The history of illness is as long as human history，which has been a hot topic since ancient time. In the primitive society，illness was regarded as the symbol of the gods. With man’ s increasing ability to understand the outside world，the mystery of illness gradually decreased. As the cognitive abilities of human beings were strengthened， the mystery of illness faded. However， the metaphorical meaning of illness has never been obliterated，and it becomes ex-tensively acknowledged，instilling into various domains of human society. The meanings of illness in literature differ from those in medicine. The emergence and development of illness’ s connotation has been deeply marked by human traces. Its evolution is intertwined with the material culture of human society. Therefore，illness has been regarded as the carrier of civilization and culture，and it reflects the contemporary social outlook of the writers. In mod-ern times， the frequent outbreak of wars， the transition of society， and the process of urbanization gave rise to the collision of different values and conflicts of personal interests，which initiated a series of social problems，and they，in return， caused lots of pains and trauma. The images of illness， the projection of real life，are increasingly used in modern and postmodern literary works to interpret the world and to convey the writers’ emotional experience， and used as a way to understand the social outlook as well as the writers’ in-tention. Growing up in World WarⅡ，Harold Pinter witnessed the transforma-tion and turmoil of the western society. As a descendant of the Jew，he experi-enced an amount of tribulations such as the London Blitz in his childhood， which left him with traumas and gave him a sense of identity. In the Theatre of the Absurd， metaphors are usually deployed to imply emotionalexperience. As an absurdist playwright，it is inevitable that Pinter should use illness to reveal the painfulness resulted from severe social conditions. As ill-ness mirrors social background，Pinter’ s close attention to it shows that he is observant and insightful. Most of Pinter’ s works are imbedded with his per-sonal experience and inspects of illness，and by using the cultural connotation of illness， Pinter demonstrated not only the historical， political， and religious aspects of his times，but also his understanding of the world and his humanist concerns.
Illness prevails in Pinter’ s different types of works including poetry， prose and drama. However，since drama is known as Pinter’ s most important achievement， this dissertation will focus on his drama. In this research， medical theory is used as a specific criterion for the categorization of the disea-ses in Pinter’ s plays. Besides， the theories of psychoanalysis， narratology， body politics，metaphorical rhetoric，and theatrical aesthetics are also applied to several aspects，including illness inspiring Pinter’ s creative motive，while pushing the plot itself forward， conveying the metaphorical meanings， giving political significance，as well as achieving the absurd dramatic poetics，which aims at exploring Pinter’ s theatrical technique and understanding the social significance of his plays. In the research，some specific analyses are given on Pinter’ s 17 plays related to illness narratives. The 17 plays include The Room，The Birthday Party， The Caretaker， The Homecoming， A Slight Ache， Family Voices，Betrayal，The Lover，A Kind of Alaska，The Hothouse，The Moon-light， Tea Party， Mountain Language， One for the Road， Ashes to Ashes， The New World Order， and Precisely. Meanwhile， the specific analyses are also given on Pinter’ s poems New Year in Midlands，The War and his prose The Party. The book is composed of five parts as follows.
The first part is a literary review of Pinter and his works at home and abroad，which clearly states the reasons for this topic，the values of this study， and provides a deion of the research methods，the focuses，the difficulties and the innovations in the process of research and analysis. This part is in-tended to give an explanation to Pinter’ s creative motives，as well as an over-view to the structure of the book.
