Eng426 20th century english literature

The Homecoming

The Homecoming is a two–act play. The story centres on the house where Max, an ex- butcher, his brother Sam and two of his two sons: Joey, a would-be boxer and Lenny, a pimp lives. Max rules the house with an iron hand. He bullies his household through verbal abuse or even occasionally attacks them with his stick. One night, his eldest son Teddy, a philosophy professor, arrives from America without prior notice with his wife Ruth. Teddy, an academic who was estranged from his family for several years, takes his wife, Ruth, to meet his family for the first time. Ruth likes Teddy’s family a lot and may
be too much as sexual tensions arise and Ruth decides to stay behind with Teddy’s family while Teddy has to go back alone to America. Freddy’s mother who was the only woman in the house is dead but the husband (Max) and his sons still remember and long for her presence. Their wish is fulfilled with the coming of Ruth. When Freddy comes home with his wife, Max thinks his son had brought home a prostitute and the men of the house plans, Freddy excluded, to set Ruth up as a prostitute and earn their living through this. The play climaxed with the revelation that Ruth was a prostitute before she married Teddy. Ruth agrees to this especially as she knows that she will be financially independent. Freddy goes back without his wife to America.

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   Themes in The Homecoming
   

Female Subjugation and Independence: The men in Freddy’s all–male family treat women as whores and sluts, calling them all sorts of degrading names. With Ruth’s coming, she challenges their superiority especially financially as she becomes their boss. She decides to have a say in whatever plans or proposal the men have for her as a result she challenges the status quo. Ruth is expected to be the whore, providing for the family.


Power: Characters in the play all try to exude power one way or the other through violence, intelligence and sexuality. The verbal abuse and violence used by Max and his sons, apart from Freddy, is apparent in the play as they deploy it anytime it suits them. Ruth however decides to make use of her intelligence and sexuality to take control and influence over the men of the house. Ruth had rightly judged that she might not be able to defeat the men with violence, even as they were planning to further control Ruth by making her a prostitute, she uses her sexual advantage and turns the situation to her favour.


Alienation: Teddy and Ruth have problems in their marriage and it becomes more evident the longer they stay with Teddy’s family. They do not communicate and are emotionally alone though they are married. They also find it hard to be emotionally attached to the people around them. Also, the fact that the members of Max’s family love one another is not in doubt, but the lack of communication causes an alienation that is experienced through anger and frustration. Alienation is a strong theme in the play.