Plenty to Amuse and Plenty to Sadden:
Pinter's plays are not conventional plays. The Caretaker is both a comedy and a tragedy, in so far as there is plenty to amuse and plenty to sadden and move us to pity and fear. It is a new type of comedy. It is a dark comedy or comedy of menace. The humour in the play, The Caretaker is not so bright or sunny as in the conventional comedy. It is rather as dark as that in the tragic plays of Shakespeare. The comic element in the play is not so abundant as to nullify the tragic effect, nor are the tragic elements so profound as to nullify the comedy in it.
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| Harold Pinter’s Play The Caretaker As A New Comedy or the Dark Comedy |
Absurdity of Human Existence:
In the conventional comedies, the source of humour is an exaggeration of the oddities of characters or comic situations to a certain extent. In the Absurd Drama, the source of humour is the absurdity of the existence of characters. The concept of absurdity is based on the philosophy of Albert Camus who believes that human beings are strangers in this world, and their existence is without any meaning. In a dark comedy, humour always springs from absurd statement, absurd situations and absurd behaviour of characters.
The Comedy Emanating from Davies:
The character of Davies has been very popular among the audience. We have all kinds of humorous situations in which Davies is caught and creates fun Davies in the play is never intentional. He is not deliberately funny. When Davies is offered a pair of shoes by Aston and as he tries on, his praise for their quality is so eloquent that it sounds ridiculous. We see a farce - like comedy at the end of Act I and at the start of Act II, where Davies is caught literally no trousers on and chased around the room in this silly condition.
Davies brags a lot about his social life. He regards himself very highly whereas the truth is far different from it. This creates fun and humour. We can witness a lot of comic elements in his claims of superiority over Blacks and aliens or in his denunciation of his unhygienic wife keeping her underwear in the vegetable pan. His description of his treatment at the Luton monastery is full of hilarious jokes based on his perceptions of the event.
Comedy in Mick's Mischief towards Davies:
The comic situations in the play arise after the coming of Mick in the room. Davies makes himself absurd and comic when he tells Mick: This isn’t your room. I don't know who you are, I amn't never seen your before.
Davies gets still more absurd when Mick on the electrolux and scares Davies with its sound in the dark. Sensing danger to his life, Davies takes out his knife and stands in readiness to attack. Davies absurdness is on the height when Mick seizes his trousers and Davies lunges for them. The audiences roar into laughter when they see Davies naked on the stage begging for his trousers to cover up his arse.
A Great Deal of Tragic Element:
There is great deal of tragic clement but Pinter has not followed the rules and conventions of the Classical or Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy. In the tragedies of the past, there was much violence, loss of life and property, chaos. In The Caretaker such patterns are absent. In this play, all three characters are to an extent alienated from society in general. Unlike in the past, dramatists in the modern period have made the common man the subject of tragic plays. In The Caretaker, Pinter depicts human sufferings through characters.
Aston's being Betrayed by His own Mother:
Aston is a tragic figure. He was betrayed by his own mother and , despite all his protestations , he was sent to the asylum . He got electric shock there. This shocking treatment broke him not only physically but also mentally. After this incident he lost his vigour. Now he had no faith in people and society. In spite of seeing this sort of attitude of the people of this physical world, he did not turn hostile to the people. This cruel attitude made him humane and sympathetic to the suffering of other human beings.
Aston's Rescuing Davies:
Due to being kind and sympathetic, Aston was so overpowered that he could not see Davies in difficult situation and rescued Davies from fight. Seeing his wretched condition, Aston offers him a place for shelter, things and even a job of caretaker, yet he is deceived by Davies who tries to take advantage of Aston Magnanimity. It must have been very hard for him (Aston) when Davies ill-treats him and plots against him, he cannot bear it anymore and asks Davies to leave the house . Aston is essentially a good - natured man who struggles a lot, suffers a lot and still keeps his behaviour from going evil, unruly and awry.
Davies's own Responsibility for his Pathetic Condition:
Davies himself is responsible for his final disaster and pathetic condition. He is completely ingratitude to Aston who offers him lodgings, things and a suitable job. Davies, out of ignorance, selfishness and aggression, loses the opportunity and is driven out. He comes down on his knees. Deprived of his job as a caretaker and denied of his shelter in the room both by Mick and Aston, he is bewildered like a lost dog. He does not know what to do and where to go. He says to Aston:
What am I going to do?
Pause
What shall I do?
Pause
Where am I going to go?
Pause
If you want me to go…… I'll go. You just say the word.
He is left on the stage asking Aston if he would let him stay in the room in case he goes down to Sidcup and brings back his papers. He turns into pathetic figure. We pity him for he comes as a homeless man and also goes out as a homeless person. His fear that the world is hostile to him is confirmed in the end. Davies’ vain plea to get another chance is almost unbearably tragic.
Mick, also a Disturbed Individual:
Mick is better able to look after himself than the other two characters. But he is also a disturbed individual. He remains much worried about the recovery of his elder brother Aston. He buys a house and provides him a job of decoration in order to keep himself busy and forget his past. But Davies disturbs him by making ill treatment with Aston. When he comes to know about the plot made by Davies against his brother Aston, he expresses his frustration in violence against Davies. Thus we see that all three of them are lonely and isolated. They are unable to communicate effectively.
A Farce and Tragedy:
In The Caretaker there is a blanket of darkness which does not allow the rays of sunny humour to enter. This darkness in the comedy comes from the philosophy of Absurdism. The Caretaker has, therefore the comic elements as well as the tragic elements. The ending of the play is more of a tragedy than a comedy. All the three characters in the play are grouping in dark to find a home and meaning of life for themselves but not without a lighter side of it. Laughter and tears go together.
