Infidelity, unfaithfulness, and modesty outline the surface of the play Betrayal written by Harold Pinter. From afar the relationships between the trio of characters seems normal but; when taking a deeper look, the correlations are noticeably dysfunctional. The three main characters, Emma, Jerry and Robert interact kindly, never seem to interrupt one another, ask innocent questions and do not, generally, inspect over much the answers. They help each other over the occasional awkward moments and talk when necessary. But these characters rejoice when knowing something that someone else does not and that knowledge is sometimes translated into power. Though it takes time, sometimes even years to breach things under the surface eventually and unexpectedly they come to light. Finally, when everyone knows everything, and the game has reached an ending point, life continues back on its normal cyclical routine. In Betrayal the dramatic scenario of the love triangle goes through many storms of deceit that test the characters marital relationships, faithfulness, and allows them to changes their inner persona.
Emma goes through a variety of phases of betrayal both towards herself and others. At first glance Emma seems confident and faithful to her husband. During the party at Robert and Emma’s house, where Jerry seduces and compliments Emma, it is as if she wants nothing to do with him. She is shocked by Jerry’s confession and feels uncomfortable due to the fact that she is married; she repeats, “My husbands best man. Your best friend’s best man.” (Pinter 135) Though at the end of the scene when Robert comes into the room and then exits, Emma attempts to leave as well but is stopped by Jerry. They then share a moment and stand still and lo...
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...for meaning in one’s life. Ultimately, it is self-betrayal that each character and each audience is forced to observe. Each character shows drastic changes within themselves through out the play. Emma goes from being strong and faithful to a weak and dependant. Robert’s hostility and aggressiveness grows linearly as the years pass by and Jerry’s jealousy and forgetfulness intensifies. I think a bigger picture of the betrayal felt is within the families and towards their children. Being unfaithful and cheating on your husband or wife is in essence like cheating on your entire family and loosing all respect for yourself. The physical betrayal between the characters is obvious but the mental deceit plays a larger role in terms of betrayal. They each have had power changes, transformations within themselves, and modifications in their lifestyle due to their choices.
...age and the crisis of integrity versus despair however, the two characters had different characteristics that categorize them in different ends of the crisis. Throughout the movie, the audience is able to visualize what types of issues are dealt with as well as what type of problems the characters had to go through to resolve their crisis. Chelsea also had different issues than Billy due to the fact; each were facing a different stage as well as crisis. Personally this movie provide me a great understanding in human development; I was able to understand why each person does a certain action: for instance my sister is disrespectful and immature because she is facing the adolescence stage as well as the identity versus role confusion stage. I also learned that a crisis can truly affect a person in a negative; if the person is not able to fully deal with their crisis.
A key theme of Romeo and Juliet that occurs throughout the play is Loyalty Vs. Disloyalty and the effects that this has on the characters Romeo and Juliet and their families. For example Romeo knows that if he tells his family of his love for Juliet it will be seen, as a disloyalty to his family and Romeo knows this so he tries to hide this truth.
Love that will soon become a passion that will set the tragedy in the play. In addition, this affair causes Elizabeth to not believe Proctor, which causes lack of communication between the matrimony. Proctor, who for seven months was trying to get Elizabeth to trust again, is tired of her suspicions, and tells her, “Spare me! you forget nothing and forgive nothing. Learn about charity, women.
addictions and why many people do not understand it at all. The stories from real people
not only a family but a society. In a play riddled with greed, manipulation and dishonesty,
Deception is present in Tennessee Williams’s drama ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, William Shakespeare’s Tragedy ‘Othello’ and L. P. Hartley’s novel ‘The Go-Between’; the writers choose to use characterisation to explore the theme in depth. Often the protagonists of each text are the primary offenders of deceit, though some supporting characters mislead as well; although Iago is the antagonist of ‘Othello’, he is incomparably the most deceitful character in the entire play. Similarly, Williams uses Blanche to develop the plot by misleading the other characters and even herself at times, though arguably, unlike Iago, Blanche is presented as a character who lacks the motivation to hurt anyone. Conversely Leo, although the protagonist and narrator of the novel, is not the most deceitful character – Ted Burgess and Marian Maudsley not only coerce him into the deceit, but they themselves are presented as masters of the game they play, however, this essay will focus on Leo as he is a unique symbol of deceit; he is unaware of the consequences of his actions.
Lies play a central part in the play as the story is based around lies
Emma's arrogance shines through when she brags that she is exceptionally skillful at matching couples. She believes that she is in control of fate and must play matchmaker in order for couples to discover their true love. Austen confirms, "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself" (Austen 1). Although Emma is so spoiled and overbearing, she truly doesn't realize this fact.
In each of these plays, jealousy is used as a means of producing a conflict and creating trouble in the lives of the characters. The jealousy in each play, although it is introduced in a different way, always involves a man being jealous of his wife (or fiancée, in Hero's case) being unfaithful with another man. Whether he misinterpret something he sees, or believe slanderous lies, the man's jealousy builds until it forces him to do something to punish his unfaithful woman. At the end of each play, the man is made to realize his mistake, but sometimes the damage can not be undone. Jealousy is the main crisis in each type of play - tragedy, trage-comedy, and comedy - but its results lie strictly in the way it is introduced, and the intended severity.
Destruction of a family member may be gruesome. Although betraying a family member is deceitful. When there is false affection towards others, the truth will become noticed. To many, family is a top priority, to keep safe and loved by others, with no secrets among none. This may be possible for some, but in the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, this is not so. One thing that is more common in the entire play is betrayal from different family members, especially the Uncle. But, in a way that Hamlet discovered the truth was unorthodox. With Hamlet, the King of Denmark, finding out who killed his father was like being stabbed in the back because it felt unreal to know that your own blood can kill a loved one, just to be crowned king. The process of Hamlet killing his Uncle was
Betrayal can be caused by trivial matters or simply because of someone feeling inferior to someone else. In betraying someone, a person may abandon his or her values which they thought could never falter. A play that involves acts of betrayal is Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The role of betrayal in the story becomes a repeated event, but portrays itself in multiple ways. Through his use of soliloquies, Shakespeare portrays that through influence, one can betray values, others, and themselves.
Writers have different motivations on why they decide on what they write about. It must be something that will grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read their works. Often writers include situations that are not considered appropriate for the era when the piece was written. Some subjects are too sexually explicit. In two such short stories, Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” and Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog,” both writers chose to involve adultery in their stories. Whatever motivation there is to cheat on a spouse, there is not an acceptable reason to do it. This controversial subject was not common and both authors chose to break the rules. Although equally successful in their writings, Chopin’s “The Storm”, was not published until many years after her death.
changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the
Deception is the driving force of the play, the key theme that causes the character’s action that shapes the story. In Act I, Nora deceives her husband, Helmer, in several different ways. The reader gets their first glimpse of deceit when Nora snacks on some macaroons and then hides them from her husband.
incest. The play has a large amount of betrayal and the person supplying most of that is Claudius,