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Critical Analysis of The Play Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco

Eugene Ionesco wrote the play Rhinoceros. He was prominent when it came to modern

French type of theatre. He was born in Romania and later moved to Paris with his family when

while two years old. French was the native language that he considered himself fluent. His first

play was written in 1950 and Rhinoceros was written in 1959. Existentialism is the interpretation

of the ideas that human condition or state is considered void without any meaning. The primary

purpose of this paper is to be able to analyze the Play Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco in the light

of the theory “The Theater of Cruelty” by Antonin Artaud’s and giving information of “Theater

of the Absurd.”

“Theatre of the Absurd” is a particular play that became popularly known between the

1950s and 1960s which was more of ideas from a French philosopher named Albert Camus that

states that human conditions are void and don’t have meaning. Esslin referred to Eugene Ionesco

being among the top five playwrights of the Theater of the Absurd movement (Esslin, pg.4).

“Anti-theater” and “New-theater” were among the most commonly used words by the writers in

the “Theater of the Absurd.” Also, “Theatre of the Absurd” is recognized in the representation of

humanity to be chaotic, overthrowing logic and use of distrust type of language.

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Rhinoceros is one among the standard plays ever produced, and it was first performed in

1960 in France at the Odeon Theatre with different unique features. The play is written in

different standards which include the character in theatre, themes, and plots. The actor Berenger

is a representation of the playwright and how the themes of mass ideology and fear are easily

noticed. When he left Romania to France to stay with his father, everybody else converted to

fascism, and he was the only one left, and being alone he felt a responsibility had befallen him

and he had to do something (Kemock, pg.7).

Rhinoceros depicts a view that makes the universe to look like it is absurd, meaningless

and irrational. In the play, Eugene Ionesco talks about the fear he has towards the savagery that

is hidden within the human heart and the character of Berenger which is the accurate reflection

of himself and his life drama. The character's action and says shows the universe to be

meaningless and void. He even wrote in one of his papers of how he feels his inner being torn

apart and clashing in unresolved conflict. The theme of fear is depicted in the play, and the

author compares the human heart with being void (Abdi, pg.11).

The French poet Antonin Artaud came up with the idea of Theater of Cruelty. The theory

was influenced by the old Mexican culture and the theater (Kurmelev, pg.78). He had a belief

that the world could change and transform into a better place through theater. He saw the theater

and life were mirrors that were reflecting each other and had a direct connection. To be able to

catch the sensibility of the audience and make the play a reality, cruelty has to be implied

(MARQUES, pg.113). Eugene Ionesco used rhinoceros as a poetic metaphor to explain the

savagery of human beings and also the meaningless type of universe present today. There is

terror cruelty in the play as objects fall in different instances depicting violent visual scenes in
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rhinoceros. For example, the logical conversation is rejected and doubted in the first scene,

Berenger crashes on a wall when he was fleeing away from the apartment of Jean.

The play Rhinoceros is a representation of the Theater the of Absurd as it meets the

standards and qualifications in Antonin Artaud theory which is a basis of the Theater the of

Absurd. According to Antonin Artaud, a play must have music, mimicry and dance. Spectators

must also get along with the facial expressions, emotions, facial expressions, movement,

gestures, harmonies, and attitudes vividly throughout the play. The modulation of voices and the

repetition of syllables are highly recommended. At the end of the play, rhinoceroses play a

melodic type of quality sound which is taken through the hearing of the triumphing of

rhinoceroses. This is depicted in the paper when Daisy and Berenger argue whether they are

singing, roaring or dancing (Ionesco, pg.104).

Antonin Artaud suggests that the play language should always be seen or perceived on

the movements made. The discussion going on in the speech should not surpass the physical

movements shown during the play. A unique language between gesture and thoughts are advised

to be used. In Rhinoceros, Eugene Ionesco describes human reasoning to be useless and have no

meaning through the use of characters like Logician and Bortard despite the reality contrary. In

the play, the conversion between the Logician and the old gentleman, the logician informs the

old gentleman that a cat has four paws, the old gentleman instead tells him that his dog has four

paws and the logician ends up answering it is a cat too (Ionesco, pg.62). Another example of

distortion of logic is during the conversation between Jeans and Berenger. Jean tells Berenger

that he does not exist because he does not think so. He should start to think for him to start

existing in reality.
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Magical means is also a characteristic of the theory of Theater of cruelty. In the play, the

transformation of human beings into rhinoceroses is noticed. However, Artaud’s emphasis on the

necessity and value of a metaphysical inclination property in any play is not depicted in

Rhinoceros. The magical transformation meets the principles of the Theater of Absurd but is not

recommended by Antonin Artaud.

In conclusion, the Theatre of the Absurd is a particular play that became popularly known

between the 1950s and 1960s which was more of ideas from a French philosopher named Albert

Camus that states that human conditions are void and don't have meaning. The Theatre of the

Absurd consist of three main characteristics or properties that include movement, focus, and

weakness in human nature. In the paper, the three features are well explained. The movement is

analyzed and compared over discussion during the play. Movement is the most important. Focus

is also depicted in the paper when cruelty is used to ensure the audience stays focused. Weakness

is in human nature is an absurdity in the theater because the humans are considered void and

have no meaning. This makes the human inferior and looks non-intelligent. Overthrowing of

logic is also used in the paper when logic reasoning is introduced but it is defeated.

Rhinoceros is the excellent representation of the Theater of the Absurd because the play

shows different instances that prove the genre. Spectators got along with the sounds made, and

they could not differentiate. The play language is more of movements than just a discussion

meaning movement should surpass discussion. The play also uses magical means which is a

characteristic of theater. Rhinoceros play is a qualified play of the Theatre of the Absurd as it

was among the best top five plays that was performed during that time. The paper describes in

detail with examples of how the genre is depicted in the play.

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Works Cited

Abdi, Marwan M. "Eugene Ionesco's Experimentalism and Avant-Garde Approaches in

Rhinoceros." International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies (IJHCS) ISSN

2356-5926 4.3 (2017): 8-15.

Esslin, Martin. “The Theater of the Absurd.” The Tulane Drama Review. 4.4 (1960): 3-15. Print.

Ionesco, Eugène. Rhinoceros and Other Plays. Translated by Derek Prouse. Grove Press, 1960.

Kemock, Kathleen Clare. The Rhinoceros in 2006: A Dramaturgical Analysis of Eugene

Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. Diss. Miami University, 2007.

Kurmelev, Anton. "Theater and its purpose: Antonin Artaud and Tennessee Williams."

Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 236 (2016): 76-81.

MARQUES, INÊS EVANGELISTA. "TWO PLAYS OF THE ABSURD AND THE SENSE OF

DYSTOPIA: A READING OF BECKETT’S ENDGAME AND IONESCO’S

RHINOCÉROS." A Time to Reason and Compare: International Modernism Revisited

One Hundred Years After (2016): 113.