1.

EVALUATION OF THE BIRTHDAY PARTY AS COMEDY OF

MENACE
The phrase “comedy of menace” as a standalone description inspires both positive
and negative feelings. Comedy is used during a dangerous situation to cause
audiences to draw judgments about a particular character or communication. The
words used are the focus of often powerful stories that create conflicting emotions
from its audience. The title “Comedy of Menace” immediately brings
contradictions to mind, because comedy is generally something that makes people
laugh, and the word "menace" implies something threatening. Quite literally, then,
this phrase involves laughing at an ominous situation. The label, a comedy of
menace, was first used in 1957 by David Campton1 in the sub-title of his play
“The Lunatic View “, and was a year later applied to the plays of Pinter in a
magazine article. A comedy of menace is a play in which the laughter of the
audience in some or all situations is accompanied, or immediately followed, by a
feeling of some impending disaster. Throughout such a play, the audience feels
uneasy even while laughing, because of its perception of some threat, explicit or
implicit, to the principal character and to the audience itself. In other words, the
audience is made aware, in the very midst of its laughter, of some menace.
COMEDY OF MENACE IN THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
  Pinter's The Birthday Party is a perfect example of Comedy of Menace.
Throughout the play, we find that the hint of menace is inflected upon the
individual freedom of a person and it juxtaposes the comic element drastically
dilutes the comic appeal. Pinter shows his state in the existential view that danger
prevails everywhere and life can't escape from it. Pinter thinks that Stanley, the
protagonist, might have committed a serious crime and is on the run for escaping
the consequence and legal implications of his life.
Pinter’s comedies of menace have a simplistic setting:
 They might focus on one or two powerful images
 Usually are set in just one room
 A powerful force that isn’t specifically defined to the audience threatens
characters in the plays
 Audiences focus on the communications between the characters
 Generate the feeling and gist of the play from the conversations
 None of the characters in the play is free from fear
 1. THE OPENING SCENE
Comedy is present in The Birthday Party from the very first scene; it is a way of
gently introducing the audience to the world which Pinter is trying to create. The
humor is quite subtle at first. For example-

 The exchange between Petey and Meg about whether Stanley is up or not
plays on the words up and down:

Meg: "Is Stanley up yet?

Petey: I don't know. Is he?
Meg: I don't know. I haven't seen him down.
Petey: Well then, he can't be up.
Meg: Haven't you seen him down?

Although the repetitions in this short exchange will not make the audience
burst out with laughter, they can make them smile and the humor also lulls
them into a sense of comfort.

2. LIGHT HEARTED SITUATIONS TO SERIOUS:

Pinter creates an atmosphere of menace through a variety of dramatic elements and

techniques. First of all, he lets situations fall from a light-hearted situation
unexpectedly down to one which is highly serious. For instance:

 While talking to Meg among other things, he tells her about a wheel-barrow
which will come to the house for some body. Here audience get a suggestion
of impending death through the sudden reference to coffin.
 Again, Meg offering Staley the gift of a drum as a compliment to his
supposed musical talent. But Stanley begins to beat it with such savagery
that the audience is left dumb-struck as to the real intention behind this.
 Abrupt explosion of violence is once again seen when Stanley kicks at
McCann.
3. INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEG AND
STANLEY:
Humor also serves to draw attention to the strangeness of Meg and Stanley's
relationship. Meg treats him like a child despite his being a man of thirty. Before
this Meg's calling him "that boy" and trying to get him out of bed by calling-

"Stan! Stanny! Stan! I'm coming up to fetch you if you don't come down! I'm
coming up! I'm going to count to three! One! Two! Three! "

This makes the audience think he must be a child. Thus, when audience see him for
the first time the incompatibility between the reality and what have been led to
believe creates humor. The inappropriateness of Meg's treatment of Stanley and his
being a fully grown man also creates humor. While Meg and Stanley's
conversation has some comedic value, it could also make the audience feel slightly
uneasy, perhaps they will ask themselves why this woman of sixty treats a man of
thirty like a boy and why he plays along with her at times. 

4. FEAR:

Menace is presented through the fears the characters feel but cannot spot.

 Fear of Weather: First of all, fear of weather is introduced: the

characters repeatedly enquire about weather, and this becomes tangible
once the audience understand that the lodge is situated on the coast of a
sea. Then Stanley tries to frighten Meg by prophesying the arrival of
wheel-barrow which, of course, does not come for her.
 Complex Fear of Stanley: On hearing the visit of two strangers, Stanley
feels a complex fear-
First of all, the fear of being driven away from the lodge which has
become for him as comfortable as his mother’s womb. A house
represents security and comforts from the hazards of the outside world
but sadly it is impossible to sustain. Goldberg and McCann are the
embodiment of menace from a hostile outside world.
Secondly, Stanley faces the fear of being persecuted by the intruders.
That is why he expresses his desire to run away with Lulu, but is afraid of
doing so in reality.  
5. CLIMAX OF MENACE:
With the hosting of the birthday party, the play reaches its climax of menace. A
birthday party is expected to be a ritualistic celebration of one’s life, but in the case
of Stanley it turns out to be the greatest ordeal of life leading to his complete
mental derangement. The audience now understand the menace turning real though
in transformed forms. Stanley faces not only physical assault but also a torrent of
words. The persons who could have saved him are either absent or drunk.

The play ends with Stanley’s forced removal from the house by Goldberg
and McCann who leave a further note of unknown menace awaiting Stanley in near
future. This uncertain menace is further strengthened by Petey’s inability to
communicate to Meg what has exactly happened with Stanley.

To conclude, Pinter uses comedy at these moments in the play in order to

reassure the audience and to keep some suspense. The humor also brings a certain
level of normality back to the proceedings of the play so that the menacing
atmosphere can increase slowly, again creating more suspense. 

2.THEMES OF BIRTHDAY PARTY

Pinter’s first play, The Birthday Party, has a seemingly simple plot. The action
revolves around a character in his late thirties called Stanley Webber. The play was
Pinter’s first play and can be interpreted in many ways; it was read as one of the
Comedy of Menace plays, as Absurd and as meta-political play.

EXISTENTIAL VIEW
 Pinter shows his state in the existential view that danger prevails everywhere and
life cannot escape from it. Pinter thinks that Stanley, the protagonist, might have
committed a serious crime and is on the run for escaping the consequence and legal
implications of his life. This is precisely comprehended while he almost never
leaves his room and becomes furiously apprehensive when Meg informs him that
two gentlemen are coming to stay in their boarding house. Goldberg's constant
reference to the "job" he has to execute and finally the interrogation of Stanley by
Goldberg and McCann are sometimes funny or comical but have a threatening
impact both upon Stanley and the audience.
VERBAL VIOLATION
The state Stanley reached was the result of verbal torture in the first interrogation
scene. While Stanley was not tortured physically on stage, the verbal torture or
verbal violence was enough to deprive him of the ability to communicate as no
more than his silence, which signifies that he has been prepared to be re-
institutionalized, was needed. The torrent of questions to which Stanley is
subjected until he screams and collapses follows a form of verbal torture in the
form of rapid questions which Stanley is not given time to answer. Stanley
becomes confused by the ‘rapid fire’ interrogation and by the variety of questions
he is asked. He in vain tries elude the questions, sometimes trying to fight back by
maintaining his answers as in his insistence that the number ‘846’ Goldberg is
asking about is ‘both’ possible and necessary. s. After a tough interrogation in
which he has tried to defy his inquisitors, just on the brink of collapsing and
battling his mental disorientation, his hesitation and stumbling prove Goldberg and
McCann are accomplishing their task of breaking him. Yet it should be noted that
Stanley tries on many occasions to defend himself against his oppressors, and he
remains defiant even when he is questioned in his room by McCann. Stanley
refuses the order to sit down for interrogation. Even though Stanley is finally
defeated and led away, he does not give up without resistance.

ABSURDITY
The Birthday Party is full of disjointed information that has defied efforts to
distinguish between reality and illusion. For example, despite the presentation of
personal information on Stanley and his two persecutors, who or what they really
are remains a mystery. Goldberg, in particular, has provided all sorts of
information about his background, but he has offered only oblique clues as to why
he has intruded upon Stanley’s life. Stanley has been leading a life of aloofness
from society. He is a disappointed and frustrated artist who has taken refuge in
seaside resort of Meg. He has felt that society has not treated him well. What has
Stanley done to deserve persecution? The facts of his past are so unclear that his
claim to be a pianist may even be false. He feels disgusted with the prevailing
customs and conventions of society. He finds it impossible to continue to live
amidst such society. He prefers an isolated existence. He is brutally and inhumanly
tortured by the intruders McCann and Goldberg who represent society at large. The
society treats such an individualistic artist like Stanley as a danger and pulls him
back from his isolation. Those who have chosen to be alienated, thus, cannot have
such right. Stanley’s quest is for respectful identity as an artist which he sought to
establish. His endeavor to establish a healthy social relationship is futile. The
Birthday Party has influenced the audience to doubt anything with certainty, which
as it does in Kafka’s work, intensifies the dreadful angst experienced by the
protagonist. This effect is achieved through truncated dialogue, by Pinter’s
deliberate failure to provide conclusive or consistent information, and by his use of
ambiguity and nonsense.

COMPLECENCY
The most pessimistic aspect of The Birthday Party is that the only alternative
Pinter gives to chaos and confusion is a life of apathy and complacency. The play’s
opening scene sets this up - Petey and Meg have revealed a comfortable but bland
life in which they talk in pleasantries and ignore anything of substance. Stanley is
more aggressive than they are, but he too has clearly chosen the safety of
complacency, as he has made no effort to change his life. His lethargic lifestyle has
reflected the attraction, comfort for him. When Goldberg and McCann arrive, they
challenge this complacent lifestyle until the whole place falls into chaos.
Ultimately, Petey chooses to refortify the complacency of the boarding house over
bravely fighting for Stanley; neither choice is truly attractive.

ATONEMENT
One of the great ironies in this play is that it uses what appears to be a fairly non-
dramatic, realistic setting which nevertheless hides a surplus of guilt. The theme of
atonement runs throughout the play. Stanley’s past is never detailed, but he is
clearly a guilty man. He is vague about his past, and has done everything to distract
Goldberg and McCann. He is not intentionally wish to atone for whatever he has
done, but he is forced to do so through torture. Goldberg, too, wishes to avoid
whatever sins torture him but cannot fully escape from them; his mood in Act III
has shown that he is plagued by feelings; he does not wish to have. At the climax,
all of the characters are like Lulu, who flees when McCann has offered her a
chance to confess - everyone has sins to atone for, but nobody wants to face them.

SEXUAL TENSION
Sexual tension is present throughout the entire play, and it has resulted in tragic
consequences. Meg and Stanley have a strange, possible sexual relationship that
frees him to treat her very cruelly. The ugliness of his behavior is echoed when
Goldberg has called him a “mother defiler” and “a lecher.” In fact, Goldberg has
suggested that Stanley’s unnamed sin involves his poor treatment of a woman.
Lulu seems interested in Stanley as well, but is quickly attracted to Goldberg in
Act II. Her innocence makes her prey to men’s sexuality. Her openness leads to
two consecutive sexual assaults, and yet she is nevertheless upset to learn that
Goldberg is leaving. moreover, it is a strange, perverse undercurrent throughout the
play. Sex is acknowledged as a fact of life, and yet has not ever revealed positive
aspects of the characters.

3) Absurd Drama
Martin Esslin, an eminent critic, used the phrase “Theatre of the Absurd”, to
describe the plays of the 1950s and 1960s. The Theatre of the Absurd is the
Western phenomenon.
 It is the result of the disastrous disturbance occurred during the post war
period.
 Absurdity may also be a reaction to paranoia and the gradual disappearance
of religious life.
 Depicts man’s helplessness, hopelessness and unease of day-to-day life.
 By ridiculing conventionalized and stereotyped speech patterns, the theatre
of the Absurd tries to make people aware of the possibility of going beyond
everyday speech conventions and communicating more authentically.
 The features of absurdity such as un-clarity of scenes, dialogues, language
and plot are reflected.
 The absurd character, in order to reveal the precariousness of man’s
existential security is built up by three distinct elements: mystery, menace
and humor.
One of the dramatists who follow this way of expression is Harold Pinter. The
Birthday Party can be understood easily yet it has elements which make it unique
and absurd. In the following section, I shall try to clarify the functions of the
language in the world of Absurdity, of which The Birthday Party is a good sample.

Disconnected from External World

Absurd individuals do not want to get exposed to external world and experience
fear of strangers. Stanley feels the extreme fear from the world outside and, so he
chooses to put himself in isolation. Stanley finds refuge in Meg and Petey at the
boarding house and the moment he is informed by Meg about the visit of two
gentlemen he loses his temper and begins to act strangely in a violent manner. He
turns violent and begins to behave in an ominous way that displays his sense of
threat. His behaviour and gestures reflect that he has committed certain sin and so
he feels guilty. Stanley remains comfortable till the two gentlemen arrive at the
boarding house. The moment they enter the house, the irrationality and trouble
begin to hang on Stanley and their entrance rapidly alters the whole environment of
the house by causing terror among the characters.

Hopelessness
The play reflects the state of mid20th century youth—lost and hopeless. The idle
and unpleasant life that Stanley lives is noticed by Meg’s next-door neighbour
Lulu who considers him to be busy. Lulu appears an uncomplicated character and a
girl of little depth. She seems a dull girl through her activities but dares to revive
Stanley’s inert soul. She notices the absurd attitude of Stanley and desires him to
feel calm and relaxed, and abandon all worries and miseries. She knocks down
Stanley for being grimy and filthy,
“Why don’t you have a wash? You look terrible. Come out and get a bit of air.
You depress me looking like that”

Paranoia
However, Meg feels joyous and extreme pleasure due to the party organized by
Goldberg and McCann and shares happiness-
“I’ll put on my party dress”; “I hope I look nice in my dress”
Meg presents Stanley the drum as a birthday gift because he has not played the
piano for a long time. Stanley begins to beat the drum gently, rhythmically with
music that pleased both Meg and the audience; but all of a sudden, he thrashed the
drum bitterly, violently and wildly. It appears like the worst experience of past has
struck to his mind and he could not hold his temper and loses consciousness. Pinter
as a psychiatrist detected Stanley’s paranoia. From Stanley’s non-sensible
activities, we observe that he has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
that repeatedly overwhelms him in the course of the play.

Menace and Humor

The Birthday Party is a mysterious play because we are ignorant of Stanley’s
purpose of anguish and apprehension; and Goldberg—McCann’s mission. The
audience, as well as McCann remain unaware of their intention to visit the
boarding house. The pair brings an aura of suspense and menace to the audience.
Goldberg and McCann ironically represent Jews and Irish respectively, two of the
most oppressed, persecuted communities that become tormentors. The play is
labelled as ‘Comedy of Menace’ due to its hilarious and tormenting terror going
through its scenes and episodes. In most events, the audience is amused at the
ambiguous menace of Stanley.

Unclarity of Dialogues and Speech

Pinter presents personal breakdown, disillusionment and decay through the
linguistic terror unleashed by McCann and Goldberg. Pinter’s play is the absurd
story of language. Language significantly evolves the absurdity in the characters,
emotions, relationships and situation. Stanley is tormented not so much by
McCann and Goldberg, but by the language used by them. The dialogue between
Petey and Meg are more an attempt at evasion than communication. For instance,
Pinter uses repetition as a mode to create laughter and also to ease the tension of
the scene and divert the audience’s response slightly from the action. In the first
Act, Meg repeatedly asks a question to create laughter-
“Meg – Is that you, Petey? (Pause)
Petey- is that you? (Pause) Petey? Petey – what?
Meg –Is that you? Petey – Yes, it’s me.”
Absurd ideas and fanciful imagination indicate the feeling of hollowness in Meg
and Petey’s married life and also in Stanley’s life gripped by uncertainties and
insecurities.
The characters in The Birthday Party are neither capable using the
language; language for them is like movement, the irrationality, aggressiveness and
violence. Language, like an absurd hero, brings to the audience the absurdity of
human situation. Pinter succeeds in creating an allegorical drama of epic
proportions: Man versus his birth and existence, or Man versus language. But,
though Man is foredoomed to failure in any epical battle between himself and
nature, fails heroically. Absurdity engulfs everything and everyone, even language
and life itself.
4) Realism

Realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of

contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close
observation of outward appearances. It has several classic elements to the writing
giving away this story is a piece of literary realism.

 Realistic characters and setting

 Comprehensive detail about everyday occurrences
 Plausible plot
 Real dialects of the area
 Character development important
 Importance in depicting social class

Realism in The Birthday Party

The play “The Birthday Party” represents the youth who have given up the external
hostile world. So, the characters presented in the play are idle, sleepy, and dirty
most of the time. There are no situation of fantasy, magic, exaggeration in the play.
So, this play is an epitome of realism.
Realistic Characters

Stanley, the protagonist is given refuge by the elderly couple in the boarding
house. He usually wakes up late in the day and reflects upon the post-war young
London generation. Such individuals are filthy, messy and a blot on family and
society. These individuals have dragged families towards terror and anxiety. The
personal and family dignity of such individuals is devalued and lost.

Pinter's The Birthday Party, the three inmates of the boarding house (Meg, Petty
and Stanley), the next-door woman (Lulu) and the two strangers (Goldberg and
McCann) have been introduced on the stage realistically through their inter –
relations and encounters with one another employing simple dialogues and
colloquial language.

Social Class

The play portrays the hard work done by elder generation in society, who leave
their homes at dawn and work throughout the day until dusk. Such individuals
strive a lot to keep their house running. The elderly couple Petey and Meg give the
impression of being firmly moored in their daily life. There is no exaggeration of
their financial situation or love life. Their poor meals represent the turmoil in their
day-to-day life. In the play, there are six characters and they constitute a
microcosm of society. They mirror the economic division of the society and the
division between exploiters and exploited. Goldberg and McCann are exploiters,
managers, operators, and control the life as well as decision makers Goldberg and
McCann ironically represent Jews and Irish respectively, two of the most
oppressed, persecuted communities that become tormentors.

Character Development

From the psychological point of view, Pinter declares the play to be a process of
growth toward maturity from the warm and cosy world of childhood. The play
revolves round the identity crisis so crucial to existentialism and the Theatre of the
Absurd. The play shows, how a man in the course of others’ entertainment is
ignored and abandoned completely. The individual identity is relegated to the
background. Both Lulu and Meg enjoy the party with Goldberg and McCann
respectively, while Stanley, all alone, suffers during their celebration. Stanley is
deeply lost in his thoughts in isolation and none pays attention to his despair. They
decided to play the game of blind man’s bluff and while Stanley is blindfolded,
McCann crushes down his glasses and puts the drum in his way to let him collapse
down in disgrace. Audience feels his gloomy mood and distorted physique that is
almost crippled. Pinter has observed and shown to the world the identity crisis that
damaged the human society and put humans into eternal absurdity. Perhaps
because the horror is intensified, by contrast the characters’ dialogue sounds much
more realistic and the horror comes through much more strongly. Stanley’s peace
of mind at the boarding house comes to its conclusion the moment intruders enter
in the house, and worsens in the course of their stay. Initially, Pinter’s antagonists
appear to be victims but as the play proceeds, they reveal their identity through
skilful dialogues on the stage e.g. Goldberg and McCann express their plight at
first sight but later we judge them both as antagonists because they disturbed and
tortured Stanley mentally and physically, throughout the play.

The play reflects the ridiculous state of the individuals in the second half of the
20th century. It presents the grimness and despair in man’s life. Pinter’s characters
are bewildered. They have put themselves in utter darkness and are unable to
recognize their true nature and purpose. The modern life at each and every instance
shocked the general folk in the post-war Western society. The play declares the
multidimensional chaos, arbitrariness and illogical episodes at their virtual facades.
It reinforces the idea of discreet solution to the existing human predicaments that
have ailed and crippled the societies. The socio-political factors render the
individuals meaningless. Existence is questioned and yearning to seek self-identity
remains unsatisfied as the search for identity remains inconclusive and elusive.

5) Stanley and Meg

Meg’s initial dialogues seem to be no more than timefillers accompanying a

predictable routine; the tendency of pampering Stanley is accompanied by traces of
self-indulgence to boost her otherwise dull and eventless life. From Stanley’s side
it happens to be more irritation and disgust, only intermittently accompanied by the
odd flirtatious verbal like “succulent”. We do not know how far this peevish
exterior could be attributed to Meg’s nagging approach; they could well be an
expression of his already disturbed state of mind for which he could not sleep the
previous night and would soon raise objection to the two visitors coming. He even
threatens Meg posing her superior only to drift into a hyperbolic vision of a world
tour as a pianist even as Meg entreats him to stay back.

Stanley- a Mother or a Lover

Stanley's relationship with Meg is a kind of the eccentric conduct. Meg mothers
him but at the same time, she is sexually interested in him. She gets worried when
he is late for breakfast. His comfort and well-being are her constant concern.

Meg: I always take him up his cup of tea.

Meg: Is he (Stanley) still in bed?
Petty: Yes, he's… still asleep.
Meg: Still? He'll be late for his breakfast.

Though she treats him as a son, she is also sexually attracted towards him. In act
one she flirts with him, ruffles his hair and fondles his arm. When he says that he
may leave this place to accept a job, which has been offered to him, she expresses
her reaction by saying:

“Don't you go away again, Stanley. You stay here. You'll be better off. You
stay with your old Meg.”

She has had some enjoyable afternoons with him in his room. She reminds him that
she has had lovely afternoons with him in the room he describes as dirty and
unworthy living in.

“Meg: he’s my Stanley now. And I think he’s a good boy, although sometimes
he’s bad. And he’s the only Stanley I know, and I know him better than all the
world, although he doesn’t think so.”

Stanley- Rude yet Dependent to Meg:

Although she behaves with him in motherly and amorous way, he treats her
idiosyncratically. He speaks to her rudely and scornfully. When Meg orders him
tea, he says:

“This isn't tea. Its gravy… you're a bad wife… you succulent washing bag.”

And later in act three he tries to strangle her in the course of the game of blind
man's buff at the same time he says that he would nowhere without her, thus
showing complete dependence on her. He says-

“I don't know what I'd do without you (Meg).”

In act two, the scene of the eccentric conduct is also clear. Meg gives Stanley a
boy's drum as a birthday present. He hangs it around his neck. At first, he beats the
drum gently and rhythmically, but then he begins to beat it violently. He almost
becomes savage in his beating of it.

Existentialism

6) Stanley and Lulu

The idle and unpleasant life that Stanley lives is noticed by Meg’s next-door
neighbor Lulu who considers him to be busy. Lulu appears an uncomplicated
character and a girl of little depth. Described as a "girl in her twenties,'' Lulu is a
neighbor who first appears carrying Stanley's birthday present, the toy drum and
drum sticks that Meg had bought for him. On the flirtatious side, she is
self−conscious about her sexual appeal and cannot sit still for long without taking
out a compact to powder her face.

Lulu Shows the Reality to Stanley

She seems a dull girl through her activities but dares to revive Stanley’s inert soul.
She notices the absurd attitude of Stanley and desires him to feel calm and relaxed,
and abandon all worries and miseries. She knocks down Stanley for being grimy
and filthy-

“Why don’t you have a wash? You look terrible”; “Come out and get a bit of
air. You depress me looking like that”

To her, looks are obviously important, and she sees Stanley as a "washout" because
he seems to care nothing about his unkempt appearance.

Lulu is giving Stanley a chance to not just look at his physical features, but to look
further within himself as well. Again, Stanley refuses,

"A wash wouldn't make any difference."

Stanley's feeling of lost hope for himself is evident in this first polar attitude. Lulu,
a neighbor, also represents reality for Stanley by reflecting his life which he once
left behind. Lulu is a passionate character who wants to experience love.
Unfortunately, she does not understand the difference between a sincere love and a
violent love. All she wants is to be loved, and how she may get it is not always so
important at first.
Stanley destroys the Conception about Love of Lulu

To Stanley, Lulu is a reality which slaps him in the face. She represents love,
which Stanley never had and he feels will never have. His father avoided him, his
mother was locked up, and even the concert hall shut down. Everyone deserted
him, so he deserted himself as well by leaving home and shutting himself off from
the world. Something which many people do when they are lost and confused.
Since Stanley felt the absence of love, he wanted someone else to also experience
it as well. What better way than to rape Lulu. He not only takes advantage of her
but he is destroying the one thing he never had; Lulu's desire to love and to be
loved.

This also relates to society as a whole, because every person wants to love and
be loved. When we don't find that love, we tend to blame ourselves or others and
hide behind closed doors. Those who have been hurt by love in our lives, want to
build a wall around us so no one else can hurt us, or end up hurting others as we
were once hurt. This is exactly what Stanley does to Lulu. Again, he has avoided
reality by destroying it, and in this case, destroying Lulu.

7) Stanley

The Birthday Party has been interpreted as an allegory of the pressures of

conformity, with Stanley, the pianist, as the artist who is forced into respectability
and pin-stripe trousers by the emissaries of the bourgeois world. Although he never
evidences any guilt for his betrayal of the unspecified cause, he responds to his
inquisitors as if he knows that there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. At the end,
although unable to voice his feelings, he seems resigned to his unknown fate.\

Decent Stanley

We learn that Stanley was once a pianist in a concert party on the pier, who left his
job and came to live in the boarding house. He has been a resident for about a year.
Stanley finally came to live here as a result of the concert hall shutting down and
the lack of love between him and his parents. This is significant because it not only
justifies Stanley's actions in the play, but it parallels society. Unfortunately, when
people run into trouble and are faced with disaster or grief, like death or divorce, or
must deal with major changes in life, like losing a job, many people run away from
that situation. People run away to avoid the situation, to find something better, or
to hide from what is troubling them. In Stanley's case, he is running from betrayal
and the lack of acceptance. He runs far away to a boarding house near the sea. A
place where he can be secluded from others outside the house and nurtured by
those inside. Yet when someone or something disrupts that sanctuary that you have
created, you feel violated and threatened, which is what happens to Stanley
through the course of the play. Stanley is a person who is seeking help and yet
won't accept it when it's offered. Stanley thinks he has his life in order and fails to
understand why everyone wants him to remember his past.

Stanley in Isolation

Stanley feels the extreme fear from the world outside and, so he chooses to put
himself in isolation. Stanley finds refuge in Meg and Petey at the boarding house
and the moment he is informed by Meg about the visit of two gentlemen he loses
his temper and begins to act strangely in a violent manner. He turns violent and
begins to behave in an ominous way that displays his sense of threat. His behavior
and gestures reflect that he has committed certain sin and so he feels guilty.
Stanley remains comfortable till the two gentlemen arrive at the boarding house.
The moment they enter the house, the irrationality and trouble begin to hang on
Stanley and their entrance rapidly alters the whole environment of the house by
causing terror among the characters. Pinter is preoccupied with fear, anxiety and
terror of the members in the society.

Stanley Suffering from Psychological Imbalance

Pinter’s characters suffer from psychological imbalance and are seen performing
unexpected activities. Stanley is tormented by irrational questions which annihilate
his thoughts and senses. He is reduced to an inarticulate victim; and accused of
certain guilt. Stanley is unwilling to be part of outside worlds and wants be away
from it. It creates anxiety in the mind of the audience. Since it is man’s fear to the
unknown danger, which is expressed through the condition of Stanley. The
language used here is strange which portrait the character of Stanley as a young
silent and sophisticated. Here is the ruin of individuality of the character and
Stanley becomes speechless.

GOLDBERG: You’re dead. You can’t live, you can’t think, you can’t love.
You're dead. You’re a plague gone badly. There's no juice in you. You are
nothing but an odor.

The crimes attributed to him are mostly anti-social—murder, failure to keep a

clean house, refusal to marry, etc. He is unable to defend against them although he
tried a lot to answer their nonsensical questions which they posed to him. Goldberg
and McCann’s attacks are so furious that arouses insanity in him and turns him into
a living corpse. One form of loss of identity is the breakdown of communication.
Communication breakdown takes place when an individual is rudely tortured in the
society. He is deprived of thinking power, ideas, and imagination, hence cannot
gossip.