关键词: 哈罗德·品特, 《回家》, 伦理身份, 家庭伦理

Abstract: Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (1965) dramatizes the broken family structure and the discord with each other while presenting the failed appeals of Ruth's identity. The process of Ruth's quest for the identity and love constitutes the main ethical line of the drama. Initially, Ruth is eager to be accepted by her husband Teddy's family; later, however, prevented by Lenny's deliberate distortions, Max's vicious misinterpretations and Teddy's betrayal, she eventually abandons the endeavors. From the perspective of Ethical Literary Criticism, Ruth's choices demonstrate that she has decided to terminate any familial relationship with the family, particularly, when she is proposed and devalued into a prostitute who has to earn her keep, which causes the imbalance of the ethical family structure. Since the essence of “home” has been changed, this “home” becomes meaningless to Ruth and actually for her there is no “home” to go. In The Homecoming, Pinter tries to illustrate his idea about the family value: the family is only an “empty shell” without the family warmth. Moreover, Ruth's failure also reflects that the materialized social value pervade and smash the traditional family ethic and kinship.