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Rhinoceros.

Rhinoceros

"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice." Albert Einstein

"The Police are rhinoceroses. The Magistrates are rhinoceroses. You are the only man among the rhinoceroses. The rhinoceroses ask themselves how the world can have been run by men. You ask yourself: is it true that the world once was run by men?" Eugéne Ionesco, diary entry, 1940.

Rhinoceros was first produced in Paris at the Odeon January 25th, 1960 and first produced in London at the Royal Court Theatre April 28th, 1960.

The play opens on a Sunday morning. Berenger enters, with hair uncombed and clothing creased, visibly tired and probably with a hangover. He is meeting his friend Jean, who is impeccably dressed and waiting for him. Jean immediately begins reprimanding Berenger for getting drunk and not taking care of himself.

The scene breaks into panic as those in the town square watch a rhinoceros run past. People repeatedly scream "Oh, a rhinoceros!"

Jean goes on about how odd it is to see a rhinoceros and how it shouldn't be allowed while Berenger sits, disinterested. Meanwhile, a Logician is instructing an old gentleman about syllogisms, using absurd examples.

Berenger sees Daisy, a girl from the office who he likes, and is embarrassed. Jean continues to reprimand Berenger, telling him to use his spare time to "improve himself".

They see a rhinoceros again, prompting arguments such as: was it the same rhinoceros, or a different one? Did it have one horn or two? Was it African or Asiatic?

The second scene is at Berenger's workplace. The men are arguing with Daisy, who tells them she saw a rhinoceros. They do not believe her. Berenger enters and says he, too, saw a Rhinoceros, but the men think Berenger is only being polite to Daisy.

Daisy shows the report of a trampling by a rhinoceros in the "dead cats" column of the press. Botard asks if the article specifies the cat's sex or color, then makes a statement against racial prejudice, which is totally irrelevant, but he says "one should never miss a chance to denounce it"

Mrs. Boeuf enters. She has been chased by a rhinoceros and her husband is missing. As it turns out, her husband has turned into a rhinoceros. They discuss how one collects life insurance in such a matter, blame it on the management, and use it as a chance to gain support for the union. They find out as many as thirty-two rhinoceroses have been reported. The employees all head for home.

In the next scene, Berenger visits Jean to apologize for his behavior that morning. Jean is feeling ill, and upset because he insists he is never ill. Berenger notices a bump on Jean's head. Jean says this is "impossible" until he sees it. Then Berenger notices Jean's skin turning green and hardening. Jean starts pacing. Berenger tells him Mr. Boeuf has turned into a rhinoceros, and Jean says it must be intentional and starts defending the rhinoceroses with relativism and an appeal to primitivism. At the end of the scene, Jean turns into a rhinoceros.

Dudard then comes to visit Berenger. Having seen Jean turn into a rhinoceros, Berenger is paranoid. He respected Jean greatly, he said, "he was the last person I'd have expected to change like that. I felt more sure of him than of myself!" and keeps asking Dudard if he sees any of the signs that he saw in Jean. Dudard ends up with the same kind of relativism, saying, "it's silly to get worked up because a few people decided to change their skins...they're free to do what they like" and "The evil! That's just a phrase! Who knows what is evil and what is good? It's just a matter of personal preferences."

Dudard then reveals that their boss, Papillon, has turned into a rhinoceros. While Berenger becomes more enraged, Dudard grows more and more indifferent. When Berenger says what's happening is not natural, Dudard asks, "What can be more natural than a rhinoceros?" When Berenger says it's abnormal, Dudard asks, "Who can be sure where the normal stops and the abnormal begins?"

Daisy comes to visit, and they all remark on how the rhinoceroses are tearing up the streets, running up and down. Then Dudard runs off and becomes a rhinoceros. Berenger and Daisy, it appears, are the only humans left. Berenger encourages Daisy that they can recreate the human race, but Daisy is growing weaker. She begins to see the rhinoceroses as beautiful, so she, too, runs off.

Berenger is the only human left. He begins to weaken, to want to become a rhinoceros, but he cannot. Then he eventually has a change of heart, and decides he will fight against them, and not give up. The play ends with Berenger saying "I am not capitulating!"

Themes in Rhinoceros

• Dehumanization/depersonalization: one cannot tell the rhinoceros apart except to seperate one-horned and two horned rhinoceroses, there is no individuality, just as there is little individuality when one puts on a uniform and marches in formation in an army. Everyone but Berenger is conformist and follows the lead of others, even when it means giving up their humanity.

• The rise of totalitarianism is the main focus of Rhinoceros. People begin to be sympathetic to dangerous rhetoric when they embrace relativistic statements like "who's to say what is wrong?" or "who's to say what is normal?". The propaganda power, and the power of having an entire force against you, succeeded in subverting those who would otherwise speak out in totalitarian regimes. Although Rhinoceros is a reaction to Ionesco's experience with the Nazis, it refers to more than them. A production was scheduled for the U.S.S.R, but the government would only play it if Ionesco made it clear that the rhinoceroses were Nazis (and not them). Ionesco refused, and the play was not produced.

• Submission to brute strength and mindlessness a sort of primitivism emerges in characters defending the rhinoceros, an enjoyment of brute strength and mindlessness...
  . . .

  Eugene Ionesco, by Dagny Scott

  Ionesco is part of the "theatre of the absurd" movement that flourished in the post-World War Two era.

  Ionesco wrote his first play, a short play named The Bald Soprano, when he was trying to learn English and was impressed by the cliches. He followed this by other short plays such as The Lesson and The Chairs.

  Ionesco also wrote longer plays such as Rhinoceros and Exit the King, and published memoirs under the name Present Past Past Present.

• A Brief Biography
• Influences from his Life
• The Bald Soprano
• The Lesson
• Rhinoceros
• Bibliography
• Links