Spencer, Jenny S.Freeman, JamesLenson, DavidBennett, Michael Y2024-04-262014-06-042009-0510.7275/5648991https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/16905Entitled “Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd: Parabolic Drama and the Question of Absurdity,” my dissertation interrogates the conventional idea that the Theatre of the Absurd contemplates the purposelessness of life by re-examining some of the major plays of Beckett, Ionesco, Genet and Pinter. I suggest that the plays of the Theatre of the Absurd are, instead, ethical texts that contemplate how life can be made meaningful. I argue that Martin Esslin’s 1961 characterization of such work as “absurd” does not take into account a fully informed reading of Camus, and thus Esslin’s reading does not see the extent to which meaningfulness is fundamental to such cultural productions. Therefore, I push for a rereading of these plays and playwrights that allows for decidedly meaning-making conclusions. Using an up-to-date understanding of Camus’ philosophy as a theoretical frame, I engage with the long history of Theatre of the Absurd criticism, performance histories and reviews, the genre of the parable, philosophy and performance studies. My dissertation, ultimately, argues against a strictly absurd reading and, instead, positions such work within the larger realm of ethics (in the general vein of Camus).Communication and the artsLanguageliterature and linguisticsAlbert CamusEugene IonescoHarold PinterJean GenetSamuel BeckettTheatre of the AbsurdCamusAlbertIonescoEugeneGenetJeanBeckettSamuelComparative LiteratureLiterature in English, British IslesTheatre and Performance StudiesDissertation (Campus Access Only)