A Foucauldian Study Of The Mechamnism Of Power In Pinter’s The Homecoming

Harold Pinter,acknowledged as the most creative and enigmatic English dramatist after World War Ⅱ,is also a poet,screenwriter,actor,director,critic and political activist.He is keen on the trivial issues in daily life and would reflect the anxiety and fear beneath the disguised behavior.In general,the theme of power runs through most of his creations,among which The Homecoming stands out on the top list.So far in the literary circle,studies of this play mainly concentrate on character analysis,psychoanalysis,philosophical interpretation,feminism and comparative study.This thesis,however,endeavors to disclose Pinter’s depiction of the immoral and abnormal human relationships,especially those among family members.In light of Foucault’s power theory,the thesis tries to argue that the power imbalance represented in this play results from the operation of the mechanism of power,with which all characters employ their own strategies in dynamic power struggles.Besides sexual power,men in The Homecoming endow their discourse with patriarchal hierarchy and intellectual support,while Ruth,the only woman character,uses her sex as a congenital weapon to strive back.By doing this,all the characters impose discipline on one another.The thesis concludes that Pinter’s depiction of power struggle within the family is indeed that of the whole society,where everyone strives for dominance over others and resorts to the mechanism of power for dominance and supremacy.In this sense,the thesis offers a unique perspective to understand the distorted human relationships driven by power and sheds a great light on subtle interpersonal relationship in modern society.