English Literature / Unit 17 ENL 1616 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Theatre of the Absurd
Captions available
The idea
The critic Martin Esslin coined "the Theatre of the Absurd" in nineteen sixty for plays by Beckett, Ionesco and others that present the human condition as purposeless, echoing Camus's Myth of Sisyphus. Plot, character and logical dialogue break down.
In practice
No purpose, no plot, no logic.
Where people slip
The label is Esslin's.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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