Christopher
Cheung
Tara
Phillips
Mon.
9-10 am
12 October 2016
The Theatre of the Absurd and “Waiting
for Godot”
The Theatre of the Absurd was a
movement centered in Paris that happened around the 1950s. However, it
wasn’t a thought out or planned, conscious movement; it happened organically.
The Theatre of the Absurd only became a movement in 1961 when the term was
coined by Martin Esslin when his book, The
Theatre of the Absurd, was published. The plays associated with this
movement are generally works of absurdist fiction. Absurdist fiction, as the
name suggests, is a genre of fiction based on the absurd, or things that do not
make sense. As a result, works of absurdist fiction are most of the time
illogical or meaningless in their structure. In many works, there is no plot
development or plot at all; things happen, but there is no link between scenes
and seemingly no particular reason to why certain plot points occurred. Since
the Theatre of the Absurd plays with the idea of lacking meaning or logic, it
is associated very strongly with existentialism—the notion that life is
meaningless as living ultimately and inevitably ends in death.
There are somewhat existentialist
themes in The 42nd Parallel,
with Mac fighting to find meaning in his life. Mac is always wandering from
place to place, searching for a place to settle and something to anchor his
life to. First it is Maisie, then it is the Socialist movement in Mexico, and
then it is the girl he finds in Mexico. Mac mirrors the character archetype of
the Theatre of the Absurd of someone being trapped in a world he or she cannot
comprehend or find meaning in.
Question:
1. Does the existentialist theme of one
searching for meaning in an increasingly complex world embed itself in the
post-World War II, Modernist culture in America?
Bibliography:
Cash, Justin. "Theatre of the Absurd Conventions | The
Drama Teacher." The
Drama Teacher. N.p., 8 Jan. 2015. Web.
13 Oct. 2016.
"Existentialism." All
About Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.
"Waiting for Godot Summary." SparkNotes.
SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.
Having studied Waiting for Godot and other examples of the Theater of the Absurd before, I'm pretty happy that you chose this topic. To answer your discussion question, I would argue that yes, the complexities of life following the cataclysmic conflict of WWII certainly made an impression on writers and playwrights of the era. Although in this class we have mainly examined works that follow WWI, not WWII, after both world wars the memory of the conflict made a lasting imprint on the American collective consciousness.
ReplyDeleteHaving also studied Beckett in the past, I also find this topic very interesting. Although I would argue that the Theater of Absurd depicts the search for a tangible meaning is quite different from the modernist one we are studying, although the comparison of the two may be very interesting. The absurd authors embrace the lack of meaning as in Waiting for Godot, where the two characters wait for a character that never arrives. On the other hand, the modernist authors rather search for meaning in a meaningless world
ReplyDeleteIndeed, we constantly see how life can turn out to be aimless and meaningless after traumatic events like WWII. The complexities of life suddenly unleashed themselves fully and writers and artists started to question their previous experiences and values. The established order was destroyed, and what replaced the order was absurdity and abnormality. I am interested in how you related existentialism to Mac's experience, as he was searching for his own goals and destinies as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile I haven't studied Beckett before, I find it interesting that modernism spread to theater/drama as well. The parallel you drew between the existentialist themes of "Waiting for Godot" and The 42nd Parallel was also a nice touch. As for your question, I agree with Angela (war is war, and both world wars had their impact on Americans nationwide).
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ReplyDeleteI thought it was very interesting how you connected the theme of existentialism and meaninglessness in life with "The 42nd Parallel." I agree with how you in regards to the character Mac. He does not demonstrate a very strong character in that he is constantly being shaped by others. His political preferences are put onto him and in multiple parts of the novel, we see him being pushed into actions like when his fellow socialist revolutionaries urge him to stay with them instead of going back to Maisie. And Maisie is another example of this in that she urges him to come back to him and it is at her urgent plea that he comes home.
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with much of Beckett's work including Waiting for Godot, but I think it's interesting to note that at least some of the existentialists didn't see the meaninglessness and absurdity of the world as the final word on existence (I'm thinking in particular of Camus who was very much opposed to nihilism). I don't think existentialism is inherently depressing and maybe the takeaway from works like this could be more optimistic depending on one's perspective; if all meaning is constructed then maybe it's as real as you want it to be.
ReplyDeleteI will also argue that yes, the post WWII modernist movement definitely did take a turn towards the themes of existentialism and the meaninglessness of everything. It's not surprising that this happened though, as the war was unlike anything anybody had witnessed before and had changed the world's perspectives on life and the absurdities that permeate it.
ReplyDeleteI will also argue that yes, the post WWII modernist movement definitely did take a turn towards the themes of existentialism and the meaninglessness of everything. It's not surprising that this happened though, as the war was unlike anything anybody had witnessed before and had changed the world's perspectives on life and the absurdities that permeate it.
ReplyDeleteI think your post presents an engaging and possibly debatable topic about existentialism and finding meaning. Going off of what some of the other commenters have said, it seems that some absurdist artists of the time period presented the lack of meaning in society as an opportunity to create meaning, while other artists presented it as a cause for despair or a fruitless search for permanence. Although both categories comment on a kind of lack of structure, they approach it in different ways and I think that's pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteI would tend agree with what some others have been mentioning, that is, that Modernist writers were responding culturally not philosophically. What I mean by this is that they question the values of modern life such as technology and free markets. However I'm not sure if they do not believe in life's meaning or importance in a Myth of Sisyphus sort of way.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Leonel; there seems to be a clear distinction between trying to find a new meaning of life through rejecting previous, traditional values and views (modernism) and completely abandoning the idea that there is in fact meaning in life (absurdism). I do however see a connection between the two; the repetition, lack of meaning, purpose and sense portrayed in the theatre of the absurd perhaps links back to the way in which modernist authors tuned down the emotional responses of characters to different big events in life, expressed through their lack of voice. The stripping of big events' importance seems to portray a more monotonous, menial view on life. In a way, modernism seems to question romanticism, and the sensationalization of life and then absurdism seems to take one (large) step further and completely negate the presence of meaning in life all together.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your discussion question, I would have to answer with a definite yes. The artistic movements we've discussed thus far all deal with this concept of social identity, and what the individual and the collective will do in order to address, as you say, the complexities of a changing world. As a side note, I automatically drew a parallel between the efforts of the Theatre of the Absurd and Dada.
ReplyDeleteThe existentialist theme is definitely more important post-WWI. Everything was shattered and meaning was something people tried to find. I found it significant that quite a few existentialists like Heidegger and Husserl all came from Germany, since Germany was wracked the most by the war.
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