Man and Wife on the Absurd Stage: An Analysis...

Man and Wife on the Absurd Stage: An Analysis of The Co-Existence of Marriage and Absurdity in Ionesco’s Plays The Chairs and The Bald Soprano

Author Name : Rashmi Bhura

ABSTRACT

Theatre of the Absurd has been an important experiment in the history of theatre and of the collective canvas of literature. The forerunning plays of absurd theatre primarily focused on ‘man’ as an alienated and isolated being, having essentially lost the sense of logic and reason, and having realized ‘meaninglessness’ of his existence. Existential philosophy of Albert Camus was at its intellectual heights in the European socitey and at the very core of the Absurd plays. However, some playwrights placed man in the traditional and social institution of marriage, placing another human character of close proximity, and yet portraying the essentially absurd sentiments of lonliness and isolation. Eugene Ionesco did not situate man in an isolated space, but in living rooms and marriages, and through this exposed hopelessness and meaninglessness of both man’s existence and the social institutions that ought to bind him with a sense of security and unity. To understand how Ionesco could marry marriage and absurdity, we look at various elements of literature and theatre, also to scrutinize and analyse his contribution. This paper aims to explore the matrimonal and social aspect of absurd theatre in two specific plays of Eugene Ionesco, namely The Bald Soprano and The Chairs.

Keywords: Absurdity, Children, Dialogue, Marriage, Theatre of the Absurd