Chlo Sole Mr van Wyk Absurd Structure

2014/02/02 Gr 12

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Progress is just a modern idea, which is to say a false idea - Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ Absurdism is a movement that sought to show how repetitive and pointless our lives and existence is. It presented to us the idea that in our lives linear movement is fictional and that our lives simply replay continually day to day with only one certainty. The certainty of death. Absurdism emphasised the fact that nothing was certain and that mans fight to find purpose and order in the world was useless because the world is nonsensical. The above quote demonstrates the thought that insisted that the structure of previous plays had to be changed to suit the movement and its philosophies. Absurdists realized that in order to express their views their structure had to embody them and not contradict them. Absurdism is concerned with the meaninglessness of life. Thus the structure has to be pliable enough to allow this to occur. It is therefore nonsensical and non-linear. This formless entity is characteristic of Absurd Theatre. Realisms structure, well-made play, of the three act form was rejected entirely. The absurdists were unable to express their views in this contained structure as it suppressed their views and prevented them from obtaining structural freedom. The structure that they chose to replace the well-made form was that of a circular form that was able to be repeated eternally. This form can be seen in many absurdist plays such as The Maids by Jean Genet, the story that is presented to the audience, though not completely absurd as it has climax points, is repetitive to the point where you dont know whether the play has restarted or if anything new will happen. The action in The Maids does move towards something however the audience is never certain of whether or not it will ever reach it. The ending is as inconclusive as the rest of the action. The play can just start over and over again and it could easily be viewed as an entity. The circular form was able to be manipulated to the playwrights wishes as it had no constructs that were rigid. The change of the structure in plays can also be viewed in the change in representation of perception in artworks. Cubism is the flattening out of objects in regards to paintings similar to the flattening out of the structure in plays. Absurdism was brought into being out of the quest to justify and explain the World wars. People were in disarray emotionally and morally. People felt as if they were in a world of chaos and actions that were senseless. In Waiting for Godot the audience is continually confused there is no stability or clear logical sense. Becket used the structure to portray how nonsensical and how full of nothing humanities existence is. Vladimir and Estragon are continually questioning and reminding each other which gives the sense of forgetfulness and being lost in confusion. This is most clearly seen when Vladimir says So there you are again. And Estragon replies am I?

An example of the air confusion that clouds this play would be when Vladimir asks The same lot as usual? and Estragon replied The same lot? I dont know I dont know is a common answer to question in waiting for Godot. This relentless questioning and receiving no steadfast answer can also be seen in the works of Richard Wagner. But why didnt you tell me that before? I cannot tell you that, and what you ask you can never learn - Wagner, Lohengrin Circular form allows for confusion to occur as more than just in the text but in the structure as well. It is a necessary characteristic of Absurdism for it allows the audience to get lost in the play structurally and lets them feel lost. I dont know where I am; I am everything that doesnt know where it is sighs the modern man - Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ Absurdism was born through the mood that was left in the people by the Existentialists and other movements such as Surrealism and Dadaism. Existentialism was important because some of the main Existentialist, such as Sartre and Camus, have certain absurd characteristics in their writings. Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I dont know Albert Camus, The Stranger Existentialists believed that the individual is responsible for his own actions and that an individual had the freedom of choice and his choices determined his essence. They believed that for ones essence to be created one first had to exist. It was previously a question of finding out whether or not life had to have a meaning to be lived. It now becomes clear on the contrary that it will be lived all the better if it has no meaning - Albert Camus Dadaism was an important contributor to Absurdism. Dada was also born out of the horrors of the World Wars. Dadaism rejected sense, logic, and reason, favouring nonsense, irrationality and intuition. Dada was a reaction against the wars and was very anti-bourgeois. Antonin Artaud was a Dadaist and Surrealist who spoke of some of the characteristics that are now essential to Absurdism. All true Language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggars teeth. Artaud This quote can be linked so closely to Waiting for Godot as often the language is as nonsensical as the structure. Each reflects the other. A good example of the nonsensical language would be Luckys monologue. Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of Puncher and Wattmann of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white beard quaquaquaqua outside time without extension Hell is of this world and there are men who are unhappy escapees from hell, escapees destined ETERNALLY to re-enact their escape Artaud This quote is significant to Absurdism and its structure as the play continually repeats itself eternally as the men in the quote are doomed to eternally re-enact their escape. This continuity of the repetition of the action is characteristic of Absurdism and brought about by the structure. There are no acts to prevent the continuity of repetition.

The circular structure of Waiting for Godot can be clearly seen when one ends up where one began and when action that was presented to us in the beginning is once again presented to us towards the end. Such as Vladimirs action of taking his hat off and looking in it, tapping its top and putting it back on. As well as Estragons efforts to remove his boot and then once it is removed to inspect it and put it back on. Absurdism has roots so far back that one can place them in Darwin and Marx. Darwin disproved many religious statements such as the Garden of Eden by his thesis on evolution. His research proved that we were not the dominant species by choice but rather by nature and his idea on survival of the fittest. He also introduced the idea that were shared similar roots of DNA to monkeys. This appalled many and the destruction of their religion left people feeling empty and as if their lives were pointless. Freud back Darwin up with the idea of subconscious animalistic behaviours which society condemned. People were unwilling to accept the idea that they were not as superior and as developed as they would like to think. Freud and Darwin led to the breakdown of peoples base beliefs which left them is a world of utter confusion where all sense had been ripped away. Do you understand it? I am careful not to understand it Nietzsche, The Case of Wagner Absurdism and its structure are not meant to be understood.