Talk:The Caretaker

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Removed totally undocumented material
It can't be included in this article in Wikipedia without proper documentation; see the editing summary and the links in the talkheader above regarding Wikipedia editing policies. Whole section repeats a lot of information already in the cross-linked article on Harold Pinter (biographical article) and is not necessary to repeat here, especially without documentation of sources. This is not a place to provide personal interpretations of the play, its characters, its contexts, or related historical information. All that removed can be found in editing history. The source citation style was highly imprecise and inaccurate and it still needs further work. There were many typographical errors that needed and may still need further correction. <!--hidden text

Historical Context
The years following victory in World War II were a time of hardship in Britain. A 1947 fuel crisis left many without heat, and food shortages resulted in the continuation of wartime rationing well into the late- 1940s. These years also saw a serious housing shortage. During the war, when construction of housing had ceased, two hundred thousand houses were completely destroyed and half a million more required extensive repair. Some Britons saw hope for the future in socialism, and the late- 1940s saw the development of the Welfare State, which placed responsibility for the relief of the poor on the government. In 1946, the National Insurance Act and the National Health Service Act were passed, providing insurance and medical care to the poor. The National Assistance Act was developed to provide a safety net for the poor. Many believed that new government policies would end poverty altogether.

Such optimistic assessments, however, were soon proven false. In addition, those who saw socialism as a solution to Britain’s problems were disillusioned by the Soviet Union’s 1956 invasion of Hungary, which showed that a socialist system could be as violent and corrupt as any other political system.

These years also saw a decline in Britain’s status among nations. Previous generations had said that the sun would never set on the British empire, but now that empire was crumbling, with former colonies such as India gaining freedom from British rule. In 1956, the Suez crisis, in which Britain was condemned by the United Nations for its attempt to gain control of the Suez Canal in Egypt, resulted in international humiliation for the former empire. British troops were forced to withdraw, and the Prime Minister resigned over the incident.

In spite of political difficulties, however, the late- 1950s saw some domestic economic recovery, and Britain saw the rise of a consumer culture focusing on the acquisition of material goods. Ownership of what were formerly luxury items, such as refrigerators, washing machines, and automobiles, rose significantly between 1953 and 1960. In addition, the development of television led to a new perceived need. Magazines enticed consumers to buy with photographs and descriptions of beautifully decorated homes. Not surprisingly, British citizens were exposed to more advertising than ever before. It is, in fact, the language of house and garden magazines and of advertisements that Mick uses when he describes for Davies his vision for the future of The Caretaker’s squalid setting.

In the 1950s, treatment of the mentally ill was undergoing change, as the introduction of new psychiatric medications made it possible for patients to leave institutions and live in their communities. Nonetheless, many patients remained institutionalized and, although more humane than those of past eras, mental hospitals of the time were sometimes little better than warehouses for those whose illnesses had no real cure. In addition, in spite of advances in medications, little was known about the biological causes of severe mental illness, and such illnesses were still generally believed to have psychological bases. Psychiatrists often blamed the family unit for illnesses such as schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder, and particular blame was laid at the feet of the mother and the ways in which she brought up her children.

As early as the sixteenth century, physicians had attempted to cure schizophrenia by inducing convulsions with camphor. In the 1930s, modern electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was developed in Rome. In the 1950s, ECT was commonly used to treat depression and schizophrenia. At that time, however, treatments were often given without muscle relaxants, which prevent broken bones during seizures, or general anesthesia. In addition, the mentally ill had not yet benefited from the patients’ rights movement of the 1960s, and so the involuntary ECT that Aston was subjected to was much more common than it is today.

About The Author
Harold Pinter was born October 10th 1930 in West London, England. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1948-1949 and then attended the Central School for Speech and Drama in 1951. He spent his earlier theatrical career acting on stage in England and Ireland. He began writing plays in 1957 his first being The Room. Over his career he would write 29 plays, 26 screenplays, a novel and many other poems and prose. As well as writing Pinter continued to act and direct his own works. In 1960 The Caretaker, Pinter’s first commercial success, established his theatrical reputation. From 1965 to 1980 he was married to the actress Vivien Merchant and had one son Daniel (958). After Merchant and Pinter divorced in 1980 he married Lady Antonia Fraser. In 2005 Pinter won the Nobel Prize in literature he was unable to accept his award in person because of serious medical issues. In 2001 he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He died December 25, 2008 at 78 years old. -->

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