The modern Realism in English Literature and the post-modern world were the times of complete chaos amidst the two world wars that had engulfed the entire world. In the modern world there was nothing that was called absolute truth. Truth was used as a tool by others and in the process abused by the ones who wanted to gain power and control over others. Truth and fallacy had become synonymous to each other. Morality was dealt with personally and the post-modernists subjected the same to personal opinion. In this fragmented world, people were becoming disillusioned. People were losing their identity amidst the war. This loss of identity and the search henceforth, prevailed in the world and engulfed it in the smoke of pessimism and negativity.
The modern and the post-modern texts in English Literature try to study these aspects and portray them in their works. Several writers, poets, dramatists have tried their hand at this field. Not only the English writers but also the writers of other countries, contributed to the research in this field. Several research paper writings gave way to the formulation of theories on different aspects, that came to the front in this era. Be it the formulation of theory of feminism, on loss of identity and the concept of others. Students studying the concept find it difficult to understand it. These concepts are vast to study about and thus students go for assignment help.
The theatre of absurd was a category that came into existence into this era of pessimism. The name itself is sufficient to describe what the theatre actually was. The credit for coining the term goes to the famous critic Martin Eosin. ‘Absurd’ actually refers to the then prevailing conflict between the human tendency to go for the inherent value and the meaning of life and the human inability to fund the same in such a meaningless, purposeless, chaotic and irrational universe.
The critic Martin Esslin referred to this term in his essay, The Theatre of Absurd, which primarily focused on the playwrights Arthur Adamov, Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco. Esslin says that the dramas of these playwrights have a common denominator- the absurd, the word whose definition Esslin took from Ionesco’s work: absurd is what we refer to something which do not have a purpose, goal or objective.
Although, if you trace the origin of something being absurd, it goes centuries back yet most critics date these literary concepts of the French writer Albert Camus, who is most famous for his novel L’ Etranger, written in 1942.
The Theatre of Absurd was a category focused upon by most of the post-modernist playwrights. These plays focused themselves primarily on the ideas of existentialism, the loss of identity, the futility of life and its meaninglessness and try to bring to the readers, the consequences of life lacking meaning, purpose and communication and eventually breaking down. The Myth of Sissyphus, an essay written in 1942 by French writer Albert Camus, describes the meaninglessness and absurdity of the human situation. The plays written in this category have a round shape structure, wherein the finishing point is the same as the starting point. The logical construction of plot and the several arguments give way to irrational and illogical speech, reaching the ultimate conclusion which is silence.
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot achieves the purpose to the fullest. The protagonists, Vladimir and Estragon, are confused as to what they have to do with the time they have in hand thus they are trying to kill time by doing meaningless activities. Surprisingly, each day of their life happens to repeat the same activity- and the plot becomes circular. Both these characters are waiting for some estranged person ‘Godot’, who never comes, and their wait becomes endless. The conversations these characters, in fact all the characters in the drama, have are nonsensical and meaningless.
Absurdism was also witnessed in American playwright Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story. Their too, the two characters Peter and Jerry, engage in a conversation that signifies meaninglessness. Also, this meaninglessness of life culminates in Jerry taking up his own life.
These plays immediately capture the reader’s attention, reason being the delivery of dialogues in a manner that tries lightening the atmosphere yet conveys the character’s mindset and psychology.
Along with the Theatre of Absurd, Realism also developed in the modern and the post-modern era. Realism meant the depiction of the exact world reality in the play. Most of these writers took this task in hand- of exposing the social conditions to the people. Henrik Ibsen took this task in his hand. His A Doll’s House best depicts the ground reality of the then world. He took the task of not merely entertaining but for the depiction of the real world as he does in the play. The reality of the relationship of Nora and Torvald is brought before the audience, wherein Nora’s views and hopes are shattered. Ibsen highlights the society’s chase for class and status and not for meaningful relationships. He also gives the readers a glimpse into the status of women in that era and how only unmarried girls or widows were allowed a job at hand.
Besides Ibsen, there were several other poets and writers who took the task of exposing the social world as it is, to the audience. The research paper writings that were formulated in this era, too detailed the two important concepts to the readers.
Thus both absurdism and modernism developed at a rapid pace in order to highlight the plight of men and society at the same time. These were a few basic points about these concepts and students who wish to understand the basics may refer to these points for assignment help. But post this, there is left a vast world that has to be explored in order to understand both these concepts.
