Rhinoceros (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Eugene Ionesco
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Absurdist
- Time of Work: Indeterminate
- Setting: A small provincial town in France
- Principal Characters: Berenger, Jean, Daisy, The Waitress, The Grocer, The Grocer’s Wife, The Old Gentleman, The Logician, The Housewife, The Café Proprietor, Mr. Papillon, Dudard, Botard, Mrs. Boeuf, A Fireman, The Little Old Man, The Little Old Man’s Wife
- Genres: Drama, Absurdist literature
- Subjects: France or French people, Communication, Human behavior, Loneliness, Animals, Metamorphosis or transmogrification, Rhinoceros
- Locales: France
The Story:
In a square in a small provincial town, a large number of comic types passed by chatting. Jean and Berenger conversed across a table at a sidewalk café. Jean berated his unshaven friend for drinking too much. Berenger complained that his life was still unsettled. Jean, who proceeded to lecture Berenger about duty, told him that he must get used to life as it is. Everything was interrupted by a rhinoceros, which thundered by immediately offstage. The townspeople were astounded and alarmed. Before long another rhinoceros galloped by, or perhaps it was the same one...
[The entire page is 1770 words long]
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