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Essay: Anger in Literature: From the Iliad to the Theatre of the Absurd

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Paste your text in here…I.Theoretical Part: Anger in Literature

     Anger is a very broad concept that can be taken from different perspectives .Lucius Lactantius , a Greek author, defines anger as''an emotion of the mind arousing itself for restraining of the faults''(Lactatius36).On the other hand, Joyce Meyer,a charismatic Christian author, believes that anger is ''an emotion often characterized by feelings of great displeasure ,indignation, hostility, wrath and vengeance''(Meyer1).From a psychological point of view, anger is ''a negative, phenomenological feeling state that motivates desires for actions usually against others ,that aim to warn, intimidate, control, or attack, or gain retribution .It is associated with cognitive and perceptual distortions and deficiencies ''(Kassinove and Tafrate4).

   Some regard the Greek epic poem, Iliad is the first appearance of the concept of anger in literature begins with the idea of "wrath of Achilles". Anger in the Iliad is described in full inflated complexity; it arises from different social causes, e.g. insulting honor or killing a friend, and its manifestations include facial ,verbal and physical expressions ( Potegal and Novaco14). In later centuries, especially the middle of the twentieth century, the modern drama witnessed some Movements that evoked a severe criticism of the society because of the doubts and fears followed the World War. The Theatre of the Absurd is one of the most important movements that can be seen as the artistic representation of the post war philosophy of this period that the unemployment, economic depression and poverty because of low wages prevailed. Consequently, the great depression, fascism and Nazism aroused in Europe.

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   In the 1950s, The Theatre of the Absurd or Absurdism emerged. Originally named by  the critic Martin Esslin through his book ,Theatre of The Absurd ,describing an informal group of like-minded dramatist that include Samuel Beckett , Eug''ne Ionesco, The absurdism is more than an attitude yet ,it is a related aesthetic system referring to intellectual  irrationality, not comic ridiculousness .Its point view is that the world is perceived in an irrational  absurd way because the morals and beliefs of the previous ages are void that nothing can be done with  except replacing them. Absurdism dramatizes the philosophical misery that results when humans try to struggle with this irrational world (Thomas86).

     The titles of the absurd plays give hints on the events performed  during the play .They give the audience as a brief  idea about what the play talks about. Almost situations are both, comic and tragic thus, the plays can be considered a tragic comedy plays (Al Abedi 250).The setting of this kind of plays is restricted to one place the includes a group of dramatic elements , which help in the dramatic action. The main themes reoccur in the plays ,  Loneliness and isolation of the individual  ,his difficulty in communicating and connecting with people ,his surrender to an outside stress and the uncertainty of his own identity ,thus, the characters always seek for a meaning for their lives(Esslin196) .

  The characters in the almost plays are interconnected pairs, commonly two males or male and female. Their past history is usually mysterious and puzzled providing them with no redemption. It seems that everything to them is unsure, neither the past, the present and nor the future, the certainties to them are birth and death. Their names sometimes have a religious meaning to shed light on the important role of religion in

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people's life. The absurd characters generally busy themselves of trivial things and boring activities in order to pass time and forget their miserable conditions. Characters do not consider their own personality so, their identity is lost.  Nevertheless, The Absurd writers use their dramatic characters to make a bitter comment on the conditions of human beings and their way to think, react and react. There is a lack of communication between the absurd characters as they do not listen to each other in a logical way (Al Abedi 294). The plays are full of contrasts that are embodied in characters. Language and actions are representing real life situations that real matters can happen. Characters are stereotypical ones   and flat from the beginning till the end (Esslin95).

  Plots in Absurd Theatre reject all the logical or realistic development.  Traditional illusionistic plots with logical progression and cause-effect relations are avoided in favor of plots that appear to be static and irrational ,it can be consisted of repeated clich'' as the story has no beginning no, middle and no end with a meaningless and pointless goal(Thomas 80).

     The language of The Absurd Theatre rebounds through a kind of indirectness, mystery and sometimes the inability to make communication. The Absurd Theatre has tendency to towards the deviation of language because what physically happens on the stage contradicts the language .The language itself is meaningful but the dialogue used by the characters is a verbalization of the void evasion and deceptive reality of the human being. Many absurd plys degrade the logical form of language for the sake of giving nw picture to the world (Al Abedi 274,249).

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   The most famous pioneers of The Absurdism Theatre are Samuel Beckett and Edward Albee. Becket (1906-1989) is generally considered as one  of the finest  artist of the twentieth century .His work revolutionized the understanding of Nature and the potential of Literature and Drama, and provided some of the most realistic image of human existence in a troubled unstable historical period. His tragic comic plays represent a black look at  the human being .His most famous work is Waiting for Godot (1953) which is about two men waiting in vain for a man called Godot on a country road where there is nothing but a bare tree. Godot is the one who they believe can save them and solve their problems, hence they keep waiting for him (Pttie1,10).

   Albee(1928-   ) is an American writer associated with The Theatre of The Absurd whose last explorations of sexual fantasy , frustration and domestic misery also call the plays of T.Williams. Albee monitors through his plays the sickness souls of the Americans and also its restlessness and mystery. His first play is The zoo story (1958) a one act play about two characters, Peter and Jerry, who meet at a central park listening to each other story and complaints .The play explores themes of isolation, frustration, miss communication  and violence(Spingh4,15).

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II.The zoo story (1958) B

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