With the illogical notions and actions by the characters in the play, The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco, it creates a humor that is very comical and absurd throughout the entire play. From the very beginning to the very end of the play, Ionesco portrays scenes of absurdity and sarcastic jokes to amuse the audience. The characters in the play constantly continue to say things and act in a way that no regular person would. In this play, there are instances of three theories of comedy; Ionesco provides us with evidence of release theory, superiority theory, and incongruity theory in multiple different ways. This play, being very insane and humorous, is definitely a depiction of why Ionesco was an icon of the “theater of absurd.” From the very …show more content…
In the play, Mr. Smith says, “But what would you say if you saw men acting like women do, smoking all day long, powdering, roughing their lips, drinking whisky?” (Ionesco, p. 14). Mr. Smith, being sarcastic, says this to Mrs. Smith because of how she was describing him as how men are, just before he said that. This type of humor can be funny for one gender, but not for another, because it speaks against women by associating them to acting in an incompetent manner. As other characters are introduced, there is more absurdity and humor. Introducing the aspect of “superiority theory,” characters, Mr. and Mrs. Martin, enter and talk to each other like they have seen each other somewhere but do not know each other, when in fact they do and have actually came and sat down together. They are saying things such as, “This is curious! How very bizarre! And what a coincidence! I took the same train sir, I too” (Ionesco, p. 15). This whole scene was very absurd and ridiculous, and it was illogical the way the characters were behaving when they in fact knew each other and something a regular couple would not have a conversation about. As they talked and thought they did not know each other, it brought the audience humor because they knew who they were to each other and did not understand exactly what was going …show more content…
For four pages straight, the final pages are just the different characters talking to each other, but saying completely random things. An example would be when Mr. Martin says “bread is a staff, whereas bread is also a staff, and an oak spring from an oak every morning at dawn” (Ionesco, 39). More instances would come, like when Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Martin would start repeating random stuff, such as “cockatoos, cockatoos, cockatoos …” and “such cascades of caca, such cascades of caca, such cascades of caca ….” (Ionesco, p. 40). At a point, they even start reciting the alphabet very randomly. This whole scene is extremely absurd, and it goes on until the end of the play when they finally start repeating words all together. No reader would be certain to what was going on but Ionesco conveys this as a “release theory” because in the middle of arguments which became suspenseful, the characters just stop and randomly start talking complete
The use of vernacular speech, in this play, lends to the overall feeling of life in the early 20th century. This definitely aids in establishing a link with this play’s key audience, women. And also helps to establish the play’s surroundings and setting. The use of language provides a backdrop for the play, illustrating the differences between men and women. More so, the purpose of this play was to illustrate the common bond between women, even in the face of the law. It proves that in hard times people of a common bond usually stick together, and written in the face of the up and coming women’s suffrage movement, it provides the reader with a real understanding of the motivation and the dedication these women put into their work.
As the cliche goes, appearances are not always what they seem: there are discrepancies between the expectation and the reality in both the physical and intangible traits of an individual. Edmond Rostand equips these inconsistencies in words, behaviors, and events, also known as irony, in the construction of his chivalric romance play Cyrano De Bergerac. His use of situational and dramatic irony establishes the theme of the outward manifestation failing to reflect the true inner identity.
The first critic, Jan H Blits, discusses how the women of the play are inferior to the men. Blits states this opinion by comparing the two genders roles in the entire play, “The manly is associated with the firm, the brilliant, the cold, the independent, the high and the noble” First, Blits talks up the men of the play and make them seem important, he shows that the men have a major part in the play as if you had these traits you could be considered a much higher person compared to others, take Brutus for an example.
Throughout the play I felt that the male characters had more of the negative qualities and the female characters had more of the positive qualities. One major reason for this is because men during the 1950s were viewed as stern and the man of the house. This preconceived gender role associated with men automatically required them to come off as negative at times, where the women were more positive. The reason Hansberry had the women represent more positive qualities was due to what responsibilities women had during this era. Women were seen mostly as caretakers, which caused them to be nurturing and encouraging to their children. The roles of men and women during the ‘50s were very different and called for very different views on how to
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.
Many or all the male characters in the play hold strong anti-feminist views. Women are largely seen by them as “ma...
The diction of the play relates to the characters. In Wilbur’s translation, the dialogue is in steady couplets the flow is extremely interesting with one actor rhyming their line with that of the line that came before it. All of the characters speak in this fashion with the exception of the Maid, who finds plain words do a better job of getting to the heart of the matter.
Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet & nbsp; Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One. could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play. and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. &
...le isolated statements cease to be intelligible. Ionesco's language late in the play is a language of non sequitirs and nonsense. Far from articulating a unified notion of truth, language unleashes the capacity to express a cacophony of voices and viewpoints. Unequivocal statements of any sort become virtually impossible because the power to negate them is embedded in the fabric of language itself. Ironically, as the play reaches its seemingly chaotic crescendo, Ionesco himself seems to submit to some vaguely cyclical notion of order. The dialogue of the players disintegrates and then reintegrates into a single sentence, thus allowing the play to begin again with new faces, but undoubtedly the same dramatic dénouement.
The play defies easy definition and various critics have labeled it variously as absurdist, existentialist, comical, burlesque, metaphorical or grim. The playwright on the other hand maintained that all through the creation of his work he strove to bring in the comic element and any tragedy that seems part of the play, may have crept in inadvertently and whenever it has been staged as a serious play, audience reaction to it has been cold.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.
In this play, the men and women characters are separated even from their first entrance onto the stage. To the intuitive reader (or playgoer), the gender differences are immediately apparent when the men walk confidently into the room and over to the heater while the women timidly creep only through the door and stand huddled together. This separation between genders becomes more apparent when the characters proceed in investigating the murder. The men focus on means while the women focus on motive: action vs. emotion. While the men...
are still in place in today's society. The play is a comedy but to a
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.