Now that you've finished reading this play, what is your reaction to it? Explain what you like about it and what you dislike. Be specific. Does it deserve the critical and popular reception that it has receive over the years? Why or why not?
Under the theme of drama, I read The Caretaker, a three-act play. While reading it, I thought that there was too much description. Even though that made the play come to life, it made it boring as well. For example, in the first paragraph, the setting is described in a great amount of detail. Also, the positions of objects and people are clarified with stage directions (L, C, R). The plot was very slow moving, and not a lot of important events took place. However, I liked Pinter's portrayal of procrastination in the play. Davies kept saying that he would go down to Sidcup for his papers, and Aston keeps referring to his plans of eventually building a shed. Through the characters' dialogues, a strong image of real life is shown. Other than the message, I didn't enjoy reading The Caretaker, and don't think it deserves the critical and popular reception it has received.
2 comments:
Varma!
Well, yes you have mentioned something that i completly forgot to say in my reflection and that bugged me a lot while reading and it is the way the stage descriptions were made. They were quite numerous and although they were made to enhance the visualizing and descptions to the director they broke the smootheness of the read.
I also agree with you with the idea of procrastination, and i must add that it is perhaps the only issue that us as IB students can relate to in this play! :)
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Sirena, you are completely right. Pinter does place a lot of description especially when it comes to the placement of the characters and objects within the room. Certainly, I don’t think they have any influence of the play as a whole, but I guess they help in preparation of the actual play.
I think The Caretaker wasn’t as bad as you claim it to be. There is an important historical background that should be taken into consideration. You must understand that England had left World War II TRAUMATIZED! Prior to the war, it was a major world superpower, but it lost all its prestige, reputation, and influence after the war, especially after it lost India as a colony. And as one of the characteristics of an absurdist plays, Pinter tried to portray his characters as weak and inadequate.
Undoubtedly, each one of us has our own opinions. Also don’t forget, I am an HL History student, so I know some of this stuff. However, I didn’t like it enough to write a huge official IB essay about.
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