1、English Literature after the Second World War第二次世界大战以后第二次世界大战以后重要的英国戏剧流派重要的英国戏剧流派Theater of the Absurd 荒诞派戏剧 Theater of the Absurd came about as a reaction to World War II.It took the basis of existential philosophyand combined it with dramatic elements to create a styleof theatre which presented a
2、world which can not be logically explained,life is in one word,ABSURD!Needless to say,this genre of theatre took quite sometime to catch on because it used techniques that seemed tobe illogical to the theatre world.The plots often strayed from the more traditional episodic structure,and seem tomove
3、in a circle,ending the same way it began.The scenery was often unrecognizable,and to make matters worse,the dialogue never seemed to make any sense.Major Absurdist Playwrights 主要荒诞派剧作家主要荒诞派剧作家 Samuel Beckett 撒缪尔撒缪尔贝克特贝克特,Eugene Lonesco 尤金尤金尤奈斯尤奈斯库库,Harold Pinter 哈罗德哈罗德品特品特 Nobel Prize-winner Samuel
4、Beckett has widely influenced thecourse of 20th century literature.The impact of his plays(Waiting for Godot,Endgame),novels&numerous short stories&poemshave added the word Beckettian to the literary dictionary.His work depicts the unrelent-ing plight of contemporary exist-ence:living at the edge of
5、 an abyss,in an indifferent universe,tryingsimply to go on with daily life in the face of recognition of futility.His ability to shape this modern experience into art has led the wayfor Harold Pinter,Edward Albee,&many other writes.Waiting for Godot 等待戈多等待戈多 “Why are we here,that is the question We
6、are waiting for Godot to come”On a empty road,two trampsare waiting for the mysterious Godot.They quarrel,make up,consider suicide,try to sleep but still Godot doesnt arrive.With its sublime balance of comedy&poignancy,vaudeville杂耍杂耍&anxiety,Waiting for Godotis one of the most important plays of the
7、 20th century.Waiting for Godot 等待戈多等待戈多剧照剧照Eugene Ionesco 尤金尤金尤奈斯库尤奈斯库(1909-1994)Eugene Ionescos main focus is on the futility of communication交流的枉然交流的枉然,so the language of his plays often reflectsthis by being almost wholly nonsensical胡言乱语胡言乱语.He approaches the absurdity oflife by making his chara
8、cters comical&unable to control their own existence.Ionesco was born in Romania,but grew up in Paris.Then he returned toRomania&attended the University there.While learning to speak English,he noticed in his textbook the illogical phrases&these phrases became the dialogue for his first play The Bald
9、 Soprano 秃头歌女秃头歌女.After This successful play,he went on to write other absurd works such as Rhinoceros 犀牛犀牛&The Chairs 椅子椅子.Some Plays by Ionesco 部分剧照与海报部分剧照与海报 In The Chairs,an elderly couple are to tell an important message to the world;they open the door to numerous invisible guests,gradual-ly fi
10、ll the stage with chairs,one for each supposed guest.The messageis presented by a mute orator,who has been motionless when the oldcouple commit suicide,plunging themselves through the windows into the water below.The orator.faces the rows of empty chairs,attemptingto speak,using sign language,desper
11、ate to make himself understood;then from his throat come moans and groans and the sort of harsh soundsmade by deaf mutes 聋哑人聋哑人.Rhinoceros 犀牛犀牛 Berenger is an ordinary city man.Heis unmoved by the news that rhinoceros are at large on the streets.This results a quarrel between him&his friend Jean and
12、 his secretary Daisy outside a shop.The argument continues and manylocals become involved.This results inconfusion and chaos.In the governmentoffice where Berenger works,he realizesthat the staff are gradually becoming Rhinoceros,and Daisy and himself arethe only human beings left.Then to hissurpris
13、e,Daisy turns into a rhinoceros as well.He now concludes he will fight against all the rhinoceros.Harold Pinter 哈罗德哈罗德品特品特(1930)Pinter is the leading English languageabsurdist dramatist.In his plays,he neverfinds it necessary to explain why things occur or who anyone is.Besides,the inter-ruption of
14、outside forces upon a stable environment also characterizes his early plays,which were thus named“comedies of menace.Unlike Becketts or Ionescosworks,however,Pinters dramatic world seems at least to be somewhat realistic.His best-known plays include The Room,The Dumb Waiter 送菜升降机送菜升降机,Caretaker看房人看房
15、人 and The Birthday Party生日晚会生日晚会.His sparse style and gift for creating tension and horror through the most eco-nomic of means has made him one of themost valued playwrights today&won himthe 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature.Some Plays by Pinter 部分剧作部分剧作Harold Pinter 哈罗德哈罗德品特品特(1930)The Dumb Waiter 送菜
16、升降机送菜升降机 In a seedy basement below a caf,two professional killers await ordersfor their next task.Prepared and ready,they dont know when the call will come,or who their next victim will be.One things for sure:they arent expecting an order for steak and chips!The Dumb Waiter is typical of Pinters ear
17、ly play:claustrophobic,bare,simultaneously menacing andamusing.With its echoes of currentworld events,the play raises quest-ions about power,politics,class,friendship&,ultimately,betrayal&is a partner play to The Caretaker.Some Plays by Pinter 部分剧本与海报部分剧本与海报部分剧照部分剧照:生日晚会、房间、背叛、看房人生日晚会、房间、背叛、看房人Angry
18、 Young Men 愤怒的青年愤怒的青年 The term“Angry Young Men”applied to a group of English writers of the 1950s whose heroes share certain rebellious and critical attitudes toward society.This phrase,originally taken from the title of Leslie Allen Pauls autobiography,Angry YoungMan(1951),became current with the c
19、reation of John Osbornes play Look Back in Anger(1956).The word angry is probably in-appropriate;dissatisfied is perhaps more accurate.The group not only expressed discontent with the staid,hypocritical insti-tutions of English societythe so-called Establishmentbut betrayed disillusionment with itse
20、lf and with its own achieve-ments.Included among the angry young men were the play-wrights John Osborne and Arnold Wesker&the novelists Kingsley Amis,John Braine,John Wain,&Alan Sillitoe.In the 1960s these writers turned to more individualized themes and were no longer considered a group.More“Angry
21、Young Men”:愤怒的青年愤怒的青年(其他人其他人)Arnold Wesker,Kingsley Amis&John BraineJohn Osborne 约翰约翰奥斯本奥斯本（1929-1994）John Osborne-the manwho turned anger into art John Osborne changed the face of British Theatre.His play Look Back in Anger was the turning point in postwar Britishtheatre.He was an angry youngman wh
22、o spent his happiest years in Shropshire.John Osborne 约翰约翰奥斯本奥斯本（1929-1994）British playwright&film Producer whose Look Back in Anger(1956)ushered in a new movement in British drama&made him known as the first ofthe“Angry Young Men”The son of a commercial artist and a barmaid,Osborneused insurance mo
23、ney from hisfathers death in 1941 for a boarding-school educationat Belmont College,Devon.Look Back in Anger：愤怒的回顾愤怒的回顾Its Importance 重要性 The first production of John Osbornes Look Back in Anger in 1956 provoked a major controversy.There were those,like the leadingcritic Kenneth Tynan,who saw it as
24、the first totally original play of a new generation.Therewere others who hated both it and the world that Osborne was showing them.But even thesecritics agreed that the play,written in just onemonth,marked a new voice on the British stage.Look Back in Anger:the story The three-act play takes place i
25、n a one-bedroom flat in theMidlands.Jimmy Porter,lower middle-class,university-educated,lives with his wife Alison,the daughter of a retired Colonel in theBritish Army in India.His friend Cliff Lewis,who helps Jimmy run a sweet stall,lives with them.Jimmy,intellectually restless&dissatisfied,reads t
26、he papers,argues and taunts his friends over their acceptance of the world around them.He rages to the point of violence,reserving much of his anger for Alisons friends and family.The situation is exacerbated by the arrival of Helena,an actress friend of Alisons from school.Appalled at what she find
27、s,Helena calls Alisons father to take her away from the flat.He arrives to take Alison away when Jimmy is visiting a friends mother.As soon as she has gone,Helena moves in with Jimmy.Alison returns to visit,having lost Jimmys baby.Helena can nolonger stand living with Jimmy and leaves.Finally Alison returnsto Jimmy and his angry life.Look Back in Anger（1956）愤怒的回顾愤怒的回顾愤怒的回顾愤怒的回顾部分剧照和电影海报部分剧照和电影海报
