Discuss Pinters dramatic presentation of Ruth in The Homecoming

Surrealistically representing the pugilistic life of a pack of Hackney predators, Pinter portrays the mounting conflict within the people as each male fights for the Alfa position, with the reward of the lone female, Ruth.Embroidered with elaborately hidden meanings, pregnant pauses and ellipses, this play strips the characters of the outside shell of etiquette and politesse associated with society and left with all lyric poem as an attempt to acme the nakedness of their animalistic cores. These characteristics are recognized through the Pinteresque themes of nameless menace, erotic fantasy, obsession and jealousy, family hatred, and mental disturbance. The plot follows the feed in of shift returning home with his wife, Ruth, and her journey in to take on the pack and eventually take over the role of Queen Bee. During the course of the drama, she exacts her revenge on Teddy in leaving him for his family of intimately screwed up butchers.Teddy and Ruths arrival from America is symbolically representative of Teddys homecoming after nine years away. He returns married with a Doctorship of Philosophy and supposedly father of three sons, although later questioned by Max, all yours, Ted?, suggesting Ruth is, as ever, unfaithful and a impose on _or_ oppress.Are you tired? this conversion opens with the estranged couple struggling to find coherence with the blatant discord, No. Ruths replies are cold, quasi-monosyllabic and detached, perhaps in an attempt to undermine Teddys ascension to authority as he blatantly refuses to listen and orders her around Go to bed. Ill show you the room shows the referee that ultimately, Ruths opinions are irrelevant as the subordinate member in a marriage. Like Joey is to Lenny, Teddy sees Ruth as merely an appendage, thus his patronizing condescendence, You can help me with my lectures when we get back.Teddys long speeches reveal him as nervous despite his seeming attempts to calm down Ruth Youll be perfectly all right up t here without me. He uses excessive language to cover his vulnerability in face of the surefooted and controlling Ruth, whose short, sharp syntax displays her self-assured disposition. Similarly, Max and Lenny, who appear to feel her authority also go off into long, pre-rehearsed monologues, for example Lennys encounter with a true lady with a certain proposal one night, not too long ago.Ruths presence evokes ambiguous emotions within Teddys family alternately revered and rebuked, she is perceived as both the listless mother-figure (Jessie) make the beds, do the cooking, scrub the place out a bit, keep everyone company, and as a sexual object in a dress in pale corded blue silk, heavily encrusted in pearls and pantaloons in lilac flowered taffeta.Significantly mentioning the structure of the house, Pinter reminds the reader and the audience of the boneless, spineless family, like a shot that Jessie, the backbone has died. Teddy, who wants to stay up for a bit and walk about, pro vokes sub-textual connotations of the returning male reassuming his dominance as eldest son and marking his territory. However, giving Ruth the house key, having his cigar go out and going to bed prior to Ruth culminates into his eventual emasculation and loss of power among his brothers.Subtextually, Teddys Youneed some rest, you know is ambivalent in expressing Ruths mental instability, or that Teddy is sending her away for doing something he doesnt approve of. The audience might relate this with shes a very popular woman, shes got lots of friends, once again suggests Ruths interest group with prostitution as a photographic model for the body. Stifled in her relationship with a British academic, Ruths, I think Ill give up a hint of air and just a stroll suggests shes out and about and on the Game even before Max and Lenny agree to sponsor her.Quintessentially, Ruths confrontation with Lenny opens her ascension to power. If language is an attempt to cover nakedness, Ruths short, direct syntax show her to be in a position of power over Lenny. Not dissimilar to courting males in the animal res publica trying to hide their vulnerabilities from the females with bright colours or confrontational battles, Max and Lenny use long and decorously embroidered renditions of what have happened previously to appear intelligent and dominating.And yet, Lenny restrained seeks his absent mother, Do you mind if I hold your hand?. Psychoanalytically, Pinter portrays the mental decay of his characters as Lenny oscillates between the maternal craving and desire to punish women with a belt in the nose and a couple of turns of the boot. He expresses his assumed dominance in stating I decided she was, referring to the irrelevance of whether or not the prostitute was diseased, but rather that his word_as a pimp and escort_is law. Even so, Ruth overrides his authority, threatening, if you take the glass, Ill take you. Proposals such as sit on my lap and lie on the floor have signi ficantly provocative innuendoes, versus the maternal figure naming Lenny, Leonard.Pinters intricate depiction of Ruth is her reminiscent, contemplative nature. She cunningly employs frequent ellipses as a time of mensurable planning to put the angle of vision on her in a positive light. Imove my leg, I wearunderwearwhich moves with meitcaptures your attention. Employing this teasing, provocative language register, Ruth enacts a wordy striptease, seducing the men around her and putting herself in the spotlight. She describes America as all rock. And sand, portentous of the arid scimitar in To the Lighthouse, while the insects metaphorically refers to her popularity amongst her friends.once or twice cold buffet insinuates Ruth is a high-class prostitute. Contrastingly with Maxs diction, Ruths language register is not full of expletives but rather strategically thought out. She applies legal diction to decide the conditions of her contract with Teddys family All aspects of the agree ment and conditions of employment would have to be clarified to our mutual satisfaction before we finalized to contract, demonstrate she is able to take care of herself as an individual and will not let the butchers exploit her. This independence helps her stand out even more prominently than Teddy in all his aloofness, as she rises to position of Queen and orders Lenny , Id like something to eat, Id like a drink.In noting how Lenny does not reject the subordinate role to Ruth, the reader might suspect he enjoys being told what to do by a woman and thus deduce that Pinters own fantasies play a significant segmentation in the play. He models Ruth on his wife, Vivien, embodying her as both saint and sinner, contrasting maternal and temptress. Biblically, Ruth, symbolic of pity but also a Moabite widow who left her own people to live with her mother-in-law Naomi. All assets of femininity are sewn into one character, exposing her to the males sex drive and simultaneous desire for a m other presence.Ultimately, Pinters launching of Ruth significantly exposes her as the model female, simultaneously dominate and subordinate, maternal and temptress. Through his pack of Hackney predators, he depicts her as a tool for sexual enjoyment but the eventual Queen Bee with Joey kneeling at her chair in the final, still-life portrait.