HAROLD PINTER: FROM POETICS TO POLITICS

Abstract

Harold Pinter was given the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 for his contributions to British and contemporary drama. Pinter has been a theatrical institution for half a century, he has revolutionised his theatre by being a conscientious objector in public and a political activist since the 1980s. He has explored different genres including prose and poetry, plays for stage, radio and screen. His crossover from one medium to another, his deliberate decision to write for more than one medium, has given him the opportunity to reach the potential mass audience. He has shocked bewildered, disappointed, and astonished audiences and critics. He swiftly became accepted as Britain's premier dramatist. This paper traces the evolution that Pinter has gone through from the early 1950s until the 2000s. Additionally, the paper identifies Harold Pinter's Pinteresque' style - a term which enters English Language and Literature after him and also exemplify and reason Pinter's change in his style from poetical to political.