Harold Pinter Essay -- Biography Biographies Harold Pinter Essays

Harold PinterHarold Pinter is one of the greatest British dramatists of our time. Pinter haswritten a number of absurd masterpieces including The Birthday Party, The Care make outr,The Homecoming, Betrayal, Old Times, and Ashes to Ashes. He has similarly composed anumber of radio plays and several volumes of poetry. His screenplays include The FrenchLieutenants Woman, The Last Tycoon, and The Handmaids Tale. He has receivednumerous awards including the Berlin drive Festival Silver Bear, BAFTA awards, theHamburg Shakespeare Prize, the Cannes Film Festival Palme dOr and theCommonwealth Award.Harold Pinter was born on October 10, 1930 in Hackney, easterly London. He wasthe sole child of Jack Pinter and Frances Franklin. His father was a ladies tailor whosefamily was among Jewish immigrants that reached the East End of London. Both sidesof Harolds family were Jewish, only when they had different personalities and characteristics. His paternal side was Orthodox Jewish and they had an artistic background, whereas hismaternal side was to a greater extent secular and sceptical about strict rules of religion and wereknown for their entrepreneurial background. Although the Pinters were relaxed andmusic-loving, they got along well at family gatherings with the noisy and clamorousFranklins.Since Harold was an only child, he would imagine a bearing with brformer(a)s and sistersand would create imaginary friends and play out adventures and scenes in the backyardof his home. This isolated world created a place where Harold felt warmth and security. However, this childhood was interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1939. Harold had toleave his home in Hackney as part of a nationwide evacuation, and along with twentyfour other children, Harold was sent to John Nash, a fabricated castle, from theelementary school. This was a traumatic and disturbing experience for all of the boyswho were isolated from their homes and families, especially for nine-year old Harold. Some boys took expediency of this experience and were happy to be exposed to rural life. For Harold, the disturbing experience blended with a magical eye opening encounter ofrural life and his tendency to introspect blossomed (Top Biography). At the same time,his awareness to sounds and images developed, and these permeated his later life andwork. This encounter left a mark in Harol... ...lways isolated from something, whether it be from the insufficiencyof feeling of love from non-existing siblings and creating imaginary friends in hisbackyard, or being isolated from his parents during his evacuation throughout the war. Pinters life was filled with significant events, but he claims that his life is and wasconfusing and has had no influence through his works. In this case, his plays, like hislife, are just a series of events that happen in real life, but are not supposed to mean acertain thing or express a certain thought. His most recognizable plays mostly take placein just a room filled with people dealing with a certain issue, but they mean so muchmore or do they? These office staffs can be so awkward and silly at times that they areabsurd enough to see humor in them and laugh at. This is the way Pinter wanted hisplays to be looked at. He was never trying to get a message across and his plays aremeant to show a situation at hand and how people deal with it. It is so easy to try andcome up with a reason for his menace which causes critics to over-analyze his work. This is what makes Harold Pinter one of the greatest British dramatists of our day.