Cardullo examines the aspects of Orton's play that qualify it as both a "wildly funny" farce and a "profoundly disturbing" social commentary Discussed are such elements as Sloane's sexual malevolence and the Oedipal relationship that is hinted at between Kath and Sloane.

In his introduction to Joe Orton: The Complete Plays, John Lahr wrote that "Sloane feels no guilt and his refusal to experience shame is what disturbs and amuses audiences. Sloane is a survivor whose egotism is rewarded, not punished." Sloane implies that he is egotistical, excessively self-loving, because he became an orphan at an early age: "it was the lack of privacy [in the orphanage] I found most trying. (Pause.) And the lack of real love." He has no relatives; his parents both died at the same time when he was eight years old. Sloane may amuse as well as disturb audiences, but the vision...