Harold Pinter - The Room - Harold Pinter's life

Harold Pinter's life

-     656i88g ;    Born in Hackney,London in 1930

-     656i88g ;    Studied at  the Hackney Down Grammar School

-     656i88g ;    R.A.D.A Royal Accademy of Drammatic Art

-     656i88g ;    Young art name was David Baron

-     656i88g ;    1956: married the actress Vivien Merchant

-     656i88g ;    In 1957 wrote his first comedy, The Room

-     656i88g ;    1962: he wrote his first movie script, The Servant

-     656i88g ;    1966: became CBE Commander of the British Empire

-     656i88g ;    In the '70 started working as a theatre director

-     656i88g ;    1977: he left his wife for Antonia Fraser

-     656i88g ;    In '80 began writing political plays

-     656i88g ;    1982: Vivien died

-     656i88g ;    1985: goes to Turkey with Arthur Miller where he met a lot of victims of political oppression

-     656i88g ;    At the embassy he started talking about the torture with electric shock to the privates, so he had been expelled

-     656i88g ;    2002: became Companion of Honour

-     656i88g ;    -2002: submit himself at chemioterapy caused by a oesophagus tumor

-     656i88g ;    2005: won the Nobel for literature

-     656i88g ;    2005: he announced that he will stoop writing comedies and will dedicate himself to politics

-     656i88g ;    2006: won the "European award for theatre"

-     656i88g ;    Genuary 2007: the French prime minister Dominic de Villepin gave him the "Legion d'onore"

Pinter's works

Theatre:

-1957: The Room, The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter

-1958: The Hothouse

-1959: The Caretaker

-1964: The Homecoming

-1966: The Basement

The Landscape

-1968: Silence

-1970: Old Times

-1972: Monologue

-1974: No Man's Land

-1978: Betrayal
-1982: Family Voices, Victoria Station, A Kind of  Alaska

-1984: One for the Road

-1988: Mountain Language

-1991: Party time

-1993: Moonlight

-1996: Ashes to Ashes

-1999: Celebration

Prose:

-1949: Kullus

-1952-56: The Dwarfs

-1953: Latest Reports from the Stock Exchange

-1954-55: The Black and White

-1955: The Examination

-1963: Tea Party

-1975: The Coast

-1976: Problem

-1977: Lola

-1995: Short Story, Girls

-1997: God's District

-1999: Sorry About This

-2000: Tess

-2001: Voices in the Tunnel

Poetry:

-2003: War

Pinter's writing style

-     656i88g ;    Main concern is realism (characters absolutely realistic)

-     656i88g ;    "The Dwarf" influenced by Joyce's stream of consciousness

-     656i88g ;    Influenced by Beckett

-     656i88g ;    Influenced by Kafka (obsession, nightmares, anxieties)

-     656i88g ;    Unlike Beckett, Pinter's characters live in a specific place and period

-     656i88g ;    His plays are always simple and concrete

-     656i88g ;    Settings always domestic and familiar

-     656i88g ;    No dividing line between real and unreal, true and false

-     656i88g ;    Characters want to hide their thoughts

-     656i88g ;    Communication is alarming

-     656i88g ;    In Pinter's plays there are recognizable themes: The room, the female figure ( possessive mother or femme fatale), the vulnerability of the human spirit

The room

Characters:

-     656i88g ;    Rose Hudd: A woman of sixty y.o., she welcome all the characters that entered in the room

-     656i88g ;    Bert Hudd: A man of fifty y.o., he doesn't say a word untile the lat pages of the book

-     656i88g ;    Mr. Kidd: an old man, he is the landlord

-     656i88g ;    Mr. and Mrs. Sands: A young couple that want to buy a room in the palace

-     656i88g ;    Riley: A black, blind man, that live in the basement; he gives to Rose a strange massage, pretty weird character

Plot:

-     656i88g ;    Very simple

-     656i88g ;    Only one act

-     656i88g ;    The story takes place in a room

-     656i88g ;    Out is cold, snowy and windy

-     656i88g ;    Continuos alternance of characters

-     656i88g ;    Start with Rose and Bert alone, he is reading the newspaper, she is talking alone

-     656i88g ;    Enters Mr. Kidd, talk with Rose about his life, the weather, the room, Bert leaves

-     656i88g ;    Mr. Kidd leaves, enter MR. and Mrs. Sands

-     656i88g ;    Searching for a flat, and for the landlord (Mr. Kidd)

-     656i88g ;    They want Rose's room and they're sure to have seen a men in the downstairs

-     656i88g ;    They left, enters Mr. Kidd

-     656i88g ;    He says to Rose about a man that want to see her, then he leaves

-     656i88g ;    Enters Riley, the black, blind man

-     656i88g ;    Gives to Rose a message by Rose's father that wants her back home

-     656i88g ;    He calls Rose "Sal", a mysterious name that Rose doesn't want to hear

-     656i88g ;    While Rose is touching Riley's head enters Bert Hudd

-     656i88g ;    After he says a few sentences about his trip with the van in the snow, he strikes Riley, knocking him down

-     656i88g ;    Ends with Rose standing, clutching her eyes, saying "I can't see"