Analysis
Last Updated September 5, 2023.
Absurd Person Singular can be seen as an analysis of the vanity that defines the human condition. Alan Ayckbourn utilizes a domestic setting, a holiday defined by middle-class consumerism, and married couples in order to poke fun at our obsession with keeping appearances.
Each act takes place on Christmas Eve, inside a kitchen where most of the drama involving the couples occurs. By adding in the marriage dynamic, Ayckbourn is further suggesting that adhering to societal norms is one of the many ways in which humans compete with one another for the absurd purpose of stroking one's ego while ignoring their flaws. And that while marriage is depicted as being the melding of two souls, in the end, we are truly all about our own self-worth.
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