“Episode in the Life of an Author” - One Act Play
Form: One Act Play
Genre: Drama
Sub-genre: Absurdist
farce (with features of the ‘theatre of the absurd’)
Author: Jean Anouilh (Anh’ wee)
Nationality: French
Gender:
Male
Birth: June 23, 1910
Bordeaux, France
Death: October 3, 1987
Lausanne, Switzerland
The play is classified by the author under:
Pieces roses
(theme explored with sparkling wit and comedy).
‘The play tries to substantiate the view that ‘the primary
function of the theatre was, is and forever will be entertainment.’
Rhetorical Devices used in the play:
Satire, Irony, Symbols, Wit & Comedy.
Social values explored:
Love, Marital life (marriage), Friendship, Family bond, other relationships,jobs & ethics.
Love, Marital life (marriage), Friendship, Family bond, other relationships,jobs & ethics.
SYMBOLS USED IN THE PLAY:
Symbols
play an integral part of communicating the writer's vision to the play, in
Episode in the Life of the Author the following symbols are used:
False Nose
All
the characters in the play are wearing false noses and this is an indispensable
part of the play. The false noses here symbolize the absurd nature of the play.
More than anything Anouilh has used the false noses for all characters to show
the purpose of absurd plays. The primary function of the theatre is
entertainment and false noses actually justify this purpose and add a comic
element to the characters. It also symbolizes that human beings no matter what
they consider themselves to be, after all they are just players on the stage of
the world and that their purposes of living are often falsified through the
choice of their own lenses.
The Leak
The
leak in the play is symbolic of two important elements. Absurd plays often
contradict the notion that there is always a reason behind the occurrence of
things and events in our everyday life. The leak is used to symbolize that the
way events and incidents happen sometimes are beyond logic and a rational
explanation. It also highlights the power of myths and miracles that impact our
life in an inexplicable way.
The Boots
La
Surette approaches the author for the money to pay for the gas bill but later
he places more importance on the boots than the money. The boots here symbolize
the absurd desires of human beings. Human beings have unlimited desires and
wants but there is a lack of rational explanation for these desires.
We
do not know why we want some things and we often do not know why we do not want
some other things in life.
The Weeping Maid
Leonie,
the maid is a minor character who is a member of the author’s house. She ushers
all the visitors and the guests who come with their problems to the author. But
all the while, she is found to be weeping throughout the play. A certain degree
of suspense is maintained by Anouilh, until towards the end when we are
informed that she had been weeping because she had become pregnant. Both the
Author and Ardele are oblivious of her pregnancy and pay no heed to her
sufferings. She is left on her own to fight her own battles. Her weeping is
symbolic of the physical and mental sufferings that people go through in the
walks of their daily life. It is also suggestive of how other people desert us
in times of distress to face the problems of our own life although we have been
living under the same roof. Poor people like the maid are exploited by powerful
men; their woes unheard, their pains undivided and left to strive and struggle
on their own.
The Falling Picture
The falling picture symbolizes:
Ø The wife’s temperament: Whenever Ardele leaves the study slamming the door, the picture falls down. It happens from the beginning of the play whenever she quarrels with her husband. The falling picture here shows that Ardele is a short tempered lady.
Ø The problems of marital life: It clearly reveals in the play the theme that if the husband and the wife do not have mutual trust then there will be quarrels and unrest in the house.
Ø The author’s character as a patient man: In the play Ardele addresses the Author angrily for three times and on all these occasion her slamming the door makes the picture to fall down. Whenever it happens the Author calmly picks it up and hangs it back without showing ill temper towards his wife. This clearly shows that the Author is a very patient, cool and composed man with immense tolerance.
Ø To add a comic element to the play amidst the tensions of the author’s marital life: Whenever Ardele and the Author quarrel the scene becomes serious, but in the middle of this seriousness the falling picture gives opportunity to the audience to laugh at it.
Some Satirical elements in the Play:
Satire on Media: In its Satire on Media madame Bessarabo is the target. She has come all the way from Rumania to France just to interview the Author about his last play and especially to know what he feels about Love, but often she is seen to deviate from the topic and discuss about other unimportant matters.
This particular situation also shows that the media can go to any length/extent for a sensational story. Here the media has been portrayed as taking undue advantage over the Author's private affairs and weakness.
Satire on celebrities: The celebrities are satired through the character of the Author. Their behaviors are also ridiculed towards the end of the play where the Author is no more calm and behaves agitated.
Elements of
Absurdity in the play:
ü
The play follows
unconventional plot structures, theme and dialogues. Neither the scenes nor the
time is put properly in the play. Conventional norms have been forgone to
purposefully comment on the purposelessness and the meaninglessness of human
existence.
The events in
this play are not logically connected to each other, and to an average
audience, meaningless.
ü
The arrangement and the
timing of events are haphazard. For instance Ardele pops into the scene
irregularly at her own discretion and we do not know whether she is present in
the house at other times when the author in engaged with other characters. Her
irregular interruptions make no sense at all.
ü
The interview is cut
short several times with interventions from other characters but when they continue
again they begin as if they have progressed a lot actually when nothing has
been achieved.
ü
The phone calls
especially Gustave’s, consume a significant amount of time. The anecdotes he
relates to the author has no relevancy to the author, he seems least bothered
about what Gustave is saying. Nonetheless from the other end we have Gustave
putting his heart and soul in explaining everything he has to offer.
ü
The maid’s pregnancy is
one that is very difficult to understand.
ü
The actions of the characters are senseless, useless
and absurd. The author is bewildered,
troubled, and strangely threatened by a large number of visitors who each bring
a bag of problems to him.. He has no control over what is happening in his life
or his house. The final scene where he is shouting for everyone to be calm while
he himself is losing control shows him as a true absurd protagonist.
ü
Distrust of language as a means of communication: Language in Episode in the Life an Author
is shown as an unreliable and insufficient tool of communication; the broken
dialogues and conversation between Ardele and the unknown woman (Leon’s wife),
the interview between Madam Bessarabo and the Author are some examples of this
use of language. In this way, conventional speech seems to act as a barrier
between the characters rather than serve as a means of communication.
Background:
Episode in the
life of an author is
an excellent example of Jean Anouilh’s individualistic style that is eminently
entertaining and irresistibly theatrical. It is humorous in its absurdity and
its challenges the traditional notions of plot, character development and
resolution of conflict. It has characters who enter, leave and enter again as
they seek order in their lives from the art of author. They seem dependent on
him to rescue them from the turmoil of their lives. Some are green with envy of
the earlier characters which the author created because they live in a play
which is ordered. In this sense, they want him to write stories of their lives
and, indeed, the play can be seen as the struggle an author goes through as a
piece is written. It is as absurd drama.
The play has
thirteen characters and requires little by way sets and costumes except false
noses for everybody. It is an experimental play.
The language is
simple and readily accessible to everyone. It challenges our ideas of order in
the world and in our everyday lives. The play authenticates the view that the
primary function of the theatre is entertainment.
The Theatre of
the Absurd
The theatre of
the Absurd is an experimental theatrical style which came into prominence after
World War II in the works of writers such as Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet etc.
Many absurdist plays contain grotesque (ugly) and ludicrous (comical) elements.
The term ‘Absurd’ as applied to this moment carries the sense given to it by
the thinkers. All these writers feel that man is “Out of Harmony” and man
always finds himself in exile in a meaningless universe. The term ‘Absurd’ is
also applied to the modern sense of human purposelessness in the universe
without meaning or value.
The “Theatre of
the Absurd” is a term coined by Hungarian-born critic Martin Esslin, who made
it the title of his 1962 book on the subject. The term refers to a particular
type of play which first became popular during the 1950s and 1960s and which
presented on stage the philosophy articulated by French philosopher Albert
Camus in his 1942 essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, in which he defines the
human condition as basically meaningless.
One of the most
important aspects of absurd drama is its distrust of language as a means of
communication. Language, it seems to say, has become nothing but a vehicle for
conventionalized, stereotyped, meaningless exchanges. Dr. Culik explains,
“Words failed to express the essence of human experience, not being able to
penetrate beyond its surface. The Theatre of the Absurd constituted first and
foremost an onslaught on language, showing it as a very unreliable and
insufficient tool of communication. Absurd drama uses conventionalized speech,
clichés, slogans and technical jargon, which it distorts, parodies and breaks
down. By ridiculing conventionalized and stereotyped speech patterns, the
Theatre of the Absurd tries to make people aware of the possibility of going
beyond everyday speech conventions and communicating more authentically.”
Meaning of Farce:
A sub- genre of
the “Theatre of the Absurd”; Farce is a type of comedy designed to provoke
laughter. Farce is a type of comedy written with a sole intention to provoke
hearty laughter among the audience without weighing them down with any other
moral or ethical burden in the parlance of theatre. To do so it commonly
employs highly exaggerated or caricatured types of characters and puts them
into improbable and ludicrous situations. Besides it also makes free use of
sexual mix-ups, broad verbal humour, and physical bustle and horseplay. Farce
was a component in the comic episodes in medieval miracle plays. In the
enduring English drama, farce is usually an episode in a more complex form of
comedy.
Theme of the
Play:
The
play keenly follows the trends and techniques of the theme of absurdity which
deals with the theme of helplessness and confusion of human beings in the
modern world. The whole play appears to be full with disorder, chaos and
illogical sequence of events upon which no one has any control. The protagonist
(the Author) himself is in deep predicament from various angles. And to worsen
the matter further all other characters come to seek consolation and solution
to their problems from the Author. They all appear to be very much dependent on
the Author as they all want the Author to solve their problems and troubles.
Important
Features of Absurd Drama:
ü It has unusual
plot structure, theme, dialogues and actions which makes it different from
other traditional plays.
ü The events and actions
are illogical, senseless, often useless, confusing, absurd and totally beyond
the understanding of the common audience.
ü Often situations
are funny absurd and often there is a lack of sequence of events. Unlike the
other regular plays absurd plays are the play of situations rather than the
play of sequential events.
ü The characters
are often caught in a chaotic situation and find it very difficult to understand
its place in the universe. They are often confused and under lots of
meaningless pressures and tensions. Often the inadequacy of language for
communication is also exposed and it is shown that language is an unreliable
and insufficient tool of communication. In this way, conventional speech seems to act as a
barrier between the characters rather than serve as a means of communication.
