Autobiographical Inspiration
Betrayal was inspired by Pinter's seven-year affair with television presenter Joan Bakewell, who was married to the producer and director Michael Bakewell, while Pinter was married to actress Vivien Merchant. The affair was known in some circles; when Betrayal premiered in 1978, Lord Longford (father of Antonia Fraser), who was in the audience, commented that Emma appeared to be based on Joan Bakewell; but the affair only became public knowledge after it was confirmed by Pinter in Michael Billington's 1996 authorised biography, and further confirmed in Joan Bakewell's later memoir The Centre of the Bed.
A program note about the author accompanying productions of the play, stating that he "has lived Antonia Fraser" for "five years, when the play was first produced and published in 1978, led some to assume that the play was based on their relationship; thus, the biographical context for the play was (mis)attributed to Pinter's affair with Lady Antonia Fraser, which occurred from 1975 to 1980, while he was still married to Vivien Merchant. Pinter married Antonia Fraser in 1980, after the Frasers' divorce (1977) and the Pinters' divorce (1980) became final (Billington 253–54).
In the mid 1990s, Pinter explained to his official authorised biographer Michael Billington that although he wrote the play while "otherwise engaged" with Fraser, he actually based some details on the clandestine affair which he conducted from 1962 to 1969 with BBC Television presenter Joan Bakewell.
Read more about this topic: Betrayal (play)
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“As one knows the poet by his fine music, so one can recognise the liar by his rich rhythmic utterance, and in neither case will the casual inspiration of the moment suffice. Here, as elsewhere, practice must precede perfection.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)