The Birthday Party, a play by Harold Pinter

Birthday Party by Harold Pinter

        Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and his play "The Birthday Party" was first performed in 1945.
         Meg and Petey's  boarding house is the scene of this classic English drama, a quiet boarding house with almost no passengers, whose owners are happy that their boarding house's name is on the list of the city's boarding houses.
        The birthday party for Stanley, the only guest of the boarding house, turns into a nightmare with the presence of two strangers. This play examines identity, power dynamics, the absurdity of everyday life, and human relationships.
        The use of short and indifferent answers, which are mostly used at the beginning and end of the play, are used more to end the conversation than to maintain communication and interaction.
        In my view, the temporal progression of this drama can be delineated into two distinct phases: firstly, the intervals when the strangers are absent, marking both the commencement and conclusion of the play; and secondly, the periods when the two strangers, Goldberg and McCann, are actively involved.
        In the play, we do not know about the background of Stanley, who is the central character of this play, except that he was a pianist and lived in a secluded boarding house for some time. Is there a danger that threatens him that is hidden there? Is he a dangerous person? As the birthday party progresses, from the eyes of the two newcomers, "Stanley" appears as a mysterious and isolated figure who may have betrayed his organization and hidden away as a fugitive in a boarding house or committed a crime, creating an ambiguous atmosphere for the drama. adds When Goldberg and his fearsome accomplice McCann. First indirectly and then after receiving vague and suspicious answers from "Stanley Weber", they somehow start interrogating him. They call him by other names like Joe Soap. Do they know Stanley? Their exact motives and motives are unclear, and Stanley resists their sometimes threatening questions. Are there interrogators who came to arrest him in a van? Over time, it adds to the ambiguous atmosphere of the play.
         Meg and Petey's  boarding house is the scene of this classic English drama, a quiet boarding house with almost no passengers, whose owners are happy that their boarding house's name is on the list of the city's boarding houses.
        The birthday party for Stanley, the only guest of the boarding house, turns into a nightmare with the presence of two strangers. This play examines identity, power dynamics, the absurdity of everyday life, and human relationships.
        The use of short and indifferent answers, which are mostly used at the beginning and end of the play, are used more to end the conversation than to maintain communication and interaction.
        In my view, the temporal progression of this drama can be delineated into two distinct phases: firstly, the intervals when the strangers are absent, marking both the commencement and conclusion of the play; and secondly, the periods when the two strangers, Goldberg and McCann, are actively involved.
        In the play, we do not know about the background of Stanley, who is the central character of this play, except that he was a pianist and lived in a secluded boarding house for some time. Is there a danger that threatens him that is hidden there? Is he a dangerous person? As the birthday party progresses, from the eyes of the two newcomers, "Stanley" appears as a mysterious and isolated figure who may have betrayed his organization and hidden away as a fugitive in a boarding house or committed a crime, creating an ambiguous atmosphere for the drama. adds When Goldberg and his fearsome accomplice McCann. First indirectly and then after receiving vague and suspicious answers from "Stanley Weber", they somehow start interrogating him. They call him by other names like Joe Soap. Do they know Stanley? Their exact motives and motives are unclear, and Stanley resists their sometimes threatening questions. Are there interrogators who came to arrest him in a van? Over time, it adds to the ambiguous atmosphere of the play.

        While searching for some sources, I saw a few sentences of Harold Pinter regarding this play on several websites, which attracted me a lot.

        "Perhaps one can understand Harold Pinter's connection with the world of theater from his reply to a letter from a lady who was worried about her inability to understand the concepts of the birthday play. The reader writes: Dear Sir, I would be very grateful if you could please And clarify what you mean by the birthday party play. There are some things I can't understand: 1) Who are the two men? 2) Where does Stanley come from? 3) Are the people in the play normal people? Please keep in mind that if you don't answer these questions, I won't be able to fully understand your  drama. Then Harold Pinter replies: Dear Madam, I would be very grateful if you would be so kind as to explain what you mean. Please clarify from the letter sent. There are some points that I cannot understand: 1) Who are you? 2) Where do you come from? 3) Are you a normal person? Please keep in mind that if you don't answer To these questions, I will be unable to fully understand your letter"

        BBC Channel 4 shared a performance of this play on YouTube,  I recommend watching if you liek you can watch free. Finally, in my opinion, Harvard Pinter allows or rather forces us to interpret the events on the stage ourselves.

PINTER'S THE BIRTHDAY PARTY Part 1 of 4

The Piano Teacher by ELFRIEDE JELINEK

The Piano Teacher

by ELFRIEDE JELINEK

Translated by Joachim Neugroschel

I would like to write a few sentences about the novel "The Piano Teacher" and share it with you.

A challenging novel, "The Piano Teacher," had a significant impact on introducing the Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004. This novel, originally released in German in 1983, explores the intricacies of human relationships, desires, and love, as well as artistic brilliance, and artistic excellence.

The Guardian has provided a very interesting interpretation of this book: "A tale of love, fear, and self-destruction... In this story of mad love, the hunter becomes the hunted, pain is pleasurable, and hatred spews out of every vent."

Previously, I've mentioned in one of my videos and writings that it's very important to know where the story takes place. This novel unfolds in Vienna, known as the world's capital of music, and its protagonist is a piano teacher.

Page 32: The city of Vienna brutally transfers the art from one generation to another.

"The Piano Teacher" recounts the life of Erika Kohut, a talented piano teacher in Vienna. Despite her musical abilities, Erika's life is out of rhythm and harmony, and in my opinion, as the reader of the book, she suffers from a mental disorder. This novel explores Erika's dark and tumultuous world, including her erotic desires, suppressed emotions, pride, humiliation, and her complicated relationships with her overbearing mother and a her young student named Walter Klemmer.

Erika's inappropriate behavior can be understood as a manifestation of the influence exerted by her surroundings, be it within her family or within society, which leads to confusion. Ultimately, this isolated character seeks solace in what she has always sought to escape: her Apartment and her mother.

...

Notes from book:

This dress will soon be totally out of fashion-not even next year, but next month. Money never goes out of fashion. Page4

But that vanity of hers, that wretched vanity. Erika's vanity is a major problem for her mother, driving thorns into her flesh. Erika's vanity is the only thing Erika should learn to do without. Better now than later. Page7

The only item missing from her dismal wardrobe is, fortunately, a wedding gown. Mother does not wish to become a mother-in-law. She prefers remaining a normal mother; she is quite content with her status. Page 11

if neither spouse can yield, then a marriage is doomed. page 13

Vacation at the music academy doesn't coincide with vacation at the University. Strictly speaking, there are no holidays for art; art pursues you everywhere, and that's just fine with the artist. page 29

The city of Vienna brutally terminates the transmission of art from one generation to the next. Page 32

All the people around here experience the same things at the same time, except for some loner, who switches to the educational channel. This individualist is informed about a eucharistic congress, provided with facts and figures. Nowadays, if you want to be different, you have to pay your dues. page 47

Do nothing halfheartedly, her mother always demanded. Nothing vaguely. No artist tolerates anything incomplete or half-baked in his work. Sometimes a work is incomplete because the artist dies prematurely. page 56

Noisy contraptions pounce like locusts upon the silent spaces of thought. And throughout the day, the school is inundated by lasting values, by knowledge and music. These music pupils come in every size, shape, and form, even high school graduates and university students! they are all concerted in their efforts to produce sounds, alone or in groups. page 81

But how can tell how many things have already been disparaged and dispatched with no justification. Every day, a piece of music, a short story, or a poem dies because its existence is no longer justified in our time. And things that were once considered immortal have become mortal again, no one knows them anymore. Even though they deserve to survive. page 90

indeed a less sophisticated person might even conclude, just from her outer appearance, that the piano teacher belongs to an entirely different subcategory of the human species. However, a photo does not show the inner life; so any comparisons would be unfair to Fraulein Kohut, whose inner life is actually in blossom and in sap. page 99

Erica's student is demeaned and thereby chastised. Loosely crossing her legs, Erika sneers at his half-baked Beethoven interpretation. She need say no more; he's about to cry. She doesn't even consider it advisable to play the passage in question. He will get no more from his piano teacher today. If he doesn't notice his mistakes himself, then she can't help him. page 108

Klemmer begs his teacher to glean his unhappiness and unhealthiness from his marvelous playing. What we need is a music that makes us forget our suffering. Animal life (!) should feel deified. people want to dance, triumph. page 114

"Learning is better than looking." Page 129

The Yugoslavia and the Turk have a congenital hatred of women. the Viennese locksmith hates a woman only if she's unclean or wastes money on makeup. page 133

When discussing Bach's six Brandenburg concertos, the artistically aware person usually states, among other things, that when these masterpieces were composed, the stars were dancing in the heavens. God and his dwelling place are always involved whenever these people talk about Bach. Page 159

Erika is a teacher, but also a child. Klemmer may be a student, but he's an adult here. page 175

" Not for all the tea in China." Page 181

At night, Erika sweatily turns on the spit of anger over the blazing fire: maternal love. She is regularly basted with the pungent gravy of musical art. Nothing alters this immovable difference: old/young. Nor can anything be altered in the notation of music by dead masters. What you see is what you get. Erika has been harnessed in this Notation system since earliest childhood. page 190

he normally grazes on younger pastures. And love is fun only when you can be envied for having a beloved. in this case, later marriage is out of the question. Page 193

The piano teacher, Erika Kohut, is driven along by something behind her back; it is a man, who pulls the angel or a devil out of her. It's all in her hand now: She can teach the man tender consideration. page 199

Erika Koht is using her love to make this boy her master. The more power he attains over her, the more he will become Erica's pliant creature. Klemmer will be her slave completely when, say, they go strolling in the mountains. Yet Klemmer will think of himself as Erika's master. That is the goal of Erika's love. That is the only way that love won't be consumed prematurely. He has to be convinced: This woman has put herself entirely in my hands. And yet he will become EriKa's property. That's the way she pictures it. Things can go awry only if Klemmer reads the latter and disapproves. page 207

She only wants to be an instrument on which she will teach him to play. He should be free, and she in fetters. But Erika will choose the fetters himself. She makes up her mind to become an object, a tool; Klemmer will have to make up his mind to use this object. page 213

Let me know what I'll be in for if I don't obey. Everything has to be depicted in Loving detail. Levels of intensity should also be described very precisely. Klemmer again mocks the silent woman: who does she think she is!  His mockery tacitly implies that she is nothing or not much. page 217

Mother barks, the TV buzzes. the screen locks in tiny fingers that one controls by arbitrarily switching them on and off. Big real life is pitted against tiny TV life, and real life wins because it has full control over the image. Life adjusts to television, and television is copied from life. page 220-221

Erika Kohut buckles down with zeal and circumspection. She wanted to jump out of her skin, but couldn't. She feels pain in many places. Little in her has been chosen. page 248

Erika is utterly alone. Mother is again sleeping the deep sleep induced by alcohol. If Erika, aided by the mirror, finds an unravaged place on her body, she grabs a clothespin or needle, while weeping and wailing. She drives the instruments hard, drives them into her body. Her tears flow down and she is all alone.

after a long time, Erika's hand removes the needle and clothespins and neatly places them back in their containers. Pain recedes, tears recede. Erika Kohut goes to her mother so as to end her loneliness. page 249-250

Love is the only reason why she will deviate from her stipulations. She is looking forward to deviating from them. What a relief. Mutuality in love is exceptional, after all. Usually, only one person loves, while the other is busy running as fast as his feet can carry him. This situation requires two people, and one is telephoning the other. Isn't that great! How convenient. How marvelous. page 261

Most people don't laugh. They don't laugh because they are nothing but themselves. They don't notice Erika. page 279

Comparing My Analysis of 'The Piano Teacher (2001)' with my Professor's

داستان شهر وین، چند چهره‌‌ی زیبا