The Homecoming Analysis

Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming is a modern contemporary work of art with numerous sex scandals and dramatic plot twists. The Homecoming set the standard for how the contemporary period is viewed. The Homecoming was not strongly adored by the United States at the time, due to Pinter’s strong bias against the United States “Double Standards.” Pinter’s play eventually made it to the United States. It took Broadway forty years to mount a revival of The Homecoming (Berlin). It stayed on Broadway for six months, long enough to win four Tony awards, the New York Critics Circle Prize, and winning Pinter the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 (Berlin). Pinter is one of the greatest playwrights of the Modern Contemporary Era.
Pinter was born into a Jewish family in the London borough of Hackney on October 10th, 1930 (Billington). “On September 7, 1940, German Luftwaffe implemented a new strategy in the battle of Britian” (Stansky). 338 German bombers dropped bombs on London, killing 400 British citizens, and creating a fire bigger than the great fire of 1666 (Stansky). “This day was a turning point in the war, allowing Londoners to experience the effects of the war first hand” (Stansky). London’s Parliament took blame for the high number of deaths due to an inadequate number of bomb shelters for the citizens (Stansky). This initial attack was the start of an eight month attack later referred to as “The Blitz” (Stansky). “The Germans failed to break Britian’s resolve to continue with the war” (Stansky).
Realism was a popular theme among the 20th century Europe. Realism was an attempt to make theatre more useful for the society at the time (Trumbull). Realism was employed in order to add significance and meaning to the plays people wer...

... middle of paper ...

...uch hatred towards the Western world is because the United States refused to help Britain militarily during the beginning of World War II. Pinter watched his fellow Londoners die in violent over-night attacks. He watched London crumble as the Luftwaffe rained bombs from the sky. He watched everything he had be burned to the ground in a blazing inferno, and the United States stood by and watched their closed ally be brought to their knees at the end of Germany’s sword and do nothing about it, until the United States got attacked itself. The Blitz also serves as a great comparison between the German attacks, and modern day terrorism. The goal of both is to attack the citizens of their opposition, in hopes to cripple their will to continue the fight, such as the 9/11 terror attacks (Stansky). The events in the Mid-20th century helped shape what theatre is today.