Rosencrantz

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ABSURDITY IN ART

• A prologue to
• Stoppards Rosencrantz Guildenstern are Dead

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Le poète est un menteur qui dit toujours le verité

• -----Jean Cocteau

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Art is a lie that allows us to see truth

• --------Picasso

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Contents

• Magritte Surrealism
• Lewis Carrol Nonsense Poetry
• Existentialism
• Tom Stoppard
• Rosencrantz Guildenstern are Dead
• The Movie

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Rene Magritte

• Belgian painter
• 1898-1967
• Produces intentional mysteries doesnt explain
  them doesnt answer questions raised
• Surrealism
• Magic Realism

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Surrealism

• Surrealism the search for a reality above or
  within the surface reality by suspending logic,
  reason, and morality

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Magic Realism

• Seeks to enrich our idea of what is real by
  incorporating various imaginative dimensions

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LEWIS CARROLL

• English Mathematician
• Professor at Oxford
• 1832-1898
• Alice in Wonderland, 1871
• Nonsense Poetry

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Nonsense Poetry

• A form of nonsensical, light verse that has
  strong rhythms, created words, a lack of
  logical and consecutive development

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Alice in Wonderland
There was a book lying near Alice on the
table,she turned over the leaves, to find some
part that she could read, for its all in some
language I dont know, she said to herself. It
was like this...
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Jabberwocky
Twas brilling, and the slithy toves Did
gyre and gimble in the wabe All mimsy were the
borogroves And the mome raths outgrabe.

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Jabberwocky
Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that
bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub
bird, and shun The fruminous Bandersnatch!
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Jabberwocky
He took his vorpal sword in hand Long time
the maxome foe he sought So rested he by the
Tumtum tree, And stood a while in thought.
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Jabberwocky
And, as in uffish thought he stood, The
Jabberwock, with eyes of flame. Came whiffling
through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it
came!
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Jabberwocky
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it
for dead, and with its head He went
galumping back.
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Jabberwocky
And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to
my arms, my beamish boy! Oh frabjous day!
Callooh! Callay! He chortled in his joy.
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Jabberwocky
Twas brilling, and the slithy toves Did
gyre and gimble in the wabe All mimsy were the
borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
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Alice in Wonderland
It seems very pretty, she said when she had
finished it, but its rather hard to
understand! (You see she didnt like to confess,
even to herself, that she couldnt make it out at
all.) Somehow it seems to fill my head with
ideas---only I dont exactly know what they are!
However, somebody killed something thats clear,
at any rate---
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Metaphor in Alice
The last level of metaphor in the Alice books
is this that life, viewed rationally and without
illusion, appears to be a nonsense tale told by
an idiot mathematicianWe all live slapstick
lives, under an inexplicable sentence of death,
and when we try to find out what the
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Metaphor in Alice

castle authorities want us to do, we are shifted
from one bumbling bureaucrat to another. We are
not even sure that Count West-West, the owner of
the castle, really exists. ------Martin
Gardner The Annotated Alice
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Existentialism

• 20th century philosophical movement
• Sartre, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus
• Existence precedes essence
• I exist. Because I exist, I think I feel I
  perceive

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Existentialism

• Choice is always possible Not choosing is
  impossible
• Uncertainty is certain
• Absurd universe no clear purpose for existence
  no moral imperativeshumans must create morality
• One constant that all humans share DEATH

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Theatre of the Absurd

• Portrays the senselessness absurdity of the
  human condition
• Reveals the illogical purposeless nature of
  existence

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Theatre of the Absurd

• Provides concrete images of situations that
  epitomize humanitys fundamental helplessness in
  a contradictory alienating universe
• Exposes the inadequacy of reason and language

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Absurd Theatre

• Portrays essential human realities death, self,
  time, loneliness, communication, freedom
• Emphasizes situation rather than event
• Has no clear moral or message
• Usually lacks a coherent plot
• Merges fantasy with reality filled with
  irrational events

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Absurd Theatre

• Strips language of its traditional poetic
  utilitarian functions
• Creates a space for silence
• Uses characters who lack appropriate motivation
  for actions
• Conveys meaning through masks, sounds, ritual,
  gestures, costumes, stylized action
• Presents images meant to elicit subjective
  responses

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TOM STOPPARD

• Czech born English playwright
• R G, his first staged play, 1967
• Script doctored Shakespeare in Love

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Recipe for Play

• Take one famous tragedy. Shake well.
• Scoop out the main characters who float to the
  top. Set aside.
• Pick out the two smallest characters remaining.
  Blow these up with hot air.
• Let them float though your play as heroes.
• Toss main characters in lightly and in small
  amounts.
• Serves all who enjoy laughing while they think.

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THEMES MOTIFS
Themes
Motifs

• Death
• Identity
• Alienation
• Life as a game
• Exits entrances
• Acting versus reality

• Games
• Messengers
• Boats
• Home
• Wheel
• Direction
• Coins

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The Movie

• Written/directed by Stoppard in 1992
• More scenes from Hamlet than included in play
• Look for additions, alterations, and deletions
  from play

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Keep in Mind...

• Expect weirdness confusion
• Consider what play HAS not what it is missing
• Laugh! Its supposed to be funny

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The End
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