자본주의의 작동원리: 해롤드 핀터의 『귀향』

Abstract

This article examines the mechanism of capitalism in Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming in light of sociocultural histories and capitalism. Capitalism has adapted successfully to shocks of every kind, to world wars and a political revolution such as the second-wave feminism. The crisis, instead of collapsing its system, promote creative destruction through which political systems are reorganized. The impaired Max’s family model in The Homecoming presents a crisis of British capitalism in the 1960s. As Britain’s economic weakness emerged in the aftermath of the postwar boom, Max who fought in the world wars is now in the position of the manager of his family without his wife, Jessie. The governor of crisis of British capitalism has been Labour, which effects in disorganizing working-class responses to the crisis itself. The obvious example of the conflict between Max and his family members is seen in money. In short, Max and his family members are castrated not because of morality but because of money in Max’s order. This order is capitalism that is just avatar of patriarchy. The tradition such as patriarchy could be ruined through political upheavals, the 1960’s second-wave feminism. Ruth representing feminists rejects the identification of women’s unpaid domestic labour as the pillar of capitalist accumulation, which is clearly manifested in her not responding to her husband in his patriarchism. Futhermore, Ruth effectively destroys Max’s order on the bases of her sexuality. In the sexual relationship depicted among Ruth, Lenny, and Joey, Teddy’s patriarchal order is completely destroyed and Ruth gains a queen- like power over Max’s family. Nevertheless, since it is capitalism that creates the conditions for the rise of the second-wave feminism, the second-wave feminist movement represented by her is just a resistance within capitalism attempting to return to power in the 1960s. And this humanized and democratic capitalism is Keynesianism.