Introduction

Sisyphus rolls the boulder uphill for eternity.

The Theatre of the Absurd was a short-lived yet significant theatrical movement, centred in Paris in the 1950’s. The beginning of “absurdism” lie in Avant-garde (Avant-garde refer to such works of art that are generally innovative but ideologically unacceptable to the established trends of the time) experiment during the 1920s and 30s. For example it was influenced by Alfred Jarry’s avant-garde play, Ubu Roi which was performed only once in Paris in 1986. The play is a satire on Shakespearean plays that uses bizarre costumes and strange unrealistic language while providing little back story for the characters. These bizarre features influenced the artistic movement of Dadaism, and in turn, the Absurdist playwrights. Out of Dadaism grew surrealism which also influenced the absurdists.

Another major influence on the absurdists was the works of Franz Kafka like his novel, The Trial (1925) about a man arrested and prosecuted without ever being told what the crime is. Also famous is the novella The Metamorphosis (1915) about a salesman who wakes up one day into a giant vermin (rodents, or pests). The unique strangeness of Kafka’s work usually influenced the absurdists.

The Meaning of the “Absurd” and “Absurdism”

Albert Camus defines the “absurd” as the tension created by humanity’s need for meaning and the universe’s refusal to provide any. Camus asserts that we can find no evidence for the existence of God, so all we are left with is an indifferent universe where bad things happen without a higher purpose or justification. Absurdism, in literature, refers to literary works produced from the 1950’s to the 1970’s that present and explore the absurd nature of existence. They stress on the fact that there is no inherent meaning in life, yet we keep on living and keep trying to find meaning.

Absurdist literature achieves its absurdism by being itself absurd in form or plot or both. Literary absurdism involves the use of unusual language, characters dialogue, and plot structure that give works of absurdist literature the quality of ridiculousness (or absurdity).

Although “absurdism” as a term does not refer to a unified movement, we can, nonetheless, view the works of Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, and Harold Pinter, among others, as constituting a movement. The works of these playwrights all focused on the absurd nature of the human condition.

Absurdism refers broadly to all types of literature including fiction, short stories, and poetry (such as Beckett’s) that deal with the absurdity of being human. When we speak of the Absurdist plays composed by these playwrights, this movement is specifically known “The Theatre of the Absurd”— a term assigned by Martin Esslin in his 1960 essay of the same name.

The Philosophy of Absurdism

The philosophy of absurdism, developed by French philosopher, Albert Camus emerged as a response to the problem of the absurd as an antidote to nihilism, and as a departure from existentialism. Nihilism is the rejection of moral principles as a response to the meaninglessness of existence. If there is no God, then there is no objective right or wrong. Nihilism is a philosophical problem that philosophers try to tackle. Nihilism presents a moral crisis, since if we abandon moral principles, the world would become an extremely hostile place.

Existentialism is a response to the problem of nihilism (i.e. rejection of moral principles in the face of life’s meaninglessness). Existentialists argue that we can deal with the lack of objective meaning by creating our own meaning in our lives.

Albert Camus’ Solution to the Crisis of Existentialism

In The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), Camus defines the absurd nature of human existence. To him, the mythical figure of Sisyphus is the embodiment of the human struggle against the absurd. Sisyphus is condemned by the gods to push a boulder up a hill everyday for eternity. Every time he gets to the top, the boulder will roll down and he will have to start again the next day. Like Sisyphus, we must struggle against the meaninglessness of the universe without any hope of succeeding in finding a meaning in it.

Camus argues that the solution to the suffering brought on by our obsessive need to find meaning is to abandon the quest for meaning altogether and embrace that there is no more to life than this absurd struggle. We should rebel against meaninglessness by enjoying our lives with the full knowledge that they have no meaning whatsoever. This, for Camus, is freedom.
Camus imagine that Sisyphus has found happiness in his task by abandoning illusions that there is any meaning to it. He is condemned to it anyway, so he might as well enjoy it rather than be miserable trying to find purpose in his turmoil:

One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
          —Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Characteristics of Absurdism in Literature

The ridiculousness of absurdist literature is a way of exploring the ridiculous nature of life and of the struggle for meaning. Absurdist literary works express the absurdity of life in aspects of plot, form, and more. Absurdist literature, particularly absurdist plays, are defined by the following unusual features:

1. Unusual Plots. Absurdist plays have unusual plots that don’t follow conventional plot structures, or entirely lack a plot. The plot is composed of futile (means “pointless”) events and disjointed (means “unconnected”) actions to express the futility of life. The circular plot of Waiting for Godot is an excellent example of such unusual plots.

2. Distortion of Time. Time is also distorted in Absurdist literature. It is often hard to pin down (means “clearly identify”) how much time has passed. For example, in Waiting for Godot, it is hinted that two tramps have been waiting for Godot for fifty years.

3. Unusual, Symbolic Characters. These plays feature unusual characters without backstories and defining characteristics, who often appear symbolising all of humanity. For example, The Old Man and The Old Woman from The Chairs; the mysterious Godot in Waiting for Godot.

4. Unusual Dialogue and Language. The dialogue and language are also unusual and are composed of clichés (means “boring” and “repetitive”), nonsensical words, and repetitions, which make for disjointed (means “not coherent”) and impersonal (means “neutral”) dialogues between characters. This highlights the difficulty of effectively communicating with one another.

5. Unusual Setting. Such settings reflect the theme of absurdity. For example, Beckett’s Happy Days (1961) is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where a woman in submerged up to shoulders in a desert.

6. Comic Elements. Comic is often an element in Absurdist plays, as many are tragicomedies, containing comic elements like jokes and slapstick. Martin Esslin argues that the laughter that the Theatre of the Absurd evokes is liberating.

Through the element of comedy, Absurdist literature invites us to recognise and accept the absurd, so that we can be liberated from the constraints of the pursuit of meaning and simply enjoy our meaningless existence, just as the audience enjoys the comic absurdity of Beckett or Ionesco ‘s plays.

The Theatre of the Absurd will be remembered in history for many things, the most significant of these being Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece Waiting for Godot, today regarded as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Here is a brief introduction to Dadaism, a related art and literary movement during the Modern Age.

If you are preparing for UGC-NET, you may find this article useful.

©2023 Md Rustam Ansari [profrustamansari@gmail.com]