The Homecoming Is An Intense Expression Of Compressed Violence

The Homecoming appears to explode with violence of every kind. Violent insults and threats are constantly being fired between characters, power struggles fought for the gaining of the psychological upper hand, physical shows of violence are the choruses of long arguments, and the remnants of a violent past pervade the play from start to finish.

To interpret the play in this way is logical, but can it truly be proven that there lies no pacifism in The Homecoming, that the unrest is relentless; or does there exist another plane of feeling in which the characters find less cause rest for savage dispute?

Such spite between close relatives would seem confusing at first, however, considering that it is an all male household, the territorial battle is logical. Max and Sam, the older generation, are losing ground to Max's three sons, and, Max especially, are finding this desolation of old age hard to accept and this creates bitterness, which is a main cause of the disputation. In Act One, Max shows this bitterness with insults at his sons: "Listen, I'll chop your spine off, you talk to me like that!" (To Lenny), and "What you been doing, banging away at your lady customers, have you?" (To Sam).

Violence, however, is not always apparent in Max's attempts to gain power; he boasts a higher knowledge, or at least, a larger experience of life, in the way he claims a lifetime spent on the racecourse at Epsom, and Joey barely has to mention boxing to trigger Max into a long speech on the subject. Violence is never far away, though, as another claim from Max was that of his past underworld connections with "Mac." The undertones of the past continue with Jessie, Max's late wife, who was probably a prostitute; Sam: "Drove her around once or twice in my cab... it was my pleasure." The violent world of pimps and prostitutes in the past as well as the present extends the scope of the play, more specifically, the violent connections of the family, another thirty years, dramatically increasing the intensity of the violence as it comes across to us.

What can be done to make a pack of vicious wolves even more savage? You can throw in a lump of meat. And this is exactly what Pinter has done; he introduced Ruth, an ex "Model for the body," who would undoubtedly become the bone of contention between the territorial males. In Max's most potent display of force proving this theory, Max strikes down Joey after he defies an order and turning to say: "You're an old man... he's an old man!" Sam jumps to Joey's help, but is also struck down by Max; either because he aided Joey, and or because he earlier invaded the last of Max's territory: the kitchen. Both these acts of violence from Max were undoubtedly spurred on by the female in the room, for earlier, all he could muster was a display of knowledge to better himself.

Immediately following this incident comes the baffling tableau in which Max holds his arms out for a "cuddle." Certainly not intense violence. But perhaps it would have been, had Joey not been sure of his higher social status to Max, and therefore lack of necessity to defend himself, and for Sam's part, he was safe in the knowledge that getting one up on Max would not get him far either, and also to be considered was his state of health, which would come to light later on.

Lenny's methods of enchantment for Ruth were psychological. Lenny the pimp had probably used his tales of violence as a way of controlling many a prostitute; he tells how he gave "another belt in the nose and a couple of turns of the boot," to a prostitute he decided was "diseased." Ruth, however, was an old hand and didn't allow herself to fall prey to his power games, as Lenny attempts to relieve her of her glass, a meaningless gesture, as meaningless as giving it to her in the first place:

L: And now perhaps I'll take your glass

R: I haven't quite finished

L: You've consumed quite enough, in my opinion

R: No I haven't

L: Quite sufficient, in my own opinion

R: Not in mine, Leonard.

Psychological violence is one thing, but Lenny was not prepared to use physical violence to get his own way with Ruth, and it isn't doubtful that he would've having done so before, taking into account his and Joey's tale of a rape. Equally astonishing is the way in which all dispute ceases momentarily as Lenny happily hands Ruth over to Joey. Perhaps this is a dig at Sam and Max, parading the fact that Ruth is not for them and that they can afford to share her, but again, this is not compressed violence.

There lies an ambiguity in Ruth's violence triggering role such that at one point she may choose to be stubborn and forceful, for example in the power struggle with Lenny, or when she negotiates her contract:

R: I would want at least three bedrooms and a bathroom

L: You wouldn't need three bedrooms and a bathroom

M: She'd need a bathroom

L: But not three rooms

R: Oh, I would. Really

In contrast, at other times, she plays the role of a passive object for the males' sexual desires, for example, when she rolls around the living room with Joey and Lenny. Ruth does succeed in maintaining a passive air about everything she does, even when avidly bartering over her contract. Why she should choose to do so, rather than take immediate offence and leave with her husband to return to their children, is down to a number of factors. The most significant would be that her marriage with Teddy was breaking up; she views America as dirty; he clean:

T: It's so clean there

R: Clean

T: Yes

R: Is it dirty here?

T: No, of course not, but it's cleaner there

I am firmly of the belief that the destructive world of prostitution is something Ruth could never totally lost her roots in. Perhaps it was a part of her that she could never lose due to her sentimentality; she had shown evidence of this when she speaks of a place where she use to be a prostitute: "Just before we went to America I went down there. I walked from the station... I stood in the drive," and so perhaps she feels more at home here, after all, as she claims, she was "born quite near."

Teddy is also passive in some respects. He remains non violent even when the motive of his two brothers cavorting with his wife infront of his very eyes is presented to him. His failed marriage to Ruth is a factor, but it is likely that Teddy knew that something like this would happen upon his return; this is the family he left years ago to be away from. He has no right to be there; I believe he gave that up on leaving for America. but he is happy for Ruth to stay. He is no longer his brothers' brother; he shows that quite clearly by stealing Lenny's roll and by refusing to rise to his pseudo-philosophical challenge: "I'm afraid that question does not fall within my province." This was Teddy's last gasp of superiority before giving up, and even devoting his last reserves of energy to the opposition: "But Ruth, I should tell you... that you'll have to pull your weight a little, if you stay. Financially. My Father isn't very well off."

Violence in The Homecoming is certainly widespread, and at times the insults and threats seem to be more numerous than calmer, docile dialogue. Not one character refrains from the occasional coarse sarcasm to put someone down, and therefore, I feel free to say that for the most part, The Homecoming is a intense expression of compressed violence. However, there are circumstances, as I have demonstrated, which highlight the passive link in the interlocking arms of those vying for power. Dispite The Homecoming being for the most part, a violent play, potency for the contrary is achieved, I believe, in the fact that Teddy, the character with perhaps the most cause to be violent, refrains from being so.

Contributed by Kevin Burley