The Absurd "Play by Samuel Beckett"
...f urns.” Here, they relate the story of the man’s affair and the woman’s reaction in a rhythmic, overlapping gabble, repeated twice to convey the idea of eternity. This is where they spend the duration of the play, with no apparent movement. These urns are symbolic of the characters lack of freedom, confinement and helplessness associated with existentialism. Only in the recognition of the meaning of life will they be free. The individual spotlight used in “Play” is symbolic of a higher presence. This spotlight is used to provoke the character’s speech, and dialogue is only recited by the characters on which the spotlight is shining. The remaining two are left in complete darkness. This spotlight is a symbolic technique used to signify a higher power or presence. The characters are only to speak when given permission by their superior. Aside from where expression is specified, their voices remain totally monotonous and toneless. Not only is the monotony and meaninglessness of everyday life shown to be mechanical, barren and dead by the urns, the monotonous dialogue and acting on cue; but the way these insignificant lives are interrogated by the higher power forces the realisation of the irrational and ridiculous world. The roles and relationships in relation to the Human Context present in “Play” directly reflect and embody absurdism. The characters relationships with each other are barely discernible due to the fact that, not only is there no communication, there is no acknowledgement of each others presence. The characters are referred to as W1, W2 and M, this is very generic with no characters being personalised. This poses the existential question, is there a reason why we have names? They do not receive names because they amount to nothing; names do nothing to bring meaning to their lives. Roles and relationships between people and ideas in relation to the Human Context are similar for each character. They are all talking about a common situation, adultery; however each character is reciting their own monologue, creating meaningless conflict. An integral line in relation to the absurdity of this state of affairs is: M: I know now, all that was just…play. And all this? When will all this— All this, when will all this have been…just play? M is relating life to a game; life is just play. He is searching for the meaning of life. The conflict created is caused by the absurdity of the situation the characters are in, and how these circumstances are dealt with. Thus, the roles present in “Play” are the primary source of conflict in relation to the Human Context. The absurdity in this is that, due to no character interaction or reaction, no relationships or feelings are able to develop as they would in realism. Samuel Beckett’s “Play” offers its audience an “existentialist point of view of the outside world and forces them to consider the meaning of their exi...