The rhinos

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Data
Title: The rhinos
Original title: Rhinoceros
Genus: Theater of the absurd
Original language: French
Author: Eugène Ionesco
Premiere: October 31, 1959
Place of premiere: Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
people
  • Behringer
  • Hans
  • Daisy
  • Piercing
  • Knowledgeable
  • Mister butterfly
  • The logician

The Rhinoceros (original title: Rhinocéros ) is a French-language play by the Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco , based on the story of the same name from 1957. It consists of three acts , which are divided into four images, and is considered one of the classic plays of the Absurd theater .

Ionesco describes how in a fictional society one person after another turns into a rhinoceros . But this is only noticed by a few; in the end the protagonist is the only one who has not been transformed. Neither warnings nor descriptive references from the main characters of the play can change anything; on the contrary - they make the situation of these characters worse because they are not believed.

The piece was first on 31 October 1959 in German translation in the Schauspielhaus premiered the first time in the original language in France (on 20 January 1960 Odéon played).

content

The play describes the transformation of an entire city with the exception of the protagonist Behringer (in the French original Bérenger) into a herd of rhinos. The action takes place in a medium-sized city in the French province. The action takes place in summer and extends over a few days. The first two acts take place on a Sunday in the church square and the following Monday in the office of the main character Behringer and in the apartment of his friend Hans (originally Jean), the third act a few days later in Behringer's apartment.

Act 1

Street

The picture describes a meeting between the two friends Behringer and Hans in a café on the church square. Behringer, who, like Hans, appears too late for the meeting and looks tired, has to let his friend blame him for his late appearance and appearance. The two start a conversation about Behringer's addiction to drinking when suddenly a rhinoceros runs across the church square and causes a stir. Only Behringer remains calm and is reprimanded for this by his friend. After a while, however, the two continue their conversation about life and Behringer explains that life is boring him, whereupon Hans explains to him that he has to do something for his education. A man (called “Logician” in the list of persons - “Logicien” in the original), who has sat down at the next table with an old man, begins to explain the logic to his counterpart , but his explanations are ridiculously wrong. The conversations between the two couples begin to literally overlap, which they soon do thematically for the viewer. Suddenly a rhinoceros appears again; this time Behringer also startles a little. This second occurrence claims a first victim: a housewife's cat is trampled on. While the other people (waitress, logician, etc.) try to comfort the housewife, Hans and Behringer argue about whether it was an African or an Asian rhino. But they can't come to an agreement, and Hans leaves the café snorting; Behringer blames himself for irritating him and takes responsibility for his freaking out.

Act 2

First picture: office

The action continues the following day. Behringer shows up late for work in the office, where his colleagues are already hotly debating the appearance of the rhinos, as described in a newspaper. While Wisser (in the original Botard) denies the reality of the rhinos and justifies this with the alleged inaccuracy of the newspaper report, Stech (in the original Dudard) and Daisy try to convince Wisser of the opposite. Even Behringer's testimony does not change Wisser's opinion, and Mr Schmetterling (in the original Papillon), the boss, has to break off the dispute between Stech and Wisser and call both of them to order several times.

The workforce has just started work when Ms. Ochs (French: Mme Boeuf ), the wife of the absent colleague Ochs, appears out of breath in the office and, almost collapsing, hands the boss an apology from her husband. Slowly calming down, she says a rhinoceros followed her to the office. At that moment it breaks into the house below and destroys the wooden stairs when trying to get higher. The staff watch the rhinoceros from above. Wisser now has to admit its existence and immediately develops an explanatory conspiracy theory , while Mr. Butterfly wonders who has to replace the destroyed staircase. When Mrs. Ochs takes a closer look at the rhino, she realizes that it is her husband and collapses. While Behringer, Daisy and Stech take care of Ms. Ochs, Stech and Schmetterling discuss the possibility of Ochs' release, which is what upsets Wisser. Finally, Daisy draws their attention to the problem of the destroyed stairs and they decide to call the fire department to the rescue. Meanwhile, Ms. Ochs has recovered and jumps to her husband, on whom she is riding out of the office, leaving behind a perplexed staff.

A short time later the fire brigade appears and evacuates the building, Schmetterling is still distributing the work and Behringer announces that he wants to apologize to his friend Hans for the argument from the first act.

Second picture: Hans' apartment

The action of the second picture begins immediately after the first picture. Behringer visits Hans in his apartment to make up with him. He finds him sick and tries to apologize, but to his astonishment he finds that Hans seems to have forgotten the argument. The two begin to talk about Hans' condition, which is slowly deteriorating. First he spots a bump on his head, later his skin turns green. Behringer, who at first does not understand that his friend is turning into a rhinoceros, wants to call the doctor and is prevented from doing so by Hans, who is feeling well. When a slight inkling creeps up on him, Behringer tells him that his colleague Ochs has transformed into a rhinoceros, and the two begin a discussion about the transformation and the nature of the rhinos. Hans explains that he abhor human weakness and that the law of nature takes precedence over human morality . Behringer tries to argue against it, which Hans hardly allows. The transformation is now clearly visible and Hans threatens Behringer to trample him should he stand in his way, whereupon Behringer has to flee.

Act 3

Behringer's apartment

Behringer doesn't leave his apartment anymore, in a panic about transforming himself too. There his colleague Stech visits him and the two discuss the transformations. Stech tries to convince Behringer of his own innocence in the processes and of the peacefulness of the rhinos. Behringer, excited, doesn't believe him and has trouble keeping himself under control. When Stech laughingly tells him about the butterfly's transformation, Behringer accuses his colleague of being too tolerant. Stech replies that he just wanted to try to understand. This causes Behringer to give up his argument and refer Stech to the logician who could offer a better discussion. A noise coming from the street makes Behringer drive to the window and he discovers the logician, now also a rhino.

While Behringer cannot calm down, Miss Daisy appears with a food basket. She tells Stech and the excited Behringer that Wisser has also become a rhinoceros before she invites the other two men to dinner. Their meal is interrupted by the destruction of the fire station opposite Behringer's house by the fire fighters who have turned into rhinos. Daisy tries to calm Behringer down again and asks him and Stech to sit down at the table again, but Stech claims that he prefers to eat outdoors and leaves the other two to become a rhinoceros on the grounds that it is his duty to follow his colleagues.

Behringer can hardly be calmed down and accuses Daisy of letting go of Stech, who was in love with Daisy after all . Daisy rejects this accusation and she and Behringer affirm their love for one another. Behringer, however, cannot renounce his responsibility and a dispute ensues when both Behringer and Daisy feel surrounded by rhinos. Daisy then explains that one must try to communicate with the rhinos, and is beaten by Behringer when she explains that she feels sympathy for the power of the rhinos. The excited Behringer apologizes immediately, but Daisy leaves him alone. Behringer tries to get her back, but fails and begins to wonder if his decision not to become a rhino was the right one. Suddenly he feels the rhinos are beautiful, but ultimately decides to stand up for humanity.

characters

All of the characters in the play, with the exception of Behringer and the logician, meet a certain social scheme , for example Hans belongs to the lower right-wing middle class and Stech belongs to the conservative upper middle class . As a whole they represent a kind of small cross section of society, whereby it should be noted that none of the characters can leave their role .

Behringer

Behringer (French: Bérenger ), the protagonist of the piece, forms the contrast to his outside world in many ways. At the beginning of the play he appears as an employee of a small branch of a publishing house for legal literature, bored with his work, alienated from society and inclined to alcohol. He sees little good in life other than Daisy's beauty and finds his existence more or less absurd .

When the rhinos appeared for the first time, this appearance does not seem to surprise him, which means that he takes a position opposite to the other figures in the piece. Only in the course of the plot does Behringer recognize the meaning of the rhinos, but cannot decide between liking and dislike. Whenever one of his friends turns into a rhinoceros, he blames himself and would like to bring her back. Also because of these own accusations and the feeling of responsibility towards other people, he finally decides - basically only with the last few sentences - to take the side of humanity and against the rhinos.

This makes him the only figure that develops in the course of the piece. From his resigned attitude, in which he is not sure of himself and has not come to terms with himself, he develops into a moral advocate of humanity who does not understand that some people would like to be something else. But although he has developed, he is no different at the end than at the beginning of the piece: as an outsider of society, from which he feels excluded at the beginning of the piece and from which he is excluded towards the end.

Hans

Hans (French: Jean ) is a friend of Behringer. In the first act, he tries to convince Behringer to cultivate. He shows prejudice against the common man and considers himself better. His sayings and his arrogance are only the facade of a hypocritical and contradicting man. So he reprimands Behringer for his late appearance, although he is too late himself, insults him as a drunkard and also drinks his glass or tells him to go to the theater, but has no desire to accompany him himself. Since his ideals are only a social facade, Hans has no problem transforming himself into a rhinoceros; he just changes his shell.

This contradiction becomes even clearer in Behringer's conversation with Hans in the second act, when he turns his ideas of morality and cultivated people into the opposite. Hans' statements, for example about strength and nature, can be assigned to the extreme right.

Daisy

Daisy is the chief secretary of the small publishing branch in which Behringer also works. As a simple but pretty young woman, advances are made not only by her boss, Mr Butterfly. Stech and Behringer are also in love with her, she herself is in love with Behringer. In view of the marauding rhino hordes in the third act, she remains strangely calm and tries to isolate herself and Behringer from the outside world. She explains to Behringer that she has an interest in humanity, but in reality she is always trying to shirk responsibility and eventually leaves Behringer because she prefers the power of rhinos to the weakness of human love.

Piercing

Stech (French: Dudard ) is an employee and deputy head of the office in which Behringer works. He is an academic and a clear-thinking, rational mind who interprets the appearance of the rhinoceros as a transitory touch. He tries to appease Behringer and explain to him that he cannot take responsibility for these transformations. He overlooks or wants to overlook the danger posed by the rhinos and believes that behavior geared towards peaceful coexistence is the best way of dealing with one another.

Finally, also because his love for Daisy remains unfulfilled, he also turns into a rhinoceros and justifies this with his misunderstood sense of duty to his comrades to follow them unreservedly.

Knowledgeable

Wisser (French: Botard ) is a former teacher and employee in the publishing office. He likes to argue extensively in his know-it-all way, especially with the deputy boss Stech, to whom he feels mentally superior. His slogans reveal his affiliation with the labor movement . For example, he explains that he would fight ignorance in huts and palaces (reference to the Hessian country messenger : "Peace the huts, fight the palaces").

At first he does not acknowledge the existence of the rhinos, but later has to see it, not without explaining that he knows exactly what is behind the rhinos. In reality he is, like everyone else with the exception of Behringer, a prisoner of his thinking and does not recognize the absurdity of the transformations, but thinks he must always stand up for the rights of the workers. In the third act, the viewer learns that Wisser has transformed into a rhinoceros to keep up with the times.

Mister butterfly

Mr. Butterfly (French Monsieur Papillon ) is the head of the publishing office and a very precise, strict workaholic . His only thought is work. When he sees the destroyed staircase, he first thinks of what his superiors will say, and when the fire department evacuates the building, he gives orders about further work. In the third act, the viewer learns that Mr. Butterfly has also changed.

The logician

The logician (French: Le Logicien ) has a special role in the play. He represents the entirety of the rationally thinking figures in the play (Stech, Hans and Wisser) and takes them to the point of absurdity . His attempts to open up the world with logic, his false syllogisms and problem approaches appear ridiculous and suggest to the viewer of the play that one cannot fully explain the world with logic alone. As the viewer learns in the last act, the logician is also transformed into a rhinoceros.

interpretation

Overall interpretation

The interpretation of the story remains open. The most likely interpretation is that of criticism of all totalitarian regimes ( National Socialism , Stalinism and others) and of the behavior of the people who follow without resistance, as a unified mass (hence the image of the rhinos) and out of fear of the regime . Ionesco is particularly critical of the behavior of the French at the beginning of the German occupation . He also shows how all totalitarian regimes intermingle in order to attack the orientation of the people and to transform intellectuals (represented by the logician) and commoners into herd animals like rhinos.

Behringer, whose changes the audience follows throughout the play, is in the end the only one who resists the disease, the "Rhinocérite". His reaction remains the only normal one: “A person who transforms into a rhinoceros, that is indisputably not normal.” He could, for example, represent the Resistance that formed during the Second World War .

Another point of reference for the interpretation of the piece arises from the situation of Ionesco, who, having fled Romania, abhores its quasi totalitarian regime and points to the emergence of this regime.

Themes and motifs

In addition to an overall interpretation of the work, certain individual aspects that make up the work can be highlighted.

The rhinos

The rhinos are the central and title-giving motif of the play. In contrast to the individual human being, they are only shown in the play as rampaging herd animals, whose distinction is hardly possible for humans and whose language they cannot understand. (In reality, rhinos are more solitary and only occasionally live in herds . They have good hearing, but poor eyesight, and only become dangerous when they feel threatened or are panicked.) In terms of the overall interpretation, they fit combine these individual aspects into an image that can be understood as a symbol for the member of a totalitarian society. The transformation takes place imperceptibly at first, but towards the end it seems to work on a voluntary basis.

responsibility

A central theme of the piece is responsibility , especially the responsibility of a person towards his fellow men. As already indicated, there is only one character in the play, Behringer, who wants to take responsibility for other people. Daisy tries, for example, to convince Behringer that he cannot do anything to transform his friends and - like Stech - that he should not take care of the rhinos. Hans, who pretends to take responsibility for his friend Behringer, accuses him of being responsible for an argument between the two in the first act. Even Wisser's slogans about the support of his colleague Ochs against his dismissal seem hypocritical, because the topic is forgotten again in the next moment.

Only Behringer takes responsibility for his fellow human beings and his own deeds (such as the argument with Hans). Logically, he remains the only one who does not capitulate to the rhinos. If we apply this to the overall interpretation of the book described above, the conclusion is that, according to Ionesco, a totalitarian regime could not arise without irresponsibility.

Systems thinking

In the description of the person, it is already indicated that all the people in the book, with the exception of Behringer, seem to represent a certain segment of the population and cannot at any time detach themselves from their way of thinking and thus cannot carry out self-reflection . Trapped in their system, the individual characters believe they can see through the world. The absurdity of their thinking therefore always remains closed to them - above all to the logician.

Loss of meaningful language

Due to the systems thinking of the individual characters in the book, the language seems to lose its meaning, it appears to be disturbed. The syllogisms of the logician are illogical and wrong, the slogans of Wisser or Hans seem out of place. This stylistic device, typical of Ionesco, appears in various places in the work and symbolizes the disturbance of society.

expenditure

  • Rhinoceros . French edition. Klett, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-12-597265-5
  • The rhinos , in: Eugène Ionescu, Theater Plays , Volume 2, Luchterhand, Neuwied 1960
  • The rhinos. Play in three acts. From the Franz. By Claus Bremer , 24th edition 2009, ISBN 3-596-27034-0

filming

The play was made into a film by Tom O'Horgan in 1974 with Gene Wilder in the lead role .

Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The life of Eugène Ionesco , ionesco.org
  2. Rhinoceros . Retrieved August 2, 2020 .