EXISTENTIALISM
Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach which emphasises the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. It is the theory behind the unconscious movement Theatre of the Absurd, which is perhaps more of a genre than a style. Significant practitioners were not traditional theoreticians and directors, but instead were major playwrights. The movement leapt onto the world stage in the form of unconventional plays, primarily by European (and later American) playwrights. Absurdist theatre directly influenced much of European drama for more than ten years and within it lie some of the best plays of the 20th Century.
ALBERT CAMUS
Born: November 7, 1913
Died: January 4, 1960
Albert Camus was a French novelist, essayist, and playwright, best known for such novels as L'Étranger (1942), La Peste (1947) and La Chute (1956) and for his work in leftist causes. He received the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature. Camus focused most of his philosophy around existential questions. The absurdity of life, the inevitable ending is highlighted in his acts. His belief was that the absurd - life being void of meaning, or man's inability to know that meaning if it were to exist - was something that man should embrace. His anti-Christianity, his commitment to individual moral freedom and responsibility are only a few of the similarities with other existential writers. More importantly, Camus addressed one of the fundamental questions of existentialism: the problem of suicide. He wrote: "There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide." Camus viewed the question of suicide as arising naturally as the solution to the absurdity of life.
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
Born: June 21, 1905
Died: April 15, 1980
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, and one of the leading figures in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Some of Jean-Paul Sartre's plays include No Exit (1944), The Flies (1943), Prljave ruke (1948), The Respectful Prostitute (1946), The Devil and the Good Lord (1951), The Condemned of Altona (1959) and The Chips are Down (1947).
Bibliography
Existentialism and Theatre of the Absurd
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