The Theatre of the Absurd

In depth Research
Alp Ozen
Drama

What is existentialism?
Existentialism is a philosophical term which lies on the same line as the reasoning of
the theatre of the absurd. Existentialism questions the core reason of human
existence and defines that everything around us is irrational. Besides this,
existentialism is very much focused on the independence and freedom of a being
while it stands against the way of people have lived over decades.
The History of Existentialism:
The term was firstly applied in the work of philosophers who lived during the 19 th
and 20th century. Furthermore, Existentialism grew itself around the 1940s with the
contributions of some famous thinkers which include; Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus
and Merleau-Ponty. These thinkers enhanced the idea of Existentialism in several
formats. Not only did they write classical essays but unlike the past they carried on
this idea onto plays, novels and short stories. Within great influence the theatre of
the absurd was born later on.
From a global perspective, Existentialism is a very much European movement since
its founders are mainly European. Interestingly, after the 1970s Existentialism was
seen as a philosophical clich as we can notice from the countless books and films
of Woody Allen.

Understanding the idea of Existentialism:

Really, existentialism is a simple idea to start with however it
gets more complex as we figure out what philosophers have
done with it. The best way to understand the fundamentals of
this ideology can be best done by looking at the triangle below.
The triangle shows the three main values of existentialism.
Freedom being the first and most significant one, existentialism
was born as a result of the Second World War which people
really lacked freedom. Passions stand for the desires of one
person. This is also the reason why existentialist thinking
suggests people become who they choose to become. Lastly,
Individuality is the idea that people should be able make decisions on their own and
choose their own path in life.

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Existentialism >>>

How does existentialism relate to the theater of the Absurd?

Simply, all Absurdist plays were heavily influenced by the existentialist movement.
A great example to back this up is on how Camus has explained the Absurdist
theatre. Camus said The absurd is born out of this confrontation between the human need
and the unreasonable silence of the world.
Similarly to the existentialist view, the theater of the absurd is a major confrontation
to humanity, society and simply anything. As we can spot in many absurdist plays,
we will notice that characters are free to do what they want, they are very much
disappointed with the life theyve experienced and yet are waiting for something
new. A great example for this could be the scenario of Waiting for Godot which is
based on all these factors.
Overall, existentialism and theatre of the absurd are both philosophies firstly
developed by Sren Kierkegaard. Therefore we can say that theater of the absurd is
a way of existentialism evolving into theatre.
If we are to explore the similarities in more depth, we notice that the basics of
existentialism also apply to theatre of the absurd. For example all absurdist plays
are simply based on nothing but yet show us the passions, individuality and
freedom of a person. Besides this, both movements were born during the same
time. Therefore this really shows us that theyre on the same line which is the side
effect of the most inhumane wars in human history, World War 2.

Written By: Alp Ozen

Criteria: A Knowing&Understanding