Feminism in Harold Pinter's Drama The Homecoming

Abstract

Gender inequality and patriarchal domination are still commonly found in social life and literary works. Women are often viewed as weaker and held in lower positions than men. This issue is illustrated in Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming through the character of Ruth, who lives in a patriarchal family environment. The male characters in the Drama attempt to control and determine Ruth’s position within the family. This Drama is interesting to analyze using a feminist perspective to understand the position of women, patriarchal domination, and power relations within the story. This study analyzes feminism in Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming by focusing on Ruth’s character, dialogue, and interaction within the patriarchal household. The purpose of this study is to identify the types of feminism represented in the Drama and to explain how feminist values are reflected through Ruth’s resistance toward male domination and patriarchal authority. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method with a feminist literary approach because the study focuses on analyzing dialogues, character interactions, and patriarchal representations in The Homecoming. The data were collected through library research using The Homecoming as the primary source and several related journals as secondary sources. The analysis focuses on dialogues, interactions, and power relations between characters in the Drama. The findings reveal that several types of feminism appear in The Homecoming, namely radical feminism, liberal feminism, cultural feminism, socialist feminism, intersectional feminism, and anarchist feminism. Among these types, radical feminism becomes the most dominant because Ruth frequently challenges patriarchal control and rejects systems that attempt to subordinate women. The study also shows that language and interaction function as important tools in expressing domination, resistance, and negotiation of power within the Drama. Through Ruth’s character, Harold Pinter presents feminist resistance against patriarchal structures and highlights women’s struggle for identity, equality, and self-representation. Therefore, The Homecoming remains relevant to feminist literary studies and modern discussions about gender inequality and women’s agency