Theater of the Absurd &

Existentialism

Waiting for Godot is one of the best-known plays of the Irish-born writer Samuel Beckett. The
tramps Vladimir and Estragon, shown here, wait for Godot, who never arrives. Beckett’s play
addresses the absurdity of, and man’s need for, hope.
Source: http://encarta.msn.com/media_461574703_761585154_-1_1/Waiting_for_Godot.html
 Dramatic works of certain European and
American dramatists of the 1950s and
early ’60s who agreed with the
Existentialist philosopher Albert
Camus’s assessment, in his essay
“The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942), that the
human situation is essentially
absurd, or devoid of purpose.
 Le Fils De L'Homme (Son of Man)
Artist: Rene Magritte (1973)
Source:
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/4253929
49/424143444/le-fils-de-lhomme-son-of-

Writers such as:

man.html

Samuel Beckett
Eugene Ionescu
Harold Pinter
Jean Genet
Tom Stoppard and others
shared a pessimistic vision
of humanity struggling vainly to find a
purpose and to control its fate.

 Humankind in this view is left feeling hopeless,

bewildered, and anxious.
 World War II was the catalyst

 The global nature of WWII and the resulting

trauma of living under threat of nuclear
annihilation put into stark perspective the
essential precariousness of human life.

 With the threat of nuclear destruction,

absurdity became part of the average
person's daily existence.
 Precursors to the theater of the absurd can be found
in a number of late 19th-century and early 20th-
century writers and literary movements. For
example, Ubu roi (1896; translated 1951), by French
playwright Alfred Jarry, is considered an early
example of absurdist theater for its use of nonsense
language and mocking of theatrical conventions.
 The early 20th-century artistic movement known as
surrealism sought to employ the subconscious mind
by creating works of art spontaneously, without
conscious thought; the sometimes bizarre,
disjointed, or illogical products of this process
resemble absurdist theater.
René Magritte. The Lovers. 1928
http://media2.moma.org/collection_images/resized/993/w500h420/CRI_7993.jpg

Surrealism & The Absurd

 Compared to realist drama, “Theater of the
Absurd” is surreal, illogical, conflictless
and plotless.

 The dialogue may often seem to be

complete gibberish.

 Not surprisingly, the public’s first reaction

to this new theater was incomprehension
and rejection.
Plays of the genre known as theater of the absurd characteristically present a view of human existence
as essentially meaningless and of a world in which true communication is impossible. In The
Chairs by Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco, an elderly couple prepare to share an important
message with the world; they open the door to numerous invisible guests, gradually filling the stage with
chairs, one for each supposed arrival. The message, when it is finally given, is presented by a mute orator,
and completed by the suicide of the couple. Source: http://encarta.msn.com
 The most famous, and most controversial, absurdist play is
probably Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. The characters
of the play are strange caricatures who have difficulty
communicating the simplest of concepts to one another as
they bide their time awaiting the arrival of a person named
Godot.

 Language is ludicrous & cyclical; called “the play where

nothing happens.”

 Detractors call this play “gibberish,” or a prank played on the

audience. The plays supporters, on the other hand, describe
it is an accurate parable on the human condition in which
“the more things change, the more they are the same.”
 Waiting for Godot
Click here to
view a clip of
"Waiting for
Godot“

Waiting for Godot is one of the best-known plays of the Irish-born writer Samuel Beckett. The
tramps Vladimir and Estragon, shown here, wait for Godot, who never arrives. Beckett’s play
addresses the absurdity of, and man’s need for, hope.
Source: http://encarta.msn.com/media_461574703_761585154_-1_1/Waiting_for_Godot.html
Roger Blin (right) and Jean Martin in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Théâtre de
Babylone, Paris, 1953.
Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/2002/Theatre-of-the-Absurd
 Whereas traditional theatre attempts to create a
photographic representation of life as we see it,
the Theatre of the Absurd aims to create a ritual-
like, mythological, archetypal, allegorical vision,
closely related to the world of dreams.

 The focal point of these dreams is often man's

fundamental bewilderment and confusion,
stemming from the fact that he has no
answers to the basic existential questions:
why we are alive, why we have to die, why there
is injustice and suffering, etc.
 One of the most important aspects of
absurd drama is its distrust of language
as a means of communication.
 Language, it seems to say, has become
nothing but a vehicle for stereotyped,
meaningless exchanges.
 Absurdist theater shows that words cannot
go beyond the surface; they cannot express
the meaning of human existence.
 Often there is a menacing outside force
that remains a mystery

 Absence, emptiness, nothingness, and

unresolved mysteries are central
features in many Absurdist plots

 Often the action is cyclical (repeats

itself), or ends exactly where it began
 Existentialism is a philosophical movement which
emphasizes on individual existence, freedom, and
choice.
 Descartes: “I think therefore I am.”
In other words, existence precedes essence.
 By this, existentialism states that man exists and in
that existence man defines himself and the
world in his own subjectivity, and wanders
between choice, freedom, and existential angst.
 We exist and things exist, but the world around us
has no meaning except what we can create
through our own action.
 Human beings are totally  Sees that human reason is
free but totally inadequate to explain the
responsible for what they enigma of the universe
make of themselves
 Early thinkers include
 This freedom and Kierkegaard and
responsibility create Heidegger, but French
intense anxiety novelist-philosopher Jean-
Paul Sartre did the most to
 We are all afraid of non- give this philosophy its
being or nothingness form & popularity
Video Clip Waiting for Godot