An Analysis of Absurd and Realist Drama: The Room and Deathwatch Plays

This essay delves into the realm of absurd and realist drama, focusing on a comparative analysis of Harold Pinter's 'The Room' and Jean Genet's 'Deathwatch'. It begins by establishing the historical context of the drama of the absurd, linking it to the philosophical underpinnings of Albert Camus and contrasting it with the conventions of realism. The essay examines the play structures, dramatic purposes, language, and characterizations of both plays. 'The Room' is analyzed as an episodic drama with a focus on alienation and menace, while 'Deathwatch' is explored for its narrative techniques, use of speeches, and its presentation of a dark, prison-like environment. The comparison highlights the differences in themes, such as alienation versus the horror of imprisonment, and stylistic approaches, including the use of symbolism, humor, and psychological realism. The conclusion synthesizes the key differences and similarities, offering a comprehensive overview of the two plays within the broader context of dramatic history and theory.

Drama of the Absurd

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Historical context ............................................................................................................................1
Play structure ..................................................................................................................................2
Dramatic purpose.............................................................................................................................2
Language..........................................................................................................................................3
Character .........................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Drama of the absurd refers to a term developed by Marlin Esslin a Hungarian born critic
in his book the Theatre of the absurd that is related to a specific kind of play that became popular
during 1950s and 1960s. It was demonstrated the philosophy on stage articulated by French
philosopher Albert Camus in the year 1942. On the other hand realism in dramas was a general
movement in the 19th century It created a set of theatrical and dramatic conventions with the
objective of bringing a higher accuracy of real life to performances and text. Realism has been
opposed by many dramatists due to lack of ideas and creativity which can be presented on stage
by artists in these types of dramas. Absurdist dramatists believe that existence of humans is
absurd as they are born without seeking to be born and die without seeking death. This type of
drama refers to a a type of act the emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing
repetitious, disjointed and meaningless dialogue, confusing and propose less situations & plots
that lack logical or realistic development. Realism drama is one in which artist talk and move in
a way similar to that of everyday behaviour.
This essay is related to two popular drama or plays, “ The Room by Harold Pinter” & “
Deathwatch by Jean Genet”. Pinter's first played was The Room that consists many features that
were going to become his hallmark (Pinter, 2013). Drama was set in a single small room, the
characters were secure and warm but threatened by death and cold. This play was symbolic
overtly more than Peter's later acts but the characters and settings were realistic. In this play
Pinter effectively attain symbolic resonance at along with maintaining a naturalistic surface. On
the other hand many critics have stated that Deathwatch represent an inversion of Christianity,
so that evil rather that good is worshipped as the superior value. This play embodies a
theological statement in a modern context. However, ostensibly and hedonistic amoral the play
nevertheless approach religious ritual and can be effectively understood as scared drama through
which deepest feelings of the audience are aroused by sharing in the theatrical ceremony. The
absurd and realism plays or theatre will be discussed on the basis of similarities and differences
between the two popular dramas Deathwatch and The Room.
Historical context
Drama of the Absurd refers to dramatic works of various American and European
dramatists of the 1950s & 1960s who agreed with the assessment of philosopher Albert Camus in
his essay The Myth of Sisyphus. It implies that the situation of humans is essentially absurd
1

devoid of purpose. This term is also applied to production and dramatists of those works.
Absurdist drama such as The Room arose form the physical and spiritual devastation of second
world war prompted by the existentialism of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sarte. In Europe such
early individuals like Samual Beckett, Harold Pinter and Jean Genet wanted to bond themselves
from the realistic thesis play that had controlled serious theater from Henrik Ibsen's day forward
by developing a new type of drama suited more to a world that is been viewed as devoid of
purpose, moral authority and legitimate or just human dignity (Owens, 2017). Realism or
Realistic drama is a presentation of a play with the aim of conveying a convincing demonstration
of real life situations or events. It can also be defined as an authentic representations of life that
could happen actually and which can be believable. The first professional playwright of Russia
Aleksey Pisemsky along with Leo Tolstoy began a tradition of psychological realism in 1886. A
new form of acting was needed in order to replace the declamatory patterns of the well
developed play with a method that is able to convey movements and speech within the domestic
situation of routine life.
Play structure
The Room by Harold Pinter was a episodic drama, changes in technique in stage plays
develop changes in elegiac and lyrical use of language in this, he shifted from his earlier comic
grotesque manner to more subdued and cooler mode. The Room has utilized the entering of
different persons, these are cut form the the later play and replaced instead by the dumb waiter
devise, a development of service hatch which was an essential part of setting another play named
as the Birthday Party. On the other hand Jean Genet used narrative techniques in his play by
using various speeches and dialogues. It is less complicated method as the actor himself speaks
his or her dialogue.
Dramatic purpose
The Room was a very first play by Pinter that included all the menace, threat and
violence that may permeate his future work. It was hardly a comical drama, although there is no
doubt that a observable side of humor is apparent through respectable proportion of it. On the
other hand Pinter also introduced a special charter Mr. Kidd in comical episode of the play that
made audience laugh at the highest level. Critics have objected to the overt symbolism, heavy
handedness of the blind black man and other characters with similar roles in later plays. The
primary theme of this play was alienation, the atmosphere is menacing, and the players all feel at
2

risks and insecurity. On the other hand Deathwatch by Jean Genet was a kind of ancient Greek
theater in which audience is offered the possibility of transformation as a outcome of
participation. The play was representation of a highly personal metaphoric imagination with a
unique structure of mysterious analogies and relationships. It also consist an extraordinarily
cruelty and violence that develops dramatic sequences that were energetically rhythmic (Gill,
2017). The Deathwatch was a shocking play with no vulgarity and was a strong source related to
the renewal in modern drama or theater. The theme of this play was presenting horror of prisons
that takes place at French Devil's island (Deathwatch by Jean Genet, 2016). The drama presented
a emotional and terrifying atmosphere among the audience by presenting the life of three inmates
engaged in macabre dance of emotion twisting and mind bending relationships within a dark
hopeless world. This play includes Psychological realism
Language
The Room by Harold Pinter includes poetry language and pattern which also represents
anxiety and menace whereas Deathwatch was based on phrases, speeches and narrative language
pattern.
Character
Characters used in The Room were 2D that were motivational in nature, on the other
hand Deathwatch involved 3D characters with a prison and presented on given circumstances.
The movement within Pinters play was not limited whereas characters in Jean's drama were
highly reactive and presented a wide range of movements (Lavery, 2017). The Room presented a
symbol of anxiety and communication gap between loved ones and Deathwatch represents
emotional as well as horror related to prison among three prisons.
CONCLUSION
The above report summarized that realism drama is a modern type of theater that includes
more realistic presentation of acting,situation or idea developed by the writer or dramatists. In
this report two popular “ The Room” and “Deathwatch”. Both the plays were appreciated by
audience, however they had a lot of differences among them. The Room presented a cooler and
comedy act with many episodes whereas Deathwatch presented a cruel and dark side of the
world along with horror of prison among the prisoners. The report concluded that there are
various themes and tools which were used in theater and drama along with their development in
past years.
3

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Pinter, H., 2013. Harold Pinter Plays 1: The Birthday Party; The Room; The Dumb Waiter; A
Slight Ache; The Hothouse; A Night Out; The Black and White; The Examination. Faber
& Faber.
Owens, C.N., 2017. Time Out of Joint: Power, Performance, and the State of Exception in
Harold Pinter's Drama. The Harold Pinter Review, 1, pp.29-49.
Gill, C.S., 2017.  USING DRAMA TECHNIQUES TO ENCOURAGE ORAL
INTERACTION. The English Teacher, p.13.
Lavery, C., 2017. The politics of Jean Genets late theatre: Spaces of revolution. Oxford
University Press.
Deathwatch by Jean Genet. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.enotes.com/topics/deathwatch-jean-genet>.
4

5