Samuel Beckett : Theatre Of The Absurd And Beckett 's Use Of The Literary Concept

What is Insanity? According to the Oxford Dictionary, insanity is “A state of mind which prevents normal perception, behaviour, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.” In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, there is much debate on whether or not Hamlet is insane. According to SparkNotes, William Shakespeare wrote “Hamlet” in the first part of the seventeenth century. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, and the protagonist of “Hamlet”. Hamlet’s father gets killed by Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, almost immediately marries Claudius following Hamlet’s father’s death. Claudius then claims the throne, rather than Hamlet. Hamlet was betrayed by his friends and even his love interest.

The Theatre of the Absurd is the name for particular plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s, as well as one for the style of theatre which has evolved from their work. Their work expressed what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down, alerting their audiences to pursue the opposite. The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man’s reaction to a world apparently without meaning, and/or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces. Theatre of the Absurd consisted of horrific or tragic images; characters caught in

It is commonly known that theatre is mostly connected to political or spiritual ideologies. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, takes a historical fact and turns into a political play based on the Salem witch trials; can the truth be seen in this play? Yes, mostly because of the main historical debate described in the play involving Wiccan cult versus Christianity and it is known to be based on cultural concerns. “The play can be seen as symbolic of the paranoia about communism that pervaded America in the 1950s” . Thus, Miller’s play on the witch trials in Salem originates from the true events however is projected with false pretenses. Aristotle’s Poetics have six elements for theatre and there are surnamed Plot, Characterization, Idea, Language, Music and Spectacle. These elements represent the keys to a theatre performance, however where is the psychology in that? One theatre genre that can be an absolute opposition to Stanislavsky’s perception of theatre is known as the Theatre of the Absurd. The theatre of the absurd does not follow any guidelines concerning the techniques of theatre, which is why it is a good example because absurdity does not have any true or false, it is a bit chaotic and strange at the same time.

Warm up your vocal cords because you’re going to want to sing along to this youth theatre company’s musical revue. The performance showcases a wide range of music – from energetic group numbers to stirring ballads that will have you weeping in your hanky. Whether you enjoy new smash hits like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen or classics like A Chorus Line and Hairspray, there’s something sure to please everyone.

Joyce was born into a middle-class, Catholic family in Dublin, Ireland on February 2, 1882 and wrote all his works about that city, even though he lived

Realism provides only amoral observation, while absurdism rejects even the possibility of debate. (Frances Babbage, Augusto Boal). The cynicism of this remark reflects the aberrant attitude towards absurdism, yet there is truth to it. Theatre of the absurd is an esoteric avant-garde style of theatre based on the principles of existentialism that looks at the world without any assumption of purpose. Existentialism and Theatre of the Absurd became identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s, after the Second World War. The idea that man starts with nothing and ends with nothing is a common theme amongst most absurd plays. Despite this strange philosophy, Theatre of the

The very essence of Contemporary Theatre is that is such a diverse realm of performance art. Many different playwrights have contributed to this post World War Two theatre that instead of keeping to just one narrow genre it was able to branch out to cover all aspects and views of an ever transitional modern society. Theatrical pieces from this time period have ranged from Existentialism, pioneered by Jean Paul Sartre, to the Theatre of the Absurd, which was precedented by Samuel Beckett, and all along the way a myriad of performance genres sprung up to support this new post-war society. Most plays of the contemporary theatre tended to focus up on one single aspect of theatre, though a group of men formed a performance troupe that would

Madness can be interpreted in many different ways, one of which being extremely foolish behavior. William Shakespeare 's play, Hamlet, explores this definition within the title character’s journey after the death of his father. Throughout the play Hamlet has glimpses of sanity, but ultimately the tragedy of losing his father causes all of his idiotic behavior. He allows himself to listen to what appears to be the ghost of his father, and begins a downward spiral into a want for revenge and chaos. According to Hamlet, madness does exist and can lead to very disastrous consequences. Through the character of Hamlet, Shakespeare is proving that madness is real and can affect anyone.

Eugene Ionesco is also a very famous writer of absurd theater. He focused on isolation and exhaustion of man’s life and also gave his ironical views on spiritless situation of man in his life. His work expressed alienation of modern man and failure of communication and also loss of meaning. His plays like bold Soprano, The lesson, Rhinoceros they also depict man’s lack of communication with himself and with others in the society. Bold Soprano, the chairs are fully in non sequiturs, dialogues and the language of characters are without thinking. His plays also show the tragedy of modern man in this world and his loss of meaningful words is very much there and all his plays are lack of rational language and the language of his plays is always

Known for his unique writing style, prominence in the Decadence movement, art critiques, and imprisonment for homosexuality, Oscar Wilde is one of the most well known Irish authors of all time. Oscar Fingal O'flahertie Willis Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin Ireland. His father, Sir William Wilde, was a successful aural surgeon, and his mother, Jane Francesca Elgee, was a revolutionary poet and a great supporter of the Irish nationalist movement. Her passion for literature had an obvious impact on Oscar Wilde, as well as on his brother Willie Wilde, who went on to become a journalist and poet. Wilde also had a younger sister, Isola, who died at the age of ten. During his childhood, Wilde was able to interact with well-known artists, doctors, and other influential intellectuals that his parents knew. These interactions probably had a lasting influence on Oscar Wilde’s beliefs and attitudes.

Oscar Fingal O’Flaherty Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist and poet. And everything else can find in a book or online, I am not going to do that today, I am sure you are not interested in the regurgitation of Oscar Wilde facts. I am sure that you know most of what is written there better than the people that wrote those facts on Wikipedia any way. I am not going to talk about the importance of being earnest in any way shape or form, trust me for I am in the gutter looking up at the stars right now and everything that is written here will probably be a huge lie. I cannot resist the temptation to it is just too hard not to sit here and just write a bunch of untold truths at least I won’t

“All the world’s a stage” – Shakespeare (Olsson, 2010) seemed wise enough to know how the world functioned, even in those days. Nothing seems to have changed today, however. Despite all the technological advancements in the world, and various views on social skills and the development of “soft skills” (Heckman & Kautz, 2012), there is a constant inflow of people and situations within which social norms require us to present different versions of ourselves – what in this paper we shall call “masks” or “personas.”

Oscar Wilde was an incredibly influential Irish poet, writer, and playwright that changed the way people wrote and the structure of writing. He was one of the greatest writers of the 18th century and possibly one of the greatest writers and wordsmiths of all time. His works earned many awards and high acclaim, even years after his death, leaving a legacy that most people would do anything for. He used a newfound way of writing and presented himself in a enigmatic and eccentric way. His clever and often dramatic writing, as well as his image and personal scandals, completely shook up the world of literature and art and keeps us shaking to this day.

The literary language of madness drawn from Classical drama came to the English stage through Old French and the literature of fools. The body and Mind are two major elements in Madness. Through a series of scenes, the play displays the sorts of distinctions between all the characters actions, natural and supernatural, distraction and feigned madness that were being demanded at other cultural sites. It is my conclusion that Hamlet uses a façade of insanity to hide his attempts to kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death. There are several different kinds of madness in Hamlet, the three main are; female madness, feigned madness, and melancholy. Madness can be seen in two characters specifically. Ophelia which represents female madness, and Hamlet which represents feigned or false madness.

In regard to time and place in the absurd theatre, it is noted that these two elements have their peculiarities that go with the absurd actions. Just as time and place are fundamental elements of man’s existence, they are also fundamental elements in literature. The time and place of man’s living may contribute not only to his personality, but also to his values, attitudes, and even his problems. In literature, time and place can also influence characters’ development and actions. So narrative writing needs time and place to give the story context. The details of time and place reflect the characters’ inner thoughts and feelings and move the story plot forward. Time may be static in some stories and dynamic in others. Place is often used to refer to the social milieu in which the events of a work of art occur. In brief, the two elements of time and place are extremely important to any narrative. They can have immense effects on the plot and the characters. Furthermore, they can establish the atmosphere, or mood, of a story. Spatial and temporal relations are interconnected. Time and place in absurd theatre are almost different from traditional drama because they are usually ambiguous and not fixed. Both are not used in their logical and traditional form. Eugene Ionesco seems to summarise these relations in the absurd theatre: