Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Dept. of English) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. Abstracted in Dissertation abstracts, v. 27, no. 6A (1966) p. 1955. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 206-217.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1970. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 412-421).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

This thesis critically examines some of the plays of the playwright, screenwriter and poet, Harold Pinter, in order to argue, first of all, that he was a writer of psychological realism, and that his oeuvre can, in the main, be defined as a body of psycho-political works. My essential contention is that Pinter’s defining interest in power relations, coupled with his dedication to exploring how psychological ‘realities’ shape these said relations, implies that he is a playwright, who generally wrote psycho-political works. In the main body of the thesis, I then offer eight close readings of Pinter’s plays, which are essentially informed, in their respective ways, by theories drawn from the post-Freudian school of thought, most notably Winnicottian object-relations theory (indeed, the common feature of these otherwise disparate theories are that they all explore how the self is constituted and/or influenced by its relationship with the other). Whilst there were a number of themes that could have been selected, my decision to focus on the themes of authoritarianism, territoriality and of patriarchy was not arbitrary. Apart from an appeal to quantitative considerations (i.e., that these themes recur again and again at different stages of Pinter’s career), my main reason for including them is that they are defining features of power relationships in general. For example, if one construes power as ‘power-over’ others, then a psycho-political exploration of power necessitates that the malignant form of authority (i.e., authoritarianism) be examined; likewise, if sexual politics involves, as Pinter, for one, contends, power reified as the possession of a particular sex (i.e., patriarchy), then again this suggests that this theme is of central importance in the psycho-political taxonomy of power. The final part of the thesis explains how the three central themes can be considered to be inter-related in general and in Pinter’s work in particular. Furthermore, the thesis conclusion also provides several possible criticisms of Pinter’s psycho-political approach to power (e.g., a social materialist position contends that ‘psychologising’ power relations obscures the central importance of how distal powers construct oppressive political relationships).

Harold Pinter’s A Night Out is a significant but rarely produced piece of drama. Therefore, there is very little criticism to support or contradict my argument. The reason why I chose to do my essay on this particular play is to open doors for academic research and to try and make it an equal to its sister plays. I will raise questions and topics to prove the play is worth the readers’ time and effort and that A Night Out is a sharp piece of political theatre. Although at first glance it is a simple enough story, a straightforward tale of the nasty consequences of motherly love when it is pushed to the limit, on deeper inspection, a more far reaching and complex analysis of the abuse of power can be observed. The play offers a variety of themes, including: interpersonal power struggles, failed attempts at communication, antagonistic relationships, the threat of impending or past violence, the struggle for survival or identity, domination and submission, politics, lies and verbal, physical, psychological and sexual abuse. The prevailing theme in the play is the abuse of power: powerful parties oppressing weaker ones, and the results of the oppressed party looking for a vent in someone even weaker than themselves.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.