Who Is to Liberate Us : A Lentricchian Reading of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming

After examining Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming and holding it against the notions of Frank Lentricchia expounded in his essay Patriarchy against Itself: The Young Manhood of Wallace Stevens , one encounters a striking, yet somewhat ruffled accordance. Lentricchia, through an examination of the literary career of Wallace Stevens and a detailed analysis of his poem Sunday Morning arrives at the conclusion that through an overt assertion of masculinity, the feminized male may succeed in liberating the sexes from the oppression of patriarchy. Throughout the play, the feminized males repeatedly indulge in attempts at liberating themselves; but because of their psychological issues, theirs prove to be doomed efforts. This research paper, after a survey of the points made by Lentricchia in his work, proceeds to show how the men’s psychological problems feminize and trap them; and how Ruth, by using the patriarchal discourse, succeeds in subverting it, emancipating both herself and the men. Through the aforementioned method, the paper aims to show how suppressive patriarchal demands are subverted as Ruth, with admirable wit and self-reliance, uses the patriarchal weapons to her advantage

Keywords:

Lentricchia , male feminization , role confusion , subversion of patriarchy , suppression