Background and Contextual Premises
Harold Pinter's work is highly influenced by the the contextual premises and circumstances of his life. Although Pinter's work may at first appear apolitical and completely devoid of such influences, let alone a sensible dose of average circumstantial reality, when examined more closely we see that Pinter's work as a playwright and as a citizen isn't so detached from political content as we might first assume. This of course became more apparent in his later years when he emerged more publicly as a vehement activist, speaking out about such issues like: the War in Vietnam, Apartheid in South Africa, American militarism, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. In his Noble Prize Lecture he clearly displays this side of his life commenting on his search for the truth as a citizen in context of world affairs, specifically American political intrusion.
As Martin Esslin comments on Pinter's work in his book The Peopled Wound, "behind the highly private world of his plays, there also lurk what after all, are the basic political problems: the use and abuse of power; the fight for living space; cruelty; terror. Only very superficial observers could overlook this social , this political side of this playwright."
By examining the historical context of Pinter's life and the world in which The Dumb Waiter exists we gain a deeper understanding of the play as a whole.
As Martin Esslin comments on Pinter's work in his book The Peopled Wound, "behind the highly private world of his plays, there also lurk what after all, are the basic political problems: the use and abuse of power; the fight for living space; cruelty; terror. Only very superficial observers could overlook this social , this political side of this playwright."
By examining the historical context of Pinter's life and the world in which The Dumb Waiter exists we gain a deeper understanding of the play as a whole.
Life in Britain 1940's-1950's
Harold Pinter grew up in the East End of London, amidst a political battlefield. Here swelled a large Jewish population of refugees displaced earlier by events like the Russian pogroms of 1905, WWI, and later by Hitler's attempted extermination. Amongst Cockneys, Chinese, Blacks, and Irish, radical fascists clashed with left-wing Jewish militants.
"Every one encounters violence in some way or other. I did encounter it in quite an extreme form after the war, in the East End, when the Fascists were coming back to life in England. I got into quite a few fights down there. If you looked remotely like a Jew you might be in trouble. Also, I went to a Jewish club, by an old railway arch, and there were quite a lot of people often waiting with broken milk bottles in a particular alley we used to walk through. ... We were often taken for Communists. If you went by, or happened to be passing, a Fascist street meeting and looked in any way antagonistic... they'd interpret your very being, especially if you had books under your arms, as evidence of being a communist. There was a good deal of violence there in those days. "
-Harold Pinter
"Every one encounters violence in some way or other. I did encounter it in quite an extreme form after the war, in the East End, when the Fascists were coming back to life in England. I got into quite a few fights down there. If you looked remotely like a Jew you might be in trouble. Also, I went to a Jewish club, by an old railway arch, and there were quite a lot of people often waiting with broken milk bottles in a particular alley we used to walk through. ... We were often taken for Communists. If you went by, or happened to be passing, a Fascist street meeting and looked in any way antagonistic... they'd interpret your very being, especially if you had books under your arms, as evidence of being a communist. There was a good deal of violence there in those days. "
-Harold Pinter
World War II and the London Blitz
In 1939, at the start of WWII, Pinter is evacuated to the country and separated from his family to be kept safe during the war.
“ I went to a castle in Cornwall- owned by a Mrs. Williams- with twenty-four other boys. … I came home after a year or so, then I went away again- this time with my mother- to a place closer to London.” (Harold Pinter in an interview with The New Yorker, 25 February 1976.)
In 1944 Pinter returns to London.
“On the day I got back to London, in 1944, I saw the first flying bomb. I was in the street and I saw it come over. … There were times when I would open the back door and find our garden in flames. Our house never burned, but we had to evacuate several times. Every time we evacuated, I took my cricket bat with me.” (Harold Pinter in an interview with The New Yorker, 25 February 1976.)
Undoubtedly the destruction of the war left its mark on Pinter's psyche. Pinter grew up in a world surrounded by violence both during the war, when he firsthand witnessed the blitz bombing of his country, and afterwards through the clashing political tensions of displaced refugees in London's East End. The abundance of this violence surely influenced his radical pacifism that marks his life. It is extremely likely that the war's imprint on his life led him to the absurdist writing style he is now famous for.
As noted in Martin Esslin's 1960 essay The Theater of the Absurd, the absurdist perspective, stems its roots from the post-war perspective. In the essay Esslin coin's the name "Theater of the Absurd" relating the similar styled plays of playwrights: Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, and later Harold Pinter, to the concept of the absurd as described in writer/philosopher Albert Camus' 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus.
The aftermath of WWII provided the perfect setting for the absurdist school of thought to ground itself and prosper, especially in France where the people of the devastated country found connection to the existentialist philosophy and the hopeless outlook on their meaningless lives. Here in France, specifically Paris, the works of playwrights like Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco gained great acclaim and populartity. The disillusioned post war perspectives of writers like Camus, Beckett, and Ionesco would go on to inspire Pinter in his own reactionary exploration of humanity through Drama.
“ I went to a castle in Cornwall- owned by a Mrs. Williams- with twenty-four other boys. … I came home after a year or so, then I went away again- this time with my mother- to a place closer to London.” (Harold Pinter in an interview with The New Yorker, 25 February 1976.)
In 1944 Pinter returns to London.
“On the day I got back to London, in 1944, I saw the first flying bomb. I was in the street and I saw it come over. … There were times when I would open the back door and find our garden in flames. Our house never burned, but we had to evacuate several times. Every time we evacuated, I took my cricket bat with me.” (Harold Pinter in an interview with The New Yorker, 25 February 1976.)
Undoubtedly the destruction of the war left its mark on Pinter's psyche. Pinter grew up in a world surrounded by violence both during the war, when he firsthand witnessed the blitz bombing of his country, and afterwards through the clashing political tensions of displaced refugees in London's East End. The abundance of this violence surely influenced his radical pacifism that marks his life. It is extremely likely that the war's imprint on his life led him to the absurdist writing style he is now famous for.
As noted in Martin Esslin's 1960 essay The Theater of the Absurd, the absurdist perspective, stems its roots from the post-war perspective. In the essay Esslin coin's the name "Theater of the Absurd" relating the similar styled plays of playwrights: Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, and later Harold Pinter, to the concept of the absurd as described in writer/philosopher Albert Camus' 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus.
The aftermath of WWII provided the perfect setting for the absurdist school of thought to ground itself and prosper, especially in France where the people of the devastated country found connection to the existentialist philosophy and the hopeless outlook on their meaningless lives. Here in France, specifically Paris, the works of playwrights like Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco gained great acclaim and populartity. The disillusioned post war perspectives of writers like Camus, Beckett, and Ionesco would go on to inspire Pinter in his own reactionary exploration of humanity through Drama.
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The Cold War
The continued state of political turmoil and conflict during the Cold War sustained the absurdist perspective of disillusionment during the 1950's, when the style was at its most prominent, and beyond. The universal fear of imminent death and destruction created an environment in which the philosophy that emerged in reaction to the Second World War could be understood around the world. In 1967 Pinter's Play The Homecoming would go on to win a Tony award following its premiere in New York City. During this long period of political tension and fear Pinter would go on to find his voice in world politics, something that would stay with him until his death. We see streak this radical pacifism start following WWII.
In 1948 Pinter reaches the age of eighteen, at which point he becomes liable for National Service. instead of following his nation's call of duty Pinter declares himself a conscientious objector. A conscientious objector is an individual who claims the right to refuse to perform military service. In Britain the general right to refuse military service was first introduced during WWI with the Military Service Act of 1916. Under the act citizens could be exempted not only from combatant forces but from all civilian service or non-combatant corps as well, depending on their ability to convince a Military Service Tribunal of the worthiness of their objection.
“I was aware of the suffering and the horror of war, and by no means was I going to subscribe to keep it going. I said no.” (Harold Pinter in an interview with The New Yorker, 25 February 1976.)
Pinter appeared before two conscientious objector tribunals with no success. The tribunals refused his application. Despite receiving his call up papers he persisted in avoiding military service to such an extent that he had to appear before a magistrate twice.
“I expected to go to prison, but it was very simple. I was under twenty-one and it was a civil offence, and the magistrate fined me; then I went on another trial and the same magistrate fined me again- ten pounds and then twenty pounds. It need not have been like that at all, if I had another magistrate.” (Pinter, conversation with the author, 1967)
In 1948 Pinter reaches the age of eighteen, at which point he becomes liable for National Service. instead of following his nation's call of duty Pinter declares himself a conscientious objector. A conscientious objector is an individual who claims the right to refuse to perform military service. In Britain the general right to refuse military service was first introduced during WWI with the Military Service Act of 1916. Under the act citizens could be exempted not only from combatant forces but from all civilian service or non-combatant corps as well, depending on their ability to convince a Military Service Tribunal of the worthiness of their objection.
“I was aware of the suffering and the horror of war, and by no means was I going to subscribe to keep it going. I said no.” (Harold Pinter in an interview with The New Yorker, 25 February 1976.)
Pinter appeared before two conscientious objector tribunals with no success. The tribunals refused his application. Despite receiving his call up papers he persisted in avoiding military service to such an extent that he had to appear before a magistrate twice.
“I expected to go to prison, but it was very simple. I was under twenty-one and it was a civil offence, and the magistrate fined me; then I went on another trial and the same magistrate fined me again- ten pounds and then twenty pounds. It need not have been like that at all, if I had another magistrate.” (Pinter, conversation with the author, 1967)