Theme of Morality in Literature

In BeckettÆs Endgame, PinterÆs The Homecoming, and MuellerÆs The Hamletmachine, we see that morality is most often concerned with the latter type of moral emotion, shame. For the individuals in these plays are largely unconcerned with the harm that their immoral actions may have done to others. Instead, they are highly preoccupied or concerned with the self. From Hamm and Clov in Endgame and Hamlet in The Hamletmachine to the male characters (excluding Teddy) and Ruth in The Homecoming, the charactersÆ moral emotions are concerned with the self and not others.

Worthen argues that ôThroughout its development, dramatic art has changed as the theaterÆs place in the surrounding society has changedö (5). The theater has become more philosophical and more secular, mirroring s

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h over the males. She gains strength over her husband by refusing to leave with him, an allusion that her married life at home as the mother of TeddyÆs children is highly unsatisfying. Even Max admits that his former wife, one he refers to in all manner of unsavory labels, was the ôbackbone to this family,ö and that ôall the moralityö the boys know was taught to them by her, (Pinter 46). Nevertheless, like the endless pain and suffering of the characters in Endgame, the male characters in The Homecoming seem to accept the lack of morality inherent in human beings. When Max is asked whatever happened to the group of butchers, he replies ôThe group? They turned out to be a bunch of criminals like everyone else,ö (Pinter 47). Ruth, despite her devaluation as a female by the men in the play, ends up being the one individual in the play who undergoes the most change. She will abandon her unsatisfying life with Teddy and her children to remain with his family in the role of a prostitute. We can see Pinter standing conventional morality on its head in this characterization. More significantly, the men seem to think that life is about maintaining power through violence and control. Yet it is women who are perceived as having ôh
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Approximate Word count = 2015
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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