Compare and contrast the use of language as a device to portray the philosophy of absurdity in The Birthday Party and The Bald Soprano.

 

 

Harold Pinter and Eugene Lonesco are one of the prominent absurdist playwrights.  In both the plays it is seen that much of human absurdity is caused by our failures of language and proper communication which is vivid in the plays. Pinter, however, takes a deceptive turn to show absurdity in a sort of ' non- communicative conversation' which is a great contrast to Lonesco. His absurdity of life is manifested through pause, repetitions, imagination, ambiguous situation and silence which is missing in " The Bald Suprano". However, Plays by Harold Pinter and Eugene share the view that man lives in a meaningless and absurd world.Their unique ways of portraying the philosophy of absurdity  using one of the characteristics of poetic forms 'language' is of masterpiece. To compare and contrast between the plays 'The Bald Suprano" and "The Birthday Party" in the line with some critics, special focus is given here in reference to the text.

 

Both of the dramatists attempted in their writings to emphasize a disconnect between words and actions, meaning and reality. In doing so, they highlighted how unreliable a language is - One can say things easily but do just the opposite. In " The Bald Suprano" by Eugene it is seen:

 

"Mrs. Martin: How curious it is, good Lord, how bizarre!…

Mr. Martin [musing]: How curious it is, how curious it is, how curious it is, and what a coincidence!"

(Ionesco 14).

 

The phrase " how curious it is" has been uttered so many times that it has lost its meaning and wright. They repeat words without actualizing them in their lives. In this drama language becomes an unreliable tool, a means of conventionalized, stereotype, insufficient and meaningless medium.

 

The philosophy of absurd life breaks into not only in plot, dramatic structure, characters and language but also in pause, silence and non- verbal expressions. Sometimes characters do not speak a word yet they communicate which is found in Pinter's play.Harold Pinter presents "Birthday Party" in such a situation in a room where everyone communicates with each other in a non - communicative conversation which is very much significant in the play. This dramatic image is based on human situational life where life communicates, insecurity, terror, false friendships and so on, in silence. The plot of the play goes with Stanley who isolated himself from the world and took refuge in a seaside boarding house.

 

Pinter's plays are the absolute absurd narrative of language. It is only the language that evolves absurdity in emotions, characters and situations. Stanley was scared and tormented not because of McCann but of the language they used. Ganz  states,

 

“The most distinctive

elements in Pinter’s dramatic technique are the ambiguity that surrounds events, the mysterious behaves of

characters, the near omni presence of menace, and the silences and other verbal characteristics.”

 

Pinter uses the technique of repetitions as a mode to create laughter which diverts the attention of the audience from the action. For example, in the first act Meg repeatedly ask questions to create sense of humour:

 

"Meg – Is that you, Petey?

Pause

Petey- is that you?

Pause

Petey?

Petey – what?

Meg –Is that you?

Petey – Yes it’s me." (The Birthday Party:24)

 

Absurd ideas and wild imagination work as language to create terror in the mind of the characters: Meg and Peter and also Stanley. Sense of insecurity, fear and anxiety is revealed in an short episode with the entry of two unknown visitors. Meg feared of losing Stanley,

 

“You wouldn’t have to go away if you get a job” (The Birthday Party).

 

Stanley's fear of insecurity becomes absurd in his imagination when he utters:

 

“They’re coming today.”

Meg: Who?

Stanley: They’re coming in a van.

Meg: who? They’ll carry a wheel barrow in a van.

Stan: They’re looking for someone.

Meg: No they’re not." (The Birthday Party)

 

In this context Hobe states,

 

“Pinter has consistently relied

upon language device for his effects rather than ritualistic visual devices characteristic of the theatre of Absurd”.

 

It is obvious that Pinter uses pause and silence  as a medium of communication. He stated that characters in the play convey a lot in silence, giving pause in conversation. He emphasized on four different aspects of language, rhythm, tempo, intensity and tension. Pinter arranged his language in the play and listened to them through silence.

 

Only through dialogue, he makes us clear that we use inadequacy of words in our daily conversation. Therefore he uses silence and pause  as a tool of language to reveal our inner thoughts:

 

“I was the belle of the ball.”

Petey: Were you?

Meg: oh Yes, They all said I was Petey, I bet you were, too.

Meg – oh!. It’s true, I was.

(Pause) I know I was. (The Birthday Party).

 

In conclusion it can be said that both the playwrights in their writings reveal our state of solitude, isolation, nothingness and meaninglessness though we continue to express our feelings in language which does not take away the absurdity of life. Either in words or silence, taking different approach, both of the dramatists reveal the absurdity of life.

 

References:

 

1. Arthur Ganz, Pinter: A Collection of Critical Essays Prentice Hall 1972.

 

2. Harold Pinter, the Birthday Party. Methuen & Co., London 1960.

 

3. Martin Esslin, the Theatre of the Absurd. Middlesex Penguin 1961.

 

 

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2. Topic: Why "Endgame" is a post - apocalyptic drama?

 

The endgame is a post- apocalyptic drama which is very well manifested through the characters, Hamm, Clove, and their supposedly parents Nagg and Nell, and their dialogues like " nearly finished", " put me in my coffin", " nature had forgotten us", " stinky corpses", " one biscuit per day" and so on. Each of their conversation reveals frustration, hopelessness, lamentation, nihilism and trauma. The world they were living was almost dying as the play " Endgame", by Samuel Beckett  was written after the second world war which was becoming the cold war. During this time this drama was put up to show that the world was going to an end by their all possible characteristics, actions, dialogues and imageries. How "Endgame" is a post-apocalyptic drama is discussed below in reference to the text.

 

The endgame was put up after the second world war which was slowly turning to cold war. The people who lived in this era were suffocating between life and death - the threat of nuclear catastrophy entrangled their life. That time this drama took place in a room which refers to a shelter reminding us of a bomb shelter:

 

“There I’ll be, in the old shelter, alone against the silence and…” (Beckett, 1964).

 

Other details like when their food run short, also exemplify the idea of apocalypse, the end of life. “I’ll give you one biscuit per day.” They have no food. With what they will sustain their life, and they think they might all die soon. Life is represnted to them as a burden. According to them all will die even animals as there is no food. “If I don’t kill that rat he’ll die.” it's pathetic. The play is successful in portraying the painful end of the world.

 

Samuel Beckett, as an absurdist, begins the play by announcing -'the end'. It's shocking to hear how a play ends even which is not started yet in full fledge! On the stage, Clove as the first character appears and strangely claims:

 

“Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.”

 

The term ' nearly  finishef' sounds that the play started much early and going to an end when we just started paying attention to it.

 

Discussions in the play make us understand that life as a whole is enough; they can't firm it anymore which is not only their life but the ideas of any life.

 

“Hamm: Have you not had enough? Clov: Yes!

(Pause.)

Of what? Hamm: Of this… this… thing.”

 

The two last characters Nagg and Nell, seem to be the parents of Hamm, are seen helpless about the future of their life or the life in general. Life for them is something tough to bear. About life they are as desperate as Clove and Hamm. They converse with each other in a sombre tone: “Nell: Why this farce, day after day?”.

 

They always question and complain against life. As it is seen:

 

“Hamm: You stink already. The whole place stinks of corpses.

Clov: Thewhole universe.”

 

Here the play reveals to us the trauma of war or catastrophy that distroyed life of many people as they refer the universe is full of stinky smell of corpses.

 

The play give us a hint that we are experiencing the traumatic life- the war has devastated our life, there are human bodies with no life and full of stink, and there are human bodies with no sense living being. Trauma is dealt with in a nihilistic way, no hope of living, no meaning of life, nothing matters anymore and nothing will begin again. Life is to the end. However they all are still living without knowing why life is still going. In the play at the end, Clove decides to leave Hamm as he realizes that the life has come to an end:

 

“Hamm: Put me in my coffin.

Clov: There are no more coffins.

Hamm: Then let it end!”.

 

The fact seem to them that there is no more coffins left for them since they all have been used after the traumatic second world war.

 

However according to Samuel Beckett there is no need of coffins anymore. It is no necessary to hurry the dead in a coffin since life has become a trivial matter. And on this note the author ends the "Endgame".

 

The explanation discussed above in the light of the events created by the author absolutely clarify that the drama " Endgame" by Samuel Beckett is a post-apocalyptic piece of writing.