The Birthday Party: Problematising the Communication

Abstract

If we probe into the contemporary art and literature, we notice unmistakeably ceaseless experimentations with the art of communication. In case of the Absurd Theatre as practised by the great stalwarts like Beckett, Pinter, Ionesco, dramatic communication assumed enigmatic proportions, so much so the readers and audience feel helpless while going through their masterpieces. Harold Pinter is one of those Absurd playwrights whose writings have merited considerable attention from the viewers on account of their intrinsic variety and complexity as regards thematic strain and stylistic innovations. Like Beckett, Albee and Ionesco, Pinter remained engrossed in sorting out the problematics of communication. The present paper is a critical endeavour to elucidate The Birthday Party as the case of Pinter's powerful exercise in the complex designs of communication. It would seem that the characters in the play are overpowered by the mysterious web of non- verbal communications to the extent of Problematising the communication itself. A critical probing of the Pinter makes us aware of the complex situations implying multiple layers of meanings.The enigmatic characters and contradictory situations add to the mystery and a absurdity of the entire dramas.