The Homecoming

Harold Pinter’s 1965 play The Homecoming is considered the third and concluding hit of his prolific early period. That period also included the notable works The Birthday Party (1957) and The Caretaker (1959). The Homecoming is a two-act play that depicts the family conflict that ensues when a prodigal son returns to London from the US, bringing with him his new wife. It was first staged in the West End in 1965 before debuting on Broadway in 1967. There, it won four coveted Tony awards, including Best Play. Pinter himself would go on to have a long and decorated career, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. The Homecoming is an elusive, absurdist, work and a good introduction to Pinter’s extensive oeuvre. The edition referenced here is the 1967 Grove Press Evergreen edition; scene numbering in this guide refers to the divisions created by the “BLACKOUT” stage direction.

Please be advised that The Homecoming features derogatory terms for women and mentions of sexual and domestic violence as part of the play’s exploration of the intersection of violence and masculinity.

Plot Summary

Aged patriarch Max bickers with his second son, Lenny, in the living room of a North London house. The pair trade insults as Lenny tries to pick a winner from an upcoming horse race. Max’s brother, Sam, returns home from his job as a chauffeur and finds himself on the receiving end of Max’s ire too.

Max’s youngest son, Joey, joins the quarreling trio. Joey has just come home from training at the boxing gym. He hopes to become a professional fighter one day. Max complains about the burden these other three men place on him and then reminisces about the kindness of his own father.

That night, while this warring family sleeps, Max’s oldest son, Teddy, slips into the house with his wife, Ruth. The family has never met Ruth. She and Max married six years previously, when Teddy emigrated to America to pursue an academic career. They are on a surprise visit home after vacationing in Venice.

While Ruth goes outside to get some air, Teddy reunites with Lenny, roused from sleep by a mysterious noise. The pair discuss the nature of this noise before Teddy ascends to his old bedroom to sleep. Ruth comes inside and in turn chats with Lenny. Their talk becomes flirtatious, with Lenny asking to hold Ruth’s hand. Ruth takes the lead, and this confounds Lenny. He ends up shouting up the stairs after her as she heads off to bed too.

The next morning, the family is awake (and back to bickering) when Teddy and Ruth make their surprise entrance. Max is astounded and accuses Teddy of bringing a “slut” into the house. Teddy explains that Ruth is his wife, which fails to mollify Max. Max orders Joey to throw out Teddy and Ruth. When Joey hesitates, Max turns violent, walloping both Joey and Sam with his walking stick. This outburst seems to calm Max, and he reconciles with Teddy and Ruth.

After lunch, the men smoke cigars and Max fondly remembers his dead wife, Jessie. His mood quickly changes as Sam readies himself for work, and Max again complains about his difficulty supporting and steering the family, especially in Jessie’s absence. Max and Lenny grill Teddy and Ruth about their family in America (they have three sons of their own), as well as Teddy’s work.

Everyone leaves, granting Teddy and Ruth a brief moment alone. Teddy wants to cut short the visit and get home to the children as soon as possible. Ruth is more ambivalent and seems to be enjoying herself. Still, Teddy rushes upstairs to pack their suitcases.

When he comes back, he finds that Lenny has returned and is chatting intimately with Ruth. As Teddy stands there with coats and cases, ready to leave, Ruth and Lenny begin to dance and soon start kissing. At that moment, Max and Joey return home. Joey is wide-eyed and cuts in to sample Ruth’s affection too.

The family begins to drink. Teddy struggles to leave. He becomes flustered and defends his life and career in America, which he claims make him different from the rest of his family and the way they live. However, he can only rage impotently as his family continues to seduce his wife.

By evening, Teddy seems to have calmed down and resigned himself to what is happening. Joey emerges, having spent two hours upstairs with Ruth. The men discuss Joey’s sexual prowess and Ruth’s proclivities—namely, that she might be a flirt who held out on Joey.

Max hits upon the idea of asking Ruth to stay, filling the void left in the household by Jessie’s death. To make this work, Ruth would have to contribute financially, not just by cooking and cleaning (as the men have planned for her). Lenny, it turns out, is a pimp. The men agree to put Ruth to work selling sexual services.

Both Ruth and Teddy accept this plan. The shock of it all prompts Sam to keel over. Ruth is enthusiastic about the arrangement and negotiates better conditions for herself. Teddy leaves. A shell-shocked Max begs Ruth for affection, but she, Lenny, and Joey stand over him and the fallen Sam, seemingly indifferent to their elders and empowered by their new “family.”