ABSURDITY
I've said it already and I'll say it again, so that you will
remember: Eugene Ionesco is Master of the Theatre of the Absurd. And of course, Rhinoceros is full of
absurdity. In addition to the fact that people change into rhinos, there are
even more situations that leave me perplexed. The best examples of these are
the conversations of the (supposedly) reasonable people. They try to use logic
and intellect but their arguments always lead to a dead end. Finally, the issue
is not solved but even more complicated I will publish some of the quotes
in one of the next posts to make you understand what I mean. As Ms. Helebrantová once
mentioned in our lesson, the Theatre of the Absurd is sort of existentialism in drama.
Let me quote the almighty Wikipedia which says that existentialists have the "sense
of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or
absurd world" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism). I believe that this is what Ionesco felt when writing this play.
TRANSFORMATION
Here I don't want to discuss the obvious human-rhino
transformation; I just want to say that there are also some changes in people’s minds,
their behavior and their characteristics. Let’s start with the main character
Berenger – at the beginning of the play he is just a man with no visible
interest, not caring about what happens around him. As the play proceeds and
all of his friends change into beasts, he starts to freak out. I mean, who
wouldn’t? But Berenger is a special case, because at first he was not
surprised by anything, not even by the rhino in the streets of a French town. He just didn‘t
care. At the end, not only does he care, he also changes into the saviour of the
human kind. Moreover, he starts to feel responsible
for what’s going on around him.
Another example of transformation is his biggest friend Jean who
seems to be very balanced and rational. In the first act, he keeps persuading Berenger to „exercise more will-power and not surrender to life's pressures“ (http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/rhinoceros/themes.html). However, as we all know, it is finally
Jean who surrenders to life’s pressures, whereas Berenger acquires a strong will and fights against the majority.
CONFORMITY
If you want to know more about this theme, please read my posts
from February 8 and February 15 =).
It is often said that a person's "normal" personality does not serve as an accurate guide for how they will behave in the event of an emergency or disaster. The person you trust most might be the first to abandon you in a fire, and the one who says least might be the most courageous. This play demonstrates that perfectly, and you grasp it well.
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