The Birthday Party
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Act One Act Two Act Three
Themes
All Themes Ambiguity, Meaninglessness, and Absurdity Guilt and Transgression Order, Chaos, and Sanity Isolation, Freedom, and Independence
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Stanley Webber Meg Boles Petey Boles Goldberg McCann Lulu Monty
Symbols
All Symbols Stanley’s Drum
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The Birthday Party

by

Harold Pinter

Upgrade to A+
Introduction Intro
Plot Summary Plot
Summary & Analysis
  • Act One
  • Act Two
  • Act Three
Themes
  • All Themes
  • Ambiguity, Meaninglessness, and Absurdity Theme Icon
    Ambiguity, Meaninglessness, and Absurdity
  • Guilt and Transgression Theme Icon
    Guilt and Transgression
  • Order, Chaos, and Sanity Theme Icon
    Order, Chaos, and Sanity
  • Isolation, Freedom, and Independence Theme Icon
    Isolation, Freedom, and Independence
Quotes
Characters
  • All Characters
  • Stanley Webber
  • Meg Boles
  • Petey Boles
  • Goldberg
  • McCann
  • Lulu
  • Monty
Symbols
  • All Symbols
  • Stanley’s Drum Symbol Icon
    Stanley’s Drum
Theme Wheel Theme Viz
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Previous
Monty

The Birthday Party Symbols

Next
Stanley’s Drum

Stanley’s Drum

The drum that Meg gives to Stanley for his birthday is a clear representation of her fondness for order. When Stanley first unwraps the gift, she urges him to play it, encouraging him as he…

read analysis of Stanley’s Drum

Stanley’s Drum Symbol Icon
Previous
Monty
Previous
Monty
Next
Stanley’s Drum
Next
Stanley’s Drum

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