ENGLISH THEATRE OF
19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES
GROUP: A
SURNAME: Giarratana NAME: Melania
The Theatre of
Absurd
The
Theatre of the Absurd is the definition given to that group of plays written by
authors such as Ionesco, Beckett and Pinter. This definition was used by Martin
Esslin in his famous essay published in 1961 and was
so successful that it became an uncomfortable label for the authors whom were
referred to.
Even if
each of the absurd writers has his own characteristics, they have in common the
deep anguish due to the absurdity of human condition: the Second-World-War
shocked the European society and the post-war generation lived every day with
that anguish and anxiety. The internal and external insecurity influenced also
Art and Literature; all the values and hall the schemes of Realism were
abandoned, in fact the absurd plays resulted incomprehensible for the audience
because they could not be understood through the traditional point of view. (http://www2arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/Absurd.htm
; http://www.delteatro.it/hdoc/result_spett.asp?idspettacolo=7138
; http://www.teatroimpulso.it/risorse/appunti/vari/Il%20teatro%20dell92assurdo.pdf
; 01/05/2006)
The
Theatre of the Absurd was also influenced by the Avant-garde movement of the
early 20th century but, while the Avant-garde theatre is more fanciful
than absurd, because it is based on the virtuosity of language, the Theatre of
the Absurd derived from the reality which surrounds men and was based on a
non-sense language. The characters of the absurd plays seem to live in
situations without sense, without any geographic and time references; they seem
not to have plans for their live, they are not able to understand the sense of
existence. The Theatre of the absurd highlights men’s impossibility of
communicating beyond the false and superficial speech, beyond the routine. (http://www.teatroimpulso.it/risorse/appunti/vari/Il%20teatro%20dell92assurdo.pdf
; 01/05/2006)
Each of
the authors belonging to the absurd drama “non-school” has also his
own “absurd-strategy”. Ionesco uses nihilist strategy, which
eliminates and mocks the meaning of the text. In “The bald soprano”
(1950), language is used to express the vacuity and the non-sense; in “Le
chaises” (1952), the object on the scenery has the function of a
paradigm: the empty chairs represent the vacuity of life. Ionesco paid
particular attention to the vitality and energy of the text, but not to the
psychology of his characters. ( http://www.delteatro.it/hdoc/result_spett.asp?idspettacolo=7138
; http://www.dramma.it/articoli/saggietesi/ionesco.pdf
; 12/20/2005)
Beckett
has a structural strategy through which he voices the destruction of human
relationships. His “Waiting for Godot” (1953),
irritated and upset the audience during its first representation, because of
the lack of a traditional plot and the mixture of cynic irony and metaphysical
issues. By time, the tragicomedy became very famous also because his structure
allowed the audience to interpret it in several ways: it made the audience think
and not only be entertained. (http://www.delteatro.it/hdoc/result_spett.asp?idspettacolo=7138
; http://www.dramma.it/articoli/saggietesi/beckett.pdf;
01/05/2006)
Pinter
uses the language through his political function. He has an essential and
elaborate style which is capable of representing every day conversations in
their intensity and, at the same time, in their incoherence and vacuity; but most
of the times those pauses he was so able to put throughout the dialogues, talk
more than the words. (http://www.delteatro.it/hdoc/result_spett.asp?idspettacolo=7138
); (
As a
conclusion, we can say that the Theatre of the Absurd had and still has a deep
impact, because it slams the real life problems in people’s faces, it
tries to make the audience get over the obstacle represented by every day life
routine.
In order
to denounce the superficiality of society, it goes against logic, it provokes
with its incomprehensible plots, and it gives sense to the non-sense.
Bibliography
http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/Absurd.htm
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=14233
http://www.teatroimpulso.it
http://www.dramma.it
http://www.delteatro.it
Auto-evaluation: Notable
Academic year 2005/2006
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés
López
© Melania Giarratana
megia@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia
Press