eugène ionesco and norman frederick simpson : satiric and...
TRANSCRIPT
i n the Deyarhen t
of
E n g l i s n
APPROVAL
N u e : David George Hadcock Anido
Degree: Master of Ar t s
T i t l e of Thesis: ~ u $ n e Ionesco m d 3Jormar. Frederick Simpson: S a t i r i c and I d e a l i a ~ i c Aspects of the Theatre of the Absurd i n France and Br i t a in
Exainining Comnit t e e :
---- 4
(professor Serry ZasloveJ Scnior ~ u p e r v i s o r )
-- -..-..- - (Mrs. A'ndrea Exmizing Co
- ( D r . Hari shar~na) -,_-I- -- - - - h x t e r r ~ a l Examiner
( A s s i s t a c ~ P T G ~ E S . ~ ~ )
(Departrqent of T o l l t i c a l Scienre, Sociology an6 Anthropology)
To my parents.
I wish t o acknowledge the cotlsidera'cle ass ls tance oi l D r . ~\!slcolni Pzge
i n t he preparaticn of the b ib l i og ra~hy ; cf ivlrs. A n d r e a Lekwi tz f w t h e
long houm spent i n reading the meLxscri~L,; or' D r . J. Z.aslove fir h i s
ins t ruc t ive ad- ice arA sugges~ions Tor new di rec t ions ; of Xiss K ~ z e ; LJr ighr
f o r her i n t e r e s t i n t h i s venture and helpfui c r i t i c i sw; a n d of Yiss V e r ~ a
Kazakoff f o r her kinciness i n t j p i a g he f i r a l d r a f t .
ABS'fPACr
Qne of t he m ~ s t s ign i f ican t d i rec t ions of the contemp~rary thea t re
has come t o be ct&l.ed %he Theatre of the Absurd, The purpose of t h i s
t h e s i s is t o i d e n t i f y t he major aspect of "absurdism" ( s o c i a l s a t i r e )
as It can be i so l a t ed i n the work of ~ u & e lonesco, r r l t i n g i n France,
and Dorman Frederick Simpson, w ~ l t l n g _in England, Beyond the s a t i ~ _ i c
elements the t h e s i s w i l l a l s o i l l u s t r a t e how Ionesco has achieved a
s i gn i f i c an t metaphysical l eve l i n h i s drama which presumes a personal
f a i t h i n the v a l i d i t y of human existence and endeavour.
Ionesco i s a p r o l i f i c wr i t e r having wr i t t en over twenty plays,
rtxI10 ecrlpt s ( ~ e salon de 1' - automobile) - , t e lev i s ion s c r i p t s ( ~ e Jeune -- -
Homme % ~ a r i e r ) , - -- scenarios ( ~ ' 0 e u f A - ~ u r ) , and a b a l l e t (Apprendre - &
archer). - Tn addi t ion, t he playwright has been much concerned ~ 5 t h
presenting h i s ideas about thea t re and h i s personal l i f e , The two
most important Jownals of Ionesco a re Notes - - and - -. - - * Counternotes, - - - - - . t h e
presenta t ion of ideas on thea t re , l ec tu res and interviews, and Fragments -
of --- a Journal , .. - some thoughts on t h e dramat is t ' s philosophy and reco l lec t ions
of childhood. - ~ u ~ z n e Ionesco was born a t S la t ina , Rumania, i n 1912 of a French
mother. He escaped the onslaught of the f a s c i s t I ron Guard and l ived
i n France wi th h i s family u n t i l 1925. I n t h i s year he returned t o
Rumania t o study a t the Universi ty of Bucharest, and l a t e r between
1936 and 1938, he taught French a t a Junior College i n the Rumanian
cap i t a l . I n 1938 Ionesco was awarded a bursary t o prepare a t he s i s i n
Pa r i s e n t i t l e d , "Themes of Sin and Death i n French Li te ra tu re since
Baudelaire . " The t h e s i s was never ccnpleted . I n 1953, Ienesco ' s ca ree r
as a dramat is t 5egan when h i s fir'st play, La Caa ta t r i ce ----, Ska~lve was
produced a t Le ~ h g g t r e a m N o c t u r ~ ~ l e s by Nicholas B a t a i l l e . Tke p lay
was only a p s r t i z l success because t h e au6ience expected t o se? a
"bald soprano" on t h e s tage and were sadly disapp,3it?ted. Bet a f t e r t h e
production of two more of h i s p lays , Lta Leqon, and - Les Chaises-, Ionesco .
receis-ed h i s g r c e t e s t boost t o d a t e v i t h t 5 e publicat ior! of ar, a r t i c l e
w r i t t e n by Jean Anouilh or_ Victimes dv I)z7roir. This p l ay a s w e l l a s - Tueur sans Gages, ~ h i n o c & o s , atid -----7 Le b L s e I-eurt a r e aas t e r? i zzes of
the modern t h e a t r e . "-
/ ' Ionesco has been ca l l ed ar. "ab~urd ' ,s t" , an "anti-playwrig'nt" ,
and an "avant-garde w r i t e r . I ' He has sls3 &en accused I;;. Kenne%h Tynan
i n t h e famous debate which tock pla.ce i : ~ ----- Thr, Cbserxr i a 1958 ES r,ct
I be ing on "the na in road" c f c c n t e q o r a r y d r a m . But :!--ere i s r . ~ d c ~ ~ b t I _ -
t h a t Ionesco i s l i k e Samuel Beckett , a fcr-rr?id&le w r i t e r wi th a novel
technique and 5- p a r n a s s i ~ n d i s rz spcc t f c r o lde r f o r a s of draca . 3is
metaphysical dilemma i s s i m i l a r t o t h e CanusLan view of e Sisyphien
humanity and the a b s t r a c t i o n s of h i s o n s i r i c world a r e rendered a s ccncre te
images on t h e l i v e s t ags . ,x Ionescc ' s _orogress from foci31 s a ~ i r i s t t o
e x i s t e ~ t i a l i d e a l i s t i s oae cf t he most s i g n i f i c a n t s u c x s s s t o r i e s
of t h e fiodern t k e h t r e .
N . F. S i m p s ~ n cannot be considered on the same 1 5 x 1 e s Icnzsco,
bu t he w i l l be considered a s exemplifying the " thea t re of t h e a-=surdf'
i n 3ngland. Simpson wl.1: be discussed as a 5ocia.l s a t i r i s t , who, like
Ior,esco thozgh l e s s capakle, presents b i z a r r e an6 out.rageous s i5u&tions
i n h i s p lays t o r e f l e c t a s imi la r Ciisjoirteiiness i n h i s subur'cm m c i e t y .
The chapter on Simpson is designed t o complement the chapters on Ionesco
shoving, f i r s t , t ha t the ava.nt -garcle thea t re , dei-iv-ed f r m the e s s e n t i s l i y 1
French Dada and Su r r ea l i s t revolutions, i s not l imi ted t o one language
or s i tua t ion . The second purpose i s t o compare the s t y l e s of Ionesco
an6 Simpson as a precedent i n determining the success and f a i l u r e of
s imilar techniques used by both men (eg: the "non-sequitur" and the
p ro l i f e r a t i on of niaterial objects i n a rapidly dehumanizing world. )
The main object of the t he s i s i s t o d e t e r ~ i n e %hat a r e the s e t i r i c
and i d e a l i s t i c elements of the dra:na of ~u$r.e Ionesco and Pi. F. Sirnpsorl.
Ioclesco might be speaking fo r both p l a p r i g h t s i n h i s own expressed
desi re : ,
{~eanwhile, meanvhile I have done vh;t I c m l d . . .I ha-,re passel the ( time. Rut we need t o know how t o cut oursei-ves off f ron m r s e l x s
a n d f ron other people, pow t s obser$re and hov t o lsugh, i n s p i t e o f . everything t o laugh.
1 Ionesco, ~ u g z n e , Notes and Couniernotes, t r ans . , Donald Watson,
Grove Press, Inc . ( ~ e w York, 1964), p. 12.
- v i i -
TABLE O F C O N m N T S I
PAGE
....................................... Abstract v
.................. Ionesco a s A k s ~ r d i s t S a t i r i s t 1
....... Ionesco's Subjective World.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1
........................... The ~ & e n & e r Plays.. 38
Norman Frederick Simpson: Soc ia l S a t r r i s t of t he Absurd.. ....................... 61
Conclusion.. . . . . ............................... 102
Selected Sibliography .......................... 103
CHAPTER OhrE
IOfiESCO AS ABSUFDIST SATIRIST
The t i t l e "the Theati=e of the Absurd" would seem t o be more expediznt
than elabora.tive. It i s a t i t l e which conjures c.sr,cepts beyond tile r e a h
of reason, and i 3 sugg.?3tiv2 of an eso te r ic or u i k i l i s k i c philosop;l?r.
There i s a c e r t a in erncuct of t r x h i r r : thes? i n f e r ewes , 511t it i s f a c i l e
t o p resme that, such nomcccietlir$ ~ . s "&snd" , "want -ga~de" , or "mti-
theatrew--which aze ~ r e s e n t d ky d i f f e r en t c r i t i c s as synony~xxs--car: contain
a s t y l e of wr i t ing the t i s notably enigxatic i n i t s o r lg i ce l i t y .
Kartin Essldn, $he c r i t i c who pegularized the idea of "a5sur-d" thea t re ,
has succeeded i n placing many-vorks of the rr-odern thea t re in a helpful
perspective. Ir_ h i s book Tb.e Theatre -- of t,h? .AbsurZ., 3 s s l i n has placed the
works of Ariano;., Al.bee, Grzss, Beckett , S i ~ q s o n , Genet, Imesco , and P in te r , . .
as wel l a s severa l other wr i t e r s , under t he sarre banner. The result i s
some in t e r e s t i ng reading, but a l so an oversimplif ication since It s e m s
t h a t wr i te r s who cannot be considered Brechtian, r e a l i s t , o r express ionis t ,
m y be hmogenized i n t o the new category.
I n h i s preface t o the book, f i r s t printed i n 1961, E s s l i z notes that
11 t h i s book i s a n attempt t o define t.he convention t ha t has cone ts be
1 1 1 called thz Theatre of the Absurd. The s ~ g g e s t i o n i s t h a t t he works of
h s s l i l , Martin, The Theatre - of the Absurd, 1 s t ed i t i oc , Apchnr Books, Doubleday & Corripzng, Ir,c., (sew ~orkTl961), p. xii.
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many diverse authors a r e the culmination of a long t r a d i t i o n t h a t hss
ac tua l ly exis ted since thea t re began. Ess l in ' s book, therefore , tecds t o
produce fabr icated s i m i l a r i t i e s or generalizations which, while icterest .cg,
are not always enlightening: ".. . there i s i n Shakespeare a very strong
sense of the f u t i l i t y and &bsurditty of the human condition."2 Tkz mznticn
of forerunners of contemporary "absurdists", with such conspicuocs ogissioris
a s Titus l a cc iu s ~ l a u t u a , ~ suggests t ha t Ess l in has chosen h i s premises
wi th care i n order t o channel h i s argumems. Within reason, thc-refore, o x
could invent new cakegoriea a t w i l l and dcfec5 t'ne choice by r e f e r r i n s beck
Li i n t o h i s to ry searching f o r witnesses. The motive behind inclus ive t i t l e s
i s good--when t he works of the thea t re a re placed i? perspective they czn
be judged a s t o t h e i r l i t e r a r y merit, s t y i e , i ~ g s c t on the mdience: and
po t en t i a l t o influence future playwrights. 2ut the danger ex i s t s vhere
conclusivit,y i s im?lied, and theatre xhic'n is impregnated x i t h t5e ele;crlts
of the philosophy of the absurd becomes simply "absurd" or "avant -gardew
thea t re . Ir, SL way, thAs equatlon of a philosophical sjrsimi en5 E, t h e a t r i c z l
s t y l e contradic ts the essence of avant-gzrh which "wculd s ee r t2 be sn
a r t i s t i c and c u l t u r a l phenomenon of a precursr~ry natu-e, which t a l l i e s with
i t s l i t e r a l meaning ... It wocld be a kind of ' p e - s t y l e 1 i n e i c a t i ~ g and
pointing the directlor1 of chszge.. .This cmourlts t o zaaykf thrt, the ~vsn5-
he comic plays of P1aui.u~ s a t i r i z ed the middle-class society- cf h i s day much as Ionesco and Sinpscn s a t i r i z e the bourgeoisie of aodern socie ty . His swashbucklirig heroes and rhe i r absurd an t i c s inake Plautus as much an absurdiss a s , f o r exarql-e, Arisi;o?hanes--also mentiocei! by Ess l in zs a%surd:st precursor.
4 An example of such a catcgcry I s Rsbert 2ruste in1a The Theatre of
Revolt where Ibsen, Strindberg, Cnekhov? Shzw, Erecht, P i r an i e l l o , C"Bei.11 and Genet, are discussed under the s a w t i t l e .
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garde cannot generally be recognized u n t i l a f t e r the ever:t. 5
In the preface t c the secoc? ~ d i t i o r ~ of The Theatre o? the Absurd,
Ess l in c l a r i f i e s h i s posi5ion i n usicg the tit16 51it does cot Custify -:hs
impl ic i t conclrrsivity;
A term l i k e Theatre of the Absurd i s a working hypt 'nes i s , a device t o mdce ce r t a in fundamntal t r a i t s which seen t o be present i n the works of a number of d.ramatists accessible t o discussion by t rac ing the features they have i n cornor?. That m d rio more. Hm could t h a t have l ed t o the assuniption t ha t Beckett and Iorlesco should behave towsrds each other as meclbers of the stme club o r par',y? C)r
t h a t P in t e r subscribed t o t h z sane views cn pol i5ics o r law 2s Genet'? Only by a profound misur_derstsndir.g. A n 3 evetl l e s s j u s t i f i ed i s the view t h a t t he development of t'?e theatye 2-oceeds by a s e r i e s of su-5 movements, each oC which comes t o power as the previous o w zbdicates or i s overthrown. 6
Esslir i 's r e a l i z a t i on t h a t h i s "w~rk ing hypctkesis" has ceused soce
n i su~ders tand ing among readers, forces the expectation of fu r ther proof
the preface, the secctld e d i t i o ~ i s hsrd1.v k v i s e d o r d i f f e r e a t fror? t'Le
f i r s t . The c r i t i c , l i k e a diver c l ingins affectionate1.y t o a iesky s i~ i t , ,
maintains the same poise a,n3 technique i n s p i t e c f h i s recognitlor. cf
l t t he necess i ty fo r dis5ing~Lz'ning 5~csreer: carious abswd" p1ayi~rig'r:ts.
However, it i s necessary t o draw these d i s t inc t ions p a r t i c a i a r l y ir t5e
case of Ionesco.
I n h i s in t roeuct icn 'uc the f i i ' s~ , e d i t f w of ? i s imrk, Bssl in notes
they "do not f x m pa r t of anjr self-proclaimed or self-conscicus schocl or
novexent . " Secorid, 'leech of t h e u r i t e r s . . . i s ?n iridivid~rs I. who r e ~ a ~ c l s
hiniself a s a lone outs ider , cut off and isola ted i n h i s p r iva te iic~lC(.."
6 Ess l i a , l.la.rtin, op. c i t . , ;. 10. .
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Third, " I f they a l so , very c l ea r ly and i n sp i t e of themselves, have a
good dea l i n common, it is becauseltheir work most sens i t ive ly mirrors
and r e f l e c t s the preoccupations and anxiet ies , the emotions and thinking
of inany of t h e i r contemporaries i n the Western World. 11 7
It i s most l i k e l y t h a t Ess l in uses the t h i rd point as the premise
for h i s revela t ion of "The Theatre of the Absurd." This i s a j u s t i f i ab l e
point of view s ince playwrights i n the Western World a r e indeed preoccupied
with major concerns, of ten more p o l i t i c a l than a r t i s t i c . The technological
revolution which i s p u t of Euroue and North America ( f a r more than t he
continents of the " th i rd worlci") has produced a unique kind of hedonism and
danger, a s wel l as an in te rna t iona l bourseoisie t h a t i s w i l l i ng t o subordinate
b a n emotions and fee l ing XI routine and mechanical control . While Jean
8 Genet and Jean-Faul Sa r t r e elnphasize the need f o r soc i a l revolution,
Beckett and Ionesco concentrate on a metaphysical revolution. Ecth
a r e revolutionary t rends , but L t i s a fa l l zcy t o suppose t ha t t h i s connec-
t ion can predominase over the differences; consequ2ntly the t i t l e of
"absurd" i s misleading, however convenient.
E s s l i n l s de l i n i t i on of llaksurd" i s based on a statement by Ionesco:
". . .1onesco defined h i s understanding of t he term as follcTds: 'Absurd i s
t ha t which i s Cevold of p r p c s e ... Cut off fron h i s re l ig ious , metaphysical,
and transcetlder,tal roo t s , mar, i s l o s t ; a l l h i s . ac t ions become senseless,
absurd, useless . ' l f 9 The idea of pvrpcse and action, f u r t he r delineated
i n tne plays, introduces the cu l tu ra l aspects of the abswd. Since
"purpose" forms a c r i t e r i o n fo r the v a l i d i t y cf existence the idea 2-f
8 Jean-Paul Se r t r e condemns the inflizeRze of the bowgeolsi? on the
t hea im i n an a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d , "Tjeycnd E~urgeo i s Theatre," %lane Drama Review 5 arch, 1961) . -- ---,
absurdity seems t o be negative. Rut l a t e r i n h i s notes Ionesco s t a t e s
t h a t t he "absurd1' i s posi t ive i n i ts scope ra ther than negative. The
seeming contradiction of the "absurd" being both "devoid of purpose" and
It oos i t ive" a t t he same t i n e i s s e t t l e d i n Ionesco's statement:
... the absurd i s conceived a s being i n some way an i n t r i n s i c pa r t of existence. Now f a r me, i n t r i n s i c a l l y , everything t h a t e x i s t s i s log ica l , the re i s nothing absurd abgut it. It i s thz consciousness of being and ex i s t i ng t h a t i s astonishing ... And I believe I an a comic wr i t e r f h ~ p k s $3 t h i s facu l ty ... f o r being able t o starid out- s i de myself. 16"" -
Ionesco views himself lfoutside myszlf" x i thou t s ac r i f i c ing the "consciousness
of' being and exis t ing" which i den t i f i e s h i s hmani ty . Wif,hin the real111
of imagination, what man could 5e compared t o what he - i s m&es the l a t t e r
absurd by comparison, but the bas ic acceptance of man as he i s makes
human existence log ica l . i is subjective fantasj.es and qualms b e c ~ m
object ively l og i ca l when he accepts h i s "being" as the most bas ic prenise . )
So the pos i t ive c u l t u r a l aspect of absurdity i s t ha t which i den t i f i e s the
human being as the basrc v a l u s i n an march ic cosrr.r,s. The enarchy derives
from the e-~asiveness of absolutes i n a universe where man i s the only
kn~wn bss re r of consciousness.
It i s i q o r t a n t t o separate the idea of the thea t re a s c r e a t i ~ g a
s t y l i s t i c a l l y "abs-ud" draria and the "absurd" as t he ref leckion of the
human condition. I n an interview v i t h Claude Ronnefoy Ionesco elaborates
on h i s opinion of "absurdityf1 as par t of the hum2 c o ~ d i t i p n befors
applying it a s a theme of the theatre :
- lG1onesco, ~ u $ n e , l o t e s and Ccuotxrnotes, Grove Press , Lnc. (?lev
York, 2.964.) , p . 121.
Prenez l e s the& du th&tre de Beckett OE dtAdamov qui expriment l a condition absurde dz l'hcmne: Lthc?mme va mourir; l'hcmme a des l im i t e s ; l 'honne n'accepfe pas son des t i n e t pourtant il a un des t in ; que l le e s t l a s ign i f icz t ion dk ce des t in? Quelle e s t 1s s ign i f i c a t i on du f a i t que l1homxe ne peut donner une s i gn i f i c a t i on son tiestin? e t c . . . ce ne sont pas des t h b e s ze ne sont pas des prcfl15mes uniquement contemporsins; i l s sont devenus plus a i w s , plus percept ibles cause de cer ta ines s i t ua t i ons , de ce r ta ins evenements contemporains. 81
Ia the t hea t r e , "absurd" i s a catch phrase l i k e l y t o mislead. It represents
t h a t which i s opposed t c t h e a t r i c a l realism. The shock t o an axlience
t h a t d id not see a bald soprano i n e pl.ay e n t i t l e d Ll- Cantat r ice Chezve -
probably produced the react ion -;hat ca l l ed su.ch foolery "absurd" o r "an t i -
theatre" because, i n i z s iconocLaslrl, it Cisobeyed the corfor table conven-
t i ons of realisn? which observed che "unit:-es" of s t ruc ture and c h z a c t e r .
I o n e e c ~ 6ist inguished between " l e th&,tr.e du boclevarrll' and " le
t & t r e contemporain de l 'absurde." Tne boulevard thea t re "oe se ?ose pas
l e probl$me de l a condition hm-aine ou des f i n s d e r n i b s a lo r s que l e
thggtre de Beckett n ' e s t que ce la . "12 Here Ionesco e q l i c e t e s the coanectioc
of "absurd" t o a thea t r i ca l s t y l e which Xsslin has 3.:scribed. I n addi t ion
the attempt of the pedestrian th&tre du boulevard t o simpiy r e f l e c t ;hz
assu?stlons of i t s audience has been abandoned.
Ionesco draws an inportant d i s t i r c t i c n ketve3fi t5ea t r2 ' ; perception
of t he world and l i f e i t s e l f . T'eatze as a r t att+e!qts t o preser't l i f ?
a e s the t i c a l l y and .ict marely r e f l ex l \ e ly . I n tbc d r e m of Towszo, ideals
a re conveyed ae s the t l c a i l y through t3e medium of the abci=d which e x i s t s
withir! t he a x t e x t of r e a l i t y . The posi t ive eieme:it of Ionescs 's pcrcr2p';ion
i s h i s presenta t ion of h i s innernos: tkct~ghts as l i v e act ion.
~ n , Claude, "Entretia;is zvec ~ u & n e Ionesco, " Edit ions -- Pie r r e Eelfond (1965) , 1S1. --
12E30nnefoy, Cla~d-e , op. cit., 14.2.
- '( - subjective ins igh ts permit him t o conceive o? absolutes and t h e i n t r i n s r c
value of existence when they can by real ized on the stage. E i s r e a l world
i s inescapable, 5u t the thea t re a l l ev i a t e s anxiety by providing z vehicle
f o r t o t a l freedom of expression. I n the thea t re , Ionesco transcends
r e a l i t y and f inds the sc lace which mitigates h i s despair .
Ionesco's s t reng th as a netaphysician l i e s i n h i s a b i l i t y t o see
nightmares t o t h e i r b i t t e r end without yielding t o the most devastat ing
of human emotions--Pear of death. Hisl 'oneiric universe" i s the source of
ideas where imagination ar_d anxiet ies about existence are brought t o g e t h a
and h i s nightmares 8xe stimulated by the fee l ing t ha t a l l the accepted
( i e : cu l t u r a l ) explaqations of man a ~ d the world may be l t t t l e ncre than
fabr icated nonsense.
Ionesco's coficern and stimulat.?on t o wr i te i n aq 3.va.nt-garde' s t ,y le
der ives from the predicment of man as he tn te rpre t s i t . Man, se~a i -a ted
from h i s cultura.1 roots k2s becme l o s t , and, since these :-cot? a re , in
Cmus' words, "espl-ained by r e s s o ~ i n g , " it 5s hard t o va l idz te t h e i r bas is :
A world t h a t can be explained by reasoning, however f m l t y , i s a famil iar wcrld.. But i n a universe t h a t i s sudd-enly deprived of i l l u s ions snd of l i g h t , marl ?ec:J.s a s-cranger. 5i.s i s en irremediable ex i l e , because he i s deprlved of memories of a 3.cst l~orr_ei.anii as m c h as he lacks the hope of a prmised 1a::d t c come. This divorce between m m and h i s l i f e , the actor and h i s s e t t i n g , t r u l y const i tu tes the fee l ing of Absurdity.13
Ionesco's strength as a pla,ywright l i e s i n h i s a b i l i t y t c a l legor ize
the fantas ies of h i s mind and extend h i s "mental chaos" in*o the actior: and \
1 ~ka :~ac te r iza t ion of h i s plays. Tku.o.~g'n h i s ~ b i l i t y t o "deta.&" h i m e l f , i
t Ionesco allows hlmaeif t o present the nebulous conccczs of biz subjective
world as concrete images on the stage.
2 s l i Martin, q?. c i t . , p. 23.
- 8 -
In a sense, then, it can be argued that Ionesco's plays a re h i s t r i m i c
realism. Nightmares f u l l of nonsters and t e r r o r have a shocking r e a l i t y
about them since they ckrive from the synthesis of the external world and
t h e imagination. There I s nothing strange, f o r example, or even abs::rd,
about ~ g r e n g e r ' s confrontation x i t h the K i l l e r ; t he personif icat ion of
death amid the utopian l i f e of the Radiant City. The r e a l l t y of Death
as an icdividual experience has nothing intangible o r abs t rac t about it.
The plajwright i s obligated t o presect h i s ideas on the l i v e s tage and i s
subservient to t he confines of t ha t scage. 3ut t5e ixportant point i s t h a t
Ionesco's t hea t r e i s derived from snd i s app5cabl.e t o the r e a l world
outside h i s imagination.
I n h i s plays, Ionesco expresses the "aku_rdl' thr0agt.l various
11 s t y l i s t i c means, Paul Surer r e f e r s t o absurd" expression t b o x g h langnsge:
" l e langage, d6sar t i cu l6 e t inadapt; l a ?ens& e s t un moyen e f f icace
d'exprimer 1'a,bsu1.de. "14 A more f u l l eccourt of the litr,gilaga c f tke absurd
has beer! p r e s ~ ; ~ t e i i by Shei la \ l i l l i son i n an m t i c l e d i s t i n g ~ i z h i n g the
techniques of Artaud and Iotlesco. She f inds t h ~ t the Absurdists "%ant
t o renew i n the audience a sense of' mystery and awe i n fece of the
1115 r e a l i t i e s of the humm posi t ion vis-k;vis t he Universe. Again the
idea of "real i ty1 ' 1-eferred t o i s the supposition that absurd dram& does
not devia te fron; r e a l i t y but ccncentrates it i n a fcrm t h a t i s grotesque
but recognizable.
Miss Will ison cc2tinues tha,t "the Absurd d r m a t i s t s a re equ..ally
lli. Surer, Paul, Le ~ h & ~ r e I raccs?s ~ c c i 6 t k d ' ed i t i on -
-7- e t d'enseigneaent cv.pr ieur ( ~ e s i s , 1964)~ p
l%ill.ison, She i la , "The Lsnguage of t t e Absurd: Artmid and Ionesm," New Theztre Nagazine, $, i (1966), 9.
- y - aware of the power of thea t re t o renew a sense of l i f e and t o convey t h s
r t 16 r e a l i t y of the human condition. , But because each individaal l i v e s t h e
whole r e a l i t y of human existence, the thea t re must t r a ' n s l ~ t e t h i s r e a l i t y
of everyday existence i n t o something it in t e rp re t s rather. than mirrors.
And a s soon a s such an in te rpre ta t ion takes place, a messagz i s derived
a pos t e r i o r i - however d i s c r ee t l y it i s conveyed. The tecncique t h a t a l b l i s
t he audience t o cornpehend a meaning from a ' p l a y affords t h a t p lay a
c a t a l y t i c qua l i t y promoting the r e x t i o n betveen r e a l i t y and an a1rarer:ess
c f t h a t r e a l i t y . T'nis, b r i e f l y , i s Ioneseo's tecl~nique: he presents h i s
personal ideas and obsesstons through the medim of thea t re and r e l i e s on
t h e audience t o w t i v a t e I t s 0x1 s e n s i b f l i t i e s .
. '& . Par t of the " r ea l i t y " of the huna8n zorl.ai~lon i s the soc l a l context
of which Ionesco i s an ardect c r i t i c . Through scch empty acd s t e r i l e
characters as Choubert, the Smiths and Martins, Ionesco ? i t s h i s s a t i r e
against the xed iocr l ty o l the p e t i t 'tourgeois worlu i n h ~ h i t e d by an
alarming nunber of human beings. Richard Coe uses an e f f ec t i ve de f in i t i on
of the bourgeorsie--a type t ha t Ionesco cor1slde:s t o be both colourless
Ionesco understands by the term 'bcnrgeois ief- - thet aspect 04 kar~ani ty~whlch accepts and culti-"rates tke illv.si.on of rnatertal realism as kei-ng t h e equivalent of the >:,:hole of r z s l i t y , which renounces the prece2tion ~ f ' ' t o t a l real iLyt ( t h e ' inner l i f e r ) and prei 'ers the superficial . comfort of rat iofiai b g i c as displayed i n tke vis ik , le forms of social- zrder ; whl.ch i s theref ore hollow within and e n c r ~ s ted withou%, acd. i n ccnsequence, e l e n e ~ t a l l y skqid--a.nci elementelly .:omit. In t h i s sense, the p la t i t u fk i s a weapon of socia.1 and _uollt,ical s a t i r e , a s wel l as of ~ h i l o s o p h i c a l c r i t i c i sm of the h u l ~ ~ n ecd . i t i on . 17
1-7 Coe, Ric:?ard, H., ~u.&ne I ~ c e s c o , G r w ~ Fress, Inc . ti Ycrk, 1961), p. Iq.
I n the bourgeois mental i ty Ionesco f inds the bas ic i l l n e s s of h i s
con t e~po ra ry soc ie ty a s we l l a s a 6oncrete subject a t which t o z i x h i s
d isdain . me coaedy of t he f u t i l e bourgeois world i s both absur-c? arid
t r a g i c because it i s meaningless and renders the hurm.n being l i t t i e more
tharl a machine responding t o rriechanical and cybernetic impulses ( c f :
Simpson's Or,e Way ~ e n d u l ~ u n ) . The subservience c f the bourgeois t o
control led systems i s i l l u s t r a t e d by the f i r s t p k y s of Ionesco, nctably
La Canta t r ice Chawe. The plhy has f c r i t s ifllse en sc$ne an "int&i&r
bourgeois anglais" where the act ion arid r5diculous dialogue take place .
The dis1ogu.e of the play was influenced by. an A s s i r n i l English s e i f -
teaching grarmar book t h a t the plap-r:ght wcls sing t o l e a rn Ecglish. Be
immediately noticed t h a t th? banz l i ty cf t he examples was only to: r e s l
and t h a t some people a c tua l l y spoke t h a t wey. The cu r t , s impl i s t i c $irases
of Mary's opeuing speech a r e tj-pical of the p1a.y and cf t h e langxage of
Ionesco's s a t i r i c a l sub;ects:
Narv ( en t r an t ) J e su i s l a bonne. J i a i passe' u r ~ apr:s-midi t r $ s 7"-
agreable. J ' a ' 6-L; au cinjma sl:.ec un ho~me et, 5 ' a i vu u.1 i'ih avec des fenmes.. . 18
This speech i s a,l examp12 of Ionesco's hy2erbolic p-resen~at ion of the
s i q l l s t i c , bar,al, ar.d ~nea ni-nglesa ut terances of manjr people. Such
speech censures the : ixchaical socie ty where ideas a r e e q ~ r c c s e d i n clichEs
and thought i s abzi,scd t o r ou t i r e ar-a programmed respoase.
Ar,ot,her cha r ac t e r i s t i c of %he bou.rgeois trorld t h a t sooc c l r~gs i t s
awe.ren2ss i s i t s m t e r i a l i c n . To sh~iq t ha t s e r i o l ~ s de.rnage t o the ixi:ian
o rga~ l am can be wrought wken nan snrrounils himself wit,h m t e r i s l . p x ~ e s s i o r . ~ ,
Iouesco hos w r i t k n such ef fec t ive pieccs 3s Le Nouveau Locataire i n vhich ------..--
18 #A
Ionesc:~, Ev&ne, Theatre, Gallimwd, 1 (?aris, 195!:), p. 25.
- 11 - the p ro l i fe ra t ion of ,m.terial becomes so extensive t h e t it chokes o f f l i f e
and mobility. And there i s an i nev i t ab i l i t y about t h i s destruction--
t he apartment of t he new tenant becomes completely f i l l e d with Furniture,
o r i n L'Avenir e s t dans l e s Oeufs the stage collapses under the weight
of the eggs. The outward "eccrusting" of which Richard Coe speaks beconea
the f i n e s t de f in i t i on of a tomb.
Jean-.Bul Sa r t r e , an anti-bourgeois i n t e l l e c t u a l , "recognizes vhat
i s human i n the bourgeoisie by what i s bai . "19 It i s Sa r t r e ' s contention
t h a t the bourgeoisie has control not only of the world of commerce--
through which it can exploi t other men for i t s own ends--but a l s o of the
t hea t r e where it wishes t o se2 the subjective image of i t s e l f , demanding
not t o see t he object ive . The bourgeois audience i s a f r a id of ob j ec t i v i t y
i n the t hea t r e because t h i s implies c r i t i c i sm and s a t i r e :
... the bourgeois thea t re does not want any dramatic act ion. It des i r e s , more precise ly , neo-dramatic action; but it does not want t he act ion of man t 3 be represented, it wants the act ion of the author comtruc%ing everhs. I n t r u th , the b o u r g e ~ i ~ i e nnnts t o have an image of' i t s e l f represei~ted, but--ana here one underst.ands why Brecht created h i s epic thea t re , why he went completely i n the other direction--an image which i s pure p a r t i c i p a t i ; it a b s o h t e l y does not want t o be represented as a quasi-object.
The a t t i t u d e of the in t .e l lec tuals tcwards t'x bou-geoisie has been
one of repulsiori a.nd der i s ion because t h i s "ciass" i s unthinking and
cybernetic. And from t h i s refi;zlsim b r m ~ t e e l x e n t s of Iot-iesco's
s a t i r i c s t y l e where language i s subordinated t o slogan ( " ~ o n g l i v e the
white race! "; the Cetective i n Victimes du ~ e v o i r ) , non-sequitur (". . . i t ' s
nigMtime, my dar l ing. / There are s t i l l shadow ." Old Elan and Old Wcma:i
' 1 11 i n Les chaises) and c l iche ( S G ~ of' a pig in a poke," Father Jack i n
Jacques cu l a ~ o ~ i c s i o n ) . L a r i ~ a g c i q l i e s co~munication wherz cne side
19sar t re , Jean-Fsul, "Beyond Bcurgcois Thestre," t rans . R i m Dre l l Reck, The Tulane Drma - Re'Giez, Vol 5 (March, 1961), 5 .
20 Ib id .
- 12 - speaks and t he other l i s t e n s , but the bourgeois cannct l i s t e n because of
t he "encrustation" wi th which he protects h i s narrow and s e l f i s h viex of
t he universe:
... t he p e t i t bourgeois was fo r me a t m e of being t h a t e x i s t s i n a l l soc i e t i e s , whether they be cal led revclutionary o r reactionary: f o r me the p e t i t bourgeois i s jus t a man of slogans, who no longer thinks f o r himself but repeats the t r u th s t h a t o t t e r s have inpased q o n him, ready-made and therefore l i f e l e z s . I n shor t the p e t i t bourgeois i s a manipulated man. 21
I n order t o escape froin the confines of the bourgeois world of
manipulation and "encrustat ioc" Ionesco turns t o the subconscious as a
bas i s f o r h i s t h e a t r i c a l invest igat ion i n to the phenomenon of man and the
p o s s i b i l i t y of haman l i be r a t i oc . Tha concept of man a s "phenomenon" i s
applicable t o the techniqae t h e t the playwright employs. Mar, i s an
"object of perception" wi th a "re~flarkable" 22 qua l i t y t h a t de f ies m t i c n d .
investigation--only t he subconscious ( the a p r i o r i - qua l i t y of each indi-
vidual) can give the experience and perception needed fo r what xust
eventually becoine an objective invzst igat ion. Primarily, however, it i s
the subjective consciousness which conceives of t he ex i s5en t ia l r e a l i t y .
The creat ive process through which Ionesco produces h i s plays i s re f lec ted
i n the act ion of t he drama.
I n Victimes du Devoir, f o r example, Ionesco presents the corLtradlc-
t o ry forces of "mental subjecsive act iv i ty"-- the inner real i ty--en3 t he
encroackqent of the objecti;re attachment--the outer r e a l i t y . The o ~ e n i n g
speeches of t h e play present the pizywright at h i s metaphysical bes t :
Madeleine: (s ' interromyant dans son t r a v a i 4 Quoi de nouveau sur l e journal?
'\onesco, ~ u ~ ; n c , Notes -- aod Counternotes, p. 66.
2 2 ~ a n i s "object" when he views himself f r o ~ a detached posi t ion, but t h i s " a l i e n a t i o ~ " coes not preclude t.he m~taphysica.1 subject ive .
Choubert: I1 ne se passe jarnais r i en . Des com$tes, un bouleversenent cosmique, quelque pa r t dans l 'univers . Presque r i en . Des contraventions pour l e s vois ins parce que l eu r s chiens font des s a l e tg s sur l e t r o t t o i r . . . 23
A conversation ranging from cosmic disorder t o canine ordure develops
i n t o a discussion on thea t re . But the t a l k about thea t re gradually becomes
t h e a t r e . i t s e l f as the Detective humbly makes h i s way onto the scene. The
Detective becomes more m t h o r i t a t i v e when he hesrs t h a t the man he i s
looking f o r has a name which ends i n a "t" ra ther than a "d" a allot)
as he had previously presumed. Thwarted i n h i s o r i g ina l supposition and
duly corrected by Choubert and Madeleine, the Detective becomes a l e g a l
intermgator i n order t o j u s t i f y h i s posi t ion and reassure h i s rec t i tude .
The Detective questions Choubert and Mad-eleine a s t o the reasons fo r t h e i r
very existence without being aware of why he i s asking such questions. His
pos i t ion i s one of an automaton responding t o "orders" from h i s superiors,
and, i n t h i s sense, the Detective i s s imilar t o t he k i l l e r i n Tueur sans -
Gages who ~ o t only questiocs t he reasons f o r &rengerf s existence, but
a l s o i s programed t o deprive him of t ha t existence. It i s sigtzif'icant tha t
the Detective, having asked t he fundamental question ( "~uand l ' a s - t u
connu e t qu'est-ce q u ' i l t e racontai t?") , adds l a t e r , "Ce n ' es t pas &
moi de donner l a rgponse. 24 I n a sense, Choubert i s Ionesco 'I' and
t he Detective i s Ionesco '11'. Ionesco 'I' grapples with ult imate questions
with the anguish o r an honest man i n a f u t i l e quest f o r t r u th . Ionesco
'11' presents t he very questions he cannot ansxer as orders t c an audience,
demanding t h a t the audience request no "me~sage." The "message" of
Ionesco i s i n the question, as i s a d i f f e r en t kind of mess6ge i n the
23~onesco, ~ u & n e , ~ h & t r e ; ~ a l l i m a r d , (?axis, 1954), p. 184.
24 Ionesco, ~ u $ n e , op. c i t . , p. 193.
- 14 - curtness of the Detective (au thor i ty ) OF the ominous callousness of
t he K i l l e r ( r e a l i t y of death). ,
Choubert proceeds on a voyage through h i s subconscious where he
r e c a l l s t he adven tues of h i s childhood and h i s present des i re t o f ind a
11 magic c i t y . 1'25 I n despair , Choubert c r i e s , "mes jouets.. .en morceaux
. . .mes jouets b r i sg s . . .mes jouets d 'enfant . . . 26 as he r ea l i z e s h i s
d a i l y approach towards death. These recol lect ions of childhood form the
"fr@gments of a universe" t ha t Choubert sees a s b r i e f shadows impressed on
h i s subconscious fo r a t an t a l i z ing noment, but they disappear before he
czn discover t h e i r s igci f icanee. Choubert and Madeleine a re becoming old
and impotent l i k e t he old couple of Les Chaises, and nust face death as
personally as must King ~ ( r e n g e r of - Le Roi se Meurt. Choubert, the
vict im of h i s mortai duty xhich i s t o d i e , seeks the innocence and uncon-
scious mirth of childhood. I n t h i s way he i s much l i k e Ionesco h i m e l f :
There i s a golden age: the age of childhood, of ignorance; a s soon as one knows one i s going t o d i e , childhood i s over. As I said , it ended very soon fo r me. So one can be grown up a t seven. Then, I be i i eve .mos~ human beings forget what they have understood, recover another s o r t of childhood tha t , fo r some of them, f o r a very few, can l a s t a l l t h e i r l i ve s . It i s not a t r u e childhood but a kind of fo rge t t ing . Desires and anxiet ies a re the re , preventing you from having access t o the e s sen t i a l t rufh.27
The Detective makes an important statement on the theme of "forgett ing"
but it i s ambiguous and spoken for the wrong reason. To the Detective
"forgett ing" s i g n i f i e s a premeditated blindness t o the metaphysical
predicament of man. He subordinates man's hope t o a world of materialism
2 5 ~ h e idea of a "magic" or "radiant" utopian c i t y occurs i n both Victimes du Devoir and Tueur sans Gages.
26 Ionesco, ~ u $ n e , ~ h 6 g t r e I , Gallimard ( p a r i s , 1954), P . 209.
27~onesco, ~ u ~ $ n e , Fragnznts of a Journal , 'rans . J e m Stewbrt , Grove Press , Inc . ( ~ e w ~ z k , 1968): p. 20.
and impervi.ousness t o mortal i ty. "Remember the s o l i d a r i t y of the
28 human race" i s , i n the Detective" case, impl ic i t of both the "rhin-
ocerization" of humanity ( t h e sense of the ~ e t e c t i v e ) and the brotherhood
of humanity i n the face of death. Both types of s o l i d a r i t y a re defences
against childhood but are diametr ical ly opposed i n t h e i r r e l a t i v e
significance t o existence. "Rhinocerization" i s dangerous and hmanly
inval id , while "brotherhood" i s evasive when men l i k e ~ 6 r e n g e r must
stand -- -- alone. That i s Imesco ' s t he s i s . J
I n his ' a r t i c l e on "detached committal", Ross Chambers i so l a t e s
the "fundamental themes of the play." These are "the antagonism of the
soc i a l and the individual , and the irony t h a t individual values them-
selves cannot be asser ted without becoming soc ia l , and as such a danger
t o the individual . "29 It i s i n Yictimes du Devoir t h a t Ionesco presents
himself a s an expert metaphysician: Choubert i s a human being i n a
famil iar environment surrounded by car icature people. But around
Choubert are a l so the laws of r e a l i t y , personified by Madeleine atld
the Detective. Madeleine i s the human being, i n a l l i ance with whom
Choubert f i r s t attempted t o abolish hLs lonel iness , but , as they wrest le
e r o t i c a l l y on t he f l oo r , t h e i r c o n t o r t i o ~ s become l i t t l e more t h m a
meaningless exercise of f u t i l e and insensible rhytl-m. The Detective i s
a man of regula t ion f o r whom allot" nust end i n "t" ra ther than "d"
f o r no other reason than t ha t it i s the law. Choubert i s always an
icev i tab le subject t o the laws of r e a l i t y , however u n r e a l i s t i c these may
be, end h i s only s a t i s f ac t i on i s i n continuing t c question h i s ccn-tiiigent
2 8 Ioneszo, ~ u & n e , Three Plays, t rans . Donald Wa.tson, Grove Press, Inc . ( ~ e w York, I-958), p. 149.
29~hsmbers, Ross, ''Detacted Committal: ~ug%ne Ionesco's 'Victims of Duty' . " , Mean - j i n Quarterly, 22 (1963), 26.
- 16 - s i t ua t i on . This i s , i n pa r t , the metaphysical content of the play,
and the dichotomy and contradiction' can only be dea l t with through the
act ion of the play.
Ionesco's presentation of the "theatre of the absurd1' r e f l e c t s
h i s detached perception of the world. He allows fo r an anarchy of ideas
t o lead h i s thoughts from an i n i t i a l doubting of the value of existence
t o a f a i t h i n t he v a l i d i t y of man i n a t e r r e s t r i a l environment.
Br ie f ly s ta ted , the hopeful elelnent i n Ionesco's work i s h i s implied
f a i t h i n a uciverse t h a t i s i n t r i n s i c a l l y absurd when the dreams of the
mind c lash with the r e a l i t i e s of existence. ' I n order t o exten2 h i s
perception beyond the confines of h i s mind, and hszard a lateri t optircisrn
a3out the v a l i d i t y of human ex i s t eme the playwright allows f o r extensive
in t rospect ion. This "subjective investigation", the subject of the
next chapter, gives freedom t o the most bas ic anxie t ies ( i e : f e a r of
dea.th ard the m?chanical 'mbits GI' m n controlled purely by reason and
response) from which he cat1 gsln greater understanding cf the " r e a l i t y
beyond1'--the "ob>ective investigation."
The pos i t ive elements o f ~ I o n e s c o f s absurdism arz not an inposi t ion
by the playwright on h i s a r t . His p e r s o ~ a l opposition t o d idac t i c
drama precludes the "glvina, ~f a aessaqe" or the advocation of an
ideohgy . I n f a c t , the posi t ive elements of hope and f a i t h i n humanity
only developed slowly ir! the two decades i n which I o ~ e s c o has been
wri t ing. These elements are as yet simply bearings on the apocal&%lc
not conclilsive statements or a5solutes.
Ionesco wr i tes t o iden t i fy the t e r r e s t r i a l human condition and
- 17 - s t r i v e s fo r an ordered philosophy amid the metaphysical chaos of h i s
awn perception. His passionate des i re not t o define but t o discover
the meanings of existence from h i s own consciousness gives t o h i s thea t re
t he personal q u a l i t i e s of h i s philosophy. As w i l l be discussed i n the , "\ next chapter, Ionesco's wr i t ing i s subjective and personal, and the most
obvious d i r ec t i on from the f i r s t plays t o the l a t e r ones i s a progression
from s t i r e t o idealism. P\ Ionesco's a r t i s honest because it makes no attempt t o fabr ica t?
answers t o the dilemma of existence. It i s a development t h a t gradually
f a c t s and uses these f a c t s a s the foundation of a
philosophy. For example, the f a c t of death i s t he most d i f f i c u l t f c r
s6renger t o grasp i n Tueur sans Gages or Le Zoi s e Meurt. But, once
accepted a s inev i tab le , the f a c t of death Secomes only an elemect of
time i n Le pigton de l l A i r as t he hero r i s e s above h i s s i t ua t i on , through
h i s own w i l l power, i n the i ~ t e r i m between b i r t h and death.
Ionesco has been very frank i n discussing h i s motives f o r wr i t ing
I plays and revealing h i s personal philosophy through drama:
I
i When I am a s k ~ d the question: "Why do you wr i t e plays?" I always f e e l very awkward and have no ?&a what t o answer. Some- times it seems t o me tha t I s t a r t ed wr i t ing fo r the t hea t r e because I hated it .30
What bothered Ionesco about theatre was the physical presence of actors
on the stage who presumably represented " i d e ~ s " ra ther than merely the
r e f l ec t i on of the famil iar world:
30~onesco, ~ u ~ \ e n e , Notes -.--- and Counternotes , t r a c s . Donald Watson, Grove Press , Inc . ( ~ e w York, 1964), 2 . 15.
I think I r ea l i z e now tha t what worried me i n the t hea t r e was t he presence of characters i n f l esh and blood on the stage. Their physical presence destroyed the imaginative i l l u s ion . It was as though there were two planes of r e a l i t y , the concrete, physical , impoverished, e m ~ t y and limited r e a l i t y of these ordinary human beings l iv ing , moving and speaking on the s tage, and the r e a l i t y of imagination, face t o face, overlapping, i r reconci lable : two antagonis t ic worlds f a i l i n g t o come together and ~ n i t e . 3 ~
The ideas of Ionesco's mind or the fan tas ies of h i s dream world
("oneir ic universe") seemed too complicated and evasive t o pern i t
representa t ion on a stage confined t o physical laws. Ionesco was used
t o productions of t he "boulevard theatre" which were exercises i n realism
and were more s l i g h t entertainnients t ha t the vehicles of profound
philosophies.
But the "human" element of the theatre acd i t s a b i l i t y t o present
a " l ive presence" before an audience convinced Ionesco of the t hea t r e ' s
po t en t i a l v i t a l i t y and i t s power i n the transmission of ideas which a -2
implici? ra ther thac imposed on the action:
Drama i s one of the oldest of the a r t s . And I: can ' t help thinking we cannot do without it. We cannot r e s i s t the de s i r e t o people a sthge with l i v e characters t h a t are a t the same time r e a l and invented. We cannot deny our need t o make them speak and l i v e before our eyes. To bring phantoms t o l i f e and give them f l e s h and blood i s a pmdlgious adventure, so unique t h a t I myself was aksolut.ely mazed dwing the rehezrsals of my f i r s t play,
I when I suddenly saw, noving on the stage of the 'Noctambules', characters who owed t h e i r l i f e t o me. It was a t e r r i f y i n g experience. What r i g h t had I t o do a th ing l i k e t ha t ? Was it allowed?.. . It was almost dia.501ica1.3~
No doxbt the personal fascinat ion of Ionesco with t he dmxa of h i s
own creat ing was exaggerated by h i s cha rac t e r i s t i c magnification of
the ideas which obsessed h i s nind. This exaggeration became the ur,c7,er-
ly ing force fo r Ionescols thea t re , and it formed the bas i s of h i s s a t i r s
i n the f i r s t plays, La Cantatr ice Chauve and La Le~on:
So i f the essence of the thea t re l ay i n magnifying i t s e f f ec t s , they had t o be magnified s t i l l fur ther , underlined and s t ressed t o the maximum. To push drama out of t h a t intermediate zone where it i s nei ther t hea t r e nor l i t e r a t u r e i s t o res to re it t o i t s own domain, t o i t s na tura l f r on t i e r s .33
The hyperbolic expression of Ionesco's f i r s t plays i s f a i t h f u l t o
t he playwright's asse r t ion t ha t "drama l i e s i n extreme exaggeration of
feel ings , an exaggeration t h a t d i s loca tes f l a t everyday r e a l i t y . ,134
By such "dislocation" the r e a l i t y of the represented world i s made more
s t a r k and impressive. The "dislocation", however, i s not des t ruct ive .
Rather it i s the premise t o a c lea re r e x i s t e n t i a l awareness. That i s ,
the r e a l i t y of the world or socie%y i s i l l u s t r a t e d through i t s
magnification. It i s t h i s magnification which ca r r i e s Ionesco's drama
above the l eve l of realism where the absurdity of s i t ua t i ons , "underlined
by farce," makes these s i tua t ions the object of s a t i r i c invest igat ion,
a r e s u l t realism cannot a t t a i n .
When the i n i t i a l "dislocation" has achieved i t s purpose of ran i fes t ing
r e a l i t y , what Ionesco c a l l s "reintegration" occurs. This "reintegration"
i s the creat ive face t of the playwright's a r t . While the content of
the plays i s steepsd i n farce , the underlying seriousness of the
dramat is t ' s work i s i l l u s t r a t e d i n h i s concern t ha t the audience achieve
a higher l e v e l of awareness than before:
Without. a f resh v i rg in i t y of mind, without a new arid healthy aTdareness of e x i s t e n t i a l reality, there can be no thea t re and no a r t e i t he r ; the re21 must be i n a way dis located, before i t czn be r e i n t 35
The "reintegrated" elements of natural r e a l i t y and exaggerated
r e a l i t y therefore conbine t o form ihe absurd r e a l i t y which, however
paradoxical, i s the substance of Ionesco's testimony t o a r t . His pro-
gression from the s a t i r i c plays of h i s e a r ly years as a w r i t e r t o the
l a t e r humanistic ~ g r e n g e r plays i s i t s e l f an example of philosophical
"re integrat ion. "36
36~l though Ionesco has only mentioned the idea of "reintegration1' i n passing ( ~ o t e s and Counternotes, p. 15) the concept, b r i e f l y s ta ted , i s the synthesis of the playwright's subjective ins igh ts and h i s objective rea l iza t ions of these insp i ra t ions on the stage. ~ i k e t he method of Descartes, it i s the gradual formulation of a philosophy a f t e r a premise of universal doubt.
- IONESCO 'S SUBJECTIVE WOFLD
... i n r e a l i t y , the existence of t he world seems t o me not absurd but unbelievable, yet i n t r i n s i ca l l y , wi thin the framework of existence and the world, one can see things c lea r ly , discover law and e s t ab l i sh "re t ional" rules . The incomprehensible appesrs t o us only when we re turn t o the very springs of existence; when we take u a pos i t ion i n the s idel ines a n d obtain a t o t a l p ic tu re of it. P Ionesco's "oneir ic uni-;ersel', or dream world, i s the fascinat ing
bas i s fo r h i s a r t . The investigation of dreams becomes a metho? f o r
presenting the oneiric.panorama a s act ion on the sta,ge. "The dreams'
enchantment- -sometimes joyous, usual ly f ru s t r a t i ng or t e r r i f y ing - - i s
replaced by a factual it:^ reminiscent of Kafka. The specta tor m2y f ind
the flow of events incoherent o r disconnected and the dialogue i s of ten
a s e r i e s of paralogisms o r automatic puns, but the characters--whether
surprised, indignant o r frightened--accept such phenonena a s r e a l . 112
It i s t h i s "dream method" which forms the bas i s f o r Ionesco's
idea of " r e i n t e g r a t i ~ n " froc: which der ives , i n n i s l a t e r plays, the idealism
which the playwright i s gradually expounding. Ionesco' s de s i r e f o r
Ionesco, ~ u & n e , Notes and Counterriotes, Grove Press , Inc . ( ~ e w York, 1964), p. 217.
'~uicharnaud, J., Modern French Theatre, Yale Univ. Press ( ~ e v Haven, 1967), p. 217.
3~onasco ' s "idealism" i n the d e f ~ n c e of hmanity i s the subject of the next chapter en t i t l ed he ~ g r e n g e r Plays."
"a f r e sh v i r g i n i t y of mind" wi th which t o "re integrate" a r e a l i t y reduced
t o i t s lcwest terms by "dislocation" i s reminiscent of Lockets "tabula ,
rasa" o r the Car tes ian premise of universal doubt. The idea of a new
premise o r s t a r t i n g point i s precursor t o a "reintegrationf ' of experience
and s e n s i b i l i t y . I n o ther words, Ionesco attempts t o make some coherence
the "outer r e a l i t y " of the world by f i r s t exploring the "inner r e a l i t y "
h i s own mind.
The t ask facing Ionesco--his self-imposed t ask- - i s the i n t e rp r e t a t i on . object ive f a c t through subjective ins ight . His subjective inves t i -
gation of Death, f o r example, i n Tueur sans Gages and Le Roi se Meurt
i s a complete personal preoccupation w i t h the individual ' s confrontation
wi th the avatar of e x i s t e n t i a l absurdity. Once accepted as inevi table :
Ionesco "re integrates" h i s rea l i za t ion of the power of Death wi th the
c rea t ive power of the w i l l which enables ~ g r e n g e r t o f l y above h i s
s i t ua t i on and transcend the world i n - Le pigton de 1 ' A i r .
Ionesco's plays are more than t r ag i c farces because of t he two
major works which present ~ ( r e n g e r ( ~ v e r p a n ) face t o face with the
physical tyranny of the rhinoceros and the metaphysical tyranny of the
k i l l e r (Dmth) . Because the p l a y n i g h t accepts the Camusian asse r t ion
t h a t "happiness and thz absllrfi a re the scns of the same ear th" (E
Mythe de s isyphe) , he car, acccnunodate i 5 the sape play man's contingency
and h i s w i l l t o overcome t h i s contingency (however f u t i l e ) . The inherent
paradox i s perhaps the most s ign i f i can t r e s u l t of Ionesco's "accornmodatior~."
Were it not f o r t he c l a r i t y of the bas ic dilemmas he l uc id ly portrays
through h i s hero, Ionescc 's a r t would be l e s s than f a i t h f u l t o i t s p roc la imd
testimony. S t a r t i n g with the dilemma between r e a l i t y ar?d imagination;
subjective and obJective; comic and t rag ic ; Ionesco "re integrates" , tkrcugh
-
h i s plays, h i s inner perceptions in to ' concre te images such as t he
maturing ~ 6 r e n g e r or the empty artificiality of the Radiant City. It
i s not c l ea r whether Ionesco seeks a "utopia" of body and mind ( t h e
Radiant Ci ty i l l u s t r a t e s the f a i l u r e of concrete utopias) , but it i s
c l ea r t h a t he refuses t o ignore h i s anxiety or the p o s s i b i l i t y of s a l -
va t ion.
The most reveal ing study of Ionesco's "inner r ea l i t y " has been
presented by Richard Schechner. Schechner c a l l s the playwright "an
abs t r ac t expressionist" and then quotes Ionesco's own words concerning
the subjective or one i r ic experience:
I t r y t o p ro jec t on stage an inner drama (incomprehensible even t o myself) t e l l i n g myself, nevertheless, t h a t since the microcosm i s the image of the macrocosm, it may happen t ha t t h i s torn up, d i s a r t i cu l a t ed inner world i i n some way the mirror or the syrr~bol of universal contradictions, T;
The c r i t i c continues by s t a t i n g t ha t Ionesco's "work i s romantic and
subject ive , mirroring h i s own anguish and inner s t ruggles , t r ans l a t i ng
them i n t o symbols and pat terns t h a t have been emphatically embraced by
audiences throughout the world.115 To Schechner "the outer world i s the
s e t t i n g and the inner world the act ion of Ionescc's plays." This
substant ia tes the opinion of Guicharnaud and i s an explanation fo r the
of ten inexpl.ic3ble act ion of Ionesco' s characters. For example,
Choubert of Victimes du Devoir passes through many contort ions on the
s tage i n h i s f u t i l e search f o r Maillot. The movement which f i n a l l y
places him on top of a chzir i s ac tua l ly an adventure through h i s sub-
conscious mind. J u s t as a dance can express the inner emotions of the
dancer, Choubert's an t i c s a re the outward signs of an inner excursion
4 Schechner , Rlchard, "The Inner and t he Outer Real i ty ," Tuiane
Drama Review, 7 ( ~ e ~ t e r n b e r , 1963), 187.
through memory and imagination. To the people around him, Choubert's
absurd act ions a r e signs of madness, but Choubert, engrossed i n h i s own
sub jec t iv i ty , i s unaware of the strangecess of h i s an t i c s . Moreover,
while he i s under the s p e l l of h i s subconscicus, Choubert cares l i t t l e
for t he opinions of e i t h e r Madeleine or the Detective.
Ionesco i s the supreme ind iv idua l i s t i n t h a t he i s preoccu?ied
wi th h i s own i n t r o s p e c b i o ~ . His "detachment" from the world i s the
separation wi thin himself of r e a l i t y and h i s v is ion of r e a l i t y . It i s
an "inner" detachment besrirLg on the subjective experience and carriet i
i n t o t he "outer" r e a l i t y m e r ~ l y 5y the hope t h a t t h i s i s possible t o
achieve. The hope derives from the fea r t h a t man i s an emotionlessshell
impotent t o combat the absurdity of the world yet conscious of a "beyond
r e a l i t y " or cosmic sigilificance. The one i r ic world i s one of absolutes
and t ru th . The in tu i t iveness of fantasy and imagination, based on r e a l i t y ,
and d i s t o r t ed by the s i l e n t ac t ion of dreams during s leep, provides
revela t ion. "I d r 2 a t h a t I a m told: 'The revela t ion, the answer t o
a l l your questions can only come t o you i n a dream. You must have a
dream.' So, i n my d r e m , I f a l l asleep and I dream, i n my drezm, t ha t
I'm hwing the absolute d r e m . O n wakinz, t h a t ' s t o say on r e a l l y waking,
I reinember having dremed that I ' d dreamed, but I can remember nothing
about the d r e m wit,'c.,in a L r e a ~ , the dream of &bsolute t r u t h , the d r e m
tha t explai ned e ~ e r ~ h i n g . ,,6
The d i l e x m facing Ionesco i s t h a t the "drezn of absolute t ru th"
i s evasive i n r e a l i t y . Man i s al ienated from the universe through no
f a u l t of h i s o m , and it i s the "divine spsrk" of consciousness t h a t
6 Ionesco, ~ u ~ k n e , Fra@r~ents -- of a Journal , Grove Press, Inc. (Xew
York, :968), p. 23.
causes h i s anguish, a s t he de s i r e t o order chaos, both psychic and cosmic,
i s cont inual ly thwarted by contradictions and absurdities. It i s t h i s
cosmological f ru s t r a t i on t h a t prompts Ionesco t o zxplicate the absolutes
of h i s one i r ic universe and t o dream "the 6ream t h a t explained everything."
Ionesco's quest fo r absolutes i s evident not only i n h i s journals
but a l s o i n h i s severe c r i t i c i sm of ideologies. The playwright con-
sc iously s t r i ved t o avoid the h y p ~ c r i s i e s t yp i ca l of dogmatic a n t i -
ideologis ts , who oppose ex i s t ing ideologies with a n t i t h e t i c a l ones. I n
Ionesco's opinion, d i a l e c t i c a l synthesis i s an unacceptable concept
s ince the p o l a r i t i e s on which it i s base6 may both be based on f a l s e ,
unjust , i r r e l evan t , o r e v i l notives. While ideology might be t e ~ p o r a r i l y
constructive i n opposing the e v i l s of to ta l i t a r ian i sm o r t he rhinoceriza-
t i o n of human beings, Ionesco refuses t o embrace spec i f ic ideologies or
t o accept apparently complete and s a t i s f ac to ry answers t o permanent
and omnipresent problems.
David Grossvogel discusses the idea, of "absolute" a s it appl ies
t o the t hea t r e cf Iotiesco. I n general, "since the mind. cannot grasp
absolutes shor t of p r iva te revela t ion, re l iance upon them m s t be an a c t
of faith.'17 Grcssvogel r e f e r s t o A13ert Camus who would not accept
t h i s "fa i th" , sonething "which sensory evidence mocks." To Camus, a *
leap of f a i t h avoids the bas ic c eta physical question about the ~ a l u e
of existence. "The way out of t h i s dilemma has been the acceptance of
some transcendental reference, an absolute such as Truth or God. lf8
7~ ros svoge l , David, The Blasphemers, Cornell Universi ty Press . ( ~ e w York, 1965), p. 58.
81bid.
- 26 - But even if the philosopher cannot accept t h i s "reference", Ionescc
has a l a t e n t hope t h a t such a fai t ,h w i l l br ing i n i t s reward, and he
t r u s t s t h a t "nevertheless ... some fundamental pr inciples may remain
upon which I can lean consciously and ins t inc t ive ly . n9 ~ o n e s c o i s
prejudiced against h i s f a t e , and h i s vivid imagination, tempered with
nightmares and the hope of revela t ion, forces him t o revo l t against h i s
condition. For Ionesco, "the only posi t ive statement of which man i s
capable i s . . . t i ed t o the absurd. rt10 I n other words, an acceptance of
absurd r e a l i t y i s e s sen t i a l before there can be hope of coming t o terms
with psychic chaos or cosmological f ru s t r a t i on . By exploring the
anarchic l abyr in th t h a t i s h i s mind, Ionesco believes t h a t discoveries
can be made which can stand as f ixed or absolute as the world arourid
f luc tua tes t o the absurd syndrom?.
Spared from the categor ical conclusions of Dada pessimism or
Leibnizian optimism, Ionesco remains as a man of hope who, a f t e r two
decades of playwrit ing, has found values end possible answers through
h i s art. As h i s dreams explore h i s fantas ies and the ideas of h i s
img ina t i on , Ionesco's ?lays explore the p o s s i k i l i t y of act ion i n a
world where ac t ion seems f h t i l e . The scope of h i s work i l l u s t r a t e s a
gradual r i s e from the cynicism of La Cantatr ice Chauve t o the posl t ive
humanism of ~h inocg ros . Also, the ~ 6 r e n ~ e r plays i l l u s t r a t e the pro-
gression of a human being Prom naive& t o i n i t i a t i o n . Ionesco's work
i s an example of progression from s a t i r e t o idealism, and, althouz3
fa rce remains, the playwright allows the ideas impl ic i t i n h i s work t o
pass f r e e l y a s pa r t of the act ion.
9~onesca , ~ u ~ ' e n e , notes and Counternotes, p. 39.
10~rossvogel: D . , op. cit., p. 59.
- 27 - Ionesco implies t h a t h i s subjective aberrat ions form par t of h i s
quest f o r absolutes. He i s a Cantesian i n h i s be l ie f t ha t introspection
i s the door t o perception and t ha t observation can best be ~ a d e through
what i s given t o the individual: t ha t is, a mind and a posi t ion i n the
universe. This r e t i o n s l i s t i c approach causes the playwright t o accept
an i n i t i a l doubt, o r anarchy, a s the desi rable means of discovering
some Platonic order of the good. From the intense subjective experience
of 'his one i r ic world, Ionesco derives clbjective insight t ha t r e su l t s
from h i s self-questioning; "I hope a time f o r r e l a t i ve ly absolute
ob jec t iv i ty , i f I may so express myself, w i l l one day come when a l l
storms have passed. I t 1 1
As a playwright, Ionesco i s "mgage'" i n a d i f f e r en t way from
Sar t re or Brecht. Ionesco allows h i s imagination t o conceive of a t r u t h
t h a t i s constant and immutable even though it may be imperceptible.
H i s objection t o ideology stems from h i s d i s s a t i s f ac t i on with the tem-
poral expediency of such theories which perhaps fabr icate order from -d
chaos without being sure t ha t t h i s a r t i f i c i a l order has foundation.
Ionesco i s not opposed t o order--his technique a.rd s t y l e shcw an obsession
fo r i t - -but he opposes order based on log ica l fa l l acy . Ionesco believes
t h a t order i s 50 5e discovered x t h e r than imposed. I n other words,
h i s order i s synonynous with absolutes, and absolutes are more objects
of h i s spezulatioa than established f ac t s . Ionesco b i t t e r l y s a t i r i z e s ?
v t f s l l a c ious order i r , h i s most fanous anti- ideolcgical" play ~h inoc6ros .
J u s t a s the Sergeant Musgrave of John Arden's play choreograp'ns h i s
l og i c t o an ar i thnie t ical ly va l id , but humanly preposterous, conclusion,
'?tonesco, ~ u & n e , op. c i t . , pp. 79-80.
so the human beings who become pachyderms i n Ionesco's p lay a r e condemned
f o r twis t ing the l og i c of t h e i r ideology beyond a l l value. Logic
i t s e l f i s not the answer a s f a r as Ionesco i s concerned. I t s laws i- - - -
a re designed r a the r than real ized, and the por t rayal of the Logician
i n ~h inoc6 ros supplies an i l l u s t r a t i o n of the playwright's disdain
fo r l og i ca l conclusions.
While h i s a r t i s frequently s o l i p s i s t i c , Ionesco i s not a t r ue
s o l i p s i s t when the ex te rna l references of h i s plays a re considered.
As hzs been mentioned, h i s sxb;ectlve invest igat ion i s preliminary t o
an objective reference and does not stand alone. Jacques Guicharnmd
ta lks of "the tension betweeri a superabundance of being and the absolute
impossibi l i ty of Jus t i fy ing the f s c t of being."'* This "tension" of
which he speaks corresponds t o the bas ic dilemma of the absurd expressed
by Camus; it cannot be resolved, merely accommodated. A t times, Icnesco
appears t o be una3le t c achieve such accommodation:
A f i n i t e universe i s unimaginable, inconceivable. An i n f i n i t e universe i s unimaginable, inconceivable. Doubtless the universe i s nei ther f i n i t e nor i n f i n i t e , s ince the f i n i t e end the i n f i n i t e a re only man's way of thinking about i t ; i n any case, t h a t f i n i t e - ness and inEinit3ness should only be vays of thinking and speaking i s a l so inconceivable, unimagimble. We cannot take a simple s tep beyond, u r owr! impotence; outside those wal ls I f e e l s i ck and giddy. 3
It i s i n h i s "impotence" as man tha t Ionesco f inds both a f i n i t e m d
an i n f i n i t e universe unimaginable. He f ee l s "sick and giddy" when fa.ced
with the m o c ~ t e r s of h i s imzginaticn t ha t t an t a l i z e h i s exsectat ion
while allowing f o r only a very l imited perception beyond the s e l f .
"~uicharrraud, J. , op. c i t . , p. 221.
13~oaesco, ~ u & n e , - Fmgnents of a Journal, p. 25.
But Ionesco's s t o i c courage i s eveqwhere evident end po ten t ia l ly
strong enough t o overcome h i s metaphysical depression: "Death alone
can, and w i l l , c lose my mouth." Death, therefore, i s the only absolute
negative known, and before i f s t r i ke s , the h m n being has the a b i l i t y
t o a c t a s long a s h i s f ree w i l l allows him t o forget h i s anxiety about
the world. Ionesco admits the permanence of the dichotomy between
r e a l i t y acd the image of t ha t r e a l i t y : ".. .history, i n i t s a t t e ~ p t
t o ' r e a l i z e ' myth, d i s t o r t s it, stops half'way: when h i s to ry claims t o
have 'succeeded', the re i s nothing but humbug and mystif ication.
Everything we dream i s ' r ea l i zab le ' . Real i ty does not have t o be: it
i s simply what it i s . It i s the dreamer, not the thinker or the s c i e n t i s t
who i s revolutionary: it i s he who t r i e s t o change the world. "14
The question, therefore , i s one of perception where thought ar,d
act ion become being, and where cne s e n s i b i l i t y conceives of a certair!
r e a l i t y , another may think d i f fe re rLt ly without disagreeing with t he
previous conclusion. "I can believe as natural ly i n t he po t en t i a l
r e a l i t y of f i c t i o n a s i n my owa dreams." ( ~ o t e s ------ and Couater-otes,
p. 16). T'ce s ig r~ i f icance oP ionesco's philosophy l i e s i n the playwright's
a b i l i t y t o conceive of other r e a l i % i e s than h i s imnediate experience,
without a c tua l l y perceiving them. This i s reminiscent of Xantiin the
Western World or <he passivism of Zen i n the Eastern. But beyond the
philosophical content of t h i s rea l i za t ion e x i s t s Ionesco's histrionic
o r i g i n a l i t y whicn takes the abstractions of h i s one i r ic world and
dramatizes them as concrete e n t i t i e s on the l i v e stage. So, f o r example,
14 Ionesco, ~ u $ n e , -- Notes and Counternotes, p . 16.
~ C r e n ~ e r i s the personif icat ion of human f ree w i l l , and the K i l l e r i s
the personif icat ion of the absolute which "can, and w i l l , shut my mouth."
But while these "abstractions" a re made concrete, they never lose
t h e i r i n i t i a l i n t s g i b i l i t y as Ionesco searches fo r the meaning of ex i s t -
ence. The l i be r a t i on of h i s mind through the fantasy reminiscent of
the s u r r e a l i s t philosophy affords the playwright the a b i l i t y t o transcend
the cofitrollitig conformity spbo l i zed by the bourgeois nen ta l i ty .
Ionesco's development since La Cantatrice Chauve emanates from the - 11 re in tegrat ion" of h i s subjective insight and h i s objective experience.
H i s progress i s a jowney from doubt and apprehension t o hope and
expectation, and h i s plays are testimony t o t h i s advance.
It is incorrect t o c a l l Ionesco an e x i s t e n t i a l i s t :
I n contras t t o the so-called e x i s t e n t i a l i s t thea t re , according t o which man has the freedom and indefeasible power t o make himself and make the world, Ionesco's theatre i s one of disenchantzent. His vi-sion may be s imilar t o the ear ly stages of the e x i s t e n t i a l i s t philosophy--the isola t ion ' of the individual consciousness i n our absurd universe, the unjust i f ied presence of things, and the a n - bearable f a c t of existence i t se l f . . . - -bu t while both Sa,rtre and Camus developed t h e i r themes i n to reasons fo r act ion, Ionesco, one l i t e r y generation younger, marks the f a i l u r e of any such ambition. E
Ionesco's thea t re i s exemplary of a personal disenchantment with the
world, acd, i f Le pigton de I I A i r i s any indication, he yearns t o
transcend t b e t e r r e s t r i a l prison. As c r i t i c Guicharnaud suggests,
Ionesco ' s "iso!.ation of the i n d i ~ d u a l consciousness1' i s s i ~ i l a r t o
ex i s ten t ia l i sm 's "ear ly pbases." But, a t t h i s point , Ionesco pa r t s
company with the " ac t i v i s t s " Sar t re and Camus.
15~uicl~arnaud, Jacques, Modern French Theatre : -- From Girau.6ov.x to Genet, revised eci., Yale Ziciversity Press (new Haven, 1967), p . 223.
Sar t r e has been
ment i n France whose
- 31 -
the i n f l uen t i a l leader of the
idea of 'pr&is l (act ion) and
E x i s t e n t i a l i s t move-
membership i n such
notable bodies a s the Stockholm war-crimes Court i s common knowl.edge.
Camus w a s a journa l i s t , a pa r t i san during the German occupation of
France, and an ed i t o r of the revolutionary publication 'Co~ioat.' But
Ionesco has never considered activism a s par t of h i s quest . I n f a c t ,
h i s f l i g h t from the I ron Guard and h i s search fo r t r anqu i l i t y i n France
i s representa t ive of the playwright's des i re t o seek a metaphysical
revolution ra ther than a p o l i t i c a l .
Icnesco's metapllysical revo l t i s thus primarily personal. That
i s , he i s a s in te res ted i n bringing order t o h i s own psychic chaos as ,, , '
he i s i n c rea t ing tes t imonial plays fo r h i s audience. Ionesco i s the a
~ 4 r e n g e r who stands alone i n t he rhinoceros world of confornity.
A l t h o ~ g h it i s incorrect t o c a l l Icnesco an e x i s t e n t i a l i s t , the re a re
e x i s t e c t i a l i s t eizments i n h i s wr i t ing . ( 1 t a l so can be argued that.
the re i s Chr i s t i an philosophy i n h i s i d e a l i s t quest f o r the "absolute
good" and Marxistv philosophy i n h i s pursui t o f humanitarian i dea l s ) .
His a r t i s preoccupied with dreams and hag ina t i on i l lL l s t ra ted t h r o ~ g h
the rnediixn of' t hea t r e , whereas "it r e q u l ~ e s o~1.y 2, rapid glance over
the philosophy of the l a s t hundred yaars t o discover i n i t s development
a remarkable enlarge men^ of content, a progressive o r ien ta t ion tcvard the
immediate and the cpa l i t a t i ve , the exis tent and factual--"concreteness
and adequacy," t o use Whitehead's pregnant words. J 6 SO, while
ex i s ten t ia l i sm i s "orientedt ' more toward the "inmediate" srd th?
16 Barre t , W i l l i a m , What i s Existeatial isn??, Grove Press , Inc .
( ~ e w York, 1965) , p . 22.
"existent", Ionesco i s oriented toward the metaphysical and transcenden-
t i a l .
I n h i s book on the experimental thea t re i n France, Leonard C .
Pronko notes "four pr inciples of exis tent ia l ism whrch are re f lec ted i n
one o r more of the major avant-garde wr i t e r s today. 1117 Pronko, by
r e l a t i ng these p r inc ip les , does not presume t o suggest t h a t Ionesco i s
an e x i s t e n t i a l i s t , "it i s simply t h a t the school of Sar t re sums up a
ce r ta in a t t i t u d e t h a t prevailed i n France i n the f o r t i e s and continues,
i n ce r ta in respects , t o prevai l . ??I8
Ionesco's philosophy substant ia tes the f i r s t point made by Pronko.
That i s , "absurdity i s the underlying fabr ic of man's existence. Man,
i n h i s moments of honesty and l uc id i t y , i s aware t ha t h i s l i f e has no
absolute meaning, and t h a t he must l i v e as i n a void. Nonexistence con-
s t a n t l y threatens hid119 This idea of an "unbelievable world" ( see footnote
#I) appears f requent ly i n the playwright's works and journals, and h i s
f ea r of "nonexistence" forever plagues h i s mind:
... when I was four or f ive years old I real ized I should grow older and older and t ha t I should d ie . A t about seven or e igh t , I said t o myself t h a t my mother would d ie some day and the thought t e r r i f i e d me. 20
The four ~ 6 r e n ~ e r plays, discussed i n the next chapter, a re deeply
concerned with the idea of death as the negation of l i f e . Tueur sans
17pronko, L . C . , Avant-Garde, Univ. of Ca l i f . Press ( ~ e r k e l e y and Los Angeles , 1966) , p . 19.
l81b i d .
20~onesco, ~ u $ n e , Fragments of a Journal , op c i t . , p . 10.
Gages and Le Roi se N e w t --
over death, an anxiety he
are dramatic re f lec t ions of Ionesco's a m i e t y
f i r s t f e l t a t "four or f i ve years old."
Pronko's second pr inc ip le concerns man being "bogged down i n h i s
physical being, a t tsched t o a pat tern , a fixed idea of good, a conception
of himself, which denies h i s humanity. He ceases t o chacge, ts becone,
i s turned i n to a thing. The overabmdence of things i s nailseating, f o r '*
it l i m i t s our freedom. 112' The "fixed idea of good" pa ra l l e l s Ionesco's
term " ra t iona l rules" ( see footnote ff-1). It i s a defence by soc i a l man
who, admitting t h a t t he r s a re elements on the universe beyond h i s under-
standing, fabr ica tes an order fo r h i s l i f e t ha t appears most expedient.
Sy c l inging t o t h i s "order", man a c a ~ s t h e t i z e s himself f rox a concern
fo r develcpment, a development t ha t ~ d r e n ~ e r i s able t o a t t a i n i r , h i s
non-capitulation. The Logician of ~h inoc6 ros i s the c lea res t example
of an ordered n:ind ",hat i s iinable t o -zansfe r the mental for!r.ulae i c t ~
the surroundir~g world cf r e a l i t y . The "overabuiidance of t3ings1' i s
Ionesco's p r eoccqa t i on of the e z r l i e r plays. Ma.n becomes m r e a3d
more niechznized as ke r e f l e z t s the "overa5mdaace 3f things" -that he hes
created around himself. This i s t t e theme of lihir,cc&os w'riers man has
become an autom+,cn f s t a l t o himself'. Ionescc canrict bear the p ~ s s i b i l i t y
of rr,sn destroying h i a se i f by a choking materialism, and, ra ther than
sanction a soc i a l revolution as does Sar t re , he believes i n man's
natural a b i l i t y t o "f ly" as ~ g r e n ~ e r i n Le ?i;ton de l l A l r . For
Ionesco, the answer t o t he e x i s ~ e n t i a l predicament i s a metaphysical
awakeni ng .
*'~ronko, L. C., op. c i t . , p. 19.
Pronko's t h i r d pr inciple ; "Jus t a s man and h i s values may congeal
through hab i t , so may ~~~~~~ge becoine dead and inoperative, paralyzing
our thoughts. With such an instrument no comunication i s poss ible ... 1'22
#
The idea of language reduced mzrely t o a mdiun of meaningless c l ich?s
i s instrumental i n the themes of Ionesco's e a r l i e r plays--especial ly
La Canta t r ice Chauve and La Le~on . It was the meaningless jargon of
the Assimil l a z g ~ a g e primer, with w k l c h Ionesco hoped t o learr , the
~ n g l i s h language, that, f i r s t p r o q t e d the ~ l a y w r i g h t t o wr i t e an
"anti-play" where words ar,d ac t icns becane meaningless. The mention
by M r . Martin, f o r example, of a woman who a t e chicker, i n a wasp's
nest i s incongru~us enough t o be musing acd i s s t r o ~ g enough 50 s a t i r -
i c a l l y r e f l e c t the s t e r i l i t y of the l i ve s of the two niddle c lass famil ies ,
the Smiths and t he Martins. The play concludes with t'ne Lnccherent
babblings of these people who reverse t h e i r ro les only t o recomence
the whole f u t i l e exerc ise . Ionesco's play Is a strong condemnation of
"congealed h&bits7' and "dead, inoperative langdage . " The f i n a l p i n c i p l e c i t ed bj. Pronko i s especia l ly relevant t o t e
four &renger plays whi_cE?, SO f a r , culminate Icnesco's progression from
s a t i r e t o a specultztive idealism i n humanity. "There i s no hma? na t -oe .
Man i s only what he makes of himself; therefore the re i s no such t h i cg
, a s a f ixed character i n the us-,x,l sense. Man i s an ex i s ten t i n a s i tuat5on. t t 23
The se l f -asse r t ion of ~ $ r e n g z r i n ~h inoc&os or -. Le ~ i & t o n de l ' A i r , f o r
example, i s an a c t of s e l f - w i l l vhich i s a s tep forwsrd f r m the sub-
( missive ~ d r e n ~ e r of Tdeur ssns Gages. ~ g r e n ~ e r i s not r e s t r i c t e d by h i s ',
humanity t o the point where he i s helpless t o a t t a in freedom from h i s
predicament. Catherine Hughes substantiates t h i s idea of se l f -wi l l i n
action:
With ~ 6 r ~ e q e r ( s i c ) , he (~onesco) kcows tha t mn i s sliperior to the rhinoceros: he i s deprived o f some par t of his e s sen t i a l humanity--his d ' gn i t y as man--in bowing t o the contemporary e th i c of conformity. 2$
The achievement on Ionescofs par t i s h i s development from a playwright,
preoccupied with the anxiet ies and perplexit ies of h i s subjective
consciousness, t o a playwright who knows "that m m i s superior t o the
rhinoceros." He i s no l e s s preoccupied with the subjective world, but
he has expanded h i s perception into the "outer rea l i ty . "
Pronko i s adamant t ha t Icnesco i s an absurdist and not an existen-
t i a l i s t - - " I do not mean t o suggest t ha t Beckett, Ionesco, or Adanov
a r e e x i s t e n t i a l i s t s , or would even acknowledge a debt t o existential isin. ,125
The point i s t h a t the premises of both Ionesco and the e x i s t e n t i a l i s t s
a re e s sen t i a l l y the same as Pronko has outlined..
Another di f ference between Ionesco and the e x i s t e n t i a l i s t s apar t
frm the a t t i t udes of "engag;" and ffd6gag$' are the separste d i rec t ions
of the two individus; philosophies. Ionescv progresses t ~ v c r d s the
nmani ty and t raxcer iden ta l freedon of ~ & e n ~ e r t h o u g h the imaginetion
of h i s "oneiric universe." An existcrl t ;al ist slaywrig'n~ such as Sar t re
i s corrmitteci more t o imnizdia~e concerns. For example, Le Dizble e t l e
bon 3 ieu , an epic httack on i n s t i t ~ t i o n a l Catholicism, shot-s a spec i f i c - ---
ideological cmni tnen t . Ior?escols plays an3 Jmrna l s r e ~ r s a l t h a t lie has
2 4 Hughes, Catherirle, "Ionesro's Plea fo r 1dat-1," Tienascezce, 14
( 1952), 12L~-125.
25~.ronlco; L. c . , op. c i t . , F. 19.
no equivalent comnitment.
I n an interview published i n Les Cahiers Libres de l a Jeunesse,
Ionesco admitted the following about the possible "engagement" of
... Let us admit t h a t you have caught m e i n the a c t of contradic- t i o n and t h a t I have been tenpted t o wr i t e "committed drama," t o plead a cause and prosecute. But we a l l contradic t ourselves more or l e s s i n l i f e . The most eminent philosophers contradict themselves wi thin the body of t h e i r system. But what of the poet, who creates f i r s t one work and then another? I do not believe we need overcome and rssolve contradictions. That would mean impoverishment. We must allow contradictions t o develop f ree ly ; perhaps our conf l i c t s w i l l resolge themselves dynamically by counterbalancing each other. . . '12
Ionesco's acceptance of inherent contradictions i s the opposite of the
attempt of t he e x i s t e n t i a l i s t s t o form a consistent philosophy. Led on
by the anarchy of h i s imagination, Ionesco attempts t o order h i s sub-
jec t ive aberra t ions only a s f a r as h i s personal scepticism allows.
I n t he depths of h i s mind he i s constantly aware of the fea rs t h a t
t e r r i f i e d him i n h i s childhood., above a l l the f ea r of death.
It i s unl ikely t h a t I o ~ e s c o himself f u l l y real ized the i n i t i a l
s t ep taken ~ i t h presezta t ion of La Cantatrice Chauve. From t h i s p'oint
on, h i s perception ir-fo l i f e and society, and h i s stage r e f l ec t i on of
the synthesizei! ideas of h i s dreamworld enabled the playwright t o present
t he 11~1rian testimony of t he ~ k r e n g e r plays. From the former play t o the
l a t t e r plays, Ionesco moves from a personal fee l ing of strangeness and
bwi lder r t i e~ t t em~ered wi th scepticism (expessed i n h i s s a t i r e ) t o a
"reintegrated" posi t ion. This "reintegration", or synthesis of h i s
subjective ins ights , I s expressed most admirably i n t he humanity of
26 Ionesco, ~ u g g n e , Notes and Counternotes, op. c i t . , p. 11.5.
~ g r e n ~ e r . It i s i n the four plays about h i s "everyman" hero t ha t
Ionesco "has t ransla ted h i s d r e a d i n to the speeches of h i s conscicus
mind . ,127
27~eightman, John, "Death and the Dream," (a summary of Fragments of a ~ o u r n a l ) , The Observer Review arch 24, 1968).
THE. B $ ~ G E R PLAYS
The four ~ g r e n ~ e r plays ( ~ u e u r sans Gages, R'ninoc&os, Le Roi se
Meurt, -- and Le pigton de ~ ' A i r ) make concrete on the stage the abstractions
of Ionesco's mind. Writ ten within f i ve years of one another (1959-1953)
the plays represent the gradual maturing of the "everyman" hero B6renger
from naivet; t o an averecess of h i s cocdition.
Tueur sans Gages, f i r s t produced i n Pa r i s i n February, 1959, - presents a "horr i f ied and dis i l lus ioned B&engerW w i t h the opposition of
"a rutLLless k i i l e r who murders two or three persons every day. "' This
k i l l e r , the personif icat ion of Death, i s the only flaw i n the utopian
perfect ion of the Radiant City, brainchild of the omnipotent Architect
who ru les 2 2 . Within the bureaucratic order of the c i t y , the K i l l e r
tempts h i s victims with a photograph of "the colonel" and tken drovns
them i n the "ornamental pool" while they a re engrossed i n th? p o r t r a i t .
Only the mmbers of the c i v i l service are immune from the onslaught of
the k i l l e r because they axe nore the cogs i c the wheel of an interminable
system than they a r e human beings. Tueur sans Gages prepares the way
be l lwar t i i , George E . , The Thezt De~eloumer~ts i n the Avant-Garde Dram:
;re of Pro tes t and Paradox: t , Mew York Universi+,y Press - --
(New York, 1gG4), p. 65.
f o r tne next two &renger plays, ~h inoc&os , f i r s t prduced i n Januarj.,
1960, and Le Roi se Meurt, produce@ i n December, 1962.
~h inocg ros i l l u s t r a t e s the ultimate mechanics1 tyranny deriving
from human blindness, tke f e t i s h fo r so l idar i ty , and the des i re fo r
nob iden t i ty . Rosette C . Lamont describes t h i s philosophy of ''the
pol ice state1' as "the supreme achievement of the conformist a t t i t ude . 11 2
Like the c i v i l servants of Tueu sans Gages the rhinoceri are inpervious
t o human feel ings , and t h e i r grotesqueness foresees the annihi la t ion of
the human race. Le Roi se Kel.;lrt once again presects ~ g r z n g e r corfronki i -
with the ~ i l l e r / ~ e a t h i n a lonely personal way. King ~e ' renger nust
suddenly come t o terms v i t h the fac t t ha t he I s dying. There i s no
personified k i l l e r i n Le Koi se Meurt, only the thought of death ra ther
than the p e r s o n i f i c a t i o ~ of the Ki l l e r . Ionesco external izes the
ind iv idus l l s fea r of death by demonstrating the ~ o c t o r t i o c s of s rran
who once ru-led h i s r i c h an6 powerf-~l kingdon, a kingdom now deter iora ted
t o a hellhole of freaks and zombies. The remants of what was on~ce the
ex t e r i o r g lory of h i s i n t e r i o r h u n a ~ d ign i ty are v i s i 3 l e as tbe shards
of h i s reelm,(and E&endar must wait fo r death i n hcpelessness an2
des t i t u t i on reassured only by the f ac t t ha t he has f i n a l l y cone t c terms
\ with afi z'Dsurd r e a l i t y .
,.*/
The four th ~e*renger pley, Le ~ i e ' t o n de l l A i r , produced i n Februarg,
1963, proclaims ~ e * r e n ~ e r es master of h i s t e r r e s t r i a l s i tua t ion . Firmly
s i t c a t ed i n the contingznt condition of h i s l1pedestria.n1l exLsf?cce,
~ 6 r e n ~ e r . i s capable of ri_sit?g t o heights of s p i r i t u a l freedom (SF-bolized
'iamont, R. C . , " A i r and Matter: Ionemco's 'Le ~ i e t o n de 1 ' P - i r ' acd 'Victir:ies d-k Devoir1 :" French Revj-ew, xxxvii i ( ~ a n u a r y , 1965), 351. -
by h i s f l i g h t above the ground) where a c t i v i t y a l l ev i a t e s t he anx ie t i es
about e x i s t e n t i a l problems. ~ g r e n ~ e r i s the "re integrat ior" cf aksurd
r e a l i t y a d k ~ r n ~ r ! t r a c scede rxe . 1: other words, ~ k r e c ~ e r has t ke
capacity t c l i v e azd ac t without succ~m'cing t o despondency camed 3:r k i s
comprehension of t h e zhsurdity of existence. The posi t ive ehment of the
four 36renger plays i s t he hero's a b i l i t y t o survive the a p o c a l y ~ t i c
f i n a l i t i e s of the f i r s t three plays ( i e : Death and "rhinocerization") --
and-reach the transcendental l i b e r t y of the fourth.
It i s d i f f i c u l t t o fathom the significance of Ionesco's progression
from Tueur sans Gages t o Le ~ i e ' t o n de 1 ' A i r . The lack of a "message"
and the o b s x r i t y as t o what elements are po ten t ia l ly enlightening
testimony nake Ionesco's thea t re d i f f e r en t from t h a t of " le the'gtre
du boulevard". h he "boulevard hero", child of the bourgeoisie, i s always
defined as the outstanding force anid powers t ha t unsuccessfully attempt
t o denigrate or destroy him. He i s recognized 2s a type of "superkero"
capa5le of overcoming "evilf1 elements, the clear-cut d i s t i n c t i on bet-t~eer.
"good" and "evil" b e i ~ g s inp le r fo r the bourgeois mentality. The
"boulevard hero" thus becomes the farce! of "good". )
~ 6 r e n ~ e r i s no e a s i l y - d e f i n e f i e r ~ . Ye i s e man Seset wl5h d i s -
illuslot;, fatalism, m c ' , a n incredlbiz naivet; that i n i t i e l i j ; ~ e t i 3 ~ r s hLn!
- 41 - by forces 'ceyond "is control . The G t i e e l e m ~ l t i n h i s command by which
he i s a51e t o ex t r i c a t e hiirseif from his own ie jec t io t l i s the f r ee xi11
he exercic,?s a: We coaclusion cf Ilhinoce'r~s w i t h t he wcrds " i e n?
ca2i tule pa; - " A t t i l l s e3.rly stege i r , &re-g?rls develorj~ent (the
seconC ~ 6 r e n ~ e r ?lay) t t ~ hero kes not y e t rea l ized the rsriifica.tlons of ,'
h i s exgression of f ree choice. I n f ac t , &engerl s con-ca-itulatioc I s
par t la . l ly due t o ? is Lmbilit;. t o conform w i t 5 thz m2b of ~ lcas te r ; h a t
has swallowed hi? zssoci?tes, h i s fr-er .2~: a d 3aisy.
I n --- ~ n l n o c & ~ s 36re,lger has r e a c k d a s t a t e cf se l f -z i s re r~ess t h s t
i s on a higher lev21 :,k.s,r. hi: a-hrcness i n Tueur sans Gages. I n Tueur --
sans Gages &renger i s the c lass ic " l iberal" vac i l l a t i ng from one point
of vie?? t o another without consideration of t he bas ic i s sues . Ic h i s
case, the issue i s cne of personal survival , but he submit,^ t o the k i l l e r
simply because he has not the w i l l t o r e s i s t . A t f i r s t ~ { r e n g e r ga l l an t l y
opposes the k i l l e r i a ar! impassioned defence of' h i s hwianity and a
se l f -deterxinat ion t o overcome the mt i s t ros i ty of the k i l l e r ' s duty.
~ 6 r e n g e r : ... Oh, you r e a l l y alre ra ther puny, a r en ' t you? Too pulny t o 3e e criininrl! I ' m not a f r a id of you! I,ock ~t me, lcok how rr-uch sLronger I run. I could knock you dcwn, knock you f ly ing with a f l i c k of my fi:igers. I could put you i n rry _oo:ket. Do you r e s l i z e? 3
But &renger soon conviaces hixsel f t h a t there i s i n f a c t a righteousness
i n the k i l l e r ' s duty, ar,d he s f i n i t s t o h i s adversary who stands mrac lng ly
before him.
2 "Ionesco , ~ug;?:le, The Ki l l e r and Other Plays , t r a c s . Donald. Vatson, ------
Grove Press , Icc. ( ~ e w York, 1960), ED. 98-99.
Berenger. . . .I don' t know. It may be my f a u l t , it may be yours. It may not be y o u p or mine. It may not be anyone's f a u l t . What you're doing may be wrong or it may be r i g h t , o r i t may be neither r i gh t nor wrong. I don' t know how t o t e l l . I t ' s possible t h a t the survival of the 'numan species i s of no importance, so what does it m t t e r i f it disappears . . . p erhaps the whole uciverse i s no good and you're r i gh t t o want t o b l a s t it all, o r a t l e a s t nibble a t i t , creature by creature, piece by piece ... or perhaps t h a t ' s wrong. I don' t know any more, I jus t don ' t know. You may be mistaken, perhaps mistzkes don ' t r e a l l y ex i s t , perhaps i t ' s we who a re mistaken t o w a ~ t t o exisf say what you believe, can ' t you? I can ' t , I can ' t . & ' -
B&enger seeks a "message" t o assuage h i s anguish. He i s prepared t o
believe t he worst but masochist ically des i res t o hear the k i l l e r specify
t h a t "the surv iva l cf the human species i s of no importance." But the
re t icence of the k i l l e r has one constructive element--it does not push
Bgrenger t o an i r r eve r s ib l e pessimisn. As long as the hero struggles
t o discover t he k i l l e r ' s motive he i s , i n a sense, f igh t ing t o prove
t he v a l i d i t y of existence by questiouing the absurd f i n a l i t y t o l i f e .
George Wellwarth wr i tes tha t :
Ionesco's theme i s the moral spinelessness of socie ty , personified i n men l i k e ~ g r e n g e r , the perfect types of P l i o t ' s "hollow nen." B&engerls powerlessness against the k i l l e r i s , as Ior~esco says, due t o h i s ows "ra ther commonplace morality." B6renger has nothing t o stand on; i n s p i t e of himself he keeps f inding arguments t o j u s t i f y the ! s i lk i - ' s actions. Yaving ;lo be l i e f of h i s o m , he represents a soc ie ty t ha t no longer has atly r i gh t t o defend i t s e l f agains t e v i l beca se it i s not convinced t ha t it i s b e t t e r than the e v i l opposing it. ?
B&enger ' s guignolesque submissiveneas i s due p a r t l y t o h i s soc i a l
her i tage. Because he has never been informed of values other tkan
mater ia l ones, he ca? see l i t t l e reason for taking a stand against the
k i l l e r . &renger i s a "hollow man" inasmuch as he wants t o bemme par t
4 Ionescc, ~ u & n e , op. c i t . , p. 107.
%ellr iarth, George, op. c i t . , p. 67.
- 43 - of the cybernetic and depersonalized mediocrity of the Radiant City.
H i s morali ty i s " c ~ ~ o n p l a c e ' ~ because he has g d l i b l y accepted the norms
of n i s soc ie ty i n wishing t o l i v e i n an environment governed by the
calcula t ing Architect .
&engerl s a t t r a c t i on t o Dany i s more a temporary realizatiocl of
the power of h i s humanity than it i s a sexual a t t rac t ion . I n Dany,
~ g r e n g e r recognizes a rebel l ious i n s t i nc t which forces her t o leave the
s t s f l i n g environment i n search of a "nev world". The area% of t h e
tt new world" i s something t ha t ~e ' renger too has imagined, but i n h i s
impetuousness t o r e a l i z e it i n concrete form he has been hoodwinked i n to
bel ieving t ha t the Radiant Ci ty i s the object of h i s dreams. ~ g r e n g e r
cannot understand Dany's e x d u s because he i s naive t o the valuce of
/ freedom he l a t e r r ea l i z e s i n Le ~ i e * t o n de l l A i r . ~ 6 r e n ~ e r . h s 'cezr,
i \, program!-& by c, confarxic;; socie5y to rczcyt a packaged c x i c e ~ t of I
i , i / free2om wnizt, i s i r , a2 tua l l t y t:le ciisgulsed t.yr2.m:- o; E! p d i c e s a t e - -
a disguise r t p p d w s y i n ~ k l c o c & o s . "Once acre I x ? s c o Ls cmcero?d ----- 116 with the prcblem of the i ;u~~ress:icr, cfr' i!-:div.id~elltj- i n mcdem s ~ c i e - b y . ,.
The important cha rac t e r i s t i c of the k i l l e r i s t ha t he i s not an
element of the soc ie ty t h a t ~ 6 r e n g e r d e s ~ a r a t e l y wishes t o join. I'he
k i l l e r "sans gages" (unhired) i s a l i en t o the soc i a l s t r ~ c t v i r e of the
Radiant City. The ~ y s t e r i o u s n e s s of t h i s inexplica~ole p3ecomenon has
rendered t h s c i - ty ' s people s i ler l t and the k i l l e r unopposed. i n t z k k g h i s
11 prey by means of the "colonel 's photograph. The pa the t ic physiqw of
t h i s the s t rcnges t force i n the c i t y sends ~ 6 r e r i ~ e r ree l ing i n h i s de-
f iance ariZ t h r e a t s . B~1.t t he p i s t o l s 'ne aims a t h i s opponen% t r n t o
stone i n h i s hands. His dramatic monologue a t the conclusion of the
play i s an example of ~ g r e n g e r ' s perplexity a t h i s seemingly ins ign i f ican t
adversary. I n the k i l l e r ~ { r e n ~ e r sees, not a magical opposing force
against whict there i s r,o Cefence, but "yonr cold determination, your
ruthlessness. " ~ k r e n g e r , though armed with the weapons of society
discovers t o h i s dismay, "...what good are b u l l e t s even against the
res is tance of an i n f i n i t e l y stilbborrl w i l l " h he K i l l e r , p. 108). It - i s 'a s imilar "stubbornness" t o t ha t exemplified by the k i l l e r t h a t
~ g r e n g e r l a t e r i nhe r i t s i n ~h inockros refusing t o cap i tu la te t o the
surrounding soc ia l t unamy . But h i s f i n a l words i n Tueur sans Gages - amou.nt t o complete submission ar,d re fusa l t o struggle against the onslaught
of death. "There' s nothing we can do. What can we do.. . What can we
do ..." His words are not a question, they are a submission.
The k i l l e r of Tue71r sacs Gages is, i n a sensz, l e s s l e t h a l than
Death i n Le Eoi se Meurt. The unhired k i l l e r of the Radiant City i s r,o
worse than the deadly conformity of the Arch i tec t ' s s t e r i l e icon. The
Radiant City i s an institution run by mechacical ru les where an individual
is l o s t i r , the group. Life i n t h i s c i t y k i l l s ~e ' renger t o h i s individ-
u a l i t y so t ha t he must conrorm t o the PieL Piper t a c t i c s of the k i l l e r
with the colonel 's photograph. Dan;- r e ~ u d i a t e s the mob control t h a t
n &renger wishes t o enter . ~ e l f _ m s e cI' his "de2"Jn" in t he end a t t h e
hands of the k i l l e r , & r e ~ l ~ e r I s able t~ "live" sg2in v l t ' n the i:?ividualit :r
he as se r t s ic ~ h i r ~ o c & - o s . ------
impl ic i t ly reaffirmed h i s hope tha t the human being h ~ s the wil-1 and the
courage t o r i s e abo~re the terrors , of the ex i s t en t i a l world and reasse r t
himself. I n other words Ionesco i s implying t ha t humanity i s of suff ic ient
value i n i t s e l f t o contirue i t s existence no matter what the odds are
against it. So Ionesco "...has come t o have a sense of sa t i s fac t ion with
l i f e and a love of a l l i t s aspects, without a t the same time r e l i n -
quishing h i s deeply rooted pessimisn."7 This i s f a r from being e
hypocr i t ica l stance but ra ther a ~ a r a d o x i c a l ref lect ion of man's absurd
condition. What obsessed Ionesco i n h i s e a r l i e r plays such as L'Avenir
e s t dans l e s Oeufs and Jacques ou l a Soumission - was the meaninglessness
of interminable human existence aingled with the strange a r t i f i c i a l
fabr icat ions of society. Sut i u h i s l a t e r plays ( e spec i a l . 1~ the ~ 6 r e n g e r
plays) Ioneszo gradually placed h i s clestre t o nake more sense of l i f e
above h i s de s i r e t o de t rac t from it or negate it. Ionesco, l i k e Cams,
presents man a s a r ebe l against h is s i tua t ion . Menrsmlt i n L'Etranger -A
as se r t s h i s i den t i t y through murder; 2grz;ger i n ~ i l i x & r x i;;rough ncn- 4-
--- ----
capi tula t ion. Both men i n t h e i r rebel l ion repudiate the idea of a
nonsense ex i s tmce and make t h e i r actions r e l e v m t t o t h e i r idealism.
This idealism i s s inply a n asser t ion t ha t there i s v a l i d i t y I n existence,
an idealism r a i s i ng man above the bana l i t i e s of t e r r e s t r i a l experience.
Man, though firmly rooted i n the ;bsurc! wwld, t h i l ~ Seccmes a type 0i' --
Aris to te l i an t r a g i c hero, doomed i n i t i & l l y , yet forever f ishtir ig agzinst
the forces of doom:
'i4ellwerthJ George, op. c i t . , p. 69.
. . .~hinoc&os about i t ~ L I . re f is de tous l e s syst&es e t s e termine sur une itr-age de l 'home debout e t s o l i t a i r e . Par tou t , l a meme dgtresse e t l a ~e^i;;e langoisse, nais i c i , pour'la ~ r e rn i z r e f o i s , l ' a f f i rmat ion que 13 noblesse de l'hcmme consiste e r ce q u ' i l
I p e w Gtre un rg f r ac t a i r e .
I It i s ir?_ h i s rebe l l ion t h a t ~ 6 r e n ~ e r finds strength t o overcozie the
previous l x i t y which characterized h i s p r s o n a l i t y . A t the S e g i ~ n i n g
of ~ i n o c 6 r o s ~ 6 r e n ~ e r confroms thp, cold c a l c u l a ~ t n g orthcdoxy of Jean:
Jean: My dear man, everybdy has t o work. I spen6 elght, hours a day ir: the o f f i c e the snme as everyone e l se . And I o22.y get th ree weeks off a yew , 'cut even so you don't catch me... Will-power, my good man!g
~ & e r , ~ e r i s ii?32e l a t e r i n the pls;y tt; asse r t h i s "will-power" i n a more
c rez t ive d i rec t ion , 3ne of self--afr"iraation rs.ther than subservience.
. Before he has been s n outs ider from scc ie ty but t k i s l a t e r becomes h i s
salva.t,ion. Within the cc\nt.ext of society be i s a f a i l u r e without txe
i n i t i a t i v e t o ea:w a decent l.ivir,g, but as an_ individual ~ 6 r e n g e r senses
ti12 f u t i l i t y of ordered fzbr ice t ion and the mechanical res$onse t o accepted
norxs. The ~ { r e n ~ e r cf ??.01rr s;;ns G;.ges vanteci t o ,ioir~ the very socie ty ------
l a t i c n . a ~ . $ h i s f ree ~ i l l i s not exerc i se j u n t i l t k i s nun-czpitxlat iot~
. a t the eed sf the pl5.y.
~ 6 r e n ~ e r ' s a t citud:? t e~ra rds k;ureanity i s c l a s s i c a l snd aeive:
~ 6 r e n ~ e r : Well a t any r a t e , we have our own moral standards which I consider ;nc~mp:ttible with t h e stiindards cf these anirilzle . 1 0
8 Bonnef'oy, Claud,
Belfond (1966) , 206.
'~onesco, ~ u & n r , Derek Drouse and Donald
" ~ n t r e t i e n s avec ~ u ~ g n e Ionesco, " Editions P i e r r e
~h inoc&os , -- The Chairs, The Lesson, trms. Watson, Deflg-uin Books (1965), 1;. 12.
- 47 - But h i s sense of the monstrosity and inhumanity of the rhinocer izat ion
of h i s comrades i s strong enough t o control h i s opinion and f i n a l l y h i s
ga l lan t stand.
Be'rer.ger e s t l e dern ie r $ mesurer La noci6t8 e t l a gravite' du v i rus , il l u i oFposere par l a s u i t e une r6volt.e e t un de'gout i n s t i n c t i f s q u ' i l se ra bien oblig6, plus tard , d2 fonder en raison, sur un humanisme un peu vague mais ferme. 11
~ 6 r e n g e r ' s "de'gout i r rs t inct i f" i s human as opposed t o the "virus" whica
i s animal is t ic . ~ g r e n g e r has achieved i n h i s person the one basic
di f ference between man and the l e s s e r forms of l i f e . I n other words, I
Bgrenger r ea l i z e s t h a t it i s t h i s "raison" which i s t he foundation of
h i s "hmanism." That t 'nis "humanisme" i s vague i s not surpr is ing becazse
~e ' r enge r ' s mind i s unsophisticated and he i s ofily able t o obey the natural
inst i lzcts of h i s humanity. The super io r i ty 3f ~ g r e n g e r over Botard o r
Jean i s h i s z b i l i t y t o recognize the "nocivli6" (harm) of stepping o ~ t s i d e
h i s human nature whether it be t o conformity with the work e th i c of a
pur i tannical soc ie ty or the mechanisms of the rhinocer i . X M n T.
Williams expresses i n a psxsgraph both ~ d r e n g z r ' s " inar t icula teness"
and h i s r e fu sa l t o conform:
It i s only o s i t i v e i n the sense t hz t he recognizes the hxman element t h a t 53,s bsec l o s t . ~ g r e n ~ e r nzTrer s sse r 'x hirnself. EIe simply stands a d quietly refuses t o joi? the ot!?ers in t k e l r bl ind submission. He i s not a r t i cu l a t e . H 2 f a i l s i n t r y ing t o comnucicate with Daisy, who hn loves and who deser ts him perkaps kecsuse of t h i s lack of comunica tiori. What Berezge? preserves i s the humnity which has been destroyed i n the others . Slo-trly, it r i s e s t o %he surface of h i s consciousness, never iri a de l ibera te way, b ~ t hes i t an t ly , stop,-ing of ten i n eddies of uncertainty. Wkec it does appear, it Is a bubble ra ther than a so l id , but a t l e a s t a buhble which remains ir?tr,ct, f l oa t i ng p r e c a r i x a l y amocg t5e violence GI the surrounding turmoil. This i s as well as he ever describes i t : 11 ... I f e e l it inst inctively--no, t h a t ' s not what I mean, i t ' s t h e rhinoc6ros which has i n s t i nc t - - I f e e l it in tu i t i ve ly , yes, t ha t ' s
I1lerreau, ~ e n e v i b e , Iii s t o i r e du Nouvezu ~ h g z t r e , Gallixar-3 (pa r i s , 1966), 2. 65.
t he word, i a t u i t i v e l y ." ~ 6 r e n g e r l s l ~ i c t o r y consis ts i n giving expression t o t h i s i n tu i t i on through action, or a t l e a s t i n "nct capi tula t ing. "12 ,
~ g r e n g e r ' s i n t u i t i o n Ls 211 tha t stands between him and cer ta in assimilat ion ,
with the pachyderms. I n a sense ~ 6 r e n g e r personifies Ionesco's i n tu i t i ve I
f a i t h t ha t humanity i s worth h i s concern. While it is possible for the
human being t o becone animalist ic it i s a l so possible fo r human creatures
t o a s se r t t h e i r humanity through f ree w i l l :
~e ' renger : ... But they won't get me! You won't get m e ! I ' m not joining you; I don't understand you! I ' m s taying as I am. I ' m a human belng. A human being.13
I n an in te rv tcv with himself, t h e "transcendant satrap"14 Ionesco
expresses a posit ive view towards humanity by counterpointing h i s d isgust
at tha dehumanizing soc i a l elements he hopes h i s audience w i l l recognize:
... the heroes of my play, a l l except one, transform themselves i n f ron t of the publ ic ' s very eyes ( fo r t h i s i s a r e a l i s t i c piece) i n t o wfld beasts , i n to rh i~oce rose s . I hope my audiences w i l l be disgusted wi th them. Disgust a l ienates more completely than any- th ing e l s e . h d sc J sha l l ha-~e aclileved the "distaticiation" of t h e pu3l ic frola t he performance. Disgust i s luc id i ty . i5
Ionesco lev ies h i s "disgust" a t heroes vho metzmorphose i n t o wild beasts , and, by contras t , inakes a statement i n favour of the humanity of the one
non-conformist. Avare t ha t t h i s implied "pro-humanity ~ e n ~ a g e " i s contrary
t o h i s self-professed technique of testimony i n place of dogma, Ionesco
'%illiams, E . T . , "Cer~rantes and Ionesco and Dr%natic ~ a n t a s y , " Hispania, 45 (1962), 677.
13~onesco, ~ u $ c e , op. c i t . , p. 122.
14 In Piotes and Counternotes (p . 200) "Satrapt" i s defrned a s "th? highest d ign i ty conferre2 by the.. .College (of ~ a t a p h y s i c s ) . . . " ~ a t a - physics i s , the science of sciences and the ult imate philosophy."
1510r.esco, ~ u ~ ' e n e , Notes and Counternotes, Grove Press , Inc. (1964), p. 234.
ex t r i c a t e s
A l t e r Ego:
A l t e r
Ego: A l t e r
Ego:
A l t e r
Ego:
A l t e r Ego:
himself with a hmorous dialogue between h i s Ego and h i s
Ego: You say t h a t i n your play only one of the characters i s not transformed.
Yes, he doesn' t catch rh icocer i t i s . Ego: Does t h i s s t i l l mean t ha t the audience shouldn't
i den t i fy themselves with the hero who remains hm.an? On the contrary, tney should ident i fy themselves wi th
him absolutely. Ego: Then you yourself are s t i l l committing the s i n of
iden t i f i ca t ion . That's t r u e ... But as the play a l so has the v i r t ue of
nonpart icipation or a l ienat ion, we can claim t h i s p lay has rea l ized a synthesis of drama tha t i s both bourgeois arid anti-bourgeois, thanks t o an ins t inc t ive s k i l l which i s my own.. . Ego: You're t a lk ing rubbish, old mgn. I know! But I ' m not the m l y one.lo
While h i s i n t en t i s camouflaged i n t h i s twist ing of ideas, Ioneseo i s
not t a lk ing rubbish because ~h inoc6ros has carried the trend begun i n
Tueur sans Gages t o a higher l e v e l of pro-human testimony. This trenii
of the B6renger plays i s the presentation of humanity a s the c r i t e r i on
of value i n the t e r r e s t r i a l s i tua t ion . That t h i s conclusion i s not
unique t o the author i n no way de t rac t s from i t s importance nor from i t s
evolution. Ione,sco, with the B6renger plays, reveais himself t o be both
a humanist and an i d e a l i s t .
With exper t ise Imesco , i n Le Roi se M c ~ r t , ?resents rm-i as an
individual squarely wi thin h i s subjective Ptolemaic dilemma. s&enger,
the king, who has been the centre of h i s world and who has given f b t i l e
commands t o the sun, nust now face death. Le Roi se Meurt, l i k e Tueur
sans Gages, confronts t he very core of the metaphysical dilemma where the
power of a man's mind has no ac tua l strength i n a physical context:
- 50 - Guard : ... The su ' s l a t e . And yet I heard the King order him
t o come out. f7
Like a body racked with age And perishing by degrees, the Palace of
Bhenger I i s crumbling. The cen t ra l heating w i l l not work, end "there 's
a crack i n the wall." (p. 13) The characters besides Bgrenger serve
as messengers of the r e a l i t y t ha t the king wishes t o escape by f a l s l y
presuming a royal immortality. Unlike the B&enger of Tueuzr sans Gages
Be'renger I does not have the a b i l i t y t o c a n v i ~ c e himself of the f z t i l i t y
of h i s s i tua t ion . While h i s fr iends t r y t a c t f u l l y (and not so t a c t f d l y )
t o inform him of h i s "ultimate fate", and while h i s very surrour?dings
r e f l e c t h i s bodily decay, Be*renger cl ings t o h i s i l l u s ion of i m o r t a l i t y .
The f'urther depths of Ionesco's metaphysical wr i t ing a re roached i n
the Doctor ' s descr ipt ion of the cosmic disorder which p a r a l l e l s ~ ( r e n g e r ' s
slow decline t o death. Ionesco presents a universe brought t o conf3sion
by the anguish of a man facing death alone. From B&enger's point of
view, h i s death s ignals the end of the universe because he canpot accept
the f a c t t h a t h i s minute l i fe-span i s merely a t i n y mark on the h i s to ry
of an "inconsequential planet" hur t l ing through an i n f i n i t e void i n a
f l a sh of time.
From the throne room, the stage of Berenger's anguish, the audience
can be convinced t h a t "anarchy i s loosed on the ~ ro r ld " as re2or ts from
the Doctor and B&engerls b o wives t e l l of a fu r ther decline i n tine
Kingdom's s t a t e . The room imprisons King ~ g r e n ~ e r as does h i s closed
mind which can th ink of nothing beyond
doom. The pecple around him want only
17~onesco, ~ u & n e , Exit the Ring, Inc. ( ~ e w York, 1963), p. 9.
the depressio? of h i s impending
t ha t the death should "take
t rans . Donald Watsori, Grove Press,
place decently" and should be "a success, a triumph." They care l e s s
for B:rengerls in tensly personal' feeling of f i n a l i t y and lack of con-
prehension i n such a cruel s i tus t ion .
The king i s not wi l l ing t o accept h i s mortal posit ion as a 2% i n
the wheel of humanity. Apart from the procreative duty, existence i s
absurd i n h i s eyes and he blzmes h i s parents for giving him l i fe--a
timespan only long enough t o allow a painful consciousness of an absurd
r e a l i t y , yet too short t o allow fo r immorta l i ty .
s&enger : Why was I born i f it wasclt fo r ever? Damn my parents! What a joke, what a farce! I came in to the wor d f ive minutes ago. I got married three minutes ago. 18
Among Ionescols female characters Margueri.te and Marie are two of
the most in te res t ing . It i s questionable why ~ e ' r e n ~ e r has two wives,
but t h e i r polar differences serve t o show tha t the king was once a man
of mixed t a s t e s . O f a l l the characters i n the play it i s Marie who comes
c loses t t o explaining t o Be'renger the trauma which confronts him:
Marie : My dar l ing King, there i s no past , there i s no future. Remember, t he r e ' s only a present t ha t goes r i gh t on t o the end, everything i s present. Be present, be the present!19
It might be t h a t Marguerite and Marie are two aspects of the same person.
The idea of two wives instead of one i s charac te r i s t i c of Ionesco whose
technique i s of ten t o present paradox personified. There are two "egos"
i n the ~ g r e n g e r who faces the unniercenary k i l l e r , and there are two i n the
Bgrenger who w i l l not ( o r cannot) succumb t o the rhinocerization of h i s
comades. ~ 6 r e n g e r I i s wi l l ing t o exchange the annihi la t ion of the
world fo r h i s own immortality:
King: ... Let every human creature d ie2~rovided I can l i v e forever, even alone i n a l im i t l e s s deser t .
- 52 - BJrenger thus expresses an ult imate ex i s t en t i a l argument of so l ipsFs t ic
individual i ty , introverted beyond,reali ty.
King ~ & r e n ~ e r has progressed t o a greater maturity than the Ingenu
Be'renger of Tueur sans Gages. The &renger who faces the k i l l e r can
only u t t e r words of submission ("There's nothing we can do") p r i o r t o h i s
death a t the hands of h i s antagonist. This ~ 6 r e n ~ e r has not accommodated
t he idea of death before h i s personal confrontation with the personif icat ion
of t h i s idea. He i s unsophisticated e n o ~ g h t o presume tha t he can f i gh t
o f f h i s avatar with the weapons of society, and when these f a i l he has
no recourse but t o submit. But the royal E&enger becomes the epitome
of the Ar i s to t e l i an t r ag i c hero. A man of high b i r t h i s brought "down"
by the r e a l i t y of h i s mortal i ty. The play i s a. r i t u a l , o r as c r i t i c
Ceci l Smith c a l l s it, "a soaring hpm t o existence." The King has pre-
viously believed t h a t h i s royalty e n t i t l e s him t o cosmic powers over the
universe. His dream of Empire an4 e t e rn i t y i s marred only by t he personal
morta l i ty he i s forced t o face:
King: The Empire ... has there ever been another Empire l i k e i t ? With two suns, two moons and two heavens t o l i g h t i t . And there ' s another sun r i s i ng , and there ' s another! A t h i r d firmament appearing, shooting up and fannir.g out! As one sun s e t s , others are r i s i n g ... dawn and twi l igh t a l l a t once . . .Beyond the seven hundred and seventy-seven poles. 21*
Le Roi se Meurt i s an ex i s ten t ia l parable i n which the everyman hero i s
eleva.ted t o the soc i a l l eve l of kingship. But, r e f lec ted i n the rubble
of h i s once-magnificent kingdom, the king faces a k i l l e r a s r e d as t ha t
which faces the commoner ~ g r e n g e r i n Tueur sans Gages. Society i s 2.
i r re levan t t o both men. The one attempts salvation by using h i s p i s h l s ,
and f a i l s . The other attempts t o conquer death by royal decree, and f a i l s .
- 53 - The f a t e of both men i s sealed by t he i r individual mortality. King
~ g r e n g e r ' s ~ v c i e t y i s more intens; than that of the commoner ~ 6 r e n g e ~
because the l a t t e r fee l s defeated by the ref lect ion of h i s humanity,
the runted k i l l e r . The King f ee l s defeated by immense forces he once
naively thought he could control by f i a t being the cen t ra l power is the
universe.
Le Roi se Meurt synthesizes what Catherine Hughes c a l l s "Ionesco's
p lea for man. " The play acknowledges the individual 's "royalty" 22
i n a temporal existence and concludes with the emphasis on the conclusion
of l i f e . 1onesco faces the r e a l i t y of death by admitting i t s absurdity
and by revealing i n the character of the king the destructive force of
anxiety about death. With t h i s r e a l i t y faced, the decay of the "kingdom"
need be regarded only as a natural phenomenon.
One paradox facing the king i s tinat, while h i s body deter iora tes ,
h i s mind remains ag i l e thou.gh clouded with apprehension. This paradox
causes him t ' o wish for the incarnation of an i m a r t a l minc:
King: when I ' v e gone, when I ' ve gone. They'll laugh arid s tuff themselves s i l l y and dance on rriy tomb. As i f I ' d never existed. 3h, please clake then! remerbel* me! Make them weep and despair and p e r p t u a t e my memory i n a i l thei r h is tory books. Make everyone learn my l i f e by hear t . Make them l i v e it again ... Let my likeness be on a l l the ikons, me on fke mill ions of crosses i n 911 our ckxrches. Make them say Nass fo r me and l e t me be the Host . . .Let them my name throughout e te rn i ty , and beg me and implore ne.
gy
The irony of ~ { r e n ~ e r ' s statement i s i n h i s des i re t o embalm h i s " l ike-
ness" ra ther than r e f l e c t h i s hmani ty i g the faces of h l s chilaren.
His i m o r t a l i t y i s i n a sense a death-wish becaidse it im?lies
2 2 ~ w h e s , Cztherine, "~onesco ' s Plea fo r Man," Renascence, 14 (19021, 121.
2 3 ~ b i d . , pp. 48-49. -
" p r e ~ e r v a t i ~ n " of a worn-out forn ra ther than the continuation of l i f e .
~e ' renger cannot accept h i s future 'role as a memory of the past becsuse
to him time i s of t h e essence and he attempts t o incorporate time i n to
h i s own actions. The king's f i gh t against capi tula t ion cannot succeed,
but shows a noble des i re t o l i v e i n the face of Death. I n comparison
with the commoner Bgrenger of Tueur sans Gages the king has r i s e n t o a
new l eve l of non-capitulation real ized a l so I n the Bgrenger of ~h inoe6ros .
Unlike Lear, B6renger the king refuses t o f o r f e i t h i s kingdom, and f i na l l y ,
fading i n to the m i s t of the unknown, he d ies seated proudly atop h i s
throne. It i s t h i s image t ha t remains fixed i n the minds of the audience,
an image of the Sisyphian hero accepting h i s contingency, get contin-
uously f igh t ing against it i n the hope of transcendence or salvation.
It i s i n t he four th s&enger play, Le ~ i 6 t o n de l r A i r , t h a t Ionesco
pI=sents a B6renger capable of transcending h i s t e r r e s t r i a l s i tua t ion .
The t i t l e of the play incorpor$tes tile bas ic dilemma cen t ra l t o Ionescols
e a r l i e r works. The "pedestrian" i s man, contingent on h i s environment,
and the "a i r" i s t he means of escape from t h i s p r e d i ~ a m e ~ t . Like
Daedalus inprisoned i n t he labyr inth ~ ( r e n g e r wishes t o escape by f l i g h t
even though hi-s na tura l a b i l i t y i s t h a t of an earthbound creature. He
believes i c h i s s p i r i t t h a t f l i g h t must be an innate human f a m i t y 2nd
not t h e property of a machine:
~Grenger : ... Tout l e monde cublie. Comment en a i - j e oubl ier l e proc6d6? C jes t simple, pou r tmt , lu r ineaw: enfantln. Quand on ne vole pas, c r e s t p i r e que s l
nous gtions priv6s de nourritxre. C re s t pou cela sans dou.te que nous nous senteons malheur'el~~. 2 t
Wary of the mechanization t ha t was responsible f o r the rhinocerization
of a small French t o m , the reade? of Le ?igton de l l A i r can understand
~ 6 r e n g e r ' s informed apprehension of the power o f machines :
~ g r e n ~ e r : ... L1engin remplace llhomme e t ses fonctions. Retrouvons l a fonction authentique k t r avers ses dgformations . 25
It i s i n " l a fonction authentiquel' t ha t ~e ' renger can escape h i s ea r th ly
labyrinth.
I n her a r t i c l e , " A i r and Matter: Iot..escols 'Le ~ i e ' t o n de l l A i r '
and 'Victimes du Devoir, ' " Rosette C . Lamont in te rpre t s ~ 6 r e n g e r "s f l i g h t
i n t o the a i r from one of Ionesco's judrnals:
I n llMes ~ i s c e s e t Moi" ~ u g z n e Ionesco suggests t ha t a fee l ing of l ightness , a i r iness , sometimes accompanied by the discovery of a g i f t of l ev i t a t i on res tores the l o s t paradise of youth and innocence, whereas the p ro l i fe ra t ion of matter consti u tes a concretizatior, of man's imprisonment i n the material world. 26
The f e d i n g of "lightness" as opposed t o the g rav i ta t iona l burden of
"matter" i s the quintessence of Le ~ i e ' t o n de l l A i r . It i s a l s ~ an
explanation of Ionesco's capabi l i ty of accommodating a world he found
clogged with useless objects and obselete words and ideas. His testimony
t o acceptance of the worlC! i s real ized i n the l a s t &enger play which
i s a culmination of the adventures of the previous three .
The idea of the prolifera, t ion of matter i s cen t ra l t o the playwright's
work. F i r s t , matter i s the corporeal substance which. makes a man a
"pedestrian" ra ther than a pure or f r ee "sp i r i t . " Second, matter i s
inhurwn, o r ra ther "ahunan", and i n snch plays a s Le Nonveau Locataire
represents death t o the l i f e force. This death i n the play of the tenant
26 Lamont, R. 2 ., French Review, xxxvi i i ( ~ a n u a r y , 1965), p. 349.
- 56 - a r i s e s out of h i s immobility as the perennial furni tare i s paraded
i n t o h i s apartment and f i n a l l y forms an interminable l i n e down the
Per i s s t r e e t s and along the r iver . Even the eggs i n LIAvenir e s t dans
l e s Oeufs, symbols of nzw l i f e , become so numerous on the stage tha t the
f loor and the e n t i r e company of actors "sleffondrent." Because the
egg is t he incarceration of l i f e and must be broken before it can become
l i f e -p ro6uc i~g It i s primarily a deeth symbol before a l i f e symbol
because, unless destroyed, it forms a prison. Lilcewlse i n Les Chaises
the old man and the old wornan a re forced t o jump from t h e i r l i v ing
room window as the ever increasing rows of chairs take away a l l t h e i r
f ree space and, l i k e the eggs and the furniture, cause t h e i r destruction.
Perhaps the most s t a rk example of the danger of prol i fera ted n a t t e r
occurs i n ~mddge ou comment s1en ~ g b a r r a s s e r where a corpse expands
mater ia l ly u n t i l it reaches grotesque proportions and ha l t s mobility.
It i s i n the a i r t h a t mobility i s therefore unres t r ic ted.
I n the "upper void" B6renger can find a personal freedom . But
even i n h i s temporary s t a t e of anarchic suspension he i s made aware of
the mater ia l world Seneath him.
Be*renger : J1 a i vu des colonnes de gui l lo t in6s marchant. sans t&s , des colonnes de gci l lo t in6s . . . sur d ' immenses &endues. E t puis, e t puis, je ne s a i s pas, des s au t e r e l l e s ggantes, des anges dgchus, des archanges caincus . 27
The objects beneath &enger a re death symbols while h i s a b i l i t y t o
f l y "sans hdlice e t sans a i l es l ' i s a v i t a l a c t .
Miss Lament mistakenly c a l l s Le pigton de l l A i r one of the "darkest
tragicomedies of Ionesco. I? 28 The play i s only a "tragicomedy1' insofar
27~onesco, ~ug\ene, op. c i t . , p. 195. 28
- Lament, R . c . , op. c i t . ; p. 361.
as it r e f l e c t s the predicament of a humanity born t o d ie . If the play
represented only t h i s f a c t it would be l e s s than s ign i f i c an t . . What the
play does represent i s a testimony t o the act ion and a b i l i t y of the
hero ~ ( r e n ~ e r , a hero capable of a s p i r i t u a l ex t r i ca t ion from a harsh
r e a l i t y t o the transcendental realm of the "air ."
B&enger: S i , l a plupart du temps, je ne s a i s plus m'envoler, j 'ai gardg conscience qu' il mlest ngcessaire de l e f a i r e . J e s a i s de l'absence de quel le chose je souffre. C ' e s t une a f f a i r e de sant; . S i ous ne vouions pas, c ' e s t que nous somrnes infirmes. 2$
Be'renger's f l i g h t i s "a matter of healthff and s ign i f i e s h i s a b i l i t y t o
make an attempt a t va l ida t icg h l s existence. His f l i g h t i s a s t a t e of
mind which gives t o a human being a motive fo r prolonging h i s ear thly
ex i s t eme . This condition as re f lec ted i n the play could hardly be
considered as t he "darkestff expression of Ionesco. Without vac i l l a t i ng
t o a blind optimism, the play culminates Ionesco's quest t o grant
~ g r e n ~ e r h i s "raison d ' Etre . I 1
I n the conclusion of her a r t i c l e , Miss Lamont makes a summation of
Ionesco ' s "compoundedff a r t which contradicts her previous statement of
"darkest tragicomedy: "
Compounded of a i r and matter, Ionesco's plays never allow us t o forget the t r a g i c qua l i ty of l i f e made bearable only by a Dionysian explosion of laughter, coupled with a deep respect f o r the t r ans i en t , evanescent combination of mind and f l e sh which i s our e x i s t e n t i a l c 0 n d i t i o n . 3 ~
The "evanescencef' of the mind/flesh combination i s the pos i t ive r e s u l t
of Ionesco's subjective investigation. Having reduced the " ex i s t en t i a l
condition" t o the paradox betveen s p i r i t u a l and physical existence,
Ionesco chooses t o laugh ra ther than succumb t o a dest ruct ive despondency.
29~onesco, ~ug;ne, op. c i t . , p. 167.
30~amont, R. C., op. c i t . , p. 361.
~e ' renger ' s f l i g h t i s not merely an escape, it i s a l so an adventure of
discovery, a personal "~panouissement." Faithfbl t o the Bergsonian
theory, Ionesco's laughter I s not t ha t of derision but that; cf a man
r i s en above h i s predicament. This r i s e i s a s t a t e of mind f o r t h e
11 f lesh" remains constant i n i t s contingency and f in i tude. His laughter
i s an objective ac t s e t t i n g the subjective anxiety i n a personal per-
spective. "Objectivity means being i n h a r ~ o n y w i t h one's own subject iv-
i t y , not ly ing t o others or t o oneself. "31 Both hope and d i s i l l u s ion -
ment a re born of the same fa.cu.lty: the one ex i s t s i n the "slough of
despond", the other i n the "transcendental realm." Ionesco himself
s t a tes :
Meanwhile, meanwhile I have done what I could.. .I have passed t he time. But we need t o know how t o cut ourselves o f f from our- selves and from other people, how t o observe and how t o laugh, i n s p i t e of everything t o l a ~ ~ h . 3 ~
Ionesco's laughter i s h i s "deep respect for the transient ' ' and h i s des i re
t o overcone "a vas t wezriness" which "overwhelms me." Often h i s laughter
i s an expression of sadness: "I cannot help laughing b i t t e r l y when I
see a l l around me believing they believe, and being engulfe2. ,133 ,is
bi t t e rness , however, i s re la ted t o h i s f a i t h that "belief" i s possible:
it i s not cynical or dejected.
The four ~ e * r e n ~ e r plays reveal the playwright ' s unmistakeable
expectation of a "be t te r world:"
31~onesco, ~ug;oe, Fragments of a Journal, t r ans , Jean Stewart, Grove Press, Inc. ( ~ e w York, 1968), p. 30.
32~onesco, ~ug;ce, Notes and Counternotes, op c i t . , p. 12.
3310nesco, ~ u & n e , Fragments of a Journal, op. c i t . , p. 19.
I a.n coqstantly waiting fo r things t o change fo r the be t te r : amid a l l the conf l ic t ing pa r t i e s , I have chosen none. I am i n the
i posi t ion of someone who hopes t o w i n a f i r s t m i z e i n a l o t t e r y / without having bought a t i cke t . I I am not su f f i c i en t l y absorbed i n the human comedy. I don't
\ belong wholly t o t h i s world. I cannot quite detach myself from t h i s world nor from the other. I am neither here nor there.
\ Outside it a l l . I 'm a f ra id of making a wrong choice, so I choose ' neither re l ig ion nor po l i t i c s . The fea r of f a i l u r e i s what makes one f a i l . I f Grace should not come, t ha t would be the 'coup de grgce . 34
It i s i n these plays t ha t the uncertain Ionesco, through h i s l a t e n t
idealism, makes impl ic i t the remedy for the seeming lack of Grace. His
implicaticn i s t h a t a c t i v i t y i n the wmld (eg: the f l i g h t of ~e ' renger)
takes avay many of the anxiet ies which abound. Act iv i ty fo r ~e ' renger
is not a cure f o r anxiety, it i s simply a therapeutic pastime by freeing
h i s mind from i t s preoccupation with the absurdity of existence.
George Wellwarth makes the following conclusion about Ionesco' s
~ g r e n g e r plays :
I n the plays of h i s second period h he Ki l l e r an2 ~h inocg ros ) Ionesco abandorled the view of pessimistic fa ta l ism i n which man is a helpless puppet f u t i l e l y and despairingly hammering against incomprehensible forces t h a t always overwhelm him. Instead cf the doc t r ina i re determinism which he derived from Antonin Artaud, Ionesco gave man a ce r ta in amgunt of f ree choice within the context of h i s terxporal i l f e . He thus made man mora1J.y responsible for h i s act ioas . With moral respons ib i l i ty human existence once more took on meaning. Human actions once again became s ign i f ican t because they could be ,chow11 t o have forseeable r e su l t s . Ionesco made the t r a n s i t i o n f ro3 preoccl~pation with ult imates, which i s So cha rac t e r i s t i c of abso lu t i s t s such as Artaud, t o a concern for immediate, if re l a t i ve , resul ts - - in other words, t o the l imited rebel l ion of Albert Cam~~s, which concentrates on an individual e t h i c a l p ro tes t desigced t o br ing about a r e l a t i v e + , l l ev i e t i on of the human condition within the foreseeable f ~ t u r e . ~
Man's f ree choice, a s t a t e of mind, becomes the constructive force
34~onesco, ~ugbnn , Fragmects of a , ~ou rna l , op. c i t . , p. 28.
35~e l lwa r th , Gaorge E . , The Theatre of Pro tes t and Paradox: De=lop ments i n the A-iant-Gar3e Drana, New York Univ. Precs (New York, 1964), P. 72-
- 60 - i n h i s actions. It i s i n the a b i l i t y t o rebe l %gainst absurd it,^ t h a t
- I
man finds the " r e l a t i ve a l levia t idn" from h i s anxiety. - Ionesco' s
offering t o h i s audience remains f a i t h f u l both t o h i s personal philosophy
of subject iv i ty and h i s idea of "testimony." Tueur sans Gages, ~ h i n ~ c & r o s ,
_Le Roi se Meurt, and Le ~ i & o n de l t A i r , t e s t i f y t o the a b i l i t y of one
man, ~e ' ren~er / Ionesco , t o overcome h i s predicament while a l l the time
being aware of i t s absurdity.
~ 6 r e n ~ e r i s a t r a g i c hero, but he m a i ~ t a i r s i n th? end, as the
r e s u l t of h i s apocalyptic adventures, h i s nok i l i ty and d ign i ty as a
member of the human race.
CHAFTEil FOUR
N O W FREDERICK SIMPSOE SOCIAL SATIRIST OF THE ABSU1R.E
L i t t l e s ign i f ican t c r i t i c i sm has been wr i t t en about the plays of
Norman Frederick Simpson. With the exception of Martin Ess l in , most
major c r i t i c s of t he contemporary theatre d i sn i s s Simpson as a secocdarg
playwright overshadowed by h i s fellow wr i te r s .
Allardyce Nicol l , i n h i s book Br i t i sh Drama, notes Sirrrjson's
maturing s t y l e by a b r i e f reference t c two plays: "N. F. Sirrpson wri tes
h i s nonsense play, A Resounding Tinkle (1957)--with an almost 'sophomoric'
cleverness r e f l ec t ed i n the character-names of Mustard Short, Denzil
Pepper, Miss S a l t and Miss Vinegar--and follows t h i s with the more mature
cleverness of One Way Pendulum (1959). . . "I This nebulous, and probably
s a r ca s t i c , cognizance of Sirrpson i s placed wfthin a discussiori of ' the
thea t re of the absurdf--a s t y l e t ha t Nicoll could only have known
exiguously when h i s book was wr i t t en i n 1962 ( ~ s s l i n had f i r s t coined
the term i n 1961). John Russell Taylor, wr i t ing i n Anger and After ,
presents an unworthy abs t rac t of Simpson's work: 'mhether one l i ke s
or d i s l i ke s N . F. Simpson's work, it seems t o me, there i s very l i t t l e
h i c o ~ , A . , - B r i t ? sh Drama, Barnes and Noble lnc.(New York, 1962) 9
P. 33b.
- 62 - t o be said about i t . l f 2 I f Taylor's opinion i s t o be accepted, then it
would, with the exception of Pinter , censure the writ ing of the absurdists
i n England. There i s no doubt tha t Ionesco i s a f a r greater a r t i s t than
Simpson, but the s imi l a r i t i e s between Simp,ronf s work and lonescol s ear ly
wri t ings Suggest a po ten t ia l renown f o r the author of The Hole and the
One Way Pendulum.
Miss M. C . Eradbrook, i n her book English Dramatic Form, makes
scant reference t o Simpson's preoccupation with the pr ivate fantasies of
h i s characters i n nonsense plays. "His One Way Pendulum i s se t pa r t ly
idea of the metaphysical predicament of man expressed by Ionesco. The
"subtopian and model of the Old Bailey a re examples of an automaton
soc ie ty pregnant wi th i n s t i t u t i ons and an impulsive des i re t o seek
immortality through mater ia l possessions. Taylor f inds such elements
of Simpson's plays unsuccessful but f a i l s t o give any convincing evidence
t o support h i s claim: "His plays, aspiring t o be considered i l h s t r a t i o n s
of the Absurd. . .end up as a ru le with absurdity i n a much humbler form, and
one which very rap id ly loses i t s charms i n a l ife-and death struggle
11 4 . with the law of diminishing re turns .
'~aYlor, J. R . , Anger and After , Penguin (Aylesbury, 1966), P. 58-
4 Taylor, J . R . , op. c i t . , p . 64.
- 63 - Martin Ess l in i s the most favourable c r i t i c of Simpson, and
I
Ess l i n ' s theor ies and writ ings on the theatre of the absurd a&e him the
most i n f l uen t i a l author i ty . Ess l in makes the necessary obsert-ation t h a t
Simpson's work i s "philosophical fantasy strongly based on r e a l i t y . 115
He adds, "Simpson's world bears the mark of the fantas ies of an eminently
sane, i n t e l l i g e n t man with deep learning and a delicious sense of
h~~,c72r. " 6
Fina l ly i n h i s appraisa l Ess l in describes Simpson's wri t ing as
"proof t h a t the Theatre of the Absurd i s by no means unable t o provide
highly e f fec t ive soc i a l comment. It i s the provision fo r soc i a l comment,
usual ly s a t i r i c and outrageous, which presents the constructive elements
of Sirpson's drama. On the metaphysical l eve l he has so f a r been unable
t o reach the l e v e l of Ionesco, and, while h i s soc ia l s a t i r e lacks the
in tense subject ive perception of h i s French contemporary, Sinpson's
absurdis t technique presents a s ign i f i can t exposition of the Theatre of
the Absurd i n Br i t a in .
Nevertheless i t i s evident t ha t Simpson has remained on tke circrun-
ference of i n t e l l e c t u a l favour, deserving mention but seldom accolade O r
even de t a i l ed c r i t i c i sn ; , It would be wrong t o c a l l Siinpson one of t he
foremcst dramat is ts of our time, because, under the accepted c r i t e r i o n
of "greatnessw--the aiiount of commentary wr i t t en on an author and the
volume of an zuthor 's work--Simpson i s ~vershadowed by severa l of h i s
B r i t i s h Contemporaries, notably John Arden, ~ a r o l d P in t e r , and John
Osborne. But the re i s no reason to claim t h a t be i s any l e s s s ignif icant
than
( ~ e w
Arnold Wesker, Ann J e l l i c o e , o r David Mercer. Apart from h i s major
5 ~ s s l i n , Martin, The Theatre of the Absurd, Doubleday & Co. In? - York, 1961.) , p . 2i7.
- 64 - plays he Hole, A Resounding Tinkle, One Way pendulum, The Form, and
The Cresta ~ u n ) Simsson has wr i t t en several shorter plays (Gladlx
Otherwise, OJ, and One Blast and Have Done) and a book of three television/
s tage plays e n t i t l e d More Ta l l Tinkles. Recently, hcwever, he has
published l i t t l e of s ignif icance and appears t o be more in teres ted i n
t e lev i s ion dramas than stage plays. It i s i n h i s major plays t h a t
Simpson presents himself as a dramatist with po ten t ia l an6 a philosophy
derived from the medium of theatre . These plays show the development of
a pos i t ive t h e s i s a s w i l l be shown following a br ie f comment on Sim;;sonls
idea of the Absurd.
'"Absurd' o r i g ina l l y means 'out of harmony', i n a musical context.
Hence i t s d ic t ionary d e f k i t i o n : 'out of harmony with reason or propriety;
incongruous, unreasonable, i l l og i ca l . ' I n common usage i n the English-
speaking world, ' absurdf may simply mean ' r idiculous ' ."'l Ess l in ' s
de f in i t i on of 'absurd' appl ies t o Sinipson ( a s it does t o ~onesco ) whose
plays are , i n a very B r i t i s h sense, r id iculous . The use of the weighing
machines as singers i n One Way Pendulum combines the musical connotation
of ' absurd' with t he incongruity, unreasonableness, and i l l o g i c a l i t y .
10neSCo's in te rpre ta t ion of absurdity is more cynical than i s S i ~ p s o n ' s
dramatic nonsence. Nowhere, f o r example, does Simpsoa present Death
personified as does Ionesco i n Tueur sans Gages, or the monstrous and
grotesque c rue l ty of the rhinos i n ~h inoc6 ros . But both Ionesco and
Simpson a re wr i t ing from unique personal experience; the i n t ens i t y of
which i s dissimilar. Ionesco was forced t o leave h i s native Rumania t o
7 ~ b i d . , p. x ix .
- 65 - escape the " rh i~oce r i z ing" tyranny of the f a sc i s t I ron Guard whose
,
anti-semitic t e r ~ o r swept the country fo r nine years. Simpson, however,
l i v e s i n a country where a prevail ing sense of humour and a r e l a t i ve ly
s tab le p o l i t i c a l s i t ua t i on characterize the national i den t i t y and prevent
t he type of pessimism t h a t Ionesco experienced. I n t h e i r respective
contexts Ionesco and Simpson are comparable yet they a re individually
d i s t i n c t ; and t h e i r juxtaposition should demonstrate ins t ruc t ive pa ra l l e l s
of soc i a l and metaphysical awareness.
Ionesco's first plays were dubbed 'ant i -playsr by the c r i t i c s , but
they es tabl ished the form of a simple p lo t with cybernetic characters
and c1ich;d absurd language. Later , Ionesco made a gradual t r ans i t i on
from the dehumanization of h i s characters t o the pathos of the ~ g r e n g e r
of -- ~h inoc6 ros . Ionesco made no commitment t o "give a message" t o h i s
audience as he considered such preaching detrimental t o individual
in te rpre ta t ion . A negative message permits choice on the pa r t of the
onlooker, while a pos i t ive message suggests the playwrights absolutism
i n regards t o r e a l i t y . "A playwright simply wri tes plays, i n which he
can offer only a testimony, not a d idac t ic message. 11 8 TO avoid the charge
of nihil ism imputed t o him (espec ia l ly by Kenneth Tynan i n h i s a r t i c l e s
i n The ~ b s e r v e r ) - Ionesco added t ha t "a work of a r t i s the source and the
raw material of ideologies t o come" 9
Simpson s imi la r ly uses mechanical characters ( t h e Paradocks, for
example) and simple p l o t s , but h i s plays show no progression from
mechanical t,o pa the t i c character . His characters a re nore nearly car icatures ,
g~onesco , u e , Notes and Counternotes - , Grove Press , Inc . (New Yorky 1964), p. 93
- 66 - which a re not enpathy-provoking l i k e &renger i n t h e i r representation of
the f u t i l i t y of the human conditibn. Simpscn's characters exci te sympathy
and cur ios i ty because t h e i r s i tua t ions are more comic and r id iculous
than f u t i l e . Consequently the t r ag i c qua l i ty of the Ionesco character i s
a l l ev ia ted i n Simpson's less-intense para l l e l s .
Simpson complies wi th Ionesco concerning posi t ive messages. I n
an interview with Gordon Reece printed i n the New Left Review (10:
July-August , 1961) Simpson i s quoted as saying t ha t "I have never wr i t t en
anything ' that wasn't 'tongue-in-cheek' and I can ' t imagine myself taking
any other a t t i t ude . One of the reasons i s t ha t I d i s l i ke 'author i ta t ive
statements ' . I f e e l t h a t everything Man can say about the Universe i s
sc woefully inadequate t h a t the attempt t o be au thor i t a t ive and take
oneself ser iously a t the same time i s so p i t i f u l l y arrogant t h a t I
can ' t help t r e a t i n g it wi th a ce r ta in ammount of der is ion. ??I-0
Ionesco and Simpson both r e l y on the vehicle of comedywhich
s t imulates , through laughter, detachment from the act ion acd an
ob j ec t i v i t y t ha t lends t o a necessary se l f -c r i t i c i sm. I n h i s interview
with Reece, Simpson gaxe h i s reasons fo r using comic detachment. "For
me, the a r t i s t has more i n common with the s c i e n t i s t i n t h a t he addresses
himself t o Man 6 s t he seeing animal than with the preacher, who addresses
himself t o Man as t he doing ani-mal. The a b i l i t y t o wri te a play does
not confer on anyone the r i g h t t o educate--which would presuppose t h a t
he alone had sccess t o t he answers. rr 11
10 Reece, Gordon, " ~ a l k i n g t o N. F. Simpson," New Lef t Review, 10
(1951), 59.
- 67 - Simpson's comedy presents a unique personal s t y l e d i s s imi la r from
t h a t of h i s contemporzries. The playwright has been accused of super-
f i c i a l i t y and extreme lev i ty : ".. . the gags a re a l l very much the same
type; deprived of any possible foundation i n character they rap id ly
reduce themselves t o various forms of the same obsessive verbal doodling. ,112
The only hyperbole evident i s t o take a joke "and run it r i gh t i n t o the
ground by overexplici tness and r i g i d application of log ic instead of
l eb t i ng it get i t s laugh and then go. "I3 But Simpson avoids a p i t f a l l
of the Theatre of the Absurd which Laurence Kitchin describes as being
" infect ive ra ther than therapeutic." It i s Kitchin 's opinion t h a t "one
of the dangers of communicating below the l e v e l of consciousness i s t o
l e t loose primitive forces beyond the control of the playwright. It
happens every time a f i ln ; intending t o condemn concentration caEps gives
t he audience a s a d i s t i c t h r i l l . "14 This implies the t h i n l i n e between
harmless laughter a t another 's temporary misfortune and the s a d i s t i c
laughter a t another 's injury. Kitchen r e f e r s t o Artaud who, as fa ther
of the so-called "Theatre of Cruelty" took the absurd condition of
humanity t o a more negative and b i t t e r depth than was necessary. Simpson
however succeeds i n presenting a t r ue medium of laughter t h ~ t has the
a b i l i t y t o be therapeut ic because it i s not devastat ing enough t o be
in fec t ive . I f t h i s technique i s mere l e v i t y then it suggests t h a t the
audience i t s e l f might be looking for infect ion ra ther than an expsnsion
of consciousness s t inu la ted by the humourous twis t ing of famil iar s i tua t ions .
12T'aylor, J. R., op. c i t . , p. 64.
1 4 Kitchin, Loaurence, Drama i n the S ix t i e s , Faber & Faber Ltd.
o on don, 1966), p. 32.
- 68 - Simpson i s more c losely re la ted t o the Bergsontan theory of coE3dy
than he i s t o t h a t of Artaud or Cemus. Bergson defines three elements
t o which comedy appl ies . The f irst i s the hman element instrumental
i n a l l comedy: "Several ( p h i l o s q h e r s ) have defined man as "an animal
which laughs." They might equally we l l have defined him a s an animal
which i s laughed a t ; for if any other animal, o r some l i f e l e s s object ,
produces the saiie e f fec t , it i s always because of some resemblance t o
man. . . "15 By t h e i r very r idiculous actions Simpson's characters produce
the fascade of humanity which has a close "resemblance t o man." The
suburban existence of the Paradocks and Groomkirbys i s based f i rmly on
the r e a l i t y of suburbia, but the d i s t o r t i on makes t h e i r s i t u a t i o n
t r u l y laughable.
The second element of comedy i s the "appeal t o in te l l igence" which
allows f o r the "laughing animal" t o ob jec t i fy h i s laugh-ter . I f . . . the
comic Zeniands something l i k e a momentary anaesthesia of t he hear t . I t s
appeal i s t o in te l l igence , pure and simple. "I6 The cerebral qua l i t y of
Simpson's comedy derives f r oa h i s a 3 i l i t y t o i s o l a t e a s i t ua t i on he f inds
t o be r id iculous and t o exaggerate it beyond a l l proport ions. None of
h i s characters revea l s pathos o r much substance i n t h e i r personalities,
because they a r e designed t o be as l i f e l e s s as the l i f e they lead. The
three main male characters of The Hole, Cerebro, Endo, and Soma, a r e
merely sounding boards f o r famil iar cl ichgs and have l i t t l e r e a l i t y
themselves as pcople. Simpsonts comedy s a t i r i z e s t he ways of pecple
and t h e i r d i f f e r en t character-types but underneath t h i s presumes the
15~ergson, Henri, -- Comedy, ed. Wylie Sy-pher, Doubleday & Co., Inc. (~ew York, 1956) , p. 62.
%bid., pp. 61-64. --
basic s p i r i t u a l
caricatures of
- 69 - v a l i d i t y of the human bei.ng despite the depersonalized
individuals he presents on the stage. The depersonali-
zatior; a r i s e s simply i n the caricatures on the stage but leaves the
object of t h i s car icature (people) i n t ac t .
The t h i rd element of comedy i s the "group appeal" where humourous
s i tua t ions are shared by individuals who see a l l men as capable of s i n i l a r
predicaments. " ~ a u g h t e r appears t o s t a ~ d i n need of an echo. "17 The
suburban s e t t i n g of mwy of Simpson's scenes i s famil iar t o a bourgeois
audience as are the many implements (ranging from f i r e poles t o c o q o s t
heaps) which rind themselves i n places on the stage where they would
not usual ly be discovered. Simpson airrs h i s plays d i r e c t l y a t h i s audience
s ince the characters on the stage mirror the individuals i n the audience.
One element of the comic described by Bergson as "mechanical
ine las t i c? ty t1 i s the most relevant t o Simpson's plsys. It i s the
presentation cf ~ a r a d o x which upturns the familiar while leaving a
continuity of mfarn i l i a r i ty . For example, a l l objects found i n the
home of Bro and Middie Faradock (nutcrackers, elephant, snake) a re
fami l ia r , but t h e i r posi t ion i n the household i s ludicrous beceuse they
a r e e i t h e r o ~ t of context or are used fo r purposes for which they were
not designed. Simpscn terms t h i s contextual d i s t o r t i on "a s l i g h t nudge
t o the frame of reference" which i s , i n many instances, an understatement.
Further t o the "mechanical" element of comedy a l so applicable t o Simpson,
Bergson describes how routine as an in tegra l pa r t of an individual.'^
co l lec t ive existence can be used t o comic purpose:
. . . take the case of a person who attends t o the pe t ty occupations of h i s everyday l i f e with mithematical precision. The objects around him, however, have a l l been tampered with by some mischievous wag, the r e s u l t being t ha t when he dips h i s pen i n to the inkstand he draws it out 211 covered with mud, when he fancies he i s s i t t i n g down on a so l i d chai r he f inds himself sprawling on the f loor , i n a word h i s ac t ions a re a l l topsy-turvy o r mere beating the a i r , while i n every case the e f f ec t i s invariably one of momentum. Habit has given the impulse: what was wanted was t o check the movement o r de f l e c t it. He did nothing of the so r t , but continued l i k e a machine i n the sane s t ra igh t l ine . The victim, then, of a p r a c t i c a l joke i s i n a posi t ion similar t o t h a t of a runcer who fa l ls - -he i s comic f o r the sane reason. The laughable element i n both cases consis ts of a ce r ta in 'mechanical i n e l a s t i c i t y ' , jus t where one would expect t o find the wideawake adap tab i l i ty and the l i v ing pl iableness of a human being. 18
The "habit" i n Simpson's plays i s the routine of the suburban inhabi tant
whose impulsiveness t o mechanical ac t ion i s widely known a.nd frequently
scorned. Simpson employs the "topsy-turvy" e f f e c t as pa r t of h i s absurd
technique by isp placing objects and d i s t o r t i ng famil iar phenomena. He
presents h i s drama i n a context out of context with the famil iar world
and t h i s "perversi ty" i s the s t rength of h i s s a t i r e .
Both Ionesco and Simpson a r e wri t ing fo r a "democratic" t hea t r e
where the audience rtiust exercise i t s freedom of choice i n a world where
absolutes and didacticism are anachronisms. This does not imply t h a t
o ther modern playwrights, such as Arden or Beckett, do not leave the
f i n a l decis ions t o reader or audience (nei ther Sergeant Musgrave's Dance
nor Endgame could qua l i fy as "epicw thea t re i n the sane way as the work
of Brecht.). It does s ignify , however, t ha t Simpson has accepted the
cont inenta l absurdis t t h e s i s t h a t a metaphysical awareness i s be s t
created by a v i sua l and au ra l experience ra the r than by indoctr inat ion.
- 71 - Brecht, unlike Simpson or Ionesco, was concerned with an Epic
thea t re where narra t ive overruled p lo t . Like Shaw, Brecht made d i r ec t
appeals t o reason, humour, and t hea t r i c a l i t y , using the method which he
label led the "a l ienat ion effect". Brecht, i n a t tacking naturalism and
t he bourgeoisie, made h i s a t t ack on two planes--one with t he act ion of
the s tage, and one by d i r e c t communication with an audience denied the
~bsenesque intimacy of the "fourth wall." A strong case caQ be made t o
i l l u s t r a t e the influence of Brecht on some B r i t i s h playwrights, notably
John Arden, but the re i s l i t t l e Brechtian epic method employed by
Simpson. Martin Es s l i c , i n an a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d "Brecht, the Absurd and
the Future," believes t h a t a possible synthesis of these techniques may
not be out of the question. But, a s Andrew Fi tch more r e a l i s t i c a l l y
claims, " in a l l p robab i l i ty the Absurdists and the Brechtians w i l l con-
t inue t o dispute the v a l i d i t y of t h e i r approaches, seeing one another
as the a n t i t h e s i s and even the negation of t h e i r most profound con-
u ic t idns . "19 As w i l l be i l l u s t r a t e d i n a discussion of h i s plays,
Simpson i s unmistakeably an absurdis t wr i t e r who, while he wr i t e s i n
the shadow of Ionesco, i s responsible fo r mary o r i g ina l contributions t o
a d i s t i n c t form of t hea t r e ,
Simpson successful ly presents a combination of a detached humour and
t he fusion of tragedy and farce . The very t i t l e s of h i s plays a re
s ign i f ican t i n t h e i r irrelevance agd paradox. The Hole i s t he eponymous
t i t l e of the foundation fo r varied philosophies of the Visionary and
'$tch, Andrew, "A Fusion Avant-~arde?" , -ma Survey, 5 , 1, 5 3 -
Cerebro, the two fundmenta l i s t s . A One Way Pendulum i s a contradiction
i n terms because of the nature of'pendul-ms 2nd exemplifies the idea of
"mechanical ine las t i c i ty1 ' s ince it deviates from the "habit" of pen-
dulums. It i s a l s o symbolic of an unnatural force impeding the na tura l
motion of an object--comparable t o socie ty 's obstructive influence on
human personali ty. A Resounding Tinkle s i gn i f i e s climax and anticlimax.
"Tinkles" seldom "resomd" because they are onomatopoeically as close
t o si lence a s noises can be.
Born i n 1919, A.D. by h i s standards, Simpson i s nei ther a member
of the " a f t e r anger" category of playwright, nor a young man. He holds
a dggree i n English L i te ra tu re which he considers i r re levan t t o h i s wcrk
despi te the academic qua l i t y evident throughout h i s work--especially i n
h i s vocabulary. Simpson spent much of h i s l i f e a s aschoolteacher,
and has only recen t ly devoted h i s f u l l a t t en t ion t o playwriting.
A Resounding Tinkle was f i r s t produced by t he Royal Court Theatre
on ~ecember 1 s t 1957 and was di rected by William Gaskil l . The s c r i p t
had previously won the t h i rd pr ize i n a playwriting competition sponsored
by The Observer. The play was l a t e r shortened because i n i t s o r i g ina l
form it was somewhat long and a l i t t l e tedious f o r stage p rodu~ t ion .
The action reveals a t the beginning a typ ica l ly Simpsonian suburban
l i v ing room where Bro and Middie Paradock ( two of Simpson's perennial
characters) d iscuss a recent purchase. Uncle Ted i s introduced i n to
the conversation a s a man who l i ke s c r i t i c a l essays with h i s coffee,
an unusual t a s t e (with emetic consequences) symbolizing a f e t i s h of an
average person i n a twistec! and exaggerated way. It seems r?o more
r idiculous t h a t a person should take essays with h i s coffee than t ha t he
as the rhinocer i a r e a l i en t o the small French town. The idea of a life-
destroying l i f e force concerns mankind i n a l l i t s soullessness. Just
as the materials acaesthetize people t o t h e i r hunanity and make them about
as aware a s an elephant, so these people begin t o ident i fy with t h e i r
Possessions instead of t h e i r kumanit,y.
Bra and Middie decide t o t rade the elephant fo r a snake because
snakes a r e l e s s clumsy and can be s h o r t e ~ e d . But here i s l i t t l e change
i n the degree of incongruity i n the presence of non-domestic creatures
l i k e snzkes or elephants i n a house. The examples are deliberatelY
chosen t o create t h i s e f f ec t . Simpsonls amalgamation of chcking material-
ism and an unthinking l i f e force i n t o an incongruous presence, within
an ordered way of l i f e , i s h i s Theatre of the Absurd. He conveys h i s
apprehensions through the s a t i r e charac te r i s t i c of the Theatre of the
Absurd--a vehic le capable of presenting the grotesque.
Simpson, l i k e Ionesco, conveys t h r ~ u g h l a n g ~ a g e the very def iciencY
of language t o commun%cate. His dialogue consis ts of a succession of
'clfchgs spoken by characters whc are more in ieres ted i n t a lk ing than
l i s t en ing . These cl ichgs a re mouthed unconcernedly by the ac tors , but
t he e f f ec t i s not l o s t i f the audience in fe rs correct ly . An example of
t h i s suggestive cant i s Middiets reference t o Uncle Ted's passion fo r
motor ~ C O O ~ ~ ~ S - - " I s h a l l be glad t o see the l a s t of t h a t craze." The
craze i s a novelty or an i n f l uen t i a l trend t ha t threatens t o upset the
comfortable suburban confomity of the Paradocks. Uncle Ted's rebel l ion 1 I
is not s ignif ied by angry words, b7& by the purchase of a material thing
t ha t i s representative of change i n a keep-up-with-your-neighbour world.
The change may not necessari ly be fo r the be t t e r because those f o r whom
it i s designed a re unable t o in te rpre t the constructive qua l i t i e s of
change.
Simpson i s a p o l i t i c a l icococlast whose s a t i r e suggests a s imi la r i ty
between democratic franchise and tne sa le of goods a t the door. An
unknown man, who has persued the s t r e e t d ic t ionary a t random, asks Bro t o
form a government. Middie's immediate reaction i s stereotype--"you
might do something about a l l these bo t t l es . What does it look l i k e
if the Cabinet a r r ive suddenly?" Middie's existence i s centred mound
the philosophy of giving the "r ight impression'' t o a l l who enter her
introverted d.cmain. I f the Supreme Being were t o drop i n , she would
make sure the chairs were i n formation. Bro and Middi see the world
from t h e i r own subjective angle, and the s ign i f ican t events outside are
in terpreted according t o t h e i r s e l f i s h formulae. Ero, f o r instance, i s
more concerned with the disruption of h i s regular hours than he i s with
the respons ib i l i ty of forming a government. "How can I s t a r t forming
.a government a t s i x o 'clock i n the evening?" The r e spons ib i l i t i e s
placed on every c i t i z en i n a democratic socie ty a re i r re levan t , i n a
'nine t o f i ve ' working week. The irony of the s i t ua t i on i s the discovery
t ha t the messenger i s merely "someone having a joke". The Paradocks,
complacent i n t h e i r world of suburban r iva l ry , allow l i t t l e of the out-
s ide world t o influence them. As c i t i zens , they a re impervious t o the
meanings cf democracy, and as people they a re uninterested i n all but
- 76 - t h e i r immediate society.
Simpson
Paradocks i s
t i r e d of the
I
n t t o the takes a fur ther s tep by suggesting how unimporta..
the int imately human experience of sex. Uncle Ted, now
motor scooter craze, has changed i n to a female. It i s
possible t ha t Ted's hermaphroditic a b i l i t y i s a reference t o homosex-
ua l i t y . ( B U ~ there i s a comical s ignif icance ' in Middie's reaction:)
t t ... Uncle Ted: Why, you've changed your sex! You look lovely--doesn't
he, Bro? But why ever d idn ' t you l e t us know?" Sex i s as unimportant
as the change of a job o r the purchase of a new s u i t , and i s l e f t void
of any creat ive experience.
There i s an in te res t ing comparison between Uncle Ted's sex change and
Ionesco' s Maid t o Marry. The maiden of the Ionesco play, who has been
the object of conversation t?,roughout the play: en te r s the stage with
"a robust and v i r i l e (physique), a black moustache; wearing a grey s u i t . . . (with a ) very strong masculine voice." But, while Uccle Ted can charge
back "when she ge t s t i r e d of her new sex", the maid of Maid t o Marry
i s irrevocably male. Simpson's character embodies the element of f ree
choice; Ionesco's does not. Bro and Middie can change t h e i r way of l i f e
as soon as they become self-aware; Berenger i n ~h inoc&os cannot change
even though he i s we l l aware of h i s s i tua t ion . Man i n Simpson i s vhat
he i s by h i s own w i l l and environment; man i n Ionesco i s what he is by
capi tula t ion from which there i s no r e t r ea t .
I n Simpson's qu ie t suburban world the role-playing of the characters
i s not immediate]-y harmful and i s ce r ta in ly comic. Eut i n the anerchic
and v io len t world of Ionesco the ro les have more d i s r s t rous cofisequences-
This does not n~ake Simpson's work l e s s p r e g ~ a n t with soc i a l warning
because i t s s a t i r e i s ef fect ive &en if it i s understatement when compared
t o the vividness of Ionesco. Simpson's technique, however, i s re levant
t o the pa r t i cu l a r B r i t i sh audience fo r which he wr i tes i n an age xhere
many soc i a l problems a re s imilar around the world. But d i f f e r en t i n t e r -
p re ta t ions are necessary fo r divergent contexts.
I n perspective, Sio-psor?'s o r i g i za l and agridged versions of A - Resounding Tinkle cannot be discarded as mere l ev i ty . Bro and Middie
a r e spared from tragedy because the outside forces are magnified appre-
hensions of t h e i r own imaginations and not immediate i n danger. But
if the Faradocks were placed under the influence of regurgi ta ted racism
o r an unstable and violent socie ty they might wel l become the rhinos of
Ionesco.
I n the play Simpson does not ignore re l ig ion , ido la t ry , or r i t u a l .
These are forces t h a t could lead t o a des t ruct ive hys te r ia , and enter
t he plays t o induce consciousness. Over the radio comes a prayer f o r
Prayer : Give us l i g h t upon the nature of our knowing; f o r t he i l l u s ions of the luna t ic are not t h e i l l u s ions of the sane man, and the i l lus ions of the f l age l l an t are not t he i l l u s ions of the alcoholic, and the i l l u s ions of the de l i r i ous are not the i l l u s ions of the lovesick, and the i l l u s i o n s of t he genius are not the i l l u s ions of the common man:
Response: Give us l i g h t t ha t we may be enlightened. Prayer: Give us l i g h t t ha t , sane, we may a t t a i n t o a d i s t o r t i on
more acceptable than the l una t i c ' s and c a l l it t r u t h . Response : That, sane, we may c a l l it t r u t h and know it t o be
f a l s e . Prayer : That, sane, we may know ourselves, and by knowing
ourselves may know what it i s we know: Response: Amen.
- 78 - Middie: That was ra the r nice. 20
The prayers a re r e c i t a t i ons t ha t have no persuasive e f f ec t on the
Paradocks who maintain t h e i r pass iv i ty throughout. They a r e unable,
moreover, t o perceive the d i s to r t ions expressed by these prayers. I n
t h e i r react ion they a re predictable which i s an a t t i t ude of complete
apathy. From the outcome of the play, Simpson does not imply t h a t t h i s
apethy i s des t ruct ive , but i f the s i tua t ion were more c r i t i c a l soc ia l ly ,
apathy would have extremely negative e f fec t s . Were Simpson t o i l l u s t r a t e
the same metaphysical implications fo r human beings as does Ionesco,
the apathy of the Paradocks would be exp l i c i t l y dangerous. But i n t h e i r
s t e r i l i z e d soc i a l context they a re merely comic and not even t o be
p i t i ed . If the world of the Paradocks were t o collapse around them,
it would do so not with a resounding 'bang', but with a t ink l ing 'whimper.'
The Hole was a l so produced by the Royal Court Tneatre i n Apr i l
1958. ( ~ 0 t h The Hole and A Resounding Tinkle had been previously
performed i n a double b i l l i n December 1957.) It i s a play which
combines philosophical profutldity with the nature of r e a l i t y . Philosophy
has been concerned wi th the d i f f i c u l t y of discovering r e a l i t y through
t he perceived image of t h a t reality--hence Berkeley's maxim "esse e s t
perc ipi ." The paradox of The Hole i s tke sym3olic void, the insub-
s t a n t i a l emptiness, which i s the cavi ty upon which "we bui ld our fa i th . "
The Visionary i s i n i t i a l l y on the stage, and forms a constructive
force above the void as the nucleus of a qieue. He i s an i so la ted
individual who l i v e s i n the realm of h i s own i l l u s ions , and i s unabie t o
20~imPSon, N . F . , A Resounding Tinkle, Samuel French Ltd. ondo don, . 19581, p. 25.
- 79 - communicate with the sympathetic End0 who pas-tulates; If.. . Just waiting.
queue. " To which the Visionary replies, "perhaps they have queues of
their own. ,121 The Visionary is an existentialist intellectual who
situation will accept him and has little relevance as an individual in
the existentialist sense because he is oblivious to the truths and illusions
that the Visionary has had revealed. Both men lack one balancing aspect
of their personalities. The one lacks realization of his individual it^
and the other of his collective situation. Even together they are
polarized by their limited perceptions.
The Visionary admits his former wish to have lfqueues radiating out
from me like the spikes Gn a prison railing. Like nodules endlessly
attenuated." His desire to be "cosmically first", besides being
ridiculous, j s the fault of any megalomaniac who believes the uni-~erse
to revolve around him and represents a form of solipsism. But the
Visionary is satisfied to queue in solitude; happy in his subjectivity
and existential isolation. He await.s his Godot and the passage of time
is irrelevant to his eternal quest. 22
Endo: ... I shocl.6 think the days must go by very slowly for You* Visionary: I ve Fever timed them. 23
Endo is concerned with his contingency and bodily ccmfort while. the
2 1 Sinlpson, N. F., The Hole, Samuel French Ltd. o on don, 1958), p. 2 .
22 Simlsson wrote The Hole soon after the London success of Beckettfs -
Waiting for Godot and there is the possibility that the idea of Godot might bear on the presence of the Visionary.
- 80 - Visionary makes these secondary t o h i s spi r i tual ism and self-delusion.
I
He e a t s t o keep food out of h i s mind and can generate h i s own warmth.
The Visionary attempts escape from h i s human s i tua t ion even though he
i s surrounded by f l asks , an alarm clock, a sleeping bag, and other
sundries t h a t represent t he material world. The Visionary's preoccupation
is a s ta ined g lass window tha t i s symbolic of a preordained image t ha t
allows l i g h t t o i l luminate but permits no fu r ther vision. The Visionary
remains on t h i s l e v e l of i sola ted expectation throughout the play,
impervious t o the chaos t ha t revolves around him.
Endo makes a f ru s t r a t ed attempt t o comprehend the Visionary's
ut terances, but Cerebro, the pseudo-intellectu.al, i s rendered incapable
of such a comprehension due t o h i s conclusive, s c i e n t i f i c forms t ha t
compute solut ions t o a l l problems facing him.
Cerebro: We ought t o be able t o work something out i f we our minds t o it. H e must be wait ing f o r something. 2gUt
The e f fec t of the Visionary's expectation must have a cause i n Cerebra's
"scient i f ic1 ' opinion, s ince , only then can the Visionary be responsible
fo r a r a t i ona l a c t . Cerebro ra t iona l izes a l l t h a t he perceives i n to a
so l i d conclusion, and anything t ha t w i l l not f i t i s discarded.
I n Soma, more near ly an Fntellectu.al than Cerebro but an i n s t i ga to r
r a the r than an a c t i v i s t . Cerebro encounters h i s philosophical superior.
Soma enters the s tage a s a Kantian revolutionary questioning the v a l i d i t y
of a l l conclusions. Soma opposes Cerebro on h i s own ground by re fu t ing
the l a t t e r ' s inferences. Cerebro reac t s by vac i l l a t i ng from one opinion
t o another; constantly jumping t o i r re levant conclusions l i k e a computer I
gone mad. But Soma cannot d is turb t he Visionary who has so firmly s e t
t he Visionary has not reached h i s conclusion by ra t ional deduction, h f s
mgument for the stained-glass window cannot be refuted by the kind of
deduction Cerebro uses t o ver i fy the golf game:
Cerebro: A man i s addressing a b a l l . And it seems a legit imate inference t ha t a man with a l l the i r of a golfer addressing a b a l l i s i n f a c t playing golf ... 29
Cerebra's perception i s confined t o a p r i o r i formulations of reason and
he must face the consequence of such r i g id i t y . The Visionary, however,
nust face the i so l a t i on of soli.psism. A l l four male characters represent
d i f fe ren t modes of in te rpre t ing the universe. Each i s l imited i n h i s
a b i l i t y t o comprehend the much broader r e a l i t y of existence, and the
c l a r i t y of these car icatures i n the play i s posi t ive i n i t s impact on
a self-questioning audience.
The in te r jec t ions of Mrs. Meso and Mrs. Ecto form the backdrop
for the act ion i n the foreground of the stage. Their mundane conver-
sa t ion about two husbands who are t o t a l l y d i f fe ren t from one another
forms the second l e v e l t o the play. These two levels are , f i r s t , the
philosophical ranglings and contortions of the male characters, and the
nonsense clich6-ridden spoutings of the female characters. The two
women are unmi~takeably suburban i n t h e i r derivation:
Mrs. Meso: Have you ever thought of t ry ing t o get Sid breathing 4 properly?
Mrs. Ecto: I ' v e t r i e d everything, Glayds. It i s n ' t f o r want of t ry ing t ha t Sid i s n ' t normal, believe me.
Mrs. Meso: I thought perhaps if he could get h i s breathing s t r a i g h t it might be a s t w t f o r him.
Mrs. Ecto: He's out of s tep ~ i t h i t - -heTs breathing i n a l l the time when he shculd be breathing out and t h s t puts him out. a l l the way along. He can' t get back i n to phase wi th it except by breathing i n twice r'unning.
Mrs. Meso: O r breathing out. He could surely breathe out twice running?
Mrs. Ecto: I've t r i e d him with t h a t too. Once he s t a r t s breathing out he has t o go on till he's f inished. And then when he t r i e s t o breathe out a second time--
Mrs. Meso: --he's got no more air l e f t . 26
The humour of the Meso-Ecto in ter ludes that intertwine through the play
with those of the men has the s ingle purpose of soc ia l s a t i r e . Except
f o r the mention of a "cosmic ru t" i n which one of the husbands believes
himself t o be enveloped there i s no metaphysical implication, and even
i n t h i s case the idea of "cosmic" i s completely submerged i n the mechanism
of the clich;.
Meanwhile, Cerebra's log ic ca r r ies him t o fur ther absurd conclusions
on the nature of whatever l i e s i n the hole. His theory of the golf
game i s l og i ca l l y contrived--"a legit imate inference." But, when he
has exploded the golf theory, Cerebra t r i e s t o firmly es tab l i sh "a
comprehensive hypothesis which w i l l account for the presence i n a s ingle
bind h i s conclusions ( thus i l l u s t r e t i ng the fal laciousness of fault^"
reasoning), Endo i s carr ied along by the former ' s argument through
h i s sheer i n a b i l i t y t o form a counter-argument. Endo i s a passive
c i t i z en who, aware of t he tyranny of h i s "supericrs," i s unable t o
261bid. , pp. 21-22.
- 83 - i s o l a t e the tyraxny and a t t ack it. He must therefore cocdescend t o a
submissiveness t hz t f o s t e r s domination by Cerebra. Through the caricature
of Cerebro, Simpson personifies the contradictory norms of a h ~ ~ o c r i t i c a l
society, which norms feed the comic s p i r i t of h i s play.
The re l ig ious r e c i t a l of the creed according t o the Aquarium
Tr in i t y i s l e s s a reference t o Christ ian l i t u r g y than t o newly-fledged
p o l i t i c a l ideologies 2nd national a~thems. The re l ig ious reference
p a r a l l e l s the unthinking r e c i t a l of prepared verbiage t o s ign i fy be l i e f s
held. But t h i s reference equates p o l i t i c a l r e c i t a l and renders l i t t l e
d i s t i nc t i on between re l ig ion i n an ecc l e s i a s t i c a l sense or re l ig ion i n an
ideological sense. The hole has given r i s e t o several theor ies a l l of
which have been discarded i n favour of the Aquarium theory. A l l three
men agree on t he l a t e s t theory. But t h e i r agreement i s f a r from being
a mutual understanding. Cerebro accepts the philosophy of the aqu-arim
because h i s mind must categorize unknown phenomena and place them in to an
ordered and formulated context. Endo agrees with Cerebro because he i s
gu l l i b l e and unable t o i den t i fy or r e j e c t f au l t y inference. But Soma
plans simply t o d r ive Cerebro and Endo deeper i n t o t h e i r self-delusion.
Soma seeks t o des t roy reason f o r the sake of des t ruct ion, and is, con-
sequently a dangerous antagonist . He can change a. peaceful opinion irlto
h o s t i l i t y through appropriate in te r jec t ions . He need use only the
persuasion of disagreement:
Cerebro: He's harmless. Soma: He ' s dangerous. Endo and Cerebro: ( . . . a s though by r e f l ex ) He's dangerous.
28
- 84 - Soma's influence could cause mob violence as wel l among the Endo's as
among the Cerebra ' S. Cerebror s 'false reasoning causes his ~ l n e r a b i l f t ~
t o Soma's influence because any log ica l srgwLent looks good t o Cerebra
i ts frequent non-validity . Martin Ess l in likens Soma t o S t d i n
and Cerebra t o Marx. This comparison s t resses the gitf between theory
29 and pract ice . Cerebro forms a theory, and then imposes it On I3x-b
a t Soma's Urging. Soma has the v i r t u a l d i c t a t o r i a l supremacY OWX
Cerebra because he i s a man of act ion when ins t iga t ing revolutionary
influence. H i s "Stalinism" applies a s e l f i sh t r i ckery t o the honest,
but f a r c i ca l , attempts of Cerebra t o discover the truth--which evades
him due t o h i s l ack of r e a l in te l l igence. Cerebra p s t u l a t e s theor ies
t h a t can never be pract ised; but t ha t i s the pr iv i lege of the theoret ic ian .
H i s theor ies f a l l shor t when he considers them as t ru ths ra ther than
hY??otheses. Soma takes Cerebrofs theories and pushes them t o the point
of absurdity, and, a s Hme pushed Fnpiricism t o reduc t i i ad absurdam,
makes a mockery of ra t icnal iza ' t ion. I n t h i s presentat ion of c a h d a t e d
falsehood expressed by h i s car ica tures , Simpsoc subt ly implies the
dangers of f a l s e p o l i t i c a l ideology. If the sa$ire i s aimed a t r e l ig ion
it i s only a comic appra i sa l of the metaphysical "leaps of faith"
cha r ac t e r i s t i c of r e l i g ious cu l t s . But the darger of any "religion"
impl ic i t i n Simpson's s a t i r e l i e s i n the p o l i t i c a l manipulation of people.
Religion, l i k e r i g i d ideology, frequently b l inds i t s d i sc ip les t o rea l i ty
and, l i k e the Visionary's s tained-glass window, i s t rans lucent ra the r
than t ransparent . The viewers a re thus blinded t o fu r the r realizations
of consciousness because t h e i r perceptions a re ordered and not ~ e r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y
29~SS l in , Mastin, The Theatre of the Absurd, ( revised and enlarged ed i t i on ) , Pelican Books ( ~ e a d i ng, 1968), p. 296.
created from r e a l i t y . The l i ng$ i s t i c representation of such blinding
H i s warning against such soc i a l and ideological opaqueness i s imps son's
pos i t ive presentation of the Theatre of the Absurd.
The "non-sequitur" i s an important l i n m i s t i c device i n simpson's
plays, espec ia l ly The Hole. Simpson uses the non-sequitur as a cur t
aphorism t h a t has extensive reference. The f i r s t use of a se r ies of
these aphorisms ca r r i e s the action t o an onomatopoeic climax:
Cerebro: He's s ignal l ing. Endo: He's tapping on the pipes. ..... Soma: He's i n s o l i t a r y confinement. Cerebro: He wants t o make contact. Endo: He's tapping out a messsge.
..... Soma: He's pacing up and down. Endo: He's been given s o l i t a r y confinement. Soma: He's got seven years. Engo: He's i n f o r three months. Soma: He's t ry ing t o make contact.
..... Endo: He's tapping. ' They foirnd him breaking and entering and
now they've put him inside. Soma: He's done wrong, and he 's chosen t o do it i l l e g a l l y ... 30
The brev i ty of the l i n e s bui lds tension and suggests a l o s s of control
by t he characters on themselves. Endo breaks the sequence with a longer
sentence and the t e n s i m i s temporarily broken. There follow the
individual react ions about jus t ice x h a e each character reveals the
dichotomy between sound moral pr inciples and s e l f i s h convenience.
For example:
Cerebro: I hold no b r i e f f o r sadism, but I can' t help thinking t h a t a good dose of old-fashioned t o r tu r e would have a l o t t o be sa id fo r it . 3 l
30~impson, N. . , op. c i t . , p. 23.
3%bid., p. 24.
a c iv i l i z a t i on gone mad: I
Endo: We must get out the reference books. Cerebro: We must look up har i -k i r i . Endo: Send fo r Whittakers. Soma: Look up voodoo. Endo: Send fo r d ic t ionar ies . Cerebro: They're a t av i s t i c . Soma: Send for maps. Cerebro: For d ic t ionar ies .
, . Endo: Encyclopedias. Cerebro: Their k i l l i n g t h e i r victim. Endo: They're i n a trance. Cerebro: I t ' s a r i t u a l dance. Endo: I t ' s f e t i s h i s t i c . Cerebro: Look up ~ a u - ~ a u . 3 3
Leaders a re needed a t t h i s juncture, but none are i n evidence. A l l
simulations a t cu l t iva t ion , c i v i l i t y , or refinement a re l o s t i n a fervour
of madness; Soma, as an ins t iga tor of rebel l ion and a p o l i t i c a l a r son is t ,
s t imulates the frenzy by c r i e s of "Forward!" And when a workman emerges
from the hole and announces t ha t he has been working on a junction box,
Soma t r i e s t o make Cerebro r e j e c t the f ac t t ha t has now destroyed a l l
of the l a t t e r ' s f l o r i d in terpreta t ions:
Soma: ... what happens i f these ideas be n t o take hold? What s o r t of anchor have you got l e f t ? %
But Cerebro maintains support f o r h i s s c i e n t i f i c in te rpre ta t ion , while
Soma summarizes the consequences of the manifestation which Endo and the
two women accept. The Visionary, however, remains uninfluenced. - The
Hole i s an absurdis t rendit ion of the f o l l i e s of individuals t ha t a re - magnified i n t o the f o l l i e s of a society. To derive s e t messages from the
play would be t o fabr ica te "answers1' i n the same Way tha t Cerebro fab-
r i c a t e s golf games and f i s h aquariums. But the play through sardonic
3 3 ~ b i d . , pp. 30-31.
341bid. , p. 35.
- 88 - implication i s a successful s a t i r e which allows the thea t re t o a c t as
I
the medium f o r soc i a l c r i t i c i sm.
One Way Pendulum was f irst produced i n December 1959 a t Brighton's
Theatre Royal. The cur ta in opens on tkLree "centra l ly placed weighing
machines." Machine number one i s obstrusive and "flamboyantly ugly"
while the other twc mzchines a r e smaller. Kirby Groomkirby then enters
with an adjus table music stand t h a t supports no music but Kirby ad jus t s
i t s height nonetheless. Kirby proceeds t o i n s t ruc t number one machine
i n the e s s en t i a l s of a.n;usical sca le , because he presumes t h a t any
machine t h a t can speak a weight can surel) sing. The machine a t f i r s t
cooperates but soon r eve r t s t o i t s natura l incl inat ions and speaks
" f i f t een s to re ten pounds." Sa t i s f i ed t ha t the other machines a r e
prepared t o perform correct ly , Kirby taps h i s baton on t he stand and
row upon row of weighing machines appear projected on a r ea r screen.
The complete mechanics1 choir then launches " fc l l - th -oa ted ly" i n t o a
rendi t ion of the Halalujah Chorus, and Kirby conducts them with "splendid
panache." The grandeur of the occasion i s spoiled, however, by the
renegade number one machine t h a t exudes metal l ic noises during the
appreciat ive s i l ence which follows the climax.
The comedy and t h e a t r i c a l i t y of the opening scene a r e e a s i l y
appreciated. But Sinpson has produced more than mere comedy by the
design of an important rela, t ionship between man atzd machine. Groomkirby's
log ic has been d i s t o r t ed i n i t s deduction from a misleading prenise t o
an absurd conclusion as he supposes t h a t a weight-speaking machine must
have humano-mechanical a b i l i t i e s t o i n t e rp r e t orders and sing. It is
- 89 - the paradoxical revelat ion of how the mechanical qua l i t i e s of a man's
mentality can work i n r e la t ion t o a humanly programmed machine. Non-
cooperation on the par t of the large machine i s the r e s u l t of a stubborn I
nature within the machine and something tha t w i l l be eliminated through
practice--not by the turning of a d i a l . The very ac t of conducting
presupposes t ha t the machines can somehow v isua l ize the emotive wishes
of the conductor. The intermingling of human and mechanical character-
i s t i c s i n both the machines and Groomkirby are evidence of Simpson's
concern with the automatic habits of people i n general and Br i t i sh
suburban dwellers i n pa r t i cu la r . The comic presentation does not bel ie
o r preclude subs tan t ia l soc ia l relevance. Groomkirby maintains a pa r t i a l
control over the machines, but he himself can only ea t t o the sound of
a cash r eg i s t e r b e l l without which he would s tarve i n Pavlovian f rus t re t ion.
There i s no foreseeable problem of the s t i f l i n g pro l i fe ra t ion of
physical objects as there i s i n Ionesco's h he cha i r s ) Les Chaises
or Le Nouveau Locataire he New Tenant. ) . Instead, the fea r of Mrs.
Groomkirby i s t h a t the f ive hundred machines w i l l accumulate dust and
become too noisy fo r a peaceful neighbourhood. She i s not concerned
with the psychological implications of having the machines i n her house--
or several cars i n t he garage for t h a t matter. Nor i s the re a.ny parental
concern fo r Kirby's complete dependence on machines as a means fo r
existence.
I n a l l i t s humour, the f i r s t scene of t he play i s an important
reference t o the re la t ionsh ip between Man, machine, and a mechanical
society. Logic i s a mechanical reasoning, and Kirby uses it ad absurdam-
His invalid conclusions are the resu l t of an imperviousness t o hu.IIIan
feeling and the monstrosity of inhumanity i s i n the end revealed
as the cause of multi-murders t o sa t i s fy his f e t i sh t o wear black--but
not without cause. By a similar crooked logic, the Court exonerates
Kirby because he has used reason in the sa t is fact ion of h i s fe t ish . Tfle
Court i s a l so the defender of reason and Simpson here more nearly implies
r e s t of h i s milder soc ia l s a t i r e .
The second scene adds a new dimension t o the individual idiosyn-
cras ies of t he characters. Each has h i s own personal preoccupation,
but none of these a re of any in te res t t o other members of the Groom-
kirby family. Each person i s isolated i n se l f - in te res t . While Mrs.
the family, they a re unaware of i t s significance as a loss of love and
on the surrounding society:
Mrs. Groomkirby: Cluttering up the place. What with Kirby ups ta i r s and him down. Never speaking t o each other from one week's end t o the next. 3 5
whether people o r objects are i n the way. I n t h i s family, people appear
t o be i n the way, and objects co l lec t dust . The recognition of t h i s
r e a l i t y i n the play gives force and dimension t o Simpsonrs adro i t soc i a l
awareness.
35~imPson, N. F. , One Way Pendulum, Faber and Faber ondo don, 1-960), ' P - 17.
- 91 - Do's and Don'ts f o r - Dovetai lers--convenient ly capsulized formulae
I
applicable t o a strange r e a l i t y . Mrs. Groomkirby i s enveloped i n her
ro le a s housewife; ".. .something e l s e for me t o dust , I expect.. ." She sees co fu r ther significance i n anything around her.
Aunt Mildred i s forced by physical d i s a b i l i t y t o remain i n a wheel-
chair . But a t r a v e l brochure takes her thoughts t o the Outer Hebrides
and from there t o a ceaseless l i s t of fur ther des t inat ions . The contrast
between physical d i s a b i l i t y and s p i r i t u a l res t lessness i s s ign i f ican t
a s wel l t o the family a s t o Mildred hersel f . A l l a re soc i a l l y i so la ted
and l imited by t h e i r introverted natures, but a l l have a de s i r e t o
achieve some goal--no matter how ridiculous t h i s goal may be. Sylvia,
for example, i s aware of the force driving Kirby, and she disapproves of
it. The inherent tragedy l i e s i n the f u t i l e r e s u l t s of otherwise po ten t ia l ly
constructive imaginations. Kirby i s unaware of the significance of h i s
actions and I s impotent as a human being, because he cannot recognize the
perspective of h i s act ions . I n other words, Kirby i s completely unaware.
Sylvia herself i s d i s s a t i s f i ed with her s i t ua t i on and keeps a sku l l on
the mantlepiece t o remind her of death ("not a l l t h a t much") but has
no idea of death as a concept o r even as a r e a l i t y . Death i s merely
another happening i n l i f e brought on by the mechanico-fatal p lo t t ings
of time and i s as much of a nuisance as Sy lv ia ' s pass iv i ty t o it, but
both people a re a s contrary t o l i f e as a creat ive force as death i t s e l f .
The mention of death i n Simpson has not i n any way the significance of
death i n Ionesco. The facing of death i n Tueur sans Gages i s deeply
personal and metaphysically f i n a l . Death i n Simpson i s relegated t o
- 92 - the d i s t o r t i ons of the soc i a l and metaphysical deser t i n which h i s
I
characters wander.
Money i s important t o t h i s play as it i s t o capitalism. Kirby's
food b e l l nust be t he b e l l of a cash r e g i s t e r , and he must feed. money
i n t o h i s machines-which, l i k e men, w i l l only work f o r pecuniary reward.
His fa ther places money i n to a row of parking metres and waits f o r the
time t o expire so t h a t he can get h i s money's worth of time as wel l as
regain t he expenditure. The l a s t example i s a b l a t an t example of
Simpson's c r i t i c a l mind--with money and time as the c r i t e r i a of the l i ve s
of most people creat ive a c t i v i t y and p h i l a n t h r o ~ y remain outside the
average imagination ( o r lack of it.) But while money w i l l ~ ~ a a i p u l a t e
men and machines a l i k e , the laws of Xature a re unbribable. b I r . Gridlake
cannot defy death by placing h i s sk i s on backwards and ski ing i n to a
t r e e , nor can M r . Gantry f a l l off a c l i f f and land harder just because
he has made a mathematical m i sca l cu l a t i~n . The i.nference from th i s i s
t h a t man i s subservient t o the r e a l i t i e s of h i s natural ewironment, and
t h a t obeisance t o a r t i f i c i a l fabr icat ions i s z contort ion leading t o
d i s a s t e r .
The in tervent ion of the Court i n Act Two brings the outside world
i n to the l i v ing room of the Groomkirby household. The lav , a mechariical
force working under spec i f ic ru les t o control the na tura l ly a2archic
act ions of the human being i n an e x i s t e n t i a l s i tua t ion , becones the
icon of o f f i c i a l clich; i n the s a t i r e of the playwright. The court
scene becomes tedious i n length and i r re levan t i n substance, and, wliile
e f fec t ive i n i t s c r i t i c i sm of " legal i ty" , suggests an imposition by
36 the playwright on h i s subject . The Court i n i t s rat ionalisni recog- ,
nizes Kirby's logicalbehaviour i n preparing a reason f o r wearing
black clothes of mourning. Because he has acted i n such an exemplary
and r a t i ona l way Kirby i s found innocent of any reprehensible crime
despi te the c r imina l i ty and mu.rderousness of h i s p lo t .
Judge: ... A s for your des i re t o f ind a l og i ca l p re tex t , t h i s i s the one redeeming feature I have been able t o f ind i n t h i s case. ... You began a few months ago by t e l l i n g your f i r s t joke t o your vict im and then s t r i k i n g him with an i ron bar . What d id you get out of it? The excuse t o wear black f o r for ty-e ight hows? ... And so it has gone on: vict.im a f t e r vict im.. . . . .I have 'been influenced by one considerat ion, and it f o r one crime, we may the law i n respect t o otherwise have become cheated i n t h i s way.
Kirby's pantomime of l i f e has been
i s t h i s : t h a t i n sentencing a man be putt ing him beyond the reach of those other crimes of which he might qu i l ty . The law. . . is not t o be I s h a l l therefore discharge yol~. 3 7
completely preoccupied wi th death,
and h i s ludicrous plan t o a t t r a c t mil l ions of people t o the North Pole
(by the music of h i s machines), causing an imbalance i n the Ear th ' s
ro ta t ion , makes a mockery of existence. Kirby i s a H i t l e r whose mega-
lomania i s grotesque, and Siinpson's presentat ion of such a cgioernetic
mind provides - One Way Pendulum with important psychological s ignif icence.
I f the i n a b i l i t y of the Court t o pronounce jus t i ce i s a conscicus c r i t i c i s n
by Simpson of the Eri7;ish system of law, then it ca r r i e s beyond t o
s a t i r i z e any o r g a ~ i z h t i o n where logic i s i n s t i t u t i ona l i z ed and worshipped
36 Simpson's personal imposition suggests a c e r t a i n d i s l i k e f o r
the s t e r i l i t y of law cour t s . While t h i s i s pe r fec t ly va l i d , it de t r ac t s from the natura l flow of the drama and tends t o beg the question as does John Osborne's interminable condemation of the Press i n Under P la in Cover.
I , pp. 91-92.
- 94 - 8s the accepted system of reason. Simpson's parad7 of the lax court
I
i s more a warning t o the human conscience that a condemnation of l ega l
i n s t i t u t i ons .
There are comparisons between Simpson's next play, _The for^, 38
and Ionesco's , La Leqon. La Leqon was f i r s t published i n June 1950,
and it i s p lausible t o suppose t ha t Simpson had a t l e a s t heard of it,
if not read it. There are 3vident para l l e l s betveen the two plays perhaps
the r e s u l t of impression ra ther than the direcc influence of Ionesco
on Simpson. Both plays begin i n charac te r i s t i c Ar i s to te l i an fashion
wi th a r i s i n g act ion and a clearly-defined antagonist-protagonist
re la t ionship . Also, both plays conclude a f t e r a c i rcu la r action has
reversed the re la t ionsh ip between characters. Language plays an
important pa r t i n the s imi l a r i t y betweec the plays. I n La L e ~ o n it
becomes what Es s l i n c a l l s "an instrument of power. '13' When t he play
ends i n the rape-nurder of the pupil , the nature of author i ty has beer1
revealed i n a l l I t s cruel ty . 'In The Form latiguage becomes an instrument
of meaningless verbal gymnastics where the su thor i ty of the questioner,
M r . Chacterson, has no e f f ec t on the respondant, M r . Whinby. Whinby
has already predicted the questions by preparation of the answers, and
h i s prolepsis c lever ly weakens the author i ty of Chacterson. I n La L e ~ o n
the pupi l i s f i n a l l y overcome by the "superiori ty" of the professor
whose overwhelming au thor i ty exercises a d i c t a t o r i a l control over her
3 8 ~ h e Form was f i r s t produced a t the Arts Theatre Club, I.on6on, i n January 1961, and l a t e r a t the Cri ter ion Thea.tre, February 1.961.
3 9 ~ s s l i n , Nartin, op. c i t . , p. 95.
- 95 -
freedom and ends i n her complete submission. The magnitude of author-
i t a t iveness i s r e l a t i v e t o the d i f fe ren t p o l i t i c a l contexts within which
Ionesco and Simpson a r e wri t ing, but the s t y l e of the absurd i s s imilar
i n the reversa l of protagonist/antagonist ro les and question/answer
ordering.
Whinby i n The Form i s reprimanded fo r being too exact i n h i s
f i l l i n g i n of t he form, a symbol of bureaucracy. . .
Chacterson: . , .Now, t e l l me, M r . Whinby--this form we asked you t o fill i n . You s t a t e here t ha t you were christened at two o'clock on the t en th of June nineteen t h i r t y e igh t . A Friday.
Whinby: That ' s right,. Chacterson: What we asked f o r , M r . Whinby, was an approximate date. Whinby: Oh. Chacterson: Two o'clock on Friday the t en th of June 1938
doesn ' t sound very apprcxiirate t o m e . Whinby: It doesn ' t , does it? How about s i x o'clock on Monday
the ninth of May. Chacterson: Yes, t ha t would s u i t us qu i te nicely. Any par-
t i c u l a r year? Whinby: You probably know more about these things than I do.
40
Whinby ' s cap i tu la t ion ( "YOU probsbly know more about these things than
I do " ) s ignals t he point where he takes over the i c i t i a t i v e from
Chacterson. Chacterson must make the next move, and, when he does,
Whinby poses an i r re levan t question. Chacterson must f ind out whether
Palmerston was "at the Forelgn Ofi'ice i n 1950" and. admit t o Vhinby,
"I think you may we l l be r igh t . " Af te r the blackout and Whinby's chsnge
t o protagonist , the reversa l of ro les can be traced t o the " c h r i s t e n k g
date." The profgssor of La Lecon gains s t rength as the unopposed
i n s t i ga to r of events, but Chacterson i s completely outwitted. His l o s s
40 Simpson, N . F . , The Form, Samuel French Ltd. ondo don, 1961)
p. 10.
- 96 - of au tho r i ty l i k e t h a t of a p o l i t i c a l p a r t y i n power becomes Whlnby's
I
gain. The r e v e r s a l of r o l e s f o l l ~ ~ s Ckactersonrs suggestion t h a t t he
quest ions be made t o f i t the answers--"Thatfs your t roub le a t t h e
moment. You're paying too much a t t e n t i o n t o the quest ions ." If t he
answers a r e presumed t o 5e more important than t h e quest ions, then the
answerer w i l l dominate by begging t h e quest ion, a l o g i c a l f a l l a c y , and
t h e exerc ise becomes an a p o s t e r i o r i form. Expressed t h e a t r i c a l l y ,
t h e quest ioner and answerer change places a s t he r e l a t i v e importarm
of t h e i r r o l e s a l t e r . Thus the two charac te rs become subserv ien t t o
t h e i r l i n g u i s t i c func t ions .
Chacterson: Once the r e p l i e s a r e l i n e d up, t h e quest ions fo .110~ na tu ra l ly of t h e i r own accord. (p . 14)
Whinby, now D r . Whinby, descr ibes mastery of the speaking voice a s
mastery of p i t c h , tone , volume and a r t i c u l a t i o n . He has become an expert
i n t h e form of language without any adherence t o i t s meaning. Language,
under a pre-ordained system of mearlirgl e s s symbols. His language i s
not a means of co-munication, bu t a means of g ~ i n i n g power. The
i z a t i o n of language and i t s subsequent dangers of tyranny. Thcugh
mild?r than Ionesco ' s implied s a t i r e i n I,a L e ~ o n Simpson's p l a y i s a
r e v e l a t i o n of t h e nechanical nature of bu reauc ra t i c s o c i e t y where
p o l i t i c a l power can be won o r l o s t i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e manipulation of .
ilk
- 97 - l i n g u i s t i c forms.
John Russell Taylor dismisses The Form as "a tiresome one-act
fantasy. '14' This evaluation f a i l s t o rea l ize t ha t the play i s an attack
on language a s a conclusive in terpreta t ion of ideas. As an example of
the Theatre of the Absurd the play qua l i f i es because of i t s d i s to r t ion
of the l i n g u i s t i c soc i a l context. ~ t s censure of question-answer
language forms resembles s t y l i s t i c a l l y La Cantatrice Chauve, La Leqon,
and Les Chaiseg, which f i r s t presented Ionesco's theory of languege
a s drama. The absurdi ty of Simpson's play l i e s , a s it does w i t h Iofiesco,
i n the use of language t o denigrate i t s e l f .
The Cresta Run was f i r s t performed by the English Stage Company
i n October 1965. ~t i s one of Simpson's l e s s successful plays, but
al ludes t o the s o c i a l s a t i r e t h a t the playwright creates a s warning t o
a vac i l l a t i ng socie ty . Leonard and L i l l i a n Fawcett a re s imp son's
perennial suburbanites. Their f ront door i s meticulously locked by
b o l t s and chains t o exclude burglers and other external dangers. The
outside world imposes i t s e l f on the quiet home of the Fawcetts i n the
Person of S i r Francis Harker, chief of a spy agency, who implicates the
couple if? an in t r igue involving the th rea t from a foreign power. While
Harker represents the establisl-meat of society, Le~na rd i s the i n S n l l
dragged i n t o the t en tac les of an organization t ha t can survive only
through h i s help. Leonard i s to ld t o accept an important sec re t capmule,
symbolic of " soc ia l responsabil i tyl ' , which i s a f i r s t s t ep t o h l s s e l f -
i n f l i c t ed and subsequent exp lo i ta t io :~ . His ul t imate humiliation i s
41 Taylor, J. R . , op. c i t . , p. 64.
- g8 - exemplified by an imminent parachute Jump in to e foreign sewer--%
pzrsonal debasement i n a hos t i l e arid a l i en environment. Only i r _ t he
end, when it i s already too l a t e , does Leonard r ea l i z e h i s p l igh t ;
If Then, l i k e a f l a sh , the t r u t h dawr~ed upon me! I had been poisoned."
Leonard i s the only Simpsonian character who comes close t o beirzg s e l f -
aware, bu t , unlike Berenger, he i s b l ind t o any r e su l t s deriving from
h i s temporary revela t ion.
I n The Cresta -- Run Simpson has added an important warning t o h i s
cha rac t e r i s t i c s a t i r e of suburban l iv ing. The outside world t h a t feeds
on the r e l i a b l e conformity of suburban l i f e can exploi t it t o t he point
of des t ruct ion. The S t a t e plays espionage gmes while business plays
cotlsumer games, and i n t he one the preservation of a way of l i f e i s
concerned while i n the other the sovereignty of the individual i s
threatened. Leonard, the gu l l ib le "hero", f a l l s from sel f - respect t o
abasement i n h i s jump from a i r c r a f t t o sewer. But l i k e the ~ 6 r e n ~ e r
of Tueur sans Gages, h i s epiphany dawns too l a t e .
John Russel Taylor, i n h i s disdain fo r The Form , qnotes the opinion
of c r i t i c Charles Marowitz who remarked t h a t "there i s about Simpson the
odour of c i v i l service 1 e v i . t ~ ; the kind of pun laden high-jinks one
associa tes with banter around the t e a t r o l l y and the f r o l i c s of Kin i s t ry
amateur soc i e t i e s . "42 "This seems t o me t o place him e ~ k t l ~ , ~ ' comments
Taylor. The t rouble wi th t h i s cr i t ic is in i s tha t both c r i t i c s have
taken Simpson too se r ious ly and a t Tace va.lue. It i s p rec i se ly the
"odour of c i v i l service levi ty" t h a t Simpson wishes h i s audience t o
sense. I n t h a t Government organization the reduction of the huian
421t id . , p. 64
- 99 -
s e n s i b i l i t y t o a cog i n the bureaucratic machine i s b l a t an t i n most I
countries i n t he worid. The theme of The Form and The Cresta Rm i s
t o b r ing the r e d u c t i i of the c i v i l service mental i ty ad absurdam.
It i s t he ordered automaton socie ty i n which men lose the de l i c a t e
balance between reason and feel ing and become automata t h a t Simpson
condemns i n h i s s a t i r e . His very background as schoolteacher and c i v i l
ser-~-&nt ensure h i s mimicry w i l l be based on famil iar ground. The method
of absurdity emplcjyed by Simpson w i l l exaggerate and d i s t o r t f o r e f f ec t
but it maintains i t s focus of a5tention. H i s technique of the absurd
i s the transmission of perceptions through hyperbolic impressions.
The Hole, f o r example, i s a v i sua l e f fec t material ized, and the non- --
sequi tur monclogues convey f l a sh impressions t o the audience. The
medium, therefore dramatizes the nessage, but the message i s non-
d e f i n i t i v e and nlu.st be conveyed as a c~mple te impression, however in fe r red
t o avoid the f i n a l statement o r moral t h a t both Ionesco and Simpon
consider i r r e l evan t and contrsry t o t h e i r ' ' responsabil i t ies" as plsy-
wrights. His a3surdis t plays are Sinpson's mthod of solving Man's
s t ruggle t o discover the r e a l i t y of Phenomena through t h e i r images.
Simpson's p~eoccupat ion with "mechanlcal m n " presents a d j x t x b i n g
cha rac t e r i s t i c o? hlmm netu-re, ever! though his plays never reach the
extreme of ~h inoc6 ros . His three new te lev i s ion plays We're Due i n - Eastbourne i n Ten M i n ~ t e s . The Best I Can Do by Way of a Gate-leg Table
i s a Hundredveight - of Coal. and A t Least I t ' s a P r e c a ~ t i o n Against F i r e , -
a l l concern the cybernetic suburban mediocrity of Simpson's perennial
Paradocks. Though they a re l e s s important than h i s major works so f a r
discussed and a.re hardly su i t ab le t o the s tage , de sp i t e t h e author 's
wish t h a t they be presented i n the l i v e thea t re , they add t o the v o l u ~ e I
of Simpson's s o c i a l s a t i r e .
Simpson i s an important soc i a l c r i t i c whose thea t re reveals 2
technique of understatement couched i n the r id iculous , which i s yet
comprehensible t o h i s audience. Eis c i v i l i t y cannot be mistaken fo r
weak wr i t i ng o r b l ind optimism--indeed h i s plays have ominous overtones.
But he seems t o c r ed i t h i s audience with a ready w i l l t o ameliorate the
soc i a l and personal d i s t o r t i o n s t h a t he sees and transmits so c lea r ly .
I n t h i s way, Simpson q u a l i f i e s as a plajwright wi th a pos i t ive a t t i t u d e
towards h i s a r t . A f u r t he r important achie-(rement t h e a t r i c a l l y i s the
academic comedy t h a t makes h i s plays en3oyable entertainments and holds
the a t t en t i on of the audience he hopes t o influence.
Simpson's s t y l e impresses on the reader an idea of the playwright
as an observant and i n t e l l e c t u a l l y humorous person who replaces clichgd
quests i n t o r e a l i t y wi th l e v i t y and opt imis t ic ob jec t iv i ty . Sinpson i s
a humorist, wr i t ing comedy i n an age where people appear t o have forgot ten
how t o laugh. He has intrcduced a personal s t y l e i n to the moGern E r i t i s h
t hea t r e , and h i s amusing plays are adaptable t o both s tage and te lev i s ion
--which renders them avei lable t o two d i f f e r en t audiences. I n bringing
h i s i n t e rp r e t a t i on of an in te rna t iona l " theat re of tke absurd" t o a
B r i t i s h context , Simpson i l l u s t r a t e s t ha t h i s t hea t r e i s not insu la r
o r provincia l but designed f o r humanity i n general. I n f a c t , Sinpson's
s o c i a l c r i t i c i sm i n only on the surface a comment on h i s own country.
His plays demonstrate Man i n r e l a t i on t o himself and h i s envirorment and
may la. ter , a s wi th Ionesco, extend i n t o the realm of metaphysiczl
invest igat ion. Simpson's plays a re statements on Man's pos i t ion as an
- 101 - e x i s t e n t i a l and s o c i a l creature , and it i s i n t h i s t h a t Simpson's
s ignif icance as a developing a r t is; l i e s . H i s sympathy f o r h i s follow
human beings revea l s t h e pos i t ive a t t i t u d e of a playwright who only
condemns the dehumanizing elements ~f individual pe rsona l i t i e s without
condemning the pe r sona l i t i e s themselves. Simpson's humanism pervades
h i s work.
It i s only i n t he l a s t few years t ha t S i ~ s o n has 12ft h i s school
teaching t o devote h i s time t o p l a ~ w r i t i n g , but , from what he has wr i t t en
so f a r , it i s foreseeable t h a t Simpson might soon be recognized as one
of t h e modern t h e a t r e ' s important soc i a l s a 5 i r i s t s .
CONCLUSION I
Once again, do I r e a l l y want salvation?--I was going t o say: do
I r e a l l y want t o be saved? but t h a t suggests'seeking s a f e ty ' , ' r u n n i n g
away'. Do I r e a l l y want t o f i l f i l myself, t o know myself r e a l l y? T c
be t r u l y master of my l i f e and of my death, o r e l se do I simply want
t o produce, t~ go on producing, l i t e r a t u r e ?
-I3ug;ne Ionesco
SEUCTEE BIBLIOGRAPHY I
BOOKS
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Beigbeder , Marc. Le ~ h & t r e en France depuis l a ~ i b j r a t i o n (Bordas , Par i s , 1959).
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Bentley, Er ic . T'ne Playwright as Thinker, Neridian Books ( ~ e w York, 1955).
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. A Treasury of Theatre, revised edi t ion, Simon and Schuster ( ~ e w ~ o r k , 1 9 6 3 ) . ( ~ h e cha i r s ) .
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Jacobsen, Zose~hine and Mueller, William R. Ionesco -- and Genet: Flavtn5ghts of Silence, H i l l and Wane; (New York, 1968). - 2.-
Kerr, W . Theatre i n Sp i te of I t s e l f , Simon and Schuster (1963), pp. 112-116.
Lewis, Allan. --- T k Conteqarary Theatre, Th? Sknnificant P l a p ~ r i g h t s of' Our T h e Crown Publishers, Inc . (hew 'fork, 1966) . - --,
Lurnley, Frederick. Trends i n Twentieth Century Drama, Essen t ia l Books ( ~ z L r Lami, 8 . J . , 1956) .
Peyre, Henri. Contem~crarjr French Li tera ture : C r i t i c a l Anthologx, Hal-per & Row ( ~ e w York, 1964) .
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Reinent , 0 t t o , ed . ilra?;a, an introductory anthology, L i t t l e , Brcwn ( ~ o s t o n , 138. (The ~ e s s o n ) .
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Sontag, Susan. Against In te rpre ta t ion , Delta B ~ o k s (new York, 1966) . 1
Unanov, Barry, ed. Nakers cf the Mdern Theatre, McGraw-Hill (~ew York, 1961) . ( ~ K ~ a l d Soprano) .
Vos, Nelvin. The Drama of Comedy: Vict in and Victor, John Knox Press (Richmond, W . Va. , 1967).
Wellwarth, George E. The Theatre of Pro tes t and Paradox: Developments i n the Avant-Guarde Drama, New York Univ. Press ( N ~ W York, 1964)
W i l l i a m , Raymond. E rma from ibsen t o Brecht, revised (London, 1968), PP. 296-299.
I
Ionesco, ~ u ~ k n e . ~hf%tre 1. Gallirnard, Pa r i s , 1954. (contains: La Cantatr ice Chauve; La Lepon; Jacques ou l a Somiss ion; Les Chaises; Victimes du Devoir; ~ne'de'e ou Comnent
Th&re 11. Gallimard, Pa r i s , 1458. (contains: L'Impr~mptu de llAlma; Tueur sans Gages; Le N G U V P ~ S loca ta i re ; L'Avenir e s t dans l e s Oeufs; Le ~ a ? t r e ; La Jeune F i l l e 'a ~ a r i e r ) .
The'gtre 111. Galiimard , Par i s , 1966. . ,A -
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Thggtre I V . Gallimard , Par i s , 1366. (contains: Le Roi se Meurt; La Soif e t l a Faim; La Lacune; Le Salon de LfAutomobile; LfOeuf Dur; Pour ~ r d p r e r un Oeuf Dur; Le Jeune Hommex a Marier; Apprendre k Marcher) .
Le Roi s e Meurt. GallirriarS, Pa r i s , 1953.
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Four Plays: The Bald Soprano, The Lesson, Jack or the Sxbnissio? - - 1 -. 9
The Chairs. Trans. Donald M. Allen. Grove Press, I c c . , E ~ w Sork, 19$8.
~hinoce'ros: pi:ce en t r o i s a,ctes e t quatre tableaux. Gdlinisrd, - Par i s , 1959.
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A S t r o l l i n the A i r , Frenzy fo r Two. Trans. Donald Watson. Grove Press , I nc . , New York, 1968.
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- 108 - CIIITICAL ARTICLES
Abirached, 11. "Ionesco e t 'Les Chaises' ," Les Etudes, Par i s , 290 (1965), 116-120.
- . " ~ h i n o c k o s d '~ug$ne Ionesco," Les Etudes, Par i s , 304 (1960), 341-394.
- . "~onesco e t l 'obsess ion de l a Mort," Les Etudes, Pa r i s , 317 (19631, 88-91.
- . " ~ e duel e t l a mort chez Ionesco," Cahiers Renaud-Barrau3t , 53 (I-966), 21-25.
?? . Ionesco, pe l e r i n de l 'absolu," Nouvelle Revue Francaise, x iv , ( m a i , 1966), 876-881.
Anouilh, Jean. "Du Chapitre des Chaises," Le Figaro, Par i s (23 a v r i l , 1956)
Arrevalo, Martinez. L i te ra tu re of the Absurd, Palau de Nemes, Graciele, Americas, x v i i (February, 1964), 6-10. (On E l honbre que parecia un Caballo and Ionesco's ~hinoce'i-0s).
Aubarede , Gabriel 3 ' . "Une Heure avec Ionesco, " Nouvelles L i t t 6 r a l r e s -9
1 ( 8 mars, 1962), 7.
Barbour, Thomas. "Beckett & Ionesco," Hudson Review, 11 (Surrmer, 1958), 271-277.
Barjon, L . "Un sage en habi t de fou: Ionesco," Etudes, CCCI (1960), 306-318.
Ba t a i l l e , Nicolas. "La Ba t a i l l e de l a Cantatr ice," Cahiers ~ P S Saisons, -- Par i s , 15 ( ~ i n t e r , 1959).
Bentley, E r i c . "Io;?esco, playwright of the fifties," Columbia L~L Da:l~r Spectator, New York (11 March, 1958).
Blau, Herbert. "Meanwhile Follow the Bri.g!lt Angels," Tulane Dram _Seviev (~ep tember , 1960).
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Chris t ian Cen%ury. The Chairs, 75 (January 29, 1958), 137.
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New RepibiFc. ~ h i n o e d r o s , 144 (January 30, 1961), 22-23. c
National Review. Rhkoc&cs, 10 a arch 11, 1961)~ 157-158. . . --------- - .. I ,
New Statesman. The Chairs, 53 ( ~ a y 25, 1957), 669; 1, Exi t The King, 66 ( ~ e p t e n b e r 13, 1963), 330;
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New Yorker. The Chairs, 33 (January 18, 1958), 68; Exi t The King, 38 ( ~ a n u a r y 12, 1963), 102; The K i l l e r , 36 (Apri l 2, 1960), 82; The Lesson, 33 ( ~ a n u a r y 18, 1958), 68; The Lesson, 39 (~eptember 28, 1963)~ 96; Rhinoceros, 36 ( ~ a y 28, 1960) , Rhinoceros, 36 (January 21, 1961)~ 66; Victims of Duty, 40 ( ~ u n e 6 , 19641, 68-89.
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The Pedestrian - of the A i r . 63 arch 16, 1964)) 96-97.
Saturday Review. The Chairs, 41 (January 25, 1958), 26; L b The Ki l l e r , 43 (Apri l 9, ig60), 37;
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Sewanee Review. Rhinoceros, 69 (Spring, ig6~ j , 341. u
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