The Hothouse, like all of Pinter’s plays, consists of broad plot events that act as a framework for a myriad of isolated events. Through these smaller events the characters show their brutality and manipulation of each other and their sinister, cruel and comic colors of physical and psychological behavior.
The Hothouse is a political statement of Pinter’s stance against formal institutions.
The understaff, consisting of the kitchen staff, the portering staff, and the cleaning staff, are symbolic of a concentrated working class rebellion within the plot of the Hothouse.
We do not see any of the understaff except for their leader, Tubb, who is the link from them to the executive personnel.
The understaff brutally murder all of the members of the executive branch of the institution.
This bloody revolution is symbolic of Pinter’s rebellious view of formalized institutions and corrupt government.
