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Absurd, Theatre of the
Absurd, Theatre of the, a term used to characterize the work of a number of European and American dramatists of the 1950s and early 1960s. As the term suggests, the function of such theatre is to give dramatic expression to the philosophical notion of the ‘absurd’, a notion that had received widespread diffusion following the publication of Camus's essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe in 1942. To define the world as absurd is to recognize its fundamentally indecipherable nature, and this recognition is frequently associated with feelings of loss, purposelessness, and bewilderment. To such feelings, the Theatre of the Absurd gives ample expression, often leaving the observer baffled in the face of disjointed, meaningless, or repetitious dialogues, incomprehensible behaviour, and plots which deny all notion of logical or ‘realistic’ development. The recognition of the absurd nature of human existence provided dramatists with a rich source of comedy, well illustrated in two early absurd plays, Ionesco's La Cantatrice chauve, written in 1948 (English trans., The Bald Prima Donna, 1958), and Beckett's En attendant Godot (1952; trans. by the author, Waiting for Godot, 1954). Amongst the dramatists associated with the Theatre of the Absurd are Arthur Adamov (1908–70), Albee, Beckett, Camus, Jean Genet (1910–86), Eugène Ionesco (1912–94), Alfred Jarry (1873–1907), Pinter, and Boris Vian (1920–59). (See also Cruelty, Theatre of.)
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Absurd, Theatre of the." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Absurd, Theatre of the." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-AbsurdTheatreofthe.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Absurd, Theatre of the." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-AbsurdTheatreofthe.html |
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Absurd, Theatre of the
Absurd, Theatre of the, name given by Martin Esslin, in a book of that title published in 1962, to the plays of a group of dramatists, among them Beckett and Ionesco and, in England, Pinter, whose work has in common the basic belief that man's life is essentially without meaning or purpose and that human beings cannot communicate. This led to the abandonment of dramatic form and coherent dialogue, the futility of existence being conveyed by illogical and meaningless speeches and ultimately by complete silence. The first, and perhaps most characteristic, play in this style was Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1952), the most extreme—since it has no dialogue at all—his Breath (1969). The movement, which now seems to have passed its zenith, nevertheless made a profound and lasting impression on the theatre everywhere.
The English dramatist N(orman) F(rederick) Simpson (1919– ) is considered by some to write in this vein; his best-known play, One-Way Pendulum (1959), features an attempt to teach 500 weighing machines to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. |
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Absurd, Theatre of the." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Absurd, Theatre of the." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-AbsurdTheatreofthe.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Absurd, Theatre of the." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-AbsurdTheatreofthe.html |
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Absurd, Theatre of the
Absurd, Theatre of the Dramatic and literary critical term developed from the philosophy of Albert Camus to describe discordant human experience in an inhuman world. It was first applied (c.1961) to drama that depicted the irrationality of life in an unconventional dramatic style. Exponents include Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, and Edward Albee. The connection between language and meaning is fractured (often by the use of repetition) and dramatic characters appear dislocated from their surroundings. Beckett's play Waiting for Godot (1952) is a classic of the genre.
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"Absurd, Theatre of the." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Absurd, Theatre of the." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-AbsurdTheatreofthe.html "Absurd, Theatre of the." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-AbsurdTheatreofthe.html |
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Theatre of the Absurd
Theatre of the Absurd, see Absurd, Theatre of The.
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Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Theatre of the Absurd." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Theatre of the Absurd." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-TheatreoftheAbsurd.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Theatre of the Absurd." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-TheatreoftheAbsurd.html |
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Theatre of the Absurd
Theatre of the Absurd, see ABSURD, THEATRE OF THE.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Theatre of the Absurd." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Theatre of the Absurd." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-TheatreoftheAbsurd.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Theatre of the Absurd." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-TheatreoftheAbsurd.html |
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