Theatre Of The Seemingly Meaningless Analysis

The Meaning in the Seemingly Meaningless

To understand the ‘Theatre of the absurd’ one must place it in context and see why it came about. The world by then had seen two world wars and the outcome of that can be seen in the various schools of thought that had emerged such as existentialism, postmodernism, post-structuralismetc, many of whichwere heavily influenced by Nietzche, Darwin and others. Tectonic shifts in attitude could be seen when everything was questioned and the meaning of existence was the question of the hour.One such school that is allied with this movement in theatre is existentialism. Existentialism is a school of thought that emphasises the individual’s choice, freedom and existence. One of

While the ‘poetic avantgarde’ shares its fantasy and dream reality as well as its complete disregard for traditional unities, consistency of character and a plot, it differs from the absurd on account of being less violent and grotesque. It is lyrical for its use in language and its attitude towards it. Whereas Absurd playwrights emphasise how language has failed as a means of communication. They achieve this through,the disconnect between the word and the object, the meaning and reality, consciousness and the world.Another way in which they worked with the uselessness of language was by having their characters speak in cliches.The phrases being said so many times that even outside the play, it loses its meaning. Therefore, their repetition makes it empty. They speakwithout actually communicating to occupy time and

It was the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1967), first produced at the Edinburgh Festival in 1966 that earned him fame and fortune. The play is based on Stoppard’s pattern of collision: with two minor figures from Shakespeare's tragedy, uncertain of their own identities and passing the time flipping coins and playing word-games, come up against the seemingly inexplicable public events that make up Hamlet. The play marked Stoppard out as a highly original voice. Yet the play wasn’t simply an erudite box of tricks: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's acceptance of death as a means of discovering their true identities remains emotionally touching. According toAnthony Jenkins Rosencrantz and Guildenstern transcends even one of the masterpieces that inspired it. ‘The games they play," he says, "while waiting for that end are not simply a means to fill time, and here Stoppard resolves a problem that Waiting for Godotfails to answer. While, from a superior viewpoint, our little lives may seem purposeless as we busy ourselves between birth and death, from