party, as "comedies of menace," a pun on "comedies of manners," and as theatre of the absurd. Following this, "Toward Greater Realism" explains common features of such plays as The Caretaker. "Struggles for Power" features The Collection and The Homecoming. In "Memory Plays," Old Times is prominent. "Recapitulations and Fresh Starts" analyses No Man's Land, Betrayal, and A Kind of Alaska. Stage productions are a vital part of these discussions of his plays. Finally, "The Place of Pinter" summarizes his oeuvre and his position in English drama.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis
Target group
Adult education, General, and Postgraduate
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-041-36377-4 (9781041363774)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 09/2026
Taylor & Francis
€39.49
Not yet available
E-Book
approx. 09/2026
Taylor & Francis
€39.49
Not yet available
Person
Bernard F. Dukore is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Theatre Arts and Humanities at Virginia Tech, USA. He has written extensively on Bernard Shaw and other modern dramatists, including Shaw's fellow-Nobel prizewinner, Harold Pinter. His most recent books on Shaw are Crimes and Punishments and Bernard Shaw (2017), Bernard Shaw and the Censors: Fights and Failures, Stage and Screen (2020), and Unions, Strikes, Shaw: "The Capitalism of the Proletariat" (2022).
Content
Editor's Preface. Prefatory Note. Note to Second Edition. 1. Introduction 2. Biographical Survey 3. Menace and the Absurd 4. Toward Greater Realism 5. Struggles for Power 6. Memory Plays 7. Recapitulations and Fresh Starts 8. The Place of Pinter. References. Bibliography. Index.