Englishness & Identity in Pinter’s Plays; The Birthday Party (1958) and the Caretaker (1960)

Abstract

This dissertation is an attempt to explore Pinter’s Englishness and Identity use in two of his major plays; the Birthday Party (1958) and the Caretaker (1960), with relating some of the behaviors and the actions of the characters with the British society in the twentieth century. The research seek to give a sociological definition of the two concepts and illuminating the relationship between them, mentioning both terms as major characteristics of The Theatre of The Absurd. In addition to introducing readers to the ways which are exposed in the two plays. The work is accomplished by using Qualitative research depending on; Books Articles and Essays. Moreover Pinter presented his protagonist with an anonymous identity and a specific social class; the characters are misleading those around them about their true identity or they accept the English identity imposed on them by others. The work reveals that Pinter use of the issue of Englishness and Identity is extremely noticeable in his two magnificent plays; the Birthday Party and the Caretaker, and that certainly goes back to his inner psychology and indeed to his origins as a Jewish writer with an English identity. The dissertation concludes that Englishness is considered as a huge response to different national identities within Britain. On the other hand Identity is related to the understandings that people hold about 'who they are' and what is meaningful to them. The terms mentioned above are inter-related as a result, Englishness is an Identity.