Rhinocerous Play

[edit] Guide Note

Eugene Ionesco's play Rhinoceros begins with the refined Jean having a drink with his alcoholic friend Berenger. The rhinoceros runs past surprising everyone except Berenger. Berenger admits to Jean that he has a crush on Daisy and Jean gives him advice about impressing her before another rhinoceros runs past. The people comment on the destruction caused by the rhinoceros and argue about whether it is the same one that ran past earlier. Berenger and Jean fight about the type of rhinoceros.

An argument erupts in Berenger's office about the rhinoceroses. A sick employee turns out to have become a rhinoceros. Later Berenger visits Jean in his apartment, but during an argument between them Jean transforms into a rhinoceros.

Berenger is in his apartment where he is terrified of turning into a rhinoceros. His co-worker Dudard stops by and they discuss the transformations. Dudard says that the head of their office Papillon transformed after being talked into it. Daisy stops by and during their discussion Dudard says he wants to transform and become part of the universal family. After Dudard leaves Daisy tells Berenger that she loves him, but soon she finds the rhinoceros attractive and breaks up with him. As the last member of humanity Berenger declares that he will fight the rhinoceroses.

[edit] Fast Facts

1. Written by Eugene Ionesco
2. Genre absurdist drama
3. First performed in 1959 in Paris
4. Published by Grove Press
5. A three act play
6. Set in a small town
7. Major themes are will and responsibility
8. Major motif is Bourgeois alienation
9. Rhinoceros represent humanity's capacity for savage violence
10. Originally written in French
11. Mr. Papillion sometimes played by a woman
12. A response to spread of communism, fascism, and Nazism
13. The play Orson's Shadow is based on the 1960 production directed by Orson Wells
14. Adapted into the musical Born Again

[edit] Quotations

1. "Good men make good rhinoceroses, unfortunately." — Berenger
2. "There are certain things which enter the minds of even people without one." — Jean
3. "Instead of squandering all your spare money on drink, isn't it better to buy a ticket for an interesting play? Do you know anything about the avant-garde theatre there's so much talk about? Have you seen Ionesco's plays?" — Jean