Absurd Essays

The term "theater of the absurd" was probably invented by Martin Esslin, who wrote "The Theatre of the Absurd 'in 1961. The origin of this form of theater is obscure, but it would be reasonable to assume that his lineage is traceable from game Roman mimes. The idea that man is absurd is far from new. An awareness of the essential absurdity of much human behavior is the work of many writers. absurd game is a form of theater that emphasizes the existentialist philosophy of absurdity and meaninglessness

The Penguin Dictionary of Theatre defines the theatre of the absurd as-”The Theatre of the Absurd diagnoses humanity’s plight as purposelessness in an existence out of harmony with its surroundings. Awareness of this lack of purpose in all we do produces a state of metaphysical anguish which is the central theme of the writers in the Theatre of the Absurd. The ideas are allowed to shape the firm as well as the content: all semblance of logical construction, of the rational linking of idea with idea

The Romantic Era has produced ideas and texts that contribute to the society that is seen today. Examples of these texts include Thoreau's “Walden” and my Learner Choice novel, Red Rising. The Romantic Era ties into Freedom & Selfhood and is important to the development of today’s society and the future ahead. It allowed people to begin to look at the world through a different lens, a lens that showed them to embrace freedom and to find yourself. Henry David Thoreau uses imagery in his descriptions

Many people oftentimes think they are useless. While that is truly not the case, some do believe their situation is hopeless and real. Sydney Carton in Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities truly does think his life up until now has been eventless and sees no place for himself to continue on without an act of heroism. In this excerpt from the novel, Dickens uses the literary techniques of diction, symbolism, and allusion to show how Carton thinks of himself as second-rate, but with a higher purpose

Franz Kafka starts his story, The Metamorphosis, by transforming his main character into a vermin, one of the most disgusting and loathsome insects. With Gregor’s transformation, Kafka is exposing a metaphorical view of how life can be shown in a tangible, physical way. Gregor’s metamorphosis consists in his insides coming out. His new state of being reflects his life and his inner thoughts. A cockroach is a tangible representation of how he feels about his life and the relationship with his family

In The Stranger by Albert Camus’ which sets in 1940s French Algeria, shows the significance of the absent character Maman. Monsieur Meursault is an existentialist which he shows his lack of emotion and translation towards Maman and her death. Madame Meursault and her son have a meaningless sense of love in there relationship and no sense of family and life. Monsieur Meursault not only shows the lack of love and emotion though his Maman but though Marie, shooting the Arab, and being judged as a criminal

Why Philosophical Analysis Matters? 1. Better comprehension and communication There are a vast amount of words and each of them may have a different explanation and it is determined by the person and in what way he or she is using it. Culture, location, and nationality may be some of the factors for the different meaning of the words. Some other factors could include age and sense of humour. This is one reason why philosophical analysis matters. Thru philosophical analysis, people would be able to

In “Waiting for Godot”, written by Samuel Beckett, absurdism is a major theme within the play as an existentialist view of human reality is hugely reflected. The play revolves around the mocking of religion and faith in regards to futility. Ironically, however, the play would not exist without this idea that life has no meaning. The first example of the absurdism present in the play is how the main characters, Vladimir and Estragon spend the entirely of their time waiting for someone who they do

Absurdity is an overarching theme in all of Camus, but nowhere is it explicated more so than in the chapter ‘Absurd Reasoning’. Whatever your path in life we are all bound to come across the Absurd at some point. It is simply inevitable as at some point we each question the reasons for doing things as we do, for acting in certain ways, for being. The stage-sets collapse. Rising, tram, four hours in the office or factory, meal, tram, four hours of work, meal, sleep…this path is easily followed most

The argument I will attempt to reinforce in this paper is one of the main arguments in Thomas Nagel’s The Absurd. This argument is located in the fourth paragraph of the second section of the essay (pp. 661). The argument, at its most basic, can be presented as such: Our lives are absurd if we have doubts that cannot possibly be settled about the seriousness with which we take our lives. We take our lives very seriously and make choices that show that we take some things more seriously than others

In “Marrying Absurd,” Joan Didion describes the colorful circus of “Dressing Rooms, Flowers, Rings, and Announcements” belonging to “mobsters and call girls” in what was the Las Vegas wedding scene. With this unrealistic and dysfunctional background for her setting, Didion cleverly satirizes the act of marriage. Through her use of juxtaposition, syntax, ironic and comical anecdotes, and with a disparaging tone, Didion argues that the fabricated “expectations” of marriages are manipulated to feed

believes there is no true value to life. Having an absurdist viewpoint of the world can lead to isolation, depression, and anxiety. Albert Camus, the author of The Myth of Sisyphus and formally known as the father of absurdism, suggests that “the absurd is born out of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.” Humans with an absurdist outlook on life believe that the universe is a meaningless and irrational universe. Kevin Wilson, the author of many short

As the French Algerian philosopher Albert Camus once passionately stated, “This world in itself is not reasonable, that is all that can be said. But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart.” Camus is an outstanding author and philosopher, who emphatically advocated the philosophy of absurdism. According to Camus, absurdism is the belief that humans live in an irrational, meaningless universe, which deems the search

The Absurd Sun: In what way is the sun presented in The Stranger and to what effect? Considered a cosmic power by many cultures, the symbol of the Sun has been used in literary works to represent gods, caring deities, and even the vindictive force of justice. In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the protagonist Meursault is instead dominated by an indifferent entity, the Sun. The sun presented by Camus is interpreted as a symbol of Meursault’s emotions and comforts, the indifferent nature of the universe

“Everything is true and yet nothing is true”: an analysis of the rational and absurd worldviews in Camus’ The Outsider The Outsider is a novel that broadly explores the philosophy of the Absurd, which is the conflict between one’s attempt to search for a meaning of life, and one’s inability to find any. It is different from Nihilism in the aspect that, although one acknowledges that there is no meaning of life, they should not cease in the attempt of finding one. In the novel, this philosophy is

intellectually and emotionally as they respond to challenges. Ruby Moon by Matt Cameron is a contemporary fractured fairytale in the form of a play that explores the grim, Australian legend of the missing child. This text portrays real issues in an absurd representation which forces the reader on an imaginative journey as well as the characters in an inner journey to establish an identity. Beach Burial by Kenneth Slessor is a distressing elegy about loss of life through war. Slessor’s sophisticated

Theatre of the absurd is one of the prominent schools of drama which flourished during the twentieth century. Absurd plays usually convey the believe that human existence is pointless and life is irrational, meaningless, and futile. Therefore, absurdist playwrights illustrate people’s correspondence to the absurdity of the world especially after the two destructive world wars. Although people struggle to give life meaning, their inability to find any led them to experience anxiety and confusion.

A stereotype is a generalized image or idea about an individual or a particular cultural group (1). Too easily are people judged based on their race, gender, ethnicity and clothing on a day-to-day basis. Even when the word stereotype is heard people usually have negative connotations towards it, but not all stereotypes are bad. They can also be positive. Stereotypes can very easily serve as a barrier to communication, but can go in the other direction and attract people to want to interact with one

The essay “The Plot against People” by Russell Baker was a piece written for the New York Times in 1968. Russel Baker classifies inanimate objects into three categories – those that don’t work, those that break down and those that get lost. The ultimate goal of these objects is to frustrate and conquer man. The first category of infuriating objects is those that break down and they usually break down at the most inopportune time. For instance, a car will not break down when you pull into a gas station

Fall 2017 Performance Review On September 29, 2017, I saw the play “Rhinoceros” directed by Billy Houck at Fremont High School in the Shannon Theater. The play was about the appearance of a rhinoceros in a small town. People were quarreling about these rhinoceros; if there was a rhinoceros, if it had 1 or 2 horns, and if the rhinoceros with 1 horn came from Asia or Africa. However, people slowly started to turn into rhinoceros and rampage all around town. In the end, only the main character, Bérenger