The Theatre of the Absurd Beckett Pinter LIM
The Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
LIM Lesson Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Origins • Theatre of the Absurd is the first trend of the British theatre of the 1950 s. • French Existentialism → life is meaningless: nothing really happens. There is only a series of repetitions, all alike and without any purpose. • Its name comes from Martin Esslin’s book Absurd Drama (1965). • Samuel Beckett is its founding father and master. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Development Thomas Beckett - Harold Pinter - Tom Stoppard ↓ a radical break with naturalism ↓ they see man as a puzzled inarticulate creature obliged to face reality ↓ It is dominated by absurd, destructive forces and impulses. ↓ They try to give expression to such an outlook, and to destroy a belief in the coherence of language and the process of rational communication. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Technical Features • Language disintegrates: it is reduced to minimal sentences: • Short, mainly principal sentences, without secondary clauses; • Common pattern → question/answer or question; • This pattern leads to confusion and/or puzzlement; • Questions are often meaningless, answers are unsatisfactory; • Repetition of words/sentences in consecutive lines; • Pauses and silence → Language can’t help people communicate. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Thomas Beckett (1906 -1989) • Born near Dublin, into a Protestant middle-class family. • He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. • He was appointed English lecturer at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. • At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the French Resistance. • In 1969, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Early Works • • More Pricks Than Tricks (1934) Murphy (1938) Watt (1944) Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnameable (1951 -53) Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
The Plays His plays deal with confinement, the inability to communicate and loneliness. • Waiting for Godot (1952 in French; 1954 in English) • Endgame (1958) • Krapp’s Last Tape (1958) • Happy Days (1961) • Film (1967) Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Waiting for Godot A terribly static world where things never change ↓ Absence of plot Circular structure of the play Characters are confined or imprisoned in a single place ↓ TIME = a series of repetitions ↓ LIFE = meaningless, reduced to the bare essentials Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
The Disintegration of Language • Talk is made up of absurd exchanges, or linguistic stereotypes: → the vacuity of ready-made phrases. • Dialogues are increasingly fragmented and broken. • Use of para-verbal language: → mime, silences, circuit-like gags, … Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
The Story • There is no real plot. • Act I. Vladimir and Estragon, two French tramps, meet Pozzo → he is obsessed with time and continually looks at his watch. He drives his old servant, Lucky, from behind with a rope and a whip. At Pozzo’s command, Lucky dances. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
The Story • Act II Pozzo and Lucky reappear. Pozzo has become blind and his arrogance has now turned into cynical nihilistic despair. Lucky is now dumb. Vladimir and Estragon → they are waiting for Godot who never comes. ↓ Every day he sends a boy who announces: ‘Mr Godot won’t come today, but surely tomorrow‘ They have to wait. They can’t leave. They are waiting for Godot. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Harold Pinter (1930 -2008) • Born in London, into a middle-class Jewish family. • He entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but didn’t complete his studies. • He began to write his plays in the late 1950 s and became the leader of the Theatre of the Absurd after Beckett. • In the 1980 s, he headed militant initiatives against Thatcherism in Great Britain. • In 2005, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
His Works • • The Room (1957) The Dumb Waiter (1959) The Birthday Party (1960) The Caretaker (1960) A Slight Ache (1958) The Homecoming (1965) The Road (1984) Mountain Language (1988) Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
Pinter’s Themas • Fear, suspicion, intolerance, prejudice → they recur obsessively in his works. • His characters feel menaced and show the need for shelter and protection from a confusing and hostile world. • Typical situation → a few people confined in a room or closed space, with each individual trying to dominate the other. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
A Slight Ache • Pinter uses a psychological approach. • He is interested in → the complexity of the human mind, the power-games marking human relationships. • His characters are vague, unpredictable and obscure: → they seem to ignore their own identity; → they are preoccupied with the defense of their territory. The only area of certainty and stability against the absurdity of the world: intrusion = a terrible menace. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
The Language • It is extremely realistic and naturalistic. • It is incapable of building bridges between human beings. • Dialogues expose the nonsensical nature of everyday conversation. • The disintegration of a character’s self is accompanied by a disintegration in his speech. • The text was originally written for the radio → the author could only work with sound and silence. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
The Story • Flora and Edward lead an apparently peaceful life. • Edward’s tranquillity is menaced by a match-seller, standing in front of their back gate → an impostor. • Edward invites him to discover his real identity. • He can get no answer from the match-seller. • Edward becomes increasingly incoherent → his personality seems to disintegrate. • The two men finally swap roles → the match-seller becomes the legitimate owner of the house. → Edward is given the match-seller’s tray. Theatre of the Absurd Beckett & Pinter
- Slides: 18
