The comparative analysis between the
characters of Stanley and Goldberg are described below:
Stanley Webber is ostensibly the
protagonist of the play. He is the only boarder at the Boles's boardinghouse,
and is initially defined by laziness, unkemptness, and smug cruelty towards
Meg. The many details of his past are never confirmed - he might be a musician,
might have been famous, etc. - although there is a sense that he has sins
unatoned for. His aggressive depression transitions into a nervous breakdown
when Goldberg and McCann arrive, until he is nothing but a bumbling idiot in
Act III.
A man who has been living for the
past year in Meg and Petey Boles’s boarding house. Stanley is reclusive and
unkempt, wearing filthy old pants and a pajama top. If Meg didn’t go out of her
way each morning to make sure he ate breakfast and drank his tea, it seems he
would never leave the comfort of his bedroom. This is perhaps because he has
come to this seaside town in order to hide from his past life, although Pinter
never clarifies what Stanley is running from. All the same, he leads an
isolated existence, refusing to venture beyond the boarding house and claiming
that he’d have “nowhere” to go even if he did leave. Having become accustomed
to this kind of solitude, Stanley is distraught when Goldberg and McCann come
to the boarding house and start interrogating him, making him feel guilty
despite the fact that they never actually reveal what he’s done. Unfortunately,
Meg and Petey hardly notice the effect these newcomers have on Stanley, even
when he finally has a mental breakdown as a result of their tormenting. At the
same time, the darkness Goldberg and McCann bring out in Stanley is shocking,
as he eventually tries to strangle Meg and rape Lulu (one of his
acquaintances). As such, Pinter portrays him as someone who has either always
been dangerous, or who has been pushed to the edge by Goldberg and McCann’s
psychological games. Indeed, by the end the play, Stanley is completely
unhinged, finding himself incapable of communicating or standing up for
himself, which is why he allows Goldberg and McCann to escort him out of the
boarding house and away from his sequestered life.
On the other hand Nat Goldberg, aslo
called “Simey” and “Benny,” is a Jewish
gentleman who works for an unnamed “Organization” that has employed him to take
Stanley away from the boardinghouse. He is defined by his outwardly polite and
suave demeanor, which stands in stark contrast to that of his associate McCann.
However, he ultimate reveals an angry, violent streak beneath this suave
demeanor.
A charming, swift-talking man who
arrives at Meg and Petey’s boarding house with his associate, McCann, with the
intention of locating Stanley Webber. Goldberg introduces himself as Nat, but
he frequently refers to himself as “Simey” while telling stories. Confusingly,
he also calls himself “Benny” at one point, suggesting that his past is just as
jumbled and inscrutable as Stanley’s. In fact, these two men seem to know one
another, though when Stanley asks McCann if either he or Goldberg have spent
time in Maidenhead, McCann upholds that they haven’t. Nonetheless, Goldberg
later references the same Maidenhead tea shop that Stanley has already talked
about, suggesting that he is indeed from the same town. Regardless of whether
or not they hail from the same place, though, talking about the past is
something Goldberg does quite often, speaking wistfully about old acquaintances
and relatives and telling his listeners about the life advice he received from
these people. This, it seems, is what Goldberg wants most: to be the kind of
person who’s full of wisdom. Unfortunately, though, he himself has very little
to offer in the way of life advice, and this is something that upsets him.
Still, he’s smooth and socially confident, as made evident by the fact that he easily
wins over Meg by complimenting her dress. He also gains the affection of Lulu,
with whom he flirts during Stanley’s birthday party. The next morning, they
have a frank conversation in which she lampoons him for having sex with her
without intending to begin a relationship. However, Goldberg has other matters
on his mind, focusing first and foremost on psychologically disturbing Stanley
and taking him away from the boarding house.
“You’re dead, You can’t live, you can’t think, you can’t
love. You’re dead. You’re a plague gone bad. There’s no juice in you. You’re
nothing but an odor.”
During the bizarre interrogation
scene in Act II, Goldberg gives this assessment, one of the play’s most
poignant. It is poignant because it is true not only of Stanley, but ostensibly
of everyone in the play, as well as of the apathetic post-war Britain that
Pinter was commenting on. Too many of the characters choose comfort because it
is safer, but the flipside is a depressing apathy. And, as the play suggests,
the truth of life never goes away and will sooner or later rear its
dangerous ugly head.
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