The modern woman and conflict of gender performance: An analysis of Pinter’s Selected plays
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Date
2021-09Publisher
Brac UniversityAuthor
Islam, MahmoodaMetadata
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This dissertation is an opportunity to explore Harold Pinter's selected plays to unveil the
representation of women in modern drama and the conflict of gender on stage. The goal is to
demonstrate a literary study of the portrayal of Pinter’s male and female characters, as well as
the tension that arises between them that can be found in three plays of Harold Pinter which are
The Homecoming (1964), The Lover (1962), as well as Night School (1960). The study
incorporates the ideas of famous philosophers including the French Simon de Beauvoir and
American Judith Butler who have profoundly written on gender, masculinity and femininity. I
would like to analyse how Pinter creates the illusion of family while also suggesting the
fragility of traditional family structures that are easily challenged and broken. In addition, I will
demonstrate how sexuality is used as a weapon of control by both genders, male and female, to
manipulate each other in the false family structures depicted in his plays. Lastly, the connection
between Pinter’s plays and philosophies of Judith Butler and Simon de Beauvoir will illustrate
that these plays depict the emergence of modern women on stage, through which Pinter creates
a conflict between patriarchal society and the modern woman.
Description
This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English, 2021.Department
Department of English and Humanities, Brac UniversityType
ThesisCollections
- Thesis, B.A. (English) [611]