"I don't need to think of you" (p. 9).
At the beginning of the play, Jerry and Emma engage in cordial conversation at a pub. Slowly, the conversation becomes more personal, and circles around the affair they once had together. Emma begins by asking "ever think of me?" to which Jerry responds "I don't need to think of you" (p. 9). It is a response calculated to be hurtful, and it reveals Jerry's callousness. By saying this, he disavows not only the affection he and Emma once shared for each other, but also any connection to Emma at all. At the same time, one could imagine that Jerry might be speaking defensively, and that he actually does think of Emma often. In either case, this statement sets a tense and fraught emotional tone that remains throughout the play.
"You know what I found out...last night? He's betrayed me for years. He's had...other women for years" (p. 18).
During Emma and Jerry's conversation at the pub, Emma reveals that her husband, Robert, has been having affairs with other women. Emma's use of the word "betrayed" is important, and not just because it is the title of the play. Indeed, just before Emma's begins talking about Robert, we discover that she and Jerry had been engaging in an affair. In other words, they had "betrayed" Robert for years. Yet through this phrasing, Emma effectively denies her own wrongdoing and instead focuses on Robert's transgressions, thereby revealing a critical lack of self-awareness. In a sense, the problem is not that Jerry and Emma have betrayed Robert, or that Robert has betrayed Emma, but that none of them are willing to accept responsibility for doing so.
"It's all all over" (p. 23).
Emma delivers this line to end Scene One. Here, she is referring both to her marriage with Robert, which is in the process of unraveling at the beginning of the play, and also to the affair she once had with Jerry. It is a bleak, almost nihilistic statement, and evokes the sense of hopelessness felt by Emma. As the play moves back in time, one cannot help remembering that everything is heading towards the moment in which Emma says "it's all all over" (p. 23).
"You don't seem to understand that I don't give a shit about any of this. It's true I've hit Emma once or twice. But that wasn't to defend a principle. I wasn't inspired to do it from any kind of kind of moral standpoint. I just felt like giving her a good bashing" (p. 33).
In Scene Two, Jerry confesses to Robert about his affair with Emma. Robert's response is highly unusual – he seems hardly bothered at all. In this quote, Robert reveals why he is not mad at Jerry. That is, because he doesn't "give a shit about any of this" (p. 33). It's a callous response, and one which devalues the importance of both his friendship with Jerry and his marriage to Emma. Robert then nonchalantly admits to physically abusing Emma, for the sole reason that he "felt like giving her a good bashing" (p. 33). Here, Pinter demonstrates that all the characters in his play are equally wicked. While one might have originally sympathized with Robert, a man whose best friend had an affair with his wife, Pinter instead demonstrates that every character in this play is equally unworthy of our sympathy. It is important to note that Pinter is hardly condoning Robert's behavior. In fact, this quote amounts to a condemnation of Robert's moral character.
"You see, in the past....we were inventive, we were determined, it was...it seemed impossible to meet....impossible....and yet we did. We met here, we took this flat and we met in this flat because we wanted to" (p. 41).
In Scene Three, Jerry and Emma move towards the conclusion of their affair. They have met at the apartment in which they once had their liaisons, and it has been some months since they last met. Here, Emma dissects their relationship and describes the love they once felt for one another. As elsewhere in the play, there is a sense of nostalgia and the perpetual notion that everything was better in the past. In effect, this quote also diagnoses the reason for the end of Jerry and Emma's affairs. Put simply, they no longer care about each other like they once did. Thus, instead of ending their affair acrimoniously, they have simply drifted apart from one another. Given the nature of their relationship and its end, one feels conflicted whether to feel sad for them both.
"I don't think we don't love each other" (p. 44).
Put simply, the characters in Betrayal are not strong communicators. They seldom express how they are feeling, and they circle around conversations about their emotions without directly addressing them. As Emma and Jerry are deciding to end their relationship, Jerry says, "I don't think we don't love each other" (p. 44). Unable to earnestly and forthrightly express himself, Jerry instead use a double negative and admits neither to loving Emma outright nor not loving her. On one hand, one might feel compelled to critique the characters for their lack of emotional honesty. At the same time, Pinter also suggests that they should be pitied. Because they never connect with their emotions – let alone express these emotions – they are unable to form lasting bonds with the people around them.
"Well, to be brutally honest, we wouldn't actually want a woman around, would wee, Jerry? I mean a game of squash isn't simply a game of squash, it's rather more than that. You see, first there's the game. And then there's a shower. And then there's the pint. And then there's lunch. After all, you've been at it. You've had your battle. What you want is your pint and your lunch. You really don't want a woman within a mile of the place, any of the places, really...." (p. 57).
In Scene Four, Emma, Jerry, and Robert share conversation over drinks. When Jerry and Robert make plans to play squash, Emma asks "why can't I watch and then take you both to lunch?" causing Robert to launch into this blatantly sexist monologue (p. 56). It is vile and unsolicited response to a perfectly fair question, and it highlights Robert's misogynistic attitudes. Throughout the play, Robert appears to harbor a resentment for Emma at the same time as he voices his admiration for Jerry, even after he discovers that the two are having an affair. Robert plainly respects men more than women, as this quote makes clear. Given Robert's attitudes towards women, one hardly has to wonder why Emma decided to begin an affair in the first place.
"I've always liked Jerry. To be honest, I've always liked him rather more than I've liked you. Maybe I should have had an affair with him myself" (p. 72).
In Scene Five, Emma confesses to Robert that she and Jerry are having an affair with one another. His response is most unusual – he seems more puzzled than enraged or disappointed as might be expected in this situation. Here, he goes so far as to praise Jerry and voices his preference for him over Emma. It is unclear how one is meant to interpret Robert's comment about him having his own affair with Jerry. If it is a joke, neither he nor Emma laugh. One could choice to view this as a declaration of romantic feelings for Jerry. Throughout the play, Robert certainly demonstrates an interest in friendship with Jerry that is not reciprocated. Yet, Pinter never affirmatively suggests that Robert has such an inclination towards Jerry. More likely, Robert is voicing the same misogyny that he exhibits throughout the play. In other words, he expresses his appreciation for Jerry because he simply cannot blame another man for the situation. By saying that he likes Jerry more than Emma, Robert seems to indicate that he blames Emma more for the infidelity.
"I cook and slave for you" (p. 81).
In Scene Six, Jerry and Emma meet at their apartment after Emma has returned from Venice. They begin talking about their apartment and their relationship with one another, and Emma says "I cook and slave for you" (p. 81). Later, in Scene Eight, we see proof of Emma cooking for Jerry. This quote is revealing in that it indicates that the gendered dynamics of labor and power have been replicated in Jerry and Emma's relationship. While one might want to engage in an extramarital affair to escape domestic obligations, Pinter shows that these dynamics are enduring. As contemporary readers, it is difficult not to feel frustrated as Emma performs the majority of domestic labor not only in her marriage to Robert but in her relationship with Jerry.
"I’m totally knocked out, you dazzle me, you jewel, my jewel, I can’t ever sleep again, no, listen, it’s the truth, I won’t walk, I’ll be a cripple, I’ll descend, I’ll diminish, into total paralysis, my life is in your hands, that’s what you’re banishing me to, a state of catatonia, do you know the state of catatonia? do you? do you? the state of . . . where the reigning prince is the prince of emptiness, the prince of absence, the prince of desolation. I love you" (p. 115).
The final scene of the play depicts Jerry's first attempts at seducing Emma. He does so in her bedroom during a party that Robert and Emma are hosting. After she rejects his first advances, he delivers this hyperbolic – even melodramatic – dialogue. Where elsewhere in the play Jerry is understated and almost muted, here he is expressive and eloquent. We see him speak in charged language and lofty metaphors as he endeavors to win Emma over. Crucially, he compares himself to a prince, while Emma is a "jewel" – that is, something that can be possessed. Having seen where this affair leaves both Emma and Jerry at the beginning of the play, we are not entirely convinced of Jerry's speechifying. At the same time, given Jerry's overall dejected state after the affair ends, he is perhaps correct in his prediction that he will become "the prince of emptiness, the prince of absence, the prince of desolation."
