Theater of the Absurd = Existentialism + symbolic satire
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***Absurd = disharmony
Out of harmony
Not ridiculous
Logical illogic
Out of sync with nature
Groups of symbols on stage
Comic
Horrifying
Abrupt changes of directions and tone
Goal: to experience the condition of
Absurdity
Mid-century 20th
Postwar WWII
Nonrealistic
Anti-realistic
Non-conventional; unconventional
Psychological complexity
Incoherent ramblings
*** failure of communication
SANDBOX CHARACTER or ACTION
Young Man
(Angel of Death)
Mommy and her “tears”
Daddy
Musician
Grandma and her monologue
Off-stage thunder
the sandbox
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Life is disorderly and chaotic
Different ways of perceiving reality
Rejection of theatrical conventions
Storyless action
Unbelievable characters
Disconnected dialogue
Characters cannot be understood
Disordered plot
Human beings are irrational.
Alienation from history and culture
Lack of religious certainty
Alienation from social and physical
environment
Inability to communicate with others
Inadequacy of language
Failure of communication
Non-sequitors
Sometimes no language at all
(mime & gesture, actions & dance)
Uses Absurdist or Existentialist Elements
Absurdist Theme Statements (suggested list)
Add at least one theme statement of your own. A theme statement is a hypothesis or a claim
about a play, poem, or novel that emerges from the work’s most significant ideas. Students
should prove the theme with specific evidence from the work.
1. Language is an instrument of power and dominance.
2. Language is inadequate to serve the ends of human understanding.
3. Language has broken down as an instrument of communication.
4. Language has changed from a noble form of communication to empty chatter.
5. Fossilized forms of language are devoid of meaning.
6. The loss of communication can transform us into alienated outsiders who cannot
comprehend the frightening images they view.
7. All human communication is a contest for control.
8. All human communication is a conflict to determine mastery rather than an attempt to
establish human connections.
9. Illusions of power cause misunderstanding of reality.
10. Human beings construct their own reality.
11. Nightmares have their own illogical logic.
12. Being out of harmony is both cause and consequence of the desperate loneliness and
alienation that thwart happiness and rob life of meaning.
13. Modern people have no synchronicity with their world -- with nature, with others, and
ultimately with themselves.
14. Existence precedes essence.
15. Illogical reasons exist for logical actions.
16. Logical reasons exist for illogical actions.
17. Life has no purpose, but instead of giving up humans can choose a leap of faith toward
purpose.
18. Dreams and poetic imagery are ambiguous and carry a multitude of meanings at the
same time.
19. Toleration of ambiguity opens the doors of understanding.
20. Final clarity may not be possible.
21. Tidy resolutions to human problems are no longer possible in the modern world.
22. Rational existence and a well-ordered universe no longer exist.
23. The modern world does not have a stable scale of values, a fully working ethical system,
or clear and comforting beliefs.
24. The world is nonsensical, unstable, and cynical.
25. The loss of clear systems of beliefs or values shocks, disillusions, and disorients many
human beings.
26. Ideas and communication that made sense at one time may quickly stop making sense,
alienating human beings from their own history and culture.
27. Absurdism ironically can coincide with the highest degree of realism because the
polished, logical dialogue of a conventional, realistic play misrepresents modern reality.
The anti-realism of unconventional Absurdist plays, on the other hand, strips away the
pretense of conventional reality to reveal genuine comment on its more accurate
reproduction of reality.
28. The exile’s experience is the archetype and anticipation of modern man’s shock at his
realization that the world is ceasing to make sense. Outsiders do not understand
society’s pursuit of incomprehensible objectives, its inscrutable verbal and nonverbal
language, and its warped moral compass.
29. The falseness of human pretensions in society reflects the elusive contrast between
appearance and reality.
30. Modern man fights a senseless battle with himself.
31. Savagely grotesque images can reveal ugly reflections that critique the greed and
emptiness of bourgeois society.
32. Man flees from death and loneliness.
33. Absence of motivation and solution, multiple ambiguities, and a sense of
noncommunication can transform a seemingly realistic narrative into a poetic image of
the human condition.
34. Contradictory moral laws expose the absurdity of the system of values that
accommodates them all.
35. Extravagant fantasies are nevertheless realistic because they never shirk the realities of
the human mind’s despair, fear, and loneliness in an alien and hostile universe.
36. The in-depth exploration of the human subconscious requires an inner, psychological,
complex realism rather than the superficial, outward appearance of human existence.
37. The purpose of nonrealistic, exaggerated absurdism is to shock its audience out of its
complacency about the harsh facts of the human situation.
38. Accepting the human condition as it is, in all of its mystery and absurdity, provides the
choice to bear it with dignity, nobility, and responsibility because courage matters more
than solutions.
39. Man is alone in a meaningless world.
40. Shedding easy solutions and comforting illusions may be painful, but the process leaves
behind it a sense of freedom and relief.
41. The purpose of Absurdism is to provoke the laughter of liberation, not the tears of
despair.
42. Ways of perceiving reality have changed so radically that realistic drama conventions are
inadequate to the task of representing modern reality.
43. Life is disorderly and chaotic.
44. Human beings are deracinated and alienated from their historical, cultural, social, and
physical context.
45. Being out of harmony, at odds with life, is both cause and consequence of the loneliness
and alienation thwart happiness and rob life of meaning.
46. Life can be comic and horrifying at the same time.
47. Experiencing the condition of absurdity within a play is better than reading abstractions
of it.
48. Rapid shifts in action and tone can disturb our sense of comfort and certainty about life
or literature and cause us to question our perception of reality.
49. Humans use language to play destructive games with each other.
50. All life’s a stage and we mere players on it. (Shakespeare)
51. Life is an illusion, and we do whatever is necessary to sustain our illusions.
52. The loss of illusions is the loss of meaning.
Explanatory Notes on The Sandbox (1959)
Edward Albee (1928- )
In Albee's "The Sandbox," the scene is a bare stage on which the stage-center is "a large child's
sandbox with a toy pail and shovel." a strong connection between the very old and infant, both are
unable to care for themselves, both require an inordinate amount of patience from whoever is
responsible. Obvious symbolic meaning is that the sandbox which is square and full of sand is
made to keep in whoever is placed there much like a coffin. Using a toy shovel busily covering
herself with sand, the grandma is symbolically digging her own grave. Grandma¦s dilemma is
prevalent throughout the US.The spiritual sterility of life in a highly materialized society in the
second half of the twentieth century
Generally speaking, the theater of writers as Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, and Albee is called the theatre
of the absurd. Here we can briefly list the characteristics usually found in the works of these
playwrights. We do not mean, of course, that all of these qualities are found in all of their works. In
fact, we urge you, after reading the list, to think about the ways in which Albee،¦s “The Sandbox”
does NOT quite fit the list.
In the theatre of the absurd:
1. The plays are ،theatrical،¨ rather than realistic, often setting forth obviously impossible situations
with obviously unreal characters.
2. The plays are serious but often (or at least intermittently) comic, especially satiric.
3. The basic themes are
a) a world without God results in human loneliness
b) modern de-civilization and alienation causes the inability to communicate,
c) bourgeois society has dehumanized individuals and made them powerless
d) life is meaningless without agency and purpose
4. Characters behave illogically, speak in clichés, rarely if ever communicate with each other, and
seem to have no clearly defined coherent characters.
5. The plays are relatively plotless (nothing much seems to happen).
In thinking about (and in reading) The Sandbox, you may find that it does indeed embody some of
these characteristics, but of course it may embody other qualities, too, and some of the points listed
may not be relevant. In fact, the most useful function of this list may be that it will stimulate you to
think about ways in which the play departs from it
Questions for Discussion :
1. In a sentence, characterize mommy, and in another sentence characterize Daddy. Why doesn't
Albee give them names?
2. Of the four characters in the play, which do you find the most sympathetic? Exactly why?
Provide supporting evidence, in a paragraph, or perhaps in two paragraph, the first devoted to the
three less sympathetic characters, and the second devoted to the most sympathetic character.
3. Why does Albee insist in the first stage direction that the scene be "a bare stage"? Do you think a
naturalistic setting would in some way diminish the play? Explain.
4. What do you make of the sandbox? Is it an image of the grave, with suggestions that life is
meaningless and sterile? Or is it an image only of the sterility of life in the United States in the
second half of the twentieth century? Does the fact that Grandma was married to a farmer suggest
an alternative way of life? Explain.
5. In a longer play, The American Dream, Albee uses the same four characters that he uses in “The
Sandbox.” Of The American Dream he wrote,
“The play is a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, emasculation and vacuity; it is a stand
against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is peachy-keen.”
To what extent does this statement help you to understand (and to enjoy) “The Sandbox?”
6. In The New York Times Magazine (February 25, 1962), Albee protested against the view that his
plays, and others of the so-called theater of the absurd, are depressing. He includes a quotation from
Martin Esslin's book The Theatre of the Absurd:
Ultimately the Theatre of the Absurd does not reflect despair or a return to dark irrational
forces but expresses modern man's endeavor to come to terms with the world in which he
lives. It attempts to make him face up to the human condition as it really is, to free him from
illusions that are bound to cause constant maladjustment and disappointment. For the dignity
of man lies in his reality in all its senselessness; to accept it freely, without fear, without
illusion and to laugh at it. Accepting it makes accepting consequences easier.
In what ways do you find this statement helpful? In what ways do you find it not helpful?
7. In an interview in 1979 Albee said,
“I like to think people are forced to rethink some things as a result of the experience of seeing
some of my plays, that they are not left exactly the way they came in.”
Has reading The Sandbox forced you to rethink anything? If so, what?
Other famous Absurdist plays:
Waiting for Godot (Beckett)
The Zoo Story (Albee)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Stoppard)
The Bald Soprano (Ionesco)
The Chairs (Ionesco)
Rhinocéros (Ionesco)