Harold Pinter’s 1967 drama. “The Homecoming” . is a upseting narrative of an alienated firstborn boy Teddy’s unannounced return to his North London place after six old ages of absence conveying his married woman to run into his household and the tensenesss of power battle that ensued in the family upon their reaching. The enclave is composed of his overbearing ex-butcher widowed father. two brothers. ladies’ adult male Lenny and fighting pugilist Joey. and a driver uncle. Sam — all. except Sam. with their ain hostile thoughts about adult females. This paper focuses on the character of Teddy specifically in Act II where Joey and Lenny were discoursing Joey’s non traveling all the manner with Ruth.

Teddy is a physician of doctrine and a professor in an American university. He is the beginning of pride and green-eyed monster in the household being their late mother’s favourite and the merely 1 to hold a high instruction. He is an incommunicative hubby to his organic structure theoretical account married woman. Ruth. a mirror merely of his ain cold incommunicative household.

The manner Teddy unravels in the narrative shows him to be a instance of shallow assurance despite his impressive educational background. He is a alone adult male with merely his ineffective mind as his security cover. his powerful tool ; he surely feels intellectually superior compared to any of his household but non needfully ruling them.

He views the people about him as objects. capable of being manipulated. He is concerned merely about himself and his freedom is non about every bit of import as his ain married woman. His isolation is farther intensified when the household shifts attending to his married woman as the drama progresses.

The scene in focal point. where Joey and Lenny are speaking about how Joey did non acquire all they manner with Teddy’s married woman after being with her upstairs for two hours. shows how distant and detached can Teddy be. Such tense state of affairs in a typical matrimony puting would hold sparked fury and green-eyed monster in Teddy as a hubby but he was merely “not lost in it” ( Pinter 273 ) . He is non an object after all in his ain perceptual experience and he allow them travel on with the treatment.

It is worthy to observe a subtext to this apathy. that he condones this malicious act on his married woman and that. in fact. encourages it. This is typical of his character who can non even reply Lenny’s philosophical inquiry because it is non within his state ( Pinter 272 ) . Doctrine being his grade does non assist him with the inquiry of a morality issue in his ain family. This farther boosts his education’s practical ineffectualness.

Silences and pregnant intermissions are more of Teddy’s manner of interacting with the members of his household. The clean air he leaves speak volumes than his limited duologue clip. The intermissions betray tenseness. tentativeness. fright. ciphering ideas. hurting. a keeping dorsum of his interior ideas while his words. his tone. merely serve to dissemble his existent feelings.

He is non successful in suiting into his household because he alienates them. A noteworthy illustration of this is his proud declaration that his household would non understand his supposed critical plants. stating them they are manner behind. that he is the 1 who can see. ( Pinter 273 ) thereby efficaciously constructing a wall in between each other.

There are subjects he is hedging about like Ruth’s description of her life as a married woman and female parent in America. He is fearful to uncover his ain unbroken secrets. his look likely shows hesitance. his voice. after part on strong statements like the manner he corrected Ruth when she said that she was different before run intoing Teddy by stating “No you weren’t. You were the same” ( Pinter 270 ) . He likely dresses like any serious adult male and his motions consider. measured. When he is holding uncertainties. he likely appears indecisive at first but attempts to dissemble it with a space and insouciant look. However. his pick of words betrays his curious personality. Sometimes his prosaic statements further reenforce his disjunction to his supposed loved 1s.

Beneath is his ain coming to footings with his ain world that he is non into the matrimony any longer so that he is insensitive. emotionally separate. to the questionable Acts of the Apostless. the sexual insinuation of his brothers towards his married woman. This is besides shown in some awkward minutes such as: “Ruth…the household have invited you to remain. for a small while longer. As a…as a sort of invitee. If you like the thought I don’t mind. We can pull off really easy at home…” ( Pinter 275 )

Teddy is a individual who wants to liberate himself from his unhappy matrimony. At first when he comes place. he appears to be the victim of a disjointed household with no marks of heat. love. and interaction with each other. However. as the drama progresses. we find him moving as the endangering provoker of the family to allow Ruth remain earn her support as a cocotte. When it becomes evident that Ruth is acute on remaining. Teddy walks out emotionless. He is free.

On phase. Teddy’s character is hard to portray because much of his kernel is in his non-verbal scenes. He should be represented with adequate enigma to continue the unity of the drama which by itself does non give black and white replies to any issue and relies on dubious state of affairss of each character. This requires forbearance and effectual usage of organic structure linguistic communication to do up for the silences. the pick of tone to pass on Teddy’s withdrawal and angst. and intense concentration to non divert from character in the absence of any duologue.

Plants Cited

Pinter. Harold. “The Homecoming. ”The Best Plays of 1966-1967.Ed. Otis L. Guernsey Jr.

New York and Toronto: Dodd. Mead & A ; Company. 197. 260-277.