The search for the true self and the instability of moods and attitudes is a theme commonly used through the centuries. The re-discovery of the self, the changing identities, moods that play on thin strings of the mind and emotions are sometimes the result of certain transformations that individuals and situations go through, and these are reflected through the characters, plots, and themes of literary works. The modern drama is one of the areas in which playwrights use the concept of identity and self-rediscovery to show the transformation that characters go through and the changes that take place as the plot unfolds through the use of thematic and contextual elements. The play, ‘The Homecoming’ by Harold Pinter is a good example of Modern Drama reflecting these transformations of identity and mood. The play seems to emphasize two different kinds of transformation through the use of characterization; the first kind is that of change in mood and attitude reflected through Max, the second kind of transformation is that of the true self that is reflected through Ruth.
Throughout the play, we see the transformation of moods and attitudes as the plot unfolds. The dialogues between the characters, although very vague, point to how the emotions change within the play as certain decisions are made. An example of this transformation is the scene where Max and Teddy are talking in the morning and Max is insulting Ruth and not wanting her in the house, when all of a sudden he turns to Teddy and says, “Teddy, why don’t we have a nice cuddle and kiss, eh? Like the old days? What about a nice cuddle and kiss, eh? … You want to kiss your old father? Want to cuddle with your old father?” (51) Here we see the previously angry, tough and furious Max instantly changing into a soft-hearted father figure who is cuddling his son and showing his loving affections. As the reader, we are confused by this change happening at the same time in both attitude and mood. There seems to be no reason for this sudden change, except for the fact that the characters themselves are going through a process of not knowing themselves as much as the audience knows the characters. Later in the second act, we see Max’s attitude toward Ruth change in the opposite direction, when he says, “… I’ve got the feeling you’re a number one cook.” (53) Max, who was insulting, rude and crude to Ruth previously by calling her a whore, and accusing her of not being fit for the family; now change his manners completely and starts the small pleasant talk with her in which he compliments her for her many capabilities, among which is excellence in cooking. The transformation of this attitude is astounding and confusing for the audience but not unexpected, because up until the scene, we can make out the instability of the characters and how they change moods and attitudes according to situations and people. Another moment in which we see a clear change in the mood of Max is when he is talking to Ruth about his past and all of a sudden he turns to Sam to ask about his work. Max says, “What do you mean you know? You’ll be late. You’ll lose your job. What are you trying to do, humiliate me?” (55), causing us to sense a resentful, angry and a little reproachful mood; as opposed to before when he was talking with Ruth and had a more sensible, a little nostalgic but softer mood. The transformation of these attitudes and moods also points to the instability that prevails throughout the play. The audience is unable to make up their mind whether to trust the characters, be happy for them or pity them.
The play also seems to emphasize the transformation of the self and identity, which is reflected on a metaphoric level as the homecoming of Ruth, where Ruth ‘comes home’ to herself, become her true-self, the person she was before she met Teddy and changed. This we can see from her lines in the quotation, “I was … different … when I met Teddy … first.” (58) This line shows that Ruth changed as a result of the kind of people that entered her life, which in this case is Teddy. This is the only scene in which we see clearly that she has transformed into another person, and does not feel her true-self. The first scene where we see Ruth’s transformation to her true inner self is the scene in which she is talking with Lenny for the first time, and she says to him, “Sit on my lap. Take a long cool sip.” (42) At the beginning of this scene, we are introduced to Ruth, who seems to be a quiet, observant listener of her surroundings and the people around her. She looks around the house, listens to her husband and keeps quiet to herself; when all of a sudden, after talking with Lenny, she changes into a seductive, forceful and desirable woman. This sudden burst shows the need her inner-self feels to go back to who she was before her marriage and the urge that she cannot withhold. The scene in which Ruth is taken into seductive relations by Joey and partly Lenny, all the while Teddy is observing is the final straw in which we see that she has gone back to who she was. Joey says, “Christ, she’s wide open… She’s a tart.”(66) Where we see that the transformation that was urging her inner self, that was forcing her to go back to who she was and change her entire lifestyle has taken place. After this scene, she is the old Ruth, who had no responsibilities and lived the life of a prostitute. We can also see that this transformation is inevitable because of two things: first, because she is being challenged and urged by her inner-self to go back to who she was and also because as she experiences the interaction with Joey and Lenny, her husband stands to watch. This makes us think that he sees no point in interfering, pulling her out of what she is about to enter because he knows that this is what she is and what she wants to be. Whether it is right or wrong, moral or not is irrelevant at the moment, Ruth wants to go back to who she was, and she is on the verge of this transformation. For this reason, Teddy lets her go, and Ruth finally rediscovers her identity that existed before her marriage. The irony in this transformation s that while she enters into the womanless family of Max, Lenny, Joey, and Sam) and becomes the woman of the house, she places her own family with Teddy and her three sons in the same position that Max and his sons were previously when Jessie, Max’s dead wife, had left them. This shows that while the women of the household search for their true identity, it is possible that they will have to give up other things whether voluntarily or not along the way. It seems that the playwright is also sending a social message to the women of the society: to be careful when searching for the inner-self, to know what and whom to give up along the journey of self-discovery and re-discovery.
The play ends with many possibilities that are open to interpretation, but one thing is made clear: that Ruth was the connotative meaning of change and has passed the test of transformation and re-discovered her prior identity, while Max was really the surface meaning of the change and was not put under a test of transformation of moods and attitudes. As a result, we take the transformation of the former more seriously than the latter; and therefore the focus becomes centered, naturally, on Ruth, the woman, rather than Max and the other men. This is yet another reason why the play relates to the imagination. Although it can also be read as a Freudian play filled with the Oedipal desires of the subconsciousness of all the sons, it can also be interpreted as a study of the transformation of individuals that are competing for a single territory. In the end; it is the father, Max, who achieves in reflecting the different psychologies of individuals in different situations against different people; and it is Ruth, the woman, who drastically changes her life and swaps her own family for her in-laws because she has listened to her inner self and re-discovered her true identity.