One of the most significant developments in the English
Theatre in the Modern Age came to be called as The Theatre of the Absurd. Gorky’s Lower Depths was the
inspiration for this kind of play. Some of the playwrights who adopted this
method are Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamou, Edward Albee and Samuel
Beckett. The absurdist playwrights deal with purposelessness of life and human
existence. Their plays seek to explore the spiritual loneliness, complete
isolation and anxiety of the downs and outs of a society, of those who are
social failures and social outcasts. Oliver I.William remarks,
The absurdist playwrights believe that our existence
is absurd because we have been without asking to be been, we die without seeking
to die…there ultimately comes a sense of helplessness and impotence, something
which the plays of Beckett also deal with.
The Absurd Theatre came under the influence of
existentialism- a school of thought which believes in the absurdity of the
universe. Existentialist thought start from the view that in our age man no
longer knows what he essentially is. He is thrown in the world as a diseased
animal and hence misery and despair are bound to him from cradle to grave.
Awareness of the lack of purpose does produce a state of
metaphysical anguish which is the theme of the writers in the theatre of the
absurd. The idea when allowed to shape the form as well as content of the
plays, the rational linking of ideas is abandoned and instead the irrationality
of experience is transferred to the stage. Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for
Godot is the best example of ‘Existential Absurd Drama’. According to
Katharine M.Wilson,
Waiting for Godot exactly fulfils Sartre’s definition
of an existentialist play as one which sets out to present the contemporary
situation in its full horror, so that the audience, finding it unendurable, may
feel force to remedy it.
As an absurd drama the play portrays the arbitrary and
irrational nature of modern life and emphasises the senselessness of human
existence. The play starts at an arbitrary point, flouts all the conventional
standards, is structurally different from the well made play and abandons all
rational devices. The linguistic device suggests the breakdown of communication
as it lacks coherence and cohesiveness. Through all these linguistic devices,
structural experiments and the treatment of the theme, Samuel Beckett has
filtered the nightmare of human existence. ‘Valdimir’ and ‘Estragon’ are two
tramps who are always together despite of their unwillingness. To quote from
the play,
E: You see, you feel worse when I am with you. I feel better
alone too
V: Then why do you always come cradling back.
E: I don’t know.
The stage decoration is remarkable. We face an open country
round a mound and a bare tree. No specific time or place is mentioned. The
purpose is to de-contextualise the play and to show universal dimension. The
two tramps Valdimir and Estragon are present as rootless characters stripped
off their genealogy. They have no home, locale, property or family, no place or
function in society, no history, no identity. Their relationship is in doubt.
Life to them is an endless rain of blow. Their only temptation is to suicide;
rather they are incapable of it.
As an absurd drama, the message that is conveyed is that of
‘nihilson’. What transpires between the two tramps is that they are up against
the helplessness of existence. The play is about the emptiness of the modern
world that does not know it is empty. They keep on waiting for Godot, but it
never comes. The play therefore shows how man is thrown back into solitude and
non-actions. The two tramps waiting for Godot may be representing human beings
whose waiting represents humanity’s vain, hope of salvation or as others call
it ‘hopelessly hoping’.
The same idea is reflected by Pozzo and Lucky in another
episode. The former drives the latter by means of a rope. Here, Lucky
represents the tortured unhappy mankind, while Pozzo is a domineering bullying
master. Though treacherous but Lucky is abjectly obedient slave. However, Pozzo
the master not only wants to get rid of him but also to kill him. At the end
Lucky goes dumb and Pozzo blind. The master remarks about Lucky as,
I can’t bear it… any longer… the way he goes on…you’ve
no idea…its terrible…he must go…I’m going…
We find in both cases the impression given is- life is a
nightmare of pain. The manner the two tramps pass time is indication of boredom
and triviality of human activities, the lack of significance in life and the
constant suffering. The hope of salvation may be merely an evasion of the
suffering and anguish that has sprung from facing the reality of human
condition. In the final analysis, it may be assessed that Waiting for
Godot is a typical product of the age and has nothing poetic to say for
itself. It is an absurd play for it is devoid of characterization and
motivation. Nothing special happens in the play, nor do we observe any
significant change in setting except that the tree has sprouted four or five
leaves. The beginning, middle and end do not rise up to the level of a good
play. Though its theme is logical and rational, yet it lies in umbrage.
Moreover, what makes the play absurd is its ending. The wait continues the
human contacts remain unsolved; the problem of existence remains meaningless,
futile and purposeless. Thus, it undoubtedly fits in the title of ‘Absurd
Drama’ and that to the Theatre of Absurd.
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