The Frontier of Existence in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Ionesco’s

The Frontier of Existence  in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Ionesco’s Rhinoceros     Ã‚   ‘I feel that I had been at the frontier of existence, close to the place where they lose their names, their definition, the place where time stops, almost outside History’ (E Ionesco). This essay will explore the frontier of existence in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Ionesco’s Rhinoceros The title Rhinoceros is formed from the ancient Greek Rhino meaning nose and Keros meaning horn. However, in this play I take rhinoceros to mean an animal that is thick-skinned and ugly. The people who become rhinoceroses become as thick skinned as the rhinoceroses they turn into. On first viewing of Rhinoceros one journeys with the characters on what appears to be something of a mystery tour. One cannot be sure if a rhinoceros really exists. It is this sense of unknowing that makes for a lack of definition in the characters themselves. There is Jean’s first announcement of ‘Oh a rhinoceros’ (Act I:I P.14) as he points off stage is tantalising as one can only hear noises. One tries to define the situation and the characters by questioning their imagination and sanity. Much that one might expect to be told about the characters and their situation is denied to us. One only gets little snippets of information about their society for example a couple of revelations fr om Jean to Berenger: ‘there’s been no zoo in our town since the animals were destroyed in the plague†¦ages ago†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (I:I P.20) and ‘You know perfectly well that the Council banned all travelling performers from the district†¦There haven’t been any since we were children.’ (I:I P.20). Council has a capital ‘c’ and there is no mention of God anywhere which is a striking opposite from Waiting f... ...ific tyranny or exile; perhaps the Nazi occupation of France or separation from one’s homeland. But one does have choices as definition does not have to be of a single entity. Emphasis could be put on defining what happens while Vladimir and Estragon are waiting rather than notions of termination Works Cited   Beckett, Samuel, Waiting for Godot Cohen, R., Back to Beckett Coe, Richard N., Eugà ¨ne Ionesco: A Study of His Work Hayman, Ronald, Eugà ¨ne Ionesco Ionesco, Eugà ¨ne, Rhinoceros, The Chairs and The Lesson Lamont, Rosette C., Ionesco: A Collection of Critical Essays Lamont, Rosette C. and Friedman, M.J., The two faces of Ionesco Lazar, Moshe., The Dream and the Play: Ionesco’s Theatrical Quest Lyons, C., Samuel Becket Lewis, Allan, Ionesco Pronko, Leonard C., Eugà ¨ne Ionesco Worth, K., Beckett the Shape Changer