Theatre of the AbsurdEugene Ionesco’s

Rhinoceros

Eugene Ionesco (1909-1994)• b. Romania, near Bucharest, raised Paris• Father a lawyer, back to Romania during WWI• 1922 return Romania to his father, now remarried• 1928 debut as poet; degree in French 1933; continued poetry,

reviews, literary criticism• 1936 married; 1938 back to Paris• 1945 worked in publishing house in Paris• 1948 begins writing plays (Bald Soprano)• Pataphysics – science of imaginary solutions w/ other artists; he

acts and writes with them• Became a French citizen (50) and member French Academy (70)• Leading figure of literary avant-garde• Activist for human rights, esp in Romania

“It seemed to me that {people} allow themselves to live, as it were, unconsciously. Perhaps it's because everyone, all the others, are convinced in some unformulated, irrational way that one day everything will be made clear. Perhaps there will be a morning of grace for humanity. Perhaps there will be a morning of grace for me.” (Hermit, 1973)

I’m pot -bellied, dumpy, small, I’ve short legs. I’m a peasant from the Danube, as I’ve said.” (Critical Inquiry, 1975)

“I don’t know if you have noticed it, but when people no longer share your opinions, when you can no longer make yourself understood by them, one has the impression of being confronted with monsters, rhinos, for instance. They have that mixture of candour and ferocity. They would kill you with the best of consciences.” (Le monde 1960)

IonescoPot-bellied, dumpy, small ….

Rhinoceros, 1959• Ionesco’s response to fascism; the terror of brute

force becomes “beauty”• The struggle of one man to keep integrity (see

Miller’s essay on common man tragedy)• BBC radio 1st production (on heels of debate over

realism w/ Kenneth Tynan)• Staged 1960 at Odéon in Paris by Barrault and

Orson Welles directed at Royal Court, London• 1962 Martin Esslin’s Theatre of the Absurd names

Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, Adamov, Pinter “absurdists” – defines new anti-realism trend

Theatre of the Absurd• Term from Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus, 1942; out of

harmony, but “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.”• “If the world were clear, art would not exist.”• Esslin says the authors all face the senselessness

of human existence and the inadequacy of rational explanations (philosophy, religion, literature).

• Absurd in this case means devoid of purpose• Among the absurdists, Ionesco deals more with

social situations than individual, ethical choices that have ramifications

Sisyphus

Dramaturgy of Absurd• Plot: logical development would be antithetical;

exposition is lacking; rarely a climax. Circular structure is common.

• Characters: often devoid of history except as defined in stage actions. Often trapped in meaningless situations. Often can’t communicate effectively. Find meaning in absurd actions, relationships, social gestures.

• Theme: dramatic symbols often dominate all other elements. Background image, anyone?

• Language: devolves into cliché or routine; rhythm and sound may overtake denotative meaning

• Spectacle: stage use, objects, relationship to audience commonly symbolic and address audience as such

Locations• Quaint French village; Act 1 very idealized• I:I Village with restaurant, grocery, street.

Sunday, noon, summer• I:ii Law publishing office. Next morning• II Jean’s room, Monday afternoon• III Berenger’s room, a few days later

• Big challenge is the visual of rhinos; especially Jean’s onstage transformation in Act II. Your next group project is to design this.

Characters• Berenger: the absurd hero. Never bought the values of

his community. Drinks too much; gets to work late. • Jean: his foil; he fits into his small town world, the

values of work, dress, socializing• Daisy: ingenue• Mr. Papillon: boss• Botard: in office, a hard worker, populist• Dudard: young man at work w/ bright future• Logician: is totally misleading in this case; who cares

how many horns when people are transforming?• Mr. and Mrs. Boeuf• Townspeople: Grocer, Housewife, Old Gentleman

Fascism• Is never directly mentioned. • “It is my duty to stick by them. I have to do my duty.” and “If

you are going to criticize them, it’s better to do so from the inside.” Dudard, p. 114

• “I feel responsible for everything that happens. I feel involved – I can’t just be indifferent.” Bérenger p. 98

• “(shouting out front) I’ll never join up with you!” Berenger p. 106

• Botard says “we must move with the times” p.109• “everyone has a relative or close friend among them” p. 111

Daisy, so they can’t be contained• Logic is used to support fascism; Berenger – never good at

logic – knows intuitively it’s wrong

Rhinos

How explicit would you be in production?