Theatre of the Absurd: Beckett and Arrabal

Extract

[...] Yet, all continue to hope and search for reasons not to give themselves death. The works show figures who try to maintain minimal references to make existence more bearable. The relationship with the other becomes a vital need. Thus, in Oh les beaux jours, Winnie, immobilized and condemned to being buried, clings to the presence of a taciturn Willie. His presence, his few glances and words, are enough to sustain her existence, as she says: bless them, I bless the sounds, they help me to . [...]

[...] The characters seem aware of their degradation without being able to escape it. Time sharpens consciousness, multiplies questions, while destroying bodies, creating a circle with no exit, preventing any revolt. In addition to having to conform to the limits of human consciousness and body, the characters evolve in a world that is just as restricted, which they do not seem to master any better. The scenic spaces are characterized by their extreme barrenness: "Country road, with tree" in Waiting for Godot, mamelons of earth in Oh the good days, deserted island in the emperor of Assyria. [...]

[...] The characters of absurd theatre are taken in fault: their existence is an error. In Beckett, they often give the impression of being the last trace of life on earth, confined in a closed space while the outside world seems post-apocalyptic. There is a certain refusal of the instinct of survival, in favor of a death drive that can be considered as the expression of a disgust for chance and nonsense. In En attendant Godot, Vladimir and Estragon try to hang themselves from a tree. [...]

[...] Beckett, Arrabal carry the trace of this disillusion that is reflected in their works. In front of them, the spectator is placed in a particular position. Violent gestures evoke an expectation: they promise an event, a break, something that would finally happen. However, they lead to the same situation. Time passes, the characters remain trapped in their condition, and the road to Tar, like the expectation of Godot, remains suspended. Thus, the theatre of Samuel Beckett and Fernando Arrabal presents characters confronted with an existence whose meaning they ignore. [...]

[...] Thus, a first response of man to the absurdity of his existence consists in seeking outside himself what he finds neither in the world nor in others. But if he first seeks support in others or in God, the absurd inevitably confronts him with his own responsibility. In the face of the meaninglessness of the world, man can seek to affirm his importance through domination, conquest, or superiority. Violence appears as a desperate attempt to produce intensity, to create an event in a world that remains immobile. [...]