Pinter and the Object of Desire An Approach Through the Screenplays

A new study of Harold Pinter's screenplays that places him at the forefront of film theory, and offers a fresh insight into his entire output. Harold Pinter was fascinated by film long before the theater, but the importance of his screenplays, based on the work of other writers, has been overlooked. Renton shows him working from manuscript to final text to engage the spectator in a relationship of desire, or anxiety, with what is unseen. A newly discovered poem links Pinter to the Surrealists, and through the Surrealists to their contemporary, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901-81). The present study shows Pinter working differently from mainstream cinema, places him at the forefront of film theory, and offers a fresh insight into his entire output.

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Acknowledgements, Note on Manuscripts, Abbreviations, 1 Vision and the Object of Desire, 2 The Object of Desire in the Screenplay Adaptations, 3 The Remains of the Day: The Lost Object of Desire, 4 The Handmaid's Tale: The Object Almost Achieved, 5 Victory: The Object of Anxiety, 6 The Object of Desire in the Plays and Other Works, Conclusion, Bibliography, Index

Renton, Linda