The Homecoming is a two-act play written in 1964 by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and it was first

published in 1965. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter
Hall and starred Pinter's first wife, Vivien Merchant, as Ruth. The original Broadway production won the
1967 Tony Award for Best Play. Its 40th-anniversary Broadway production at the Cort Theatre was
nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for "Best Revival of a Play".

Set in North London, the play has six characters. Five of these are men who are related to each other:
Max, a retired butcher; his brother Sam, a chauffeur; and Max's three sons — Teddy, an expatriate
American philosophy professor; Lenny, who appears to be a pimp; and Joey, a would-be boxer in training
who works in demolition. There is one woman, Ruth, who is Teddy's wife. The play concerns Teddy's and
Ruth's "homecoming," which has distinctly different symbolic and thematic implications.

Characters

Max, "a man of seventy" – The patriarch of the family.

Lenny, "a man in his early thirties" – Max's son, apparently a pimp.

Sam, "a man of sixty-three" – Max's brother, a chauffeur.

Joey, "a man in his middle twenties" – Max's son, in demolition, training to be a boxer.

Teddy, "a man in his middle thirties" – Max's son, a professor of philosophy in America.

Ruth, "a woman in her early thirties" – Teddy's wife.

Setting

The setting is an old house in North London during the summer. All of the scenes take place in the same
large room, filled with various pieces of furniture. The shape of a square arch, no longer present, is visible.
Beyond the room are a hallway and staircase to the upper floor and the front door.

Plot

After having lived in the United States for several years, Teddy brings his wife, Ruth, home for the first
time to meet his working-class family in North London, where he grew up and which she finds more
familiar than their arid academic life in America.

Much sexual tension occurs as Ruth teases Teddy's brothers and father and the men taunt one another in
a game of one-upmanship, resulting in Ruth's staying behind with Teddy's relatives as "one of the family"
and Teddy returning home to their three sons in America without her.[2]

Act one

The play begins in the midst of what becomes an ongoing power struggle between the two more dominant
men, the father, Max, and his middle son, Lenny. Max and the other men put down one another,
expressing their "feelings of resentment," with Max feminising his brother Sam, while, ironically, himself
claiming to have himself "given birth" to his three sons.

Teddy arrives with his wife, Ruth. He reveals that he married Ruth in London six years earlier and that the
couple subsequently moved to America and had three sons prior to his returning to the family home to
introduce her. Ruth's and Teddy's discomfort with each other, marked by her restless desire to go out
exploring after he goes to bed and followed by her sexually suggestive first-time encounter with her
brother-in-law Lenny, begins to expose that there are problems in the marriage. After a sexually charged
conversation between Lenny and Ruth, Ruth exits. Awakened by their voices, Max comes downstairs.
Lenny does not tell Max about Teddy's and Ruth's arrival at the house and engages in more verbal sparring
with Max. The scene ends in a blackout.

When the lights come up the scene has changed to the following morning. Max comes down to make
breakfast. When Teddy and Ruth appear and he discovers that they have been there all night without his
knowledge, Max is initially enraged, assuming that Ruth is a prostitute. After being told that Ruth and
Teddy have married and that she is his daughter-in-law, Max appears to make some effort to reconcile
with his son Teddy.

Act two

This act opens with the men's ritual of sharing the lighting of cigars after lunch, ending with Teddy's cigar
going out prematurely and symbolically.[3] Max's subsequent sentimental reminiscences of family life
with Jessie and their "boys" and his experiences as a butcher also end abruptly with a cynical twist.

After Teddy's marriage to Ruth receives Max's blessing, Ruth appears to let her guard down. She relaxes
and, focusing their attention on her ("Look at me."), she reveals some details about her previous life
before meeting Teddy and how she views America (68–69). After Max and his brothers exit, Teddy
abruptly suggests to Ruth that they return home immediately (70). Apparently, he knows about her past
history as "a photographic model for the body" (73) and about which she reminisces when talking to Lenny
alone after Teddy has gone upstairs "to pack" for their return trip to America. When he returns with the
suitcases and Ruth's coat, he expresses concern about what else Lenny may have gotten Ruth to reveal.
As Teddy looks on, Lenny initiates dancing "slowly" with her (74). With Teddy, Max, and Joey all looking
on, Lenny kisses Ruth and then turns her over to Joey, who asserts that "she's wide open"; "Old Lenny's
got a tart in here" (74). Joey begins making out with Ruth on the sofa, telling Lenny that she is "Just up my
street"(75). Max asks Teddy if he is "going" so soon; ironically, he tells Teddy, "Look, next time you come
over, don't forget to let us know beforehand whether you're married or not. I'll always be glad to meet
the wife." He says that he knows that Teddy had not told him that he was married because he was
"ashamed" that he had "married a woman beneath him" (75), just before peering to look at Ruth, who is
literally still lying "under" Joey. Max adds that Teddy doesn't need to be "ashamed" of Ruth's social status,
assuring Teddy that he is a "broadminded man" (75), and "she's a lovely girl. A beautiful woman," as well
as "a mother too. A mother of three." Contrary to the concurrent action, even more ironically, Max
observes that Teddy has "made a happy woman out of her. It's something to be proud of"; right after Max
further asserts that Ruth is "a woman of quality" and "a woman of feeling," clasped in their ongoing
embrace, Joey and Ruth "roll off the sofa on to the floor" (76).

Suddenly pushing Joey away and standing up, Ruth appears to take command, asking for food and drink,
and Joey and Lenny attempt to satisfy her demands (76–77). After Ruth questions whether or not his
family has read Teddy's "critical works" — leading Teddy to defend his own "intellectual equilibrium" and
professional turf (77–78) — Ruth and Joey go upstairs for what Lenny later says turns out to be a two-
hour sexual encounter in bed, without going "the whole hog" (82).

While Ruth is still upstairs, Lenny and the others reminisce about Lenny's and Joey's sexual exploits. Lenny,
whom the family considers an expert in sexual matters, labels Ruth a "tease," to which Teddy replies,
"Perhaps he hasn't got the right touch" (82). Lenny retorts that Joey has "had more dolly than you've had
cream cakes," is "irresistible" to the ladies, "one of the few and far between" (82). Lenny relates anecdotes
about Joey's sexual prowess with other "birds" (82–84). When Lenny asks Joey, "Don't tell me you're
satisfied without going the whole hog?", Joey tentatively replies that "sometimes" a man can be "happy"
without "going any hog" (84). Lenny "stares at him." Joey seems to be suggesting that Ruth is good at "the
game" that Lenny ultimately gets the "idea" to "put" her "on": Lenny proposes to Max that he "take her
up with me to Greek Street" (88).

Max volunteers that Ruth could come to live with the family, suggesting that they "should keep her" while
she works for them part-time as a prostitute. The men discuss this proposal in considerable detail,
seemingly half-joking to irritate Teddy and half-serious (86–89). Sam declares the whole idea "silly" and
"rubbish" (86), Teddy adamantly refuses to "put" anything "in the kitty," as Max asks (87), and Lenny
suggests that Teddy could hand out business cards and refer Americans he knows to Ruth when they visit
London, for "a little percentage" (89–90).

Ruth comes downstairs "dressed" and apparently ready to join Teddy, who is still waiting with his coat on
and their packed suitcases (90). Teddy informs her of the family's proposal, without going into explicit
detail about their intention to engage her in prostitution, saying euphemistically that she will "have to pull
[her] weight" financially because they are not "very well off"; then he offers her a choice to stay in London
with the family "or" to return to America with him (91–92). Ruth appears far more interested in the idea
of staying with them. She negotiates the terms of their "contract" (93) using business terminology in a
professional manner that makes her seem adept at getting what she wants in such transactions (92–94).
Teddy prepares to return to America without her.

Having spoken up a few times earlier to voice his objections, Sam blurts out a long-kept secret about Jessie
and Max's friend MacGregor, then "croaks and collapses" and "lies still" on the floor (94). Briefly
considering the possibility that Sam has "dropped dead" and become a "corpse" (94), the others ascertain
that he is still breathing ("not even dead"), dismiss his revelation as the product of "a diseased
imagination," and mostly ignore his body. After a pause, Ruth accepts their proposal: "Yes, it sounds like
a very attractive idea" (94). Teddy focuses on the inconvenience that Sam's unavailability poses for him:
"I was going to ask him to drive me to London airport" (95). Instead, he gets directions to the
Underground, before saying goodbye to the others and leaving to return home to his three sons in
America, alone. As he moves towards the front door, Ruth calls Teddy "Eddie"; after he turns around, she
tells him, "Don't become a stranger" (96). He goes out the door, leaving his wife with the other four men
in the house.

The final tableau vivant (96–98) depicts Ruth sitting, "relaxed in her chair," as if on a throne.[4] Sam lies
motionless on the floor; Joey, who has walked over to Ruth, places his head in her lap; and Lenny, stands
looking on. After repeatedly insisting that he is not an old man, and getting no reply from Ruth, who
remains silent, Max beseeches her, "Kiss me" – the final words of the play. Ruth sits and "continues to
touch JOEY's head, lightly," while Lenny still "stands, watching" (98). In this "resolution" of the play (its
dénouement), what might happen later remains unresolved. Such lack of plot resolution and other
ambiguities are features of most of Pinter's dramas.[5]

Symbolism and irony of title

In addition to the play being about Teddy's homecoming on a literal level, critics have suggested that, on
a metaphoric level, in a variety of ways, the homecoming is Ruth's; that is, that, symbolically, Ruth comes
"home" to "herself": she rediscovers her previous identity prior to her marriage to Teddy.[4] Ironically, as
she "comes home" to this woman-less (motherless, wifeless, sister-in-lawless) family (Max, Lenny, Joey,
and Sam), she renders her own family with Teddy similarly without (mother, wife, woman).[6]

By the end of the play, Ruth appears to have assumed the multiple roles of Jessie, the London family's
missing wife and mother, the missing woman in their household ("mother/wife/whore" in terms used by
critics), while putting the American family of Ruth and Teddy in a parallel position, thus ironically reversing
the situation at the beginning of the play.[6] In that sense, the play recalls Edward's reversal of roles with
the silent Matchseller in Pinter's 1959 play A Slight Ache, initially broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and similarly
ironic plot and character role-reversals resulting from power struggles throughout many of Pinter's other
plays.

For many critics the missing "back wall" in the "large room" of the house described by Pinter as "removed"
(21) and by Teddy as "knocked [...] down to make an open living area" after Jessie's death (37) symbolises
the absent female influence. In October 2007, as quoted by Lahr, Pinter said that he considers The
Homecoming his most "muscular" (masculine?) play.

After Teddy comes home and introduces his London family to his wife, Ruth (35–40), Max invites her to
remain with them in London; as Teddy puts it to her euphemistically: "Ruth . . . the family have invited
you to stay, for a little while longer. As a . . . as a kind of guest" (91). Whereas Teddy ultimately decides to
return home to his family in America (91–96), Ruth agrees to "come home" (92) as the family's missing
mother figure and possibly also a prostitute whom Lenny can pimp (92–94), filling in the gap created when
their mother died: "I've never had a whore under this roof before. Ever since your mother died" (58).
Upon first seeing Ruth, Max believes that his eldest son, Teddy, has brought a "filthy scrubber" (like Jessie)
into "my house" (57–58). A major irony of the play is that Max's apparently-mistaken first assumption
comes to appear accurate as the family (and the audience) get to "know" Ruth better (65–76). The play
exposes to Teddy's family that Ruth has been unhappy in her marriage to Teddy. Though Teddy insists
that she is "not well" (85) and simply needs to "rest" (71), he may not have recognised the cause of her
apparent depression. Nevertheless, ultimately, he appears willing to leave her with his family in London,
or at least wants to give the others that impression (perhaps to save face; or perhaps he really does want
to leave her there). Teddy's "homecoming" appears to become Ruth's.

Critical response

Often considered to be a highly ambiguous, an enigmatic, and for some even a cryptic play, The
Homecoming has been the subject of extensive critical debate for over forty years.[13] According to many
critics, it exposes issues of sex and power in a realistic yet aesthetically stylised manner.

Surveying Pinter's career on the occasion of the 40-anniversary Broadway production of the play at the
Cort Theatre in The New Yorker, the critic John Lahr describes the impact of experiencing it: "'The
Homecoming' changed my life. Before the play, I thought words were just vessels of meaning; after it, I
saw them as weapons of defence. Before, I thought theatre was about the spoken; after, I understood the
eloquence of the unspoken. The position of a chair, the length of a pause, the choice of a gesture, I
realised, could convey volumes."

Like other contemporary critics familiar with The Homecoming, Ben Brantley praises the play's two-act
plot structure, referring to its "nigh-perfect form." In the 1960s, when first encountering the play, its
earliest critics complained that, like Pinter's other plays as perceived then, The Homecoming seemed, in
their words, "plotless," "meaningless," and "emotionless" (lacking character motivation), and they found
the play "puzzling" (their word); later critics argue that the play evokes a multiplicity of potential
meanings, leading to multiple interpretations.

In "Demolition Man", Lahr considers The Homecoming to be

the last and best play of Pinter's fecund early period (1957–65). It is a culmination of the poetic
ambiguities, the minimalism, and the linguistic tropes of his earlier major plays: "The Birthday Party"
(1958), whose first production lasted only a week in London, though the play was seen by eleven million
people when it was broadcast on TV in 1960, and "The Caretaker" (1960), an immediate international hit.
"The Homecoming" is both a family romance and a turf war.

The Homecoming directly challenges the place of morals in family life and puts their social value "under
erasure" (in Derridean terminology). Teddy's profession as an academic philosopher, which, he claims,
enables him to "maintain . . . intellectual equilibrium"—

I'm the one who can see. That's why I write my critical works. [...] I can see what you do. It's the same as
I do. But you're lost in it. You won't get me being . . . I won't be lost in it.

Ironically raises basic philosophical questions about the nature of so-called family values and the
"meaning" of "love" among family members.

Occasionally, one finds critics of the play, aware of Pinter's reputation for ambiguity, questioning even
Teddy's and Ruth's references to the fact of their "being married"; e.g., Sir Harold Hobson, as cited by
Merritt: "Hobson's interpretation of Teddy as merely pretending to be Ruth's husband and a professor of
philosophy enables him to rationalize the man's behavior toward his wife." Basing her viewpoint on a
personal interview with Hobson, Merritt considers Hobson's review of the first production of the play,
entitled "Pinter Minus the Moral", concluding: "although Hobson still describes The Homecoming as
Pinter's 'cleverest play,' his judgment against the play's 'moral vacuum,' like his denial of Teddy and Ruth's
marriage, suggests his personal distress at the portrayal of marriage and what Pinter has called the
characters' misdirected 'love.' To deny that Teddy and Ruth are really married is a common refrain in
responses to the play. Aside from their behaviour in the play and that of Teddy's father and brothers
towards them, nothing else in the text contradicts Teddy's and Ruth's claims that they are married and
that they have three sons. The more outrageous Ruth's and his family's actions, the more Teddy protests
that they are married, leading some critics to believe that the man doth protest too much, though perhaps
they may do so too.

Continuing denial of the facts of Teddy's and Ruth's marriage and family may serve critics as a means of
expressing their own rejection of what occurs in the play. Alluding indirectly to this critical pattern,
Brantley observes, however, that, in time, the play may appear more realistic and more relevant to the
lives of theatre audiences than it may have seemed when they themselves were younger or more naive
about the nature of marriage and family life. To those with strong religious values, like Hobson, the play
appears immoral. Yet, to others, its moral value resides in its very questioning of commonly accepted
shibboleths about marriage and the family: "People who were originally put off by 'The Homecoming' may
now find it too close to home. It's a bit like Picasso's shockingly severe painting of Gertrude Stein from
1906, the one he predicted in time would resemble its subject. We may not have thought we saw
ourselves in 'The Homecoming' four decades ago. Now it feels like a mirror." Other critics, like Lahr in
"Demolition Man", remind their readers of the strong element of comedy in this play, as in many of
Pinter's other plays.