The modernist English literature

1. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY : COMEDY
OF MENACE
Name : Makwana Daksha D
M.A { English }
Sem : 3 , Roll no : 5
Enrollment no : 2069108420180034
Paper : 8 – The Modernist English Literature
Submitted to : Smt. S.B . Gardi Department of
English MKBU
makwanadaksha9@gmail.com

2. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY –HAROLD PINTER

3. COMEDY OF MENACE
 Comedy of menace is a term used to describe the
plays of David Campton and Harold Pinter by
drama critic Irving Wardle.
 Comedy of menace prevalent since the late 1950s
in advertisements and in critical accounts , notices
and reviews to describe Pinter’s early plays and
some of his later work as well.

4. The Birthday Party
• The Birthday Party – comedy of menace is a tragedy
with a number of comic elements – it is a comedy ,
which also produces an overwhelming tragic effect.
• Throughout the play we are kept amused and yet
throughout the play we find ourselves also on the brink
of terror.
• The menace evolves from actual violence in the play
from an underlying sense of violence throughout the
play.

5. TO BE CONTINUED…
 Pinter pause
 The atmosphere of menace
 Scene - terrifying and funny
 Fear in the play - fear of unknown
 Doubt on almost everything

6. IN PLAY COMEDY OF MENACE..
 ‘ Torrent of words ‘
 Funny and threatening
 Goldberg and McCann ‘
s behavior with Stanley
 Accusations

7. TO BE CONTINUED..
• Absurd conversation
• Blindman’s Buff
• Comic and tragic

8. INDIA AND UNITED STATES RELATION AS
COMEDY OF MENACE

9. RELATIONSHIP STATUS : UPS AND DOWN
• Strong and strategic
bilateral relationships.
• New opportunities
• Strong friendship and
new height

10. RELATIONSHIP STATUS : UPS AND DOWNS
• India ‘s decision : S-400
triumpf missile defence
system from Russia.
• Trump against this : ‘
India will soon find out ‘

11. CONCLUSION
• “ In our present day world , everything is uncertain ,
there is no fixed point , and we are surrounded by
unknown . This unknown occurs in my plays . There
is a kind of horror about and I think that this horror
and absurdity ( comedy ) go together. - Harold
Pinter