Ficha de lectura

Harold Pinter

The Collection

The Collection was first presented by Associated Rediffusion Television, London on 11 May 1961. The play was first presented on the stage at Aldwych Theatre on 18 June 1962.

Characters

There are four characters; Harry a man in his forties living with Bill, a man in his late twenties. James, a man in his thirties living with and married to Stella, a woman also in her thirties. Pinter does not tell us how what the characters look like. We can make up that Stella has the looks of a model giving the fact that she shows dresses. Stella and Bill came both from a slum, Harry and James have probably better backgrounds but there is no reference to these. Harry is the least prominent character in the play. He seems curious, given the fact he goes to Stella’s house to find out if there really was something between Bill and her. Maybe he is not just curious but wants to get James out of his life with Bill. Bill doesn’t seem to have a very strong personality. When he feels threatened he just tells James whatever he wants to hear. Together with Stella he plays a game, saying contradictious things to James about what they did together. James plays his own, quite aggressive, game trying to find out what happened between his wife and Bill. So does he pretend to like olives while he don’t and acts physically aggressive throwing a knife at the face of Bill. Stella seems to be careful with James. She has told him she had an affair but if she made this up or not stays unclear. Her intentions stay unclear.

            Resume
At four in the morning Harry answers the phone. The person who calls wants to speak with Bill. Harry refuses to wake Bill and this person doesn’t identify himself but says it will be in touch. The person appears to be James, calling from a telephone box. James is married to Stella and both work together in the clothing trade.
       The next day James says he is not going to the shop. She asks him is he is going out but he doesn’t respond. Bill and Harry are having breakfast. Harry tells about the phone call. The phone rings and Bill answers it. The person says he will be there in a minute. He doesn’t say who is. But Bill goes out and Harry answers the door. James goes away. James comes back when Bill is alone and invites himself in and makes it himself comfortable. Than he asks how Leeds was last week. James says he knows that Bill spent the night with Stella in Leeds last Friday during a business trip. He knows all details. Bill denies it first but when he falls on the ground he says `If you let me get up…I´ll…I´ll tell you…the truth…´ (p. 135) Bill tells that they only kissed a bit in the elevator. When James gives new details, about how Bill sat next to Stella when he called, Bill corrects James and says he was lying.
       On sunday morning James tells Stella that he is going to see her lover and later that he already saw him. That night James is having dinner with Bill. Harry goes to see Stella and confronts her with the story James is telling about her and Bill. She says that her husband made the story up. She blames it on the fact that Bill is overworked. Harry suggest a holiday Harry enters silently while James is suggesting to have a mock duel. Bill doesn’t want this and James throws a knife at his face. He hurts his hand while doing protecting himself. Harry comes in and pays no interest Bills hand. He tells James that he has visited his wife and that she had confessed that she made the whole story up. They discuss with each other that it probably has to do with overwork. Harry suggests that he should take her on a holiday. Bill tells that he has never touched her, that they only talked about what they would do if they did get to her room. James returns to his house and confronts her with Bills story. She only looks at him. Neither confirming nor denying.

Space

The stage is divided in three areas. Pinter describes them at the start of the play. On the left side of the stage is Harry’s house in Belgravia. It has period furnishing and looks elegant. There are a living-room, hall, front door, kitchen and staircase to first floor visible. On the right side of the stage is James flat in Chelsea. It has tasteful contemporary furnishing. We only see the living room. Upstage is a telephone box. The characters move on and off stage and between the houses. Bill and Stella stay in their homes or go offstage but both Harry and James make use of the telephone box and visit each others houses.

Time

The scene is laid in Autumn. There are a few jumps in time, but the story is told chronologically. The play starts at four o’clock on a Saturday morning. The next `scene´ is it morning, breakfast time. Time changes after that in the evening. After this scene we get an blackout and light up. It is Sunday morning, the church bells ring. The last `scene´ takes place that night. It is difficult to tell how much time these `scenes´ exactly take but they are not very long.

Language

There is a difference between the use of language between the characters. Harry speaks more sophisticated than the others. HARRY: Oh, you know? Well, it’s really been rather disturbing. I mean, the boy had his work to get on with. This sort of thing spoils his concentration. STELLA: I’m sorry. It’s…very unfortunate. HARRY: It is. Pause. STELLA: I can’t understand it…We’ve been happily married for two years, you see. I’ve…been away before, you know…showing dresses, here and there, my husband runs the business. But it’s never happened before.´ (p.148) Like in the other plays, Harold Pinter uses many silences and pauses to tell his story. STELLA: You´ve never seen him. Pause. You don´t know him. Pause. You don’t know where he lives? Pause. When did you see him? (p.142)