UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL INSTITUTO DE LETRAS PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM LETRAS Harold Pinter’s Ashes to Ashes* Marta Ramos Oliveira Dissertação realizada sob a orientação do Dr. Ubiratan Paiva de Oliveira Porto Alegre 1999 * Trabalho parcialmente financiado pelo Conselho Nacional do Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). To my mother and those who came before and those who are still to come Because you don’t know where [the pen] had been. You don’t know how many other hands have held it, how many other hands have written with it, what other people have been doing with it. You know nothing of its history. You know nothing of its parents’ history. - DEVLIN TODESFUGE Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abends Wir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachts Wir trinken und trinken Wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt Der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete Er schreibt es und tritt vor das Haus und es blitzen die Sterne er pfeift seine Rüden herbei Er pfeift seine Juden hervor läßt schaufeln ein Grab in der Erde Er befiehlt uns spielt auf nun zum Tanz Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts Wir trinken sie morgens und mittags und wir trinken dich abends Wir trinken und trinken Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt Der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng Er ruft stecht tiefer ins Erdreich ihr einen ihr andern singet und spielt Er greift nach dem Eisen im Gurt er schwingts seine Augen sind blau Stecht tiefer die Spaten ihr einen ihr andern spielt weiter zum Tanz auf Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts Wir trinken dich mittags und morgens wir trinken dich abends Wir trinken und trinken Ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith er spielt mit den Schlangen Er ruft spielt süßer den Tod der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland Er ruft streicht dunkler die geigen dann steigt ihr als Rauch in die Luft Dann habt ihr ein Grab in den Wolken da liegt man nicht eng Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts Wir trinken dich mittags der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland Wir trinken dich abends und morgens wir trinken und trinken Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland sein Auge ist blau Er trifft dich mit bleierner Kugel er trifft dich genau Ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete Er hetzt seine Rüden auf uns er schenkt uns ein Grab in der Luft Er spielt mit den Schlangen und träumet der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland Dein goldenes Haar Margarete Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith Paul Celan, 1952 DEATHFUGUE Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night we drink and we drink we shovel a grave in the air there you won't lie too cramped A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta he writes it and steps out of doors and the stars are all sparkling he whistles his hounds to come close he whistles his Jews into rows has them shovel a grave in the ground he commands us play up for the dance Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at morning and midday we drink you at evening we drink and we drink A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta Your ashen hair Sulamith we shovel a grave in the air there you won't lie too cramped He shouts jab this earth deeper you lot there you others sing up and play he grabs for the rod in his belt he swings it his eyes are so blue jab your spades deeper you lot there you others play on for the dancing Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at midday and morning we drink you at evening we drink and we drink a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margareta your aschenes Haar Sulamith he plays with his vipers He shouts play death more sweetly this Death is a master from Deutschland he shouts scrape your strings darker you'll rise then as smoke to the sky you'll have a grave then in the clouds there you won't lie too cramped Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night we drink you at midday Death is a master aus Deutschland we drink you at evening and morning we drink and we drink this Death is ein Meister aus Deutschland his eye it is blue he shoots you with shot made of lead shoots you level and true a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margarete he looses his hounds on us grants us a grave in the air he plays with his vipers and daydreams der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete dein aschenes Haar Sulamith English translation: John Felstiner Figure 1- La Mémoire, 1948 – Magritte CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii ABSTRACT ix RESUMO x INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE The Construction of Meaning in the Theatre 4 The Semiotics of Theatre 4 The Internal and External Communication Systems 10 Elements of Dramatic Analysis 13 Some Dramatic Genres 26 CHAPTER TWO Pinter’s World 35 Comedies of Menace 42 Memory Plays 54 Comedies of Mannerism 58 Political Plays 73 CHAPTER THREE Ashes to Ashes 78 The Play 79 The Fall into Memory 92 Conclusion 101 APPENDIX A – Chronological Overview of Pinter’s Plays 103 APPENDIX B – Ashes to Ashes 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY 131 Acknowledgements This thesis would never have been possible without the generous support and encouragement from a number of friends, colleagues, and professors, to whom I wish to express my sincere gratitude. I am especially thankful to my advisor Ubiratan Paiva de Oliveira for having introduced me to the work of Harold Pinter and for his generous support throughout the writing process. His reading and suggestions were invaluable to the completion of this work. I also would like to thank Angelika Gärtner for her friendship, her example of academic courage and vision, and, not least, for her personal engagement in helping me receive a grant from DAAD. Thanks to this opportunity, I could draw much valued lessons from my professors of the Englishes Seminar at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, Adolf Barth, Udo Hebel, and Manfred Pütz, who made me acquainted with most of the issues I have tried to develop here. I should particularly like to thank my friends, whose affection and support meant a great deal to the accomplishment of this work. I am especially grateful to Luis Craco for having first indicated to me that I should direct my efforts into the area of conceptual research; to Jussara Rodrigues Bohrer for her generous and unrelenting spur for me to produce a meaningful work; to Matthias Frattini for having taken his time to help me start the ball rolling and for having so patiently and carefully photocopied and sent from Germany essential sources for this work; to Gerardo Martínez for having always willingly donated his time to help me find materials and to scan most of the pictures; to Wolfgang Kalkreuth for having read and made suggestions for chapter one; and to Norman Schmidt Jr. for having helped me by scanning the remaining figures. I happily acknowledge my debt to the librarians Cristina Burger of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Márcia de Grandi of Universidade de São Paulo, and the librarians of Universität Graz, and Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau for having always so promptly sent me the materials I needed. I am also thankful to the Customer Service of The Times Literary Supplement and The Sunday Times for sending me electronic copies of reviews, which originally appeared in those newspapers. Unfortunately, I must deem a crash in my computer responsible for the non-inclusion of all their names here, for which I apologise. Finally, I must thank my family for having always supported me with their deepest understanding. ABSTRACT The present work proposes an investigation of the treatment given to memory in Pinter’s latest play, Ashes to Ashes, and of its function in the development of Pinter’s work. In order to do that, different aspects of the construction of meaning in the theatre are analysed, so that the specificity of its reception is determined. A survey of techniques used to present information, time and space in the theatre is made. The analytical drama, the history drama, and the theatre of the absurd are defined. After that, the evolution of the author’s work is analysed to determine what characterises Pinter’s work, while at the same time determining how his treatment of themes like menace, memory, and political oppression of the individual has evolved. Finally, a detailed survey of the apparently disconnected elements that are mentioned in Ashes to Ashes is made. The intertextual analysis allied to a study of the analytical form as used in this play enables the discovery of several layers of meaning. Through the connection established between the Holocaust and man’s fall followed by expulsion from Eden, Pinter examines the use of memory as a way of dealing with personal and collective responsibility and guilt.