the caretaker harold pinter

8/13/2019 The Caretaker Harold Pinter

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The Caretaker

Harold Pinter

The Caretaker

The Caretaker is a play in three acts by Harold Pinter. Although it was the sixth of his

major works for stage and television this psychological study of the confluence of

power allegiance innocence and corruption among two brothers and a tramp became

Pinter!s first significant commercial success."#$"%$ &t premiered at the Arts Theatre Club

in 'ondon!s (est )nd on %* April #+,- and transferred to the uchess Theatre the

following month where it ran for /// performances before departing 'ondon for

0roadway."%$ &n #+,/ a film version of the play based on Pinter!s unpublished

screenplay was directed by Clive onner. The movie starred Alan 0ates as 1ick and

onald Pleasence as avies in their original stage roles while 2obert 3haw replaced

Peter (oodthorpe as Aston. 4irst published by both )ncore Publishing and )yre

1ethuen in #+,- The Caretaker remains one of Pinter!s most celebrated and oft5performed plays.

6rigins and contexts of the play

According to Pinter!s biographer 1ichael 0illington the playwright fre7uently

discussed details about the The Caretaker!s origins in relation to images from his own

life. 0illington notes in his authorised biography that Pinter claims to have written the

play while he and his first wife 8ivien 1erchant were living in Chiswick9

"The flat was$ a very clean couple of rooms with a bath and kitchen. There was a chap

who owned the house9 a builder in fact like 1ick who had his own van and whom &

hardly ever saw. The only image of him was of this swift mover up and down the stairs

and of his van going . . . 8room . . . as he arrived and departed. His brother lived in the

house. He was a handyman . . . he managed rather more successfully than Aston but he

was very introverted very secretive had been in a mental home some years before and

had had some kind of electrical shock treatment . . . )CT & think . . . Anyway he did

bring a tramp back one night. & call him a tramp but he was just a homeless old man

who stayed three or four weeks.

According to 0illington Pinter described 1ick as the most purely invented character of

the three. 4or the tramp "avies$ however he felt a certain kinship writing :"The

Pinters! life in Chiswick$ was a very threadbare existence . . . very . . . & was totally out ofwork. 3o & was very close to this old derelict!s world in a way.:;Harold Pinter ##/ according to )sslin absurdist drama by writers such as 3amuel 0eckett

)ug?ne &onesco @ean enet and )dward Albee and others was prominent in the late

#+B-s and early #+,-s as a reaction to chaos witnessed in (orld (ar && and the state of

the world after the war."citation needed$

0illington observes that :The idea that "avies$ can affirm his identity and recover his

papers by journeying to 3idcup is perhaps the greatest delusion of all although one withits source in reality:> as :Pinter!s old Hackney friend 1orris (ernick recalls !&t is


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undoubtedly true that Harold with a writer!s ear picked up words and phrases from

each of us. He also picked up locales. The 3idcup in The Caretaker comes from the fact

that the 2oyal Artillery H was there when & was a Dational 3erviceman and its almost

mythical 7uality as the fount of all permission and record was a source.! To )nglish

ears: 0illington continues :3idcup has faintly comic overtones of suburban

respectability. 4or avies it is a Eentish )ldorado9 the place that can solve all theproblems about his unresolved identity and uncertain past present and future: ;#%%=.

About directing a production of The Caretaker at the 2oundabout Theatre Company in

%--F avid @ones observed9

The trap with Harold!s work for performers and audiences is to approach it too

earnestly or portentously. & have always tried to interpret his plays with as much humor

and humanity as possible. There is always mischief lurking in the darkest corners. The

world of The Caretaker is a bleak one its characters damaged and lonely. 0ut they are

all going to survive. And in their dance to that end they show a frenetic vitality and a

wry sense of the ridiculous that balance heartache and laughter. 4unny but not too

funny. As Pinter wrote back in #+,- 9 :As far as & am concerned The Caretaker &3funny up to a point. 0eyond that point it ceases to be funny and it is because of that

point that & wrote it.:"/$"F$

Pinter!s own comment on the source of three of his major plays is fre7uently 7uoted by

critics9

& went into a room and saw one person standing up and one person sitting down and

few weeks later & wrote The 2oom. & went into another room and saw two people sitting

down and a few years later & wrote The 0irthday Party. & looked through a door into a

third room and saw two people standing up and & wrote The Caretaker.

Analysis of the characters This article needs additional citations for verification. Please

help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Gnsourced material

may be challenged and removed. ;1arch %--+=

Aston

(hen he was younger he was given electric shock therapy that leaves him permanently

brain damaged. His efforts to appease the ever5complaining avies may be seen as an

attempt to reach out to others. He desperately seeks a connection in the wrong place and

with the wrong people. His main obstacle is his inability to communicate. He is

misunderstood by his closest relative his brother and thus is completely isolated in hisexistence. His good5natured attitude makes him vulnerable to exploitation. His dialogue

is sparse and often a direct response to something 1ick or avies has said. Aston has

dreams of building a shed. The shed to him may represent all the things his life lacks9

accomplishment and structure. The shed represents hope for the future.

avies

avies manufactures the story of his life lying or sidestepping some details to avoid

telling the whole truth about himself. A non5se7uitur. He adjusts aspects of the story of

his life according to the people he is trying to impress influence or manipulate. As

0illington points out :(hen 1ick suggests that avies might have been in the services

and even the colonies avies retorts9 !& was over there. & was one of the first over


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there.! He defines himself according to momentary imperatives and other people!s

suggestions: ;#%%=.

1ick

At times violent and ill5tempered 1ick is ambitious. He talks above avies! ability to

comprehend him. His increasing dissatisfaction with avies leads to a rapprochementwith his brother Aston> though he appears to have distanced himself from Aston prior

to the opening of the play by the end they exchange a few words and a faint smile.

)arly in the play when he first encounters him 1ick attacks avies taking him for an

intruder in his brother Aston!s abode9 an attic room of a run5down house which 1ick

looks after and in which he enables his brother to live. At first he is aggressive toward

avies. 'ater it may be that by suggesting that avies could be :caretaker: of both his

house and his brother 1ick is attempting to shift responsibility from himself onto

avies who hardly seems a viable candidate for such tasks. The disparities between the

loftiness of 1ick!s :dreams: and needs for immediate results and the mundane realities

of avies!s neediness and shifty non5committal nature creates much of the absurdity of

the play."citation needed$"edit$

3tyle This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this

article by adding citations to reliable sources. Gnsourced material may be challenged

and removed. ;1arch %--+=

4urther information9 Characteristics of Harold Pinter!s work

The language and plot of The Caretaker blends 2ealism with the Theatre of the Absurd.

&n the Theatre of the Absurd language is used in a manner that heightens the audience!s

awareness of the language itself often through repetition and circumventing dialogue.

The play has often been compared to (aiting for odot by 3amuel 0eckett and other

absurdist plays because of its apparent lack of plot and action.

The fluidity of the characters is explained by 2onald Enowles as follows9 :'anguage

character and being are here aspects of each other made manifest in speech and silence.

Character is no longer the clearly perceived entity underlying clarity of articulation the

objectification of a social and moral entelechy but something amorphous and contingent

6ne of the keys to understanding Pinter!s language is not to rely on the words a

character says but to look for the meaning behind the text. The Caretaker is filled withlong rants and non5se7uiturs the language is either choppy dialogue full of

interruptions or long speeches that are a vocaliIed train of thought. Although the text is

presented in a casual way there is always a message behind its simplicity. Pinter is often

concerned with :communication itself or rather the deliberate evasion of

communication

The play!s staccato language and rhythms are musically balanced through strategically

placed pauses. Pinter toys with silence where it is used in the play and what emphasis it

places on the words when they are at last spoken.


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1ode of drama9 Tragicomedy

The Caretaker is a drama of mixed modes> both tragic and comic it is a tragicomedy."/$

"F$ )lements of comedy appear in the monologues of avies and 1ick and the

characters! interactions at times even approach farce."F$ 4or instance the first scene ofAct Two which critics have compared to the hat and shoe se7uences in 0eckett!s

(aiting for odot"citation needed$ is particularly farcical9

A3T6D offers the bag to A8&)3.

1&CE grabs it.

A3T6D takes it.

1&CE grabs it.

A8&)3 reaches for it.

A3T6D takes it.

1&CE reaches for it.

A3T6D gives it to A8&)3.1&CE grabs it. Pause. ;F+=

avies! confusion repetitions and attempts to deceive both brothers and to play each

one off against the other are also farcical. avies has pretended to be someone else and

using an assumed name :0ernard @enkins:. 0ut in response to separate in7uiries by

Aston and 1ick it appears that avies! real name is not really :0ernard @enkins: but

that it is :1ac avies: ;as Pinter designates him :avies: throughout= and that he is

actually (elsh and not )nglish a fact that he is attempting to conceal throughout the

play and that motivates him to :get down to 3idcup: the past location of a 0ritish

Army 2ecords 6ffice to get his identity :papers: ;#F

however though there are fleeting moments in which each of them does seem to reach

some understanding with the other more often they avoid communicating with one

another as a result of their own psychological insecurities and self5concerns."citation

needed$


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The theme of isolation appears to result from the characters! inability to communicate

with one another and the characters! own insularity seems to exacerbate their difficulty

communicating with others."citation needed$

As the characters also engage in deceiving one another and themselves deception and

self5deception are motifs and certain deceptive phrases and self5deceptive strategiesrecur as refrains throughout the dialogue. avies uses an assumed name and has

convinced himself that he is really going to resolve his problems relating to his lack of

identity papers even though he appears too laIy to take any such responsibility for his

own actions and blames his inaction on everyone but himself. Aston believes that his

dream of building a shed will eventually reach fruition despite his mental disability.

1ick believes that his ambitions for a successful career outweigh his responsibility to

care for his mentally5damaged brother. &n the end however all three men are deceiving

themselves. Their lives may continue on beyond the end of the play just as they are at

the beginning and throughout it. The deceit and isolation in the play lead to a world

where time place identity and language are ambiguous and fluid."citation needed$

The Theme of &solation in Harold PinterJs The Caretaker

r. H.0. Patil

The human being in modern life has become victim of frustration, loneliness, loss of

communication and isolation. Harold Pinter, the British playwright reflects exactly this state

of human being in his play The Caretaker. His well known plays are The Room, The

Homecoming , The Birthday Party, etc. But his real breakthrough came with the publication

of The Caretaker. Harold Pinters works present directly or indirectly the influences of pre

war and postwar incidents. The sense of rootlessness, loneliness and isolation can be seen in

his characters. The audiences are made to laugh but at the same time they are threatened by

violent action that destroys the central character.

The Caretaker discusses the critical condition of characters in the play. !ll the three

characters !ston, "ick and #avies do represent their isolation with more or less intensity.

This play of Pinter opens the life in general and life in $%&'s (ngland in particular. The

isolation is either forced on them or it is selected by them on their own. His characters do not

allow themselves to form good relationship with others. )rom the very beginning of the play,

the realistic details occur. !ston lives in a room of an apartment that is owned by his brother

"ick. Though they are brothers there is no proper communication between them. !ston lives

the life of mentally retarded human being because of the electric shock treatment given tohim. The very isolated condition of !ston suggests the critical existence of man in the modern

world, who may live the life as mentally retarded person like !ston. !ston not only rescues

#avies but helps him by providing with tobacco, a pair of shoes, bed and above all allowing

him to share a room with him. !stons activities of helping #avies express !stons need for

companionship. He expects #avies to stay with him. !ston reali*es his isolation and when he

gets the opportunity to end it, he tries to cherish it. #avies is also badly in need of

companionship. He says to !ston+

-ou been a good friend to me. -ou took me in. -ou took

me in, didnt ask me no uestions, you gave me a bed, you

been mate to me./ 0$%12+ 3&4

#avies is cut off from the society and he is outcast. He lives his life in dirt and nearly alldislike him. 5t is !ston who shows some kind of kindness to #avies. He is brought home by


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!ston and is offered everything that !ston could offer. !ston also offers him the 6ob of

caretaker. #avies fails to en6oy this situation. He accepts everything but with complaining

nature.

Though !ston and #avies feel isolation and are in need of companionship, both are different

in their nature. !ston is in his late twenties or early thirties. He is generous and cooperative.

He has some ualities of 7ord Buddha, as the statue is placed in !stons room. !ston not onlyrescues him from cafe fight but also places him in sound position as needed for #avies. 5t

seems that !ston was intelligent and gave harsh comments on some of the issues in the

society. However the society represented through the character of "ick, does allow him to

express his comments. Therefore !ston is unwillingly forced by his mother and brother to

accept the electric shock therapy. The shock treatment leaves !ston mentally retarded person.

He is forced to be isolated. However he is good even after becoming mentally retarded. He

does not take revenge of the society. He works for compromising with society. 8nfortunately

he fails to get proper response from #avies. His dream to build a shed and develop

communication with #avies result into frustration.

9n the other hand #avies is old tramp probably in his sixties. He is homeless and badly in

need of companionship and a house. He gets the opportunity to stay in !stons room. :atherthan cherishing the chance, #avies always complains about the inadeuacy of things. He

blames others for his own mistakes. He disturbs !ston but does not accept the charge. He

seems to be racist, as he charges the black people without any fault of them. He is no doubt

isolated. ;hen he gets the chance to end it, he tries to dominate it. #avies takes the help as it

is his right. He is offered a 6ob of caretaker by !ston as well as "ick. But he does not like to

work, he excuses of his documents and papers that he has kept in


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thrown them together and listened to what they said ,

keeping my nose to the ground=/ 0 $%%1+ $34

The particular context is the isolated room in which normally two or three characters could be

found. These characters do not communicate properly with each other. !s in the play , The

Caretaker the two brothers fail to communicate and both of them lead isolated life,

particularly !ston. The third character, #avies also lives the life of outcast and isolation. Hisgreediness of nature does not allow him to enhance the communication either with !ston or

with "ick. #avies, then, continues to be the victim of isolation.

Harold Pinters many plays present the intruder who disturbs the privacy of a character. The

privacy of these characters is not accepted by themselves but it is forced on them. Therefore

they are not happy in their privacy. The character like !ston needs the company of someone.

He feels that as #avies is outcast, isolated and helpless in his condition, #avies could the best

partner to end his isolation as well as of #aviess isolation. !ston helps #avies, brings him

home though #avies is not a good man. #avies complains as soon as he enters !stons room.

!s !ston has failed to develop proper communication with his own brother, "ick ? !ston

turns to #avies for help. !ston does not want #avies to leave the room. He offers everything

that he could offer to #avies. This illustrate !stons strong wish for communication.Pinters character tries to identify himself within the limited space of the room.


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to treat !ston with brotherly affection. 8nfortunately "ick treats !ston as @ the other. "ick

indirectly forces isolation on !ston. Though "ick smiles at looking !ston at the end of the

play, he does not stay or live with him. He also does allow !ston to be part of society.

However his attitude towards !ston is not as harsh as of #avies. "ick gives the authority to

do whatever he likes to do with the room and apartment. But "ick leaves the room at the end?

"ick leaves !ston again in isolation.4

!ston tries hard to be the part of society. He does help #avies who in one way represents

society. He is an abnormal but behaves like a normal and very cooperative human being with

#avies. 9n the contrary, #avies who is a normal human being , behaves abnormally. By

helping #avies symbolically he wants to be the part of society. However the society in the

form of #avies treats him as mad and abnormal human being. #avies declares !ston does not

understand anything. 9ne really feels extremely upset that !ston is re6ected in the society and

that he has to continue his life in isolation. !stons helping nature results into nothing but in

frustration.

The term isolation is different from solitude. The isolation is normally forced on human

beings. 5t becomes a punishment for the isolated person.

the caretaker harold pinter

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