TOPIC THEATRE OF THE ABSURD Waiting for Godot
TOPIC: THEATRE OF THE ABSURD Waiting for Godot
WHAT IS THEATRE OF THE ABSURD v. The “ Theatre of the Absurd” is also known as a “ New Theatre”. v“Theater of Absurd” is a term or particular movement started in late 1950 s.
v. The word “ Absurd” means foolishness , senseless , opposed to reason , something silly and ridiculous. v Theatre of the Absurd commonly associated with “Existentialism”. v Critic Martin Esslin coined the term in his 1960 essay “Theatre of the Absurd”.
v “ What is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying. ” Albert Camus, Myth of Sisyphus v “The mod of “absurdist play” is tragicomedy. Nothing is funnier than unhappiness…it’s the most comical thing in the world” -Endgame by Samuel Beckett v Esslin cites William Shakespeare as an influence on this aspect of “Absurd drama
CHARACTERISTICS OF ‘THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD v Meaninglessness of life v No wonder v No Organized movement v Lack of plot v Elements of “ Existentialism “ v Very hard contain v Drama
v Puzzled dialogues v Nonsense language v Characters are stereotypical and archetypal v Importance of Repetition. v Absurd or unexplained ending v Comic Scenes v Different from Traditional
WAITING FOR GODOT “ AS “THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
MEANINGLESSNESS OF LIFE v Theatre of the Absurd presented the life as meaningless and one that could simply end in casual laughter. This was reflected in the society of the time. It was because of the following reasons:
v Mechanical nature of Man of the Life v Alien worlds v Time v Isolation v In the play waiting for godot we can see the Senseless activity of Vladimir and Estragon.
LACK OF PLOT v No beginning , climax and ending. v Same place and time v Unexplained story v Nothingness and emptiness
COMIC SCENES v Song of “ death of a dog “ by Vladimir : A dog came in the kitchen And stole a crust of bread. Then cook up with a ladle And beat him till he was dead. Then all the dogs came running And dug the dog a tomb – Changing hats scene
NONSENSE LANGUAGE v The absurd dramatist felt that conventional language had failed man and it was inadequate means of communication. The uselessness of language was used by the characters constantly, they speak in clichés, overused, tired
v Ex. Lucky’s speech in Act-1 quaquaqua v Dialogues of Vladimir and Estragon make misunderstanding
IMPORTANCE OF REPETITION Same dialogues : ESTRAGON: What do we do now? VLADIMIR: Wait for Godot. ESTRAGON: Ah! Silence v Absurd play has a repetitive cyclical structure. v Similar setting- Debris v Timing- day to moon rise v Actions- hat Swapping scene v Similar Acts structure v Same acts ending
COMPLEXITY OF CHARACTERS v Who is Godot ? God or Man ? v Act 1 : Pozzo - Master Lucky – Slave v Act 2 : Pozzo – Slave Lucky - Master v No female character
Element of “ Existentialism Absurd theatre question the existence of man. v Absurdist believe in the godless world. (World war-2) v “The air is full of our cries’’ v b) Human existence has no meaning and purpose. v “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for’’ Fyodor Dostoyevsky
DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL DRAMA v No use of interesting plot. v No sense of story v No use of dream , fantasy and poetic language.
ABSURD ENDING v Absurd play has unexplained, v Hope , religion nothingness, forgetfulness, purposelessness' of man v Ending is not Conclusion……………
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