Emerged in the late 40’s and early 50’s

Authors have accepted a godless, meaningless universe

The individual is essentially isolated and alone.

There exists no world order, thus our existence is reduced to meaningless confusion.

Man’s condition is absurd and man is helpless to control his fate

Themes include ones dealing with loneliness, isolation, and the failure of individuals to communicate

In Existentialism the universe lacks meaning but man has the ability to make choices and therefore develop meaning for one’s life.

In Absurdism man lacks the ability to freely choose. They have no power over events and therefore attempts to find meaning are absurd, even comical.

Characteristics

Plays are relatively plotless

Action has no clear beginning

Characters are not tragic or heroic, but instead comic and pathetic

Characters are often nameless and seem interchangeable, incapable of independent action

Dialogue can appear nonsensical at times, at other times philosophical

Plays also refer to themselves quite frequently. They acknowledge the stage, audience, and so on.

Stylistic elements

It is true that basically the Theatre of the Absurd attacks the comfortable certainties of religious or political orthodoxy. It aims to shock its audience out of complacency, to bring it face to face with the harsh facts of the human situation as these writers see it. But the challenge behind this message is anything but one of despair. It is a challenge to accept the human condition as it is, in all its mystery and absurdity, and to bear it with dignity, nobly, responsibly; precisely because there are no easy solutions to the mysteries of existence, because ultimately man is alone in a meaningless world. The shedding of easy solutions, of comforting illusions, may be painful, but it leaves behind it a sense of freedom and relief. And that is why, in the last resort, the Theatre of the Absurd does not provoke tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.

- Martin Esslin, Introduction to "Penguin Plays - Absurd Drama" (Penguin, 1965)

More Explanations

Samuel Beckett

Eugene Ionesco

Tom Stoppard

Major writers