What is the theatre of Absurd? By: Sally Atef.
"The trouble with absurdism is that it dances with fate
around the quicksand of nihilism." Joe Kincheloe.
What is the meaning of absurdity?
When did it start? How was Europe
in the twentieth century? How was the twentieth-century drama? What are the
main characteristics of the Absurd theatre? How was it received? Who were its
major pioneers?
The Absurd
theatre as a term:
In (1960), the Hungarian- born critic Martin Esslin first introduced the term"
Theatre of the absurd" to describe the plays of some playwrights who
appeared after the two World Wars especially in the1950s such as Samuel Beckett, Jean Ganet and Arthur Adamov.By
this term Esslin did not mean a literary
trend or an organized movement but a label for such dramatists who portray in
their plays the feeling of fear and despair in an unfriendly outside world and
the impossibility of communication between people.
In his book, "the theatre of the absurd" (1960), Esslin states" The Theatre of the Absurd ... can be
seen as the reflection of what seems to be the attitude most genuinely
representative of our own time. The hallmark of this attitude is its sense that
the certitudes and unshakable basic assumptions of former ages have been swept
away, that they have been tested and found wanting, that they have been
discredited as cheap and somewhat childish illusions."
The beginning of
the Theatre of Absurd:
Although most critics confirm that the Theatre of Absurd can be traced back to the
beginning of the twentieth century, they see that its real start was in 1950s
when it reached its highest peak after the work of Samuel
Beckett and Ionesco.
Critics also do not have a clear cut
agreement of the work they consider as a starting point of the absurd theatre.For example, the critic Martin Esslin, who
first introduced the Theatre of Absurd as
a term in (1960), considers Beckett's "Waiting
for Godot"(1953) the real start of the Theatre of Absurd . Another critic Ruby Cohn, suggests Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano"(1950).
Yet, what most critics agree on is
that the Theatre of Absurd was a
reaction to the miserable and dull life of people allover the world specially
after the World War II, which left behind millions of dead people and millions
more became refugees.So,
the absurd dramatists wanted to draw people's attention to the miseries of
their life and the destruction the wars left behind.
Europe in the twentieth century:
By1901, when Queen Victoria died, Germany begun
to build the largest navy in Europe. King EdwardVII openly made good relationships with
France.
When the Germans attacked Beligum, all Britain united against them. When
the war was ended, Britain
and Germany
had suffered losses as Germany had lost a million men and Britain, on the
other hand, had spent all its wealth. Even the Liberal party suffered since the
war destroyed its power.
In 1910, EdwardVII
died and GeorgeV became the new king. In
1939 Hitler attacked Poland and
within eight months France
had fallen, and Britain
stood alone against him. Hitler attacked Russia, and Japan attacked America and
this gave Churchill two strong allies to
help him finish the war.
When the war was over, many of the
countries which had helped Britain
to win sought their independence and religious problems caused India's
division.
To sum up,
not only Europe suffered of wars, but also
many parts outside Europe had suffered a lot.
Wars left behind much destruction, as the U.S.
bombed Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in
1945. The change to using nuclear weapons ushered in the Cold War of
the 1950s as The United States and the Soviet Union
became enemies.
The twentieth- century drama:
One can observe in the work of many twentieth- century English
playwrights the products of the individual writer's ideas in addition to those
of several organized groups.
One of
these groups is that is concerned with social and political criticism and
portraying the daily lives of ordinary people in a realistic way. A good
example for this is John Galsworthy's "Justice" (1910) in which he shows fate of a
man who attempts to escape from his dull life writes a false signature on a
cheque. At last he kills himself. In many of his pays, George
Bernard Shaw delighted in showing the opposite of what his audiences
expected. In his play "The Devil's Disciple"
(1901) he presents the story of a man who is thought to be selfish and evil is
willing to sacrifice himself for the others. "The
kitchen"(1960) by Arnold Wesker,
is a significant example for this type as it presented the kitchen of a large
restaurant and people who work there.
Another
group which moved further away from a realistic representation of real life is
that of the individual's search for identity in an unfriendly world. Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is one of the most important authors representing that
literary trend. His plays represent the drama of alienation. His play "Waiting for Godot" (1953) is one of the most
important plays in modern drama that Martin Esslin considers
it the real start of the absurd theatre.It is
about two tramps Vladimir
and Estragon who are waiting for the arrival of Godot. Another influential
dramatist who followed Beckett is Harold Pinter who presents feelings of
fear and the difficulty of communicating with the others." The Birthday Party"(1957) in which Pinter represents
a small lodging-house and the effect of the arrival of two strangers who have
come to collect one of the people living there. In the "Homecoming"(1964), on the other hand, the
danger comes from inside the home and the victim come from outside. It shows
one of the members of the family returns from America with his wife. In the end
loses his wife to the rest of his family.
A third
grouping is that gives due to the language as an important part of the play in
its own right. In Tom Stoppard's, he uses
language to express the relationship between appearance and reality." Jumpers" (1972) portrays the story of a
philosopher who is married to an actress with the hunt for a murderer.
Television played a leading part in attracting more audiences as well as
many dramatists who have written original work for television.
The theatrical features of the absurd theatre:
The absurd theatre is a trend
which moved further away from the theatrical conventions frustrating the audiences .Although all playwrights who belong to this group have their own ideas and style in
writing, they have some characteristics in common that make them an organized
literary group since they all express the feeling of alienation, sorrow, loneliness, isolation and despair in such a wide world.
First,
the language: fails to convey the meaning or have things in common agreed to
all the characters. The plays attempt to
show language as an insufficient means of communication.
Second,
the Characters: Characters are often nameless and seem
interchangeable. They have no
clear identity or distinguishing features. Beckett's"Krapp's
Last Tape"
(1959) has only one character.
Third,
the Denouement: It is very rare to happen it has little to resolve. Thus the
audiences are faced by repetitious endings as in" Waiting for
Godot" (1953).
Fourth,
the Dialogue: Artificial language, empty of meaning,
consisting of slogans and clichés, is a hallmark of the movement. There is also
a contrast between what the characters speak and what they do as in" Waiting for Godot" (1953) when the characters claim they are leaving but actually stay.
Another notable thing in such plays is
that there is a difficulty in communicating between the characters. As Frances Babbage says: "Realism provides only amoral observation, while Absurdism
rejects even the possibility of debate."
Fifth,
The Plot: One of the most observed characteristics of the absurd theatre are its abandon to the plot.
These plays seem as if they have no plot. In" Waiting for Godot" (1953) the characters do nothing.
Finally,
The Setting: An absurdist play is set in no recognizable time or place. It can be set in a single room
as in most of Pinter's early plays.
How it was received by the audiences:
Esslin
says"
The Theatre of the Absurd attacks the comfortable certainties of
religious or political orthodoxy. It aims to shock its audience out of
complacency, to bring it face to face with the harsh facts of the human
situation as these writers see it."
Although the plays of Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Arthur Adamov, as Esslin
(1960) confirmed, have been performed with
astonishing success in France, Germany, Scandinavia, and the English-speaking countries,
these plays initially struck many early critics as emerging from a largely
foreign tradition of symbolic and philosophically based drama. This Absurdity appeals to the audiences as the plays
expressed their bad conditions.
When Beckett published" Molloy",
it was met by a great success by the audiences and the French critics and the
same happened with" Waiting for Godot".But
facing spectators and the audiences with Incomprehensible characters and situations
makes it, as Esslin states," It is impossible for them to share the aspirations and emotions depicted in the play".
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