The Birthday Party: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Birthday Party: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the intricate dynamics among the central figures in Harold Pinter's play. At the heart of the narrative is Stanley Webber, a disheveled boarder in his late thirties, who lives in a shabby seaside boarding house. He clings to past memories of a musical career hindered by mysterious forces, represented by the unsettling arrival of Goldberg and McCann, two enigmatic guests whose intentions remain obscure. Meg Boles, Stanley’s landlady, embodies a maternal role, doting on him while blurring familial boundaries, particularly as she insists on celebrating his birthday. Goldberg, a commanding figure, symbolizes the oppressive forces of modernity, wielding control over both Stanley and the vulnerable Lulu, who oscillates between flirtation and fear. Dermot McCann complements Goldberg, serving as his accomplice while reflecting the complex intertwining of cultural identities. Lastly, Petey Boles, Meg’s husband, provides a contrasting calmness, highlighting the chaos and tension that unfolds around him. Together, these characters navigate themes of identity, power, and existential dread within the confines of the boarding house, creating a richly layered narrative that invites deeper exploration.
The Birthday Party: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Harold Pinter
First published: 1959
Genre: Play
Locale: England
Plot: Absurdist
Time: The 1950's
Stanley Webber, a boarder at a seedy seaside home. In his late thirties and unkempt, he indulges in fantasies about exotic cities in which he had performed as a concert pianist. In Kafkaesque fashion, he speaks of a career that was ended by persons he refers to as “them.” Filling his landlady's need for a lodger and a surrogate son, he is comfortably ensconced as a member of the household until his position is threatened by the arrival of two strange, surrealistic guests, Goldberg and McCann. He suggests that the two have come to cart away Meg, his landlady, in a wheelbarrow. In the climactic scene, at his birthday party, Stanley beats the drum Meg has given him as a present, the tempo savagely increasing as he marches around the room. During a game of blindman's buff, the lights go out. When the lights come back on, he is standing, with his glasses broken, over Lulu, who lies spread-eagled on a table. the next morning he appears in striped trousers, black jacket, white collar, and bowler hat, and is carted away by Goldberg and McCann to a mysterious healer, “Monty,” for treatment.
Meg Boles, the wife of Petey, with whom she operates a rundown boarding house. A mothering person in her mid-sixties who dislikes going out, she devotes her time to Petey's meals and comfort. She dotes on Stanley, their boarder, as a surrogate son. the surrogacy, however, takes on an Oedipal cast. Although Stanley protests to the contrary, Meg insists that it is his birthday, whereupon Goldberg suggests that a birthday party be held. At the end, seemingly unaware of Stanley's departure, she is enjoying reminiscing about being “the belle of the ball.”
Nat Goldberg, a menacing new guest in his late fifties, a “smooth operator” who takes charge of things, including his accomplice, McCann, with whom he quarrels at one point. In the form of cryptic questions about their pasts, their beliefs, and the forces that shaped their lives, Goldberg attacks first Lulu, then Stanley. He is a surrealistic, allegorical figure symbolizing the destructive impersonality of the modern world and its guilt-producing threat to the sensitive individual.
Dermot McCann, a thirty-year-old man who serves Goldberg in the nefarious activities in which they conspire. He makes an indelible impression with his neat, precise tearing of a sheet of newspaper, column by column. McCann, who is Irish-Catholic, and Goldberg, who is Jewish, suggest the Judaic-Christian influence that has shaped the modern Western world.
Petey Boles, a man in his sixties, Meg's husband. A compliant husband, he functions in the story primarily to exchange breakfast banalities with Meg or with Stanley, their boarder. His blandness puts into sharp focus the strange behavior of Meg and Stanley and the menacing threats of McCann and Goldberg. He returns from work one day to announce the arrival of their two new guests. At the end, he returns to his routines as husband and deck-chair attendant as though nothing unusual has happened.
Lulu, a woman in her twenties. She appears mysteriously with a package. After flirting with both Stanley and Goldberg, she departs the next morning after being interrogated accusingly by Goldberg and savagely ordered by the puritanical “unfrocked” McCann to confess.