The Birthday Party

Stanley enters and finds McCann at the table tearing up a newspaper, and they introduce themselves. When Stanley says he is going out, however, McCann stands in his way and says Stanley should stay since there’s going to be a party for his birthday—the party is all planned, and a young woman as well as McCann’s friend will be in attendance. McCann keeps moving to block Stanley’s exit. Stanley picks up a strip of paper, but McCann tells him not to. McCann also won’t answer questions, and when Stanley asks him about his stay at the boarding house, he says only that it will be short.

Stanley comments that McCann seems familiar, wondering if they perhaps met in his hometown. Stanley even refers to specific locations, but McCann tersely denies they’ve met. Stanley says McCann and Goldberg will find their stay invigorating, remarking that he enjoys living there but expects to move on soon. Stanley explains that he used to keep to himself and lived a quiet life, but he started a small business that required him to leave home. Now, Stanley wants to give up his business and return home: “You never get used to living in someone else’s house” (40).

They can hear Goldberg and Petey talking outside, but Stanley keeps chatting, saying that although he looks like someone who has lived a rough life, that’s not really who he is, but he admits he has done a lot of drinking while he’s been living in the boarding house. Stanley picks up a strip of paper again, and McCann again warns, “Mind that.” He tells McCann that they’ve picked an odd place to stay, because, he says, it’s not really a boarding house. Stanley says that his birthday isn’t for a month and that Meg is “crazy.” He adds, “There’s a lot you don’t know. I think someone’s leading you up the garden path” (41). (To be “led up the garden path” is an idiom meaning to be deceived.) McCann doesn’t believe him.

Hearing Petey’s and Goldberg’s voices again, Stanley becomes agitated. He asks McCann frantic questions about why McCann is there, asserting that McCann is being lied to and it’s all a mistake. McCann tells Stanley that he’s working himself up. Goldberg enters with Petey, and Petey introduces him to Stanley.

Goldberg explains that he was talking about his mother, and he goes on about how wonderful she was. She called him “Simey” and gave him the best gefilte fish anyone ever ate. McCann mentions that he thought Goldberg’s name was Nat, but Goldberg replies by repeating his mother called him “Simey.” Petey states, “Yes, we all remember our childhood” (43), and Goldberg agrees nostalgically. Abruptly, Petey announces he must leave because it’s his chess night, but he promises to return early if possible.

When McCann leaves to grab some bottles, Stanley is alone with Goldberg. Wanting Goldberg to leave, he exclaims, “Don’t mess me about!” (44). Goldberg seems confused, so Stanley tries another tactic, claiming that he runs the boarding house and that their room has already been booked by another guest, so they’ll have to leave. Ignoring this, Goldberg congratulates Stanley on his birthday, pontificating on how wonderful it is to celebrate birth and how people should appreciate waking up every morning. Stanley tells Goldberg to leave. McCann brings bottles in, and Stanley orders him to remove them from the house, since the house doesn’t have a liquor license. When Goldberg chides him for being in a bad mood, Stanley replies firmly that he feels an obligation to protect the Boles if someone is here to exploit them, because they don’t have a good sense for those things. Stanley tells them again to leave.

Goldberg invites Stanley to sit, and Stanley resists. They go back and forth until Stanley sits down, defiantly taking his time. Goldberg asks Stanley questions about his life—why is he wasting everyone’s time, bothering Meg, causing Petey to run off to chess night, and treating Lulu badly. Stanley is astonished, and Goldberg and McCann continue with their rapid-fire questions: Why is he there, when did he last bathe? Some questions are even more odd; McCann asks Stanley why he left “the organization” and why he “betray[ed] us.” Goldberg concurs that Stanley was quite hurtful in this unspecified “betrayal.”

Goldberg asks about Stanley’s glasses, and when Stanley claims he can see without them, McCann takes them from him. Their questions are increasingly absurd, such as asking about Stanley’s wife and why he killed her (when he doesn’t have a wife), or asking, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” (51). Finally, Goldberg asks, “What makes you think you exist?” (52), and both Goldberg and McCann insist that Stanley is dead: “You can’t live, you can’t think, you can’t love. You’re dead. You’re a plague gone bad” (52).

Overwhelmed by the bizarre interrogation, Stanley suddenly kicks Goldberg in the stomach, defending himself with a chair when McCann tries to attack him. However, with the sound of a drum, the three men straighten up and set their chairs down. Meg enters, wearing a party dress and beating the drum. Goldberg compliments her. Stanley asks for his glasses, and Goldberg returns them. Goldberg brings out the liquor and flirts with Meg, suggesting that Stanley pour them each a glass. Goldberg urges Meg to make a toast and, for the sake of dramatics, tells McCann to turn the light off and shine a flashlight on Stanley’s face.

Unsure how to begin her toast to Stanley, Meg finally says that because he’s been there a long time, he’s “[her] Stanley now,” adding, “And I think he’s a good boy, although sometimes he’s bad” (55). After expressing her gratitude for his presence and that she would do anything for him, she starts weeping. Lulu arrives, and Goldberg introduces himself, telling Stanley to give her a drink. He then insists that Stanley sit so they can toast to him. Stanley gives in and takes a seat. Goldberg gives a long speech about childhood lessons and references the places that Stanley mentioned earlier to McCann when talking about his hometown. Goldberg finishes by congratulating Stanley and proclaiming, “Mazeltov! And may we only meet at Simchas!” (56)

Stanley remains quiet while the others cheer for his birthday and praise Goldberg’s oratorical skills. They drink more, and Goldberg invites Lulu to sit on his lap so he can bounce her. Lulu complies, giggling, charmed by Goldberg’s compliments. Meg asks Stanley to join her dancing, but he still doesn’t move or speak, so she dances around the room alone. Lulu asks Goldberg if he has a wife, and he tells her that he did, but she died. Lulu and Goldberg discuss whether he might have known her when she was a child. She comments, “I’ve always liked older men. They can soothe you” (60). Meg and McCann talk about their youths, then Goldberg asks McCann to sing them an Irish love song. Lulu tells Goldberg that he looks exactly like the first man she ever loved, which he takes as a given. Meg wants to play a game, and Lulu suggests blind man’s buff, a game of tag in which the person who is “it” is blindfolded.

Meg is blindfolded first, and she feels around until she finds McCann. McCann takes his turn with the blindfold and catches Stanley by touching his glasses. During both rounds, Goldberg caresses Lulu. McCann takes Stanley’s glasses before tying the blindfold around his eyes—then steps on the glasses and crushes them. He then puts the drum in front of Stanley, so he trips over it. With the drum caught on his foot, Stanley proceeds in Meg’s direction, grasping her throat and beginning to choke her when he reaches her. McCann and Goldberg hurry to help her, and the lights suddenly go out. They all fumble in the dark, and McCann finds his flashlight but drops it. In the dark, there is the sound of a drum. Terrified, Lulu faints, and Stanley picks her up, laying her on the table. Goldberg and McCann search frantically for Lulu. Finally, McCann finds the flashlight and locates Lulu on the table, with Stanley standing over her. Stanley starts to laugh maniacally, backing away as Goldberg and McCann close in on him.