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Anti-Oedipus and Woman-Becoming in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2022, 35(1), pp.5-27
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama
  • Received : March 15, 2022
  • Accepted : April 11, 2022
  • Published : April 30, 2022

Sa Kong Il 1

1부산대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of anti-Oedipus in Betrayal of Harold Pinter and woman-becoming of Emma, a protagonist in this drama. Pinter betrays the properties of Oedipus by destroying the traditional arrangement of time in drama and through the relation between Emma and three men (Robert, Jerry, and Casey). First, the reverse placement of scenes in Betrayal has an effect on destroying the Oedipus voyeurism of audiences who wonder what the fate of characters is and how events progress. Also, audiences always watch the stare of Emma on the stage from start to finish. Her stare is not that of an oppressed subject but that of destructing men-centered gazes in the traditional Oedipus regime because she serves as a center figure in the relation among three men. As the result, Emma collapses the men-centered desire of Oedipus and severs as the desiring-machine of anti-Oedipus. As an active subject or a desiring-machine, she realizes becoming-woman in Deleuze’s thought. Her becoming-woman is related to the affirmation of minority and difference that Deleuze stresses.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.