| Abstract: | Harold Pinter's The Lover (1963) arouses reflections on the marital ethics. As the main plot of the play, the game-playing between Richard and Sarah in their house demonstrates literally the social and ethical transformation during 1960s—1970s. By using the artistic technique of role-switching, Pinter intends to decode the fact that Man is an existence of Sphinx factor, composing human and animal factors, which causes the extramarital love. During the erotic game, the couple is controlled by the animal factors, and their free will overcomes the moral obligation within the ethical conflicts. There is no doubt that the essence of game-playing is how to make the ethical choice. At the same time, the negative effects from the extramarital love is also emphasized. |
