Summary:
Scene Six is set shortly after Emma returns from Venice in the summer of 1973. Emma has brought lunch for her and Jerry to share at their apartment. They begin to talk about Emma and Robert’s trip to Italy, and Jerry asks if she visited Torcello. She says they didn’t because “the speedboats were on strike, or something” (p. 76). She then tells Jerry she received his letter.
Emma asks Jerry if he missed her while she was away and he responds, “actually, I haven’t been well” (p. 77). He then tells her that he has spoken to Robert and the two have plans to go for lunch later that week. Emma seems to grow panicked and asks, “what is the subject or point of your lunch?” (p. 79). He explains that there is “no subject or point” to the lunch and changes the subject by telling Emma that his son, Sam, recently fell off his bike.
Emma tells Jerry that she “read that Spinks, the book you gave me” and that she found it to be excellent (p. 80). She then presents him with a tablecloth that she bought in Venice for their apartment. She asks him if she thinks they will visit Venice together one day and he responds “No. Probably not” (p. 82).
Jerry returns to the topic of his lunch with Robert, and asks Emma, “You don’t think I should see him at all?” to which she responds “don’t be silly” (p. 83). Next, Jerry tells Emma that while she was away he misplaced a letter that she had sent him, and that he “kept seeing it lying somewhere in the house, being picked up…” (p. 83). Eventually, however, he found it in the pocket of his jacket.
He continues to tell Emma that, a few months earlier, he returned home from having a drink with her and Judith asked where he had been. Jerry explained that he had been meeting with Spinks, but Judith said ,“how odd, he’d just phoned, five minutes ago, wanted to speak to you [and] didn’t mention he’d just seen you” (p. 84).
Jerry then recalls a scene from “a few years ago” in which he “picked Charlotte up, and lifted her high up, high up, and then down and up” (p. 84). Emma and Jerry proceed to lie down in bed together.
Scene Seven continues the forward progression through the Summer of 1973 that began in Scene Five. In this scene, Robert and Jerry meet for lunch at an Italian restaurant. Ordering a Scotch, Jerry explains to Robert that he “had a bug” and that “the only thing to get rid of this bug was Scotch” (p. 87). Robert asks if Jerry would like to play squash, and Jerry says that he will after he has gotten “rid of the bug” (p. 88).
Jerry asks Robert about his trip to Venice with Emma but he is interrupted by the waiter. Robert and Jerry order their meals, and Jerry asks about Venice again. The waiter responds with a joke about there being no “traffico” in Venice due to the gondolas. The waiter leaves and Robert and Jerry make small talk about their families.
For a third time, Jerry asks about Robert’s trip to Venice. Robert tells him that he “went for a trip to Torcello” in a speedboat (p. 93). Jerry is confused, saying “I thought one went to Torcello by gondola,” but Robert responds that “it would take hours” (p. 94). Robert tells Jerry that he went to Torcello alone and that it was the “highpoint, actually, of the whole trip” (p. 95).
Robert then tells Jerry that Emma had read the novel by Spinks that Jerry had recommended, and that “she seemed to be madly in love with it” (p. 96). Jerry tells him that the novel has been very successful and that Robert is “a foolish publisher” for passing on the opportunity to publish the book (p. 97). Robert explains, saying, “I’m a bad publisher because I hate books” (p. 97). He then says that Emma and Jerry share a love for literature.
Jerry and Robert order another bottle of wine, and Robert appears to be growing drunk. He returns to the subject of Torcello, and recalls that he “wanted to stay there for ever” (p. 99). Unprompted, he tells Jerry “there's nothing really wrong, you see. I’ve got the family. Emma and I are very good together” (p. 99). Jerry then asks about Emma and the scene ends after Robert responds, “very well. You must come and have a drink sometime. She’d love to see you” (p. 100).
Analysis:
Scenes Six and Seven make heavy use of subtext and dramatic irony. From Scene Five, we know that Emma has confessed to Robert about her and Jerry's affair, but that this is unbeknownst to Jerry. Therefore, our interpretation of the interactions between Emma and Jerry, as well as Robert and Jerry, is colored by this fact. Take, for example, Emma's anxiousness when Jerry tells her that he is meeting Robert for lunch later that week. When she asks "what is the subject of your lunch?" we know that she is concerned Robert will confront Jerry about the affair, but she cannot openly says this without telling Jerry about the confession.
Likewise, when Robert and Jerry meet for lunch, there is a certain bitter and high-strung tone to their interaction, the source of which is indiscernible for Jerry. Robert drinks heavily, perhaps to cope with the fact that his best friend has been having an affair with his wife. We see him grow exasperated and unruly as he continues to drink more. He makes insinuations about Jerry and Emma – as when he says to Jerry, in reference to Emma's enjoyment of Spinks' novel "I shouldn't have to consult you. I shouldn't have to consult anyone" – but he is utterly unable to confront Jerry directly (p. 98). In Pinter's typically elliptical style, it is never revealed precisely why Robert does not confront Jerry, and it is left for the reader to conjecture. Perhaps he cannot stand the thought of losing both his best friend and his wife, or perhaps he is being honest when he says in Scene Two "I don't give a shit about any of this" (p. 33).
During their dinner, Robert and Jerry also discuss Casey. Although, like Judith, he never appears onstage, Casey is mentioned frequently throughout the play. We know that he is a writer, that Jerry "discovered him," and that Robert published him. It is also insinuated that he has begun an affair with Emma in the years after she and Jerry end their affair. Casey is a most peculiar character in the narrative. On one hand, he represents the artists from whom Jerry and Robert make their money. Indeed, neither Robert or Jerry actually create any art themselves, but they nonetheless profit handsomely from figures like Casey. Yet interestingly, Robert and Jerry's opinion of Casey shifts over time. During their dinner, Robert refers to Casey as "a first-rate writer" (p. 99). Four years later, Jerry says "he's over the hill" and Robert concurs that "his art does seem to be falling away" (p. 35). One cannot help but think these critical appraisals arise out of jealousy. After all, Casey is the successful artist who is having an affair with the woman both of them once loved. The presence of peripheral characters like Casey help make Betrayal such an engrossing and challenging piece of literature.
