Family Disintegration in What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton

Abstract

Joe Orton’s farcical play What the Butler Saw (1967) presents a group of characters of middle-class background who find themselves in unexpected situations throughout the play. These unanticipated situations lead these characters, namely Dr. Prentice, Mrs. Prentice, Geraldine, and Nicholas, to go beyond the predestined limits of their traditional roles that may be regarded as suitable for their class. This breach reveals numerous farcical circumstances which disclose how the portrayed family gradually disintegrates because there no longer exists a strong emotional bond between them, as they look for emotional connection outside their lives. In this respect, various issues and themes such as the illustration of family, incestuous relationship, the use and misuse of scientific knowledge, the connection between psychiatry and insanity, the problematic projection of gender, and a critique of middle-class manners play a highly significant role in Orton’s text, as they reveal the intricate troublesome relationship between the depicted family members. In this article, therefore, brief biographical information about Joe Orton will be first given; his dramatic style will be briefly explained, and family disintegration will be discussed through relevant references to Orton’s What the Butler saw as well as numerous relevant secondary sources.