The Caretaker is one of the most popular plays written by Harold Pinter. It is an absurd play, revolves around the themes of isolation, absurdity, lack of communication, and identity crisis.
Harold Pinter (1930-2008), is generally regarded as one of the most influential and prominent English dramatists, literary critics, actors, poets, and screenwriters. Harold Pinter was a complex and challenging post-World War II playwright. He was awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 2005. His major work includes The Caretaker, Girls, The Mirror, The Dumb Waiter Landscape, and so on.
The Caretaker is a three
acts play and considered the sixth major works of Pinter. It has been adapted
for television as well as film and has seen numerous revivals all over the
world, including at least one production with an all-female cast. As we
aforementioned that it is a masterpiece work of Pinter and can be called a
bright example of an absurd play. Absurdism was not a movement but a style of writing that
emerged after World War 1.
It is also a term for the style of theatre the plays represent. The plays were called absurd because they focus not on logical acts, a contrast to traditional style, plot developments, the role of characters, realistic elements, and unity of time, instead, they focus on absurdity, dark humor, and controversy regarding the philosophical condition of being "nothing." The play in both style and subject follows Samuel Beckett's play 'Waiting for Godot.
Like writers Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Edward Albee, and Tom Stoppard, Pinter develops a world where seemingly ordinary and dull dialogues take on greater meaning, and the simplest actions produce comedic effects. Pinter uses words and the silences between them to arouse the sentiments that lie underneath the surface of human relationships. His settings are often single rooms filled with people whose meanings are unclear. The subsequent communications are intricate, yet often emotional and inspiring.
'The Caretaker' is representative of modern periods in many ways. The play is representing the contemporary situation being created after WW1, but it can explicitly describe modern society as well. The close study of this play shows that it deals with the gap between harsh realities and fantasies. It also deals with the subjects of mental illness and the plight of the needy. Harold Pinter’s world-famous play “The Caretaker “can seriously be viewed as a mirror of society today. The themes in his work are a sharp reminder of a range of issues still current in today’s world.
Today’s world is still fundamentally racist, movements such as “Black Lives Matter “along with worldwide sporting groups and competitions “taking the knee “highlight this.
Evidenced by current events say in Pakistan itself and India - little has changed. Family values and historical and cultural change have created an abyss that has led to a breakdown in communication (another of Pinter’s themes) while many of the world’s less fortunate are now feeling isolated
The World War 2 creates a state of confusion, fear, insecurities and identity crisis in people. There was price hiking, deaths, unemployment, economic depression, and destruction everywhere. The chief characters in this play Aston, Mick, and Davies represent three different classes of that contemporary society, and their characteristics describe the modern society.
According to the Vocabulary.com "modern period is the last quarter of the 20th century when information became easily accessible through publications and the manipulation of information by computers and computer networks." This era has many chief characteristics which are under here. We will compare these characteristics as arguments with 'The Caretaker' to prove this play is a representative play of the modern era.
1. DESPAIR
The chief characters Mick and Aston live in a flat that is in a state of constant disrepair. The driving force behind the despair was World War II that prevailed in Europe. Two wars within such a short interval of time kept Europe in a state where beliefs started getting questioned.
Aston tells Davies,
“You make too much noise.”
A useless, purposeless set of words, not without its justification, depicts the inevitable despair. Harold Pinter artistically portrays the scenario and psychology of characters in a vivid way.
2. WAR
Wars are considered one of the major characteristics of the modern period. In history, we have seen many wars apart from WW1 and WW2 are the Chinese Civil War, Spanish Civil War, Indo Pak War, and Russian Civil War. In the play the characters are depressed and a gloom overshadowing them. Aston a former factory worker, has been unemployed ever since undergoing electric shock treatments years ago. The treatments left him brain-damaged, and he endures terrible headaches. The close study of the character's psychology shows that war badly affects them.
3. SILENCE
The unwillingness in communication between Aston and Mick in this play makes it unique from other absurd plays. Pinter employs silence and pauses as a nonverbal of speaking. Interestingly the word silence has been used 17 and pauses 156 times in this play. There are longer and shorter pauses denoted by (...) and (....). Silence is a powerful way of communication and same Pinter uses it, again and again, to show it is more powerful than the words themselves. It can be related to the noisy world where people are silent and have no time to talk to one another. People are busy in their routine life and no care for one another like Mick and Aston.
4. LONELINESS
According to an article written by BBC that "Loneliness not only makes us unhappy, but it is bad for us. It can lead to a lack of confidence and mental health problems like depression, stress, and anxiety." Isolation is one of the major themes in this play. Characters are isolated from one another and have no profound relation which led them to misunderstand. Furthermore, they are not connected with the people outside; finding it hostile or confusing. The isolation of the characters is due to societal effects. For instance, Davies's loneliness is due to selfishness and a lack of proper attitude. Same Aston's isolation is the result of his too much trust in others in society.
5. ABSURDITY
The play takes place in a chaotic and confusing world where the lives of the characters have lacking purposes. They are too absurd that even they can't rely on the creator to find peace and meaning in life. As we mentioned that they are isolated and depressed by external forces. They seem adrift from history, both collective and personal. Chaos and confusion are still very common in every man. Everyone is worried about the matter of life, how to earn and live a standard life. This is a specific feature found in the modern human. That's why we can say the play is a representation of the modern age in one way or another.
6. IDENTITY CRISIS
Researchers have found that those who have made a strong commitment to an identity tend to be happier and healthier than those who have not. But in the play, The Caretaker characters have very vague identities. The problem of identity especially with Davies is explicitly shown by the writer. People were scattered during World War 2 and have lost their recognition. Pinter touches this point through the character identity issues. As the researchers believe that this can often occur due to big changes or stressors in life, or due to factors such as age or advancement from a certain stage. Different experiments show that globalization, advanced communication, and internet availability affects the youth and create social identity crises.
CONCLUSION
The above arguments and discussions clearly show that the play 'The Caretaker' is the representation of the modern period. Short temperament and abusive language used by characters, loosely connected family relationship, incommunicability of language, identity crisis due to the repercussion of World War 2, chaotic and absurdity are the chief characteristics of the modern period. This play has been adapted in many modern movies and screenplays, which is still giving the message of universality.
Q Alexandra added in E-notes that “The Caretaker” also seems to fall on the cusp of modernism and postmodernism. For example, it comes down to the audience at certain times to determine the meaning of what the characters are saying. This commentary on communication is characteristic of postmodernism. Thus this play can be considered an important work that represents the transition between the two movements.”
Apart from these clues identity issues, family relationships and social class are exactly describing the psychology of modern men. Pinter suggests that modern life so beats down a person that they are unable to maintain a sense of self. These all aspects dealing with the darkest issues of human insecurity and hypocrisy. Modern man's struggle for power and accumulating money in this capitalistic system can be related to the themes of the play. The author's intention and depth perception by using tragedy and humor make the piece of literature, a modern play that is representative of this era.
The discussion I would like to end up with Harold Hobson’s statements.
"Of course the setting of The Caretaker is sordid. Of course, nobody in it wears clothes that please the eye. Of course its story – of how a good man shows charity, and then withdraws it – would not look exciting if compressed into a postcard. But I have already seen The Caretaker twice, and I shall see it again at the first opportunity, and after that, I shall see it a fourth time, and a fifth."
