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Existentialism In The Theater Of Alfonso Sastre

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Existentialism In The Theater Of Alfonso Sastre

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Content EXISTENTIALISM IN TOE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE by John Joseph Battaglia A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF TOE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Spanish) June 1973 INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependant upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred imaga. You w ill find a good imaga of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of die material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large rfieet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific papas you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed a s received. Xsrox University Microfilms 300 North Zm O Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 411100 r- i 73-31,321 BATTAGLIA, John Joseph, 1934- BXISTENTIALISM IN THE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE. University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1973 i Language and Literature, modem | i i i i r ' University Microfilm s, A XEROX Company , Ann Arbor, M ichigan i i | © Copyright by JOHN JOSEPH BATTAGLIA i i 1973 i i i I ( THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THK ORA DU A T I SCHOOL U N IV E R S IT Y PARK U M A N U L U , C A L IFO R N IA * 0 0 0 7 This dissertation, written by ......... under the direction of hd.a... Dissertation Com mittee, and approved by a ll its members, has been presented to and accepted by The Graduate School, in partial fulfillm ent of requirements of the degree of D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y 7 Dmm Date....^U-JLA.. DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ... ' Chmtrmsn . . . . A« .£... a.5^ ... To My Parents i i | ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i ' I wish to express my appreciation to Dr. Dorothy jMcMahon, Dr. Robert Curtis, and Dr. Max fierkey for their I Ihelpful suggestions and careful reading of the manuscript; i to Alfonso Sastre for providing me with necessary informa- ] ition, in person as well as by correspondence; and to [ Mrs. Carolina Rodriguez for her efficient typing of the final copy. 1 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 II. EXISTENTIALISM DEFINED....................... 7 III. MAJOR EXISTENTIALISTS....................... 32 Sflren Kierkegaard......................... 32 Fyodor DostoevBky ......................... 37 Friedrich Nietzsche ....................... 39 Martin Heidegger............ 42 Karl Jaspers............................... 47 Martin Buber ............................... 52 Franz Kafka ................... 54 Paul Tillich............................. . 57 Miguel de Unamuno.............. 59 Jos6 Ortega y Gasset....................... 65 Nicolas Berdyaev ........................... 71 Gabriel Marcel ............................. 75 Jean-Paul Sartre ........................... 77 Chapter Page Albert Camus ............................... 83 1 Samuel Beckett ............ 86 i i Nicola Abbagnano ....... 87 I i ; ZV. ALFONSO SASTRE: HIS LIFE AND HIS THEATER . . . 100 i V. ALFONSO SASTREi HIS THEORETICAL WORKS .... 120 I 1 Drama v aociedad............... 120 I Anatamia del realismo..................... 144 La revoluci6n v la crltica de la culture . , 166 VI. ALFONSO SASTREi HIS PLAYS................... 179 Uranio 235 ......................... 180 Caraamento de aueftos................ 187 Pr61oqo patfetico ........................... 197 El cubo de la basura....................... 206 I j Eacuadra hacia la rouerte ................... 214 El pan de todos ................. 224 ! La mordaza.................................. 233 i Tierra roia ........ .............. 239 Ana Kleiber.............. 245 La sanare de D i o s ......................... 255 Muerte en el barrio....................... 264 v Chapter Page ! Qulllermo Tell tiene loa oloa trietee . . . 270 i El cuervo.................................. 278 Aealto nocturno ...... ............... 284 j La cornada.................................. 290 / En la red ................................ 297 Oficio de tinieblas ................. 304 J [VII. CONCLUSION....................... 317 ! APPENDIX......................... 324 i I |BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................. 336 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION j | Existentialism is one of the most important literary i and philosophical movements of the twentieth century. Man lives in constant fear of war and the devastation of his I culture. He feels solitude and forlornness which cause in i him an anxiety and a frustration possibly unparalleled in history, Man's finitude and the threat of ultimate annihi- i ; ! lation totally strip his life of meaning, and he is forced to confront the absurd. J The initial shock felt by most existentialists is i ( !gradually assuaged by the search for meaning in life. In i 1 religious existentialism, this search leads to complete j faith and trust in God, which is attained not by any ra- I I tional or logical process, but through a "leap," as Kierke gaard calls it, to complete trust in God. In atheistic existentialism, the search for meaning ultimately leads 1 to various degrees of cooperation and communication with 2 one's fellow man, in an attempt to find one's individual place in society and to live according to one's unique pur pose in life. In contrasting the view of the twentieth century i with those of the two centuries preceding it, Victor Valen- i jzuela saysi j i Just as romanticism describes the world view of the i nineteenth century, and enlightenment that of the eighteenth, so our age can be said to be existential ist because the most original and profound thinkers of our time have shared, at times unconsciously, the problems and attitudes which may be assembled under this heading.^- What Valenzuela is describing here is an existential "mood" which can be found in varying degrees in most non-humor is tic ! twentieth-century literature. The existential movement is jmuch more specific in nature and is delineated in a number i of themes, preoccupations, and attitudes. It is the purpose of this dissertation to examine existentialism in the theater of Alfonso Sastre. The dis- i cussion of Sastre'a works will include his three theoreti cal books insomuch as they contribute to an understanding of existentialism in his dramas. These three works: Drama I | 1Contemporary Latin American Writers (New York: Las Americas, 1971), p. 21. 3 i v sociedad (1956)* Anatomia del realismo (1965), and La |r<voluci6n v la critica de la cultura (1970), contain the essence of Sastre's dramatic theories. This study will ,deal with the existential themes contained in the plays of ' 2 . Sastre's Obras completes, with the exception of a chil- ! dren's play, El circulito de tiza. Hie early experimental i works written in collaboration with Medrardo Fraile, Ha I sonado la muerte (1946) and Comedia son&mbula (1947), will inot be included. Sastre's adaptations of the works of other dramatists will likewise be omittedi Medea (Euripedes, 1958), La dama del mar (Ibsen, 1960), Los acreedores i (Strindberg, 1960), and Mulato (Hughes, 1963). Finally, iSastre's novel, Paralelo 38, his collection of short | !stories, Noches ldcnibres, and his poetry will not be dis- |cussed as they do not apply to the stated purpose of this i dissertation. I A second purpose of this dissertation, which is a ! logical outcome of the first, is to determine whether iSastre is an existentialist. In order to understand Sastre's theater, one must i i 2 Alfonso Sastre, Obras completes (Madrids Aguilar, 1967). 4 study not only the foreign influences on his literary pro duction (chiefly Jean-Paul Sartre), but he must also examine i 'Sastre's works in the perspective of his Spanish literary i I heritage. It is true that Sastre has been greatly influ enced by the French existentialists, but it is also true i that he has been molded in the Spanish tradition of Unamuno, Ortega, Lorca and Grau. Likewise, the dialogue with certain I 'of his contemporaries, especially Buero Vallejo, has been i evidenced by the lengthy polemic which occurred between the i itwo playwrights. The influence of Jacinto Benavente on i modern Spanish playwrights can be seen, as it was he who, during the first quarter of the twentieth century, replaced j ;the grandiloquent forms of the past with a natural conversa tional style, and who substituted the middle class "madri- jlefto" for the lofty, aristocratic protagonists of his i predecessors. Jean-Paul Sartre perhaps more than any other man has influenced the literary production of Sastre. The high 'esteem in which he is held by Sastre was made evident to roe during a personal interview with Sastre at his home in i jMadrid in August of 1970. At that time, Sastre commented i 1 [on many interesting theories of drama which are for the 5 most part contained in his essays and theoretical works. ?He expressed deep admiration for Sartre and said that he regarded Sartre's philosophy and literary works more highly than those of Camus. When I asked him if he considered himself to be an existentialist, he was nonconnnital and : i |suggested that I form my own opinion after reading his | | j works. He did state that his work constituted a dialectic |between acronia and praxis. One of the first things that impresses anyone who I I jhas read Sastre's literary works is their emphasis on the iindividual as an acting member of the society in which he (lives. It soon becomes apparent that what Sastre is I (attempting to do is to awaken a sense of "horror and pity" (in the spectator! which will cause him to reflect on man's ‘ plight in his eternal quest for liberty, justice, and hap- I piness. According to Farris Anderson: One of the most energetic reactions to war and oppres sion has surely been that of Alfonso Sastre, who has seen that man's individual dignity and social freedom are interdependent, and that liberty can be reconquered and maintained only through a varied and persistent assault upon the forces of oppression. Sastre's thought and work have been immediately inspired by his life in Franco's Spain, but in his probings he has transcended I the peculiarities of his own personal situation. The | central suggestion of Sastre's work is that human | liberty is a prerequisite for human dignity, and that this freedom must be won and preserved through a relent less vigilance against the institutions that constantly grow up around man, threatening his liberty and capacity for self-assertion. Sastre's aspirations and accom plishments go beyond those of a mere revolutionary propagandist, because Sastre has been perceptive enough to see that freedom is a dialectical, rather than j linear, reality. That is, he has realized that one ! cannot win one's social or political liberty once and forever, because even revolutionary movements become reactionary institutions if they are not constantly ! challenged and constantly renewed. Sastre thus envi- , sions social freedom as a dynamic process which can j exist only as a vital tension between order and i anarchy.-* In order to understand fully the works of an author, ;it is essential to know something about the conditions i i under which these works were written. In other words, it I i |is essential to know something about the author's life, iChapter II will define existentialism and trace it from its |beginnings to modern times. Chapter III will give a brief I jsketch of the philosophies of the major modern existential ! 'thinkers. Chapter IV will outline the important highlights of Sastre's life and career which have led to the direction j which his writing has taken. Chapter V will discuss the existential aspects of Sastre's theoretical works. Chap ter VI will examine the plays of Sastre in the light of existentialism. 3 Alfonso Sastre (New Yorks Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1971), pp. 17-18. CHAPTER II , EXISTENTIALISM DEFINED Existentialism is very difficult to define. It is both pervasive and elusive. It is historical, religious, literary, psychological, and artistic, as well as philo sophical. It is not one philosophy, but a number of dis parate philosophies. It is a revolt against traditional philosophy and cannot be reduced to any fixed set of tenets, as it is not a school of thought. What is it then that unites the existentialist thinkers? If one searches for a dictionary definition of existentialism, he may find some thing like the following: Existentialism: a literary-philosophic cult of nihilism and pessimism popularized in France after World War II, chiefly by Jean Paul Sartre: it holds that each man exists as an individual in a purposeless universe, and that he must oppose his hostile environment through the exercise of his free will.* ^Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (New York: World Publishing Co., 1962). 7 This definition is inadequate, incomplete and misses the point, since it describes existentialism as a negative philosophy and singles Jean-Paul Sartre out as its main disseminator. A better definition might be the following: An introspective humanism or theory of man which ex presses the individual's intense awareness of his contingency and freedom, a theory which stresses the individual's responsibility for making himself what he is.^ These definitions are at best oversimplifications. The first definition links the name existentialism with one philosopher, Sartre, and leads one to believe that it is a fad or passing fancy. The second is too general to give a coherent idea of what existentialism is. Since a dic tionary cannot really be considered a primary philosophical source, one must turn to some of the contemporary philoso phers for a more precise definition. In their introduction to Part Four of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century, William Barrett and Henry Aiken state: The question is relatively easy to answer; for the irony here is that, despite its portentous label, this philosophy derives from concrete and everyday human experience rather than from any abstract or specialized areas of knowledge. Existentialism is a philosophy ^Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (Cambridge, Mass.: H. 0. Houghton and Co., 1962). 9 that confronts the human situation in its totality to ask what the basic conditions of human existence are I and how man can establish his own meaning out of these conditions. Its method is to begin with this human j existence as a fact without any ready-made preconcep tions about the essence of man. There is no pre fabricated human nature that freezes human possibilities j into a preordained mold; on the contrary, man exists first and makes himself what he is out of the condi tions into which he is thrown. "Existence precedes ! ! essence," as the formula puts it.^ ? As can be seen by the above definition, existentialism ! pursues an analysis of man's concrete existence. In turn ing away from abstractions and conformity, man protests jagainst any force, be it intellectual, social, or political, i which would destroy his genuine freedom. In contrast to {the relatively simple definition given by Barrett and Aiken, I l {Maurice Friedman finds that such definitions rob existen- i jtialism of its proper seriousness. He refers to it as ' "a powerful stream, welling up from underground sources, iconverging and diverging, but flowing forward and carrying iwith it many of the most important intellectual tendencies I 4 jand literary and cultural manifestations of our day." In his book, The Worlds of Existentialism, he indicates that 3 "Phenomenology and Existentialism" (New Yorkt Random House, 1962), p. 143. 4 The Worlds of Existentialisms A Critical Reader (New York: Random House, 1964), p. 3. 10 existentialism is not one world but many and says that it is time that a mature view of existentialism replace the easy definitions and the popular oversimplifications. "Existentialism1 1 is not a philosophy but a mood em bracing a number of disparate philosophies; the dif ferences among them are more basic than the temper which unites them. This temper can best be described as a reaction against the static, the abstract, the purely rational, the merely irrational, in favor of the dynamic and the concrete, personal involvement and "engagement,M action, choice, and commitment, the dis tinction between "authentic” and "inauthentic" exist ence, and the actual situation of the existential subject as the starting point of thought. Beyond this the socalled existentialists divide according to their views on such matters as phenomenological analysis, the existential subject, the intersubjective relation between selves, religion, and the implications of existentialism for psychotherapy.5 Although each of the above definitions serves a purpose, existentialism is better described and explained than de fined. Now the question arises of where to begin. Since existentialism is not a body of doctrines but an approach to philosophy, it can be traced historically back to the Bible and the early Greek philosophers. In the Old Testa ment the distinction between authentic and inauthentic existence is found in the Psalms, Micah and Amos; the vanity of the ceaseless round of existence in Ecclesiastes; 5Ibid., pp. 3-4. 11 and the contending of Job* the true existentialist. Who in spite of the loss of all that was dear to him refused to I accept his anguish as a sign of his wickedness and God's punishment. In the New Testament one encounters man's struggle for authentic existence in the "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7). The forerunner among the early Greek philosophers is the pre-Socratic, Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 475 B.C.) who speaks of the continual newness of all things and the importance of being constantly aware of life's vicissitudes. Himself of noble birth, Heraclitus disdained the masses. It is important to bear in mind that many latter-day existentialists like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Camus directed their interest to ancient Greece, its myths, its culture, and its manner of philosophizing. Nietzsche was a great admirer of Heraclitus and would have agreed with him that, "One is as ten thousand to me, if he be the best. 1,6 Socrates (469-399 B.C.) is a good example of an early philosopher Who followed an existential ethic. In stimulating the thought of others, he urged them to "know themselves." He stimulated the young and irritated £ Dagobert D. Runes (ed.). Treasury of Philosophy (New York: Philosophical Library, 1955), p. 501. 12 the old. His purpose was not to give answers but to pose questions which would lead his pupils, as well as himself, to further thought. He devoted his entire life to the examination of two questions: Who is the best man? and, What is the best state? Socrates is accredited with having brought philosophy from heaven to earth. He was chiefly concerned not with the mystery of God, but with the mind of Han. Among the pupils and followers of Socrates there arose many diverse schools of thought. The most important of these philosophers who prepare the way for modern exis tentialism are: the Cynics, the Skeptics, the Pessimists, and the Stoics. Antisthenes (c. 444-368 B.C.) and Diogenes (c. 412-323 B.C.) were Cynics, and like Socrates believed in the doctrine that all knowledge was based on self- knowledge. Antisthenes carried Socrates' imperative "know thyself" a step farther to self-mastery. In reference to material possessions Diogenes said, "He possesses the most who is satisfied with the least." For him, freedom con sisted in being self-sufficient. He remained unmarried (for much the same reason as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre) as he said that a family man is a slave to fortune. Diogenes believed in the liberation of the individual from 13 the feverish pursuits of conventional life. Opposed to the Cynical school was the Skeptical school whose founder was Pyrrho (365-275 B.C.). According to Pyrrho* we become aware of the world only through our senses, which are deceptive. He claimed that no two people see the same things and moreover, that nobody ever sees the same things on two different occasions or from two differ ent angles. According to Henry Thomas the differences between the Cynics and the Skeptics were chiefly semantical. The Skeptics quarreled bitterly with the Cynics. Yet the quarrel, as in most other philosophical contro versies, was concerned with words rather than with thoughts. At bottom the Cynics and the Skeptics were in complete agreement. The "barking" followers of Diogenes looked for tranquillity, and the "doubting" disciples of Pyrrho aimed at felicity— two different words with a very similar meaning.7 Stoicism was founded by Zeno (340-265 B.C.). Its name is derived from the portico (stoa) where Zeno taught his disciples. Some of the later existentialists returned to the attitude of stoic austerity. Two leading exponents of the philosophy were Epictetus (c. A.D. 60-120) and Mar cus Aurelius (A.D. 121-180). In his famous Meditations, 7Understanding the Great Philosophers (New Yorki Doubleday & Co., 1962), pp. 129-130. 14 Aurelius wrote that all life is a warfare in a strange land. Among the great Stoics. Lucius Annaeus Seneca 1(4 B.C. - A.D, 65) ranks high. He was a Spanish-born Roman i whose doctrines penetrated into the minds of great writers, I not only in Spain but throughout the rest of Europe. He said that it is so difficult to attain happiness that the more a man struggles to reach it the further he departs from it. Of all the early Greek philosophers the Pessimists were the most extreme. The leader of the school, Hegesias (c. 250 B.C.), believed that the best way to end the tur moil of life was to commit suicide. It is interesting to note that more than two thousand years later this same question was to be posed by Camus: "TOiere is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering Q the fundamental question of philosophy." The reasons for the disillusion of the Cynics, Skeptics, Stoics, and Pes simists alike can be traced to the result of a century of wars. The same reason can be given for the reappearance 8The Myth of Sisyphus (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967), p. 3. 15 of existential concern in the twentieth century. i j The thread of Christian existentialism can be traced from the parables of Jesue through the writings of St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) who described the concept of time as a subjective rather than an objective concept. His jphilosophy, in contrast to that of the early Greek philoso phers, is optimistic. Augustine teaches that even if we I lose our material possessions we still have not lost the most precious possession of all, our souls. The next great i 'forerunner of Christian existentialism, St. Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274), is regarded by Jacques Maritain as an existen- I tialist. His philosophy, like that of Augustine, is a jblend of Judeo-Christian ethics and Greek metaphysics. St. Hiornas insisted that faith must not be based upon | ‘reason, but that reason must be based upon faith. He taught that the goal of each individual's existence is God. jThis goal is not offered as a gift but must be attained i through persistent effort. The act of creation is not an isolated incident of the past; it is a continuous process of all time. Another philosopher and theologian, Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), was considered one of the most radical I k thinkers of the late Middle Ages. Zn his mystical approach. which stressed the importance of taking an active part in | life as well as devoting oneself to contemplation, he may be considered a harbinger of the great Spanish mystic, Santa Teresa. In his belief in the uniqueness of the indi- I vidual, he may be considered one of the great precursors of {Christian existentialism, as the following excerpt from his {writings shows: i I have been thinking for some time that the fact that I am a person is something others hold in common with myself. That I see and hear and eat and drink— this I have in common with other animals, but the fact that ■ I am pertains only to me and not to other men or angels, nor even to God, except as I an one with him.9 Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) has been considered by many con- I i temporary philosophers as one of the forerunners of modern |existentialism. After a long period of religious doubts, Pascal was converted to Christian belief. In his Penafees, he seems to presage the ideas of authenticity and unauthen— ticity found in such writers as Heidegger, Sartre, and Jaspers: If we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with the past or the future. We scarcely think of the present, and if we do so, it is only that we may borrow light from it to direct the future. The g Maurice Friedman, The Worlds of Existentialism (New York: Random House, 1964), p. 31. 17 present is never our end; the past and the present are our means# the future alone is our end. Thus we never I live# hut hope to live# and while we always lay our selves out to be happy# it is inevitable that we can never be so.^° iSartre's idea of regarding Nthe Other" as an object to be i dominated is anticipated by Pascal. | In one word Self has two qualities# it is unjust in its | essence because it makes itself the centre of all, it j i is inconvenient to others, in that it would bring them ^ I into subjection# for each "I" is the enemy# and would j fain be the tyrant of all others. ^ Pascal's idea of intuition and feeling as important consti tuents in the search for knowledge seems to provide the link between the mystics and the rationalists and pave the way for the existentialists. Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the process of reasoning# for they would understand at first sight# are not used to seek for j principles. And others, on the contrary# who are accustomed to reason from principles, do not at all understand matters of feeling, seeking principles, and being unable to see at a glance. The heart has its own reasons that reason cannot understand. I 'Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), a pessimist, had signifi cant influence on Nietzsche. He is recognized as one of 10Ibid.# p. 40. 1XIbid. # p. 41. 12 Erich Fromm and Ram6n Xirau# The Nature of Man (London; The Macmillan Co., 1969)# p. 154. 18 the moat prominent German idealista of the nineteenth cen tury. His major contribution to existentialism is his ( (notion of the will to power. It is Schopenhauer who intro duces the hyphenated noun technique (thing-in-itself# beincp- in-itself) which is to become one of the characteristics of I the modern existentialists. Schopenhauer declared that the i i jwill to live is not good but evil and that the best way to jabolish this evil is to arrive at the nirvana of nonexis tence. Here again at the base of his despair the cause is found to be a devastating war. By 1819 when his The World as Will and Idea was published# Europe had been turned into :a shambles. The will to power as incarnated in Robespierre# i i (Napoleon# and Czar Alexander had ended in universal catas trophe . The last great precursor of existentialism that will be mentioned is Ludwig Feuerbach (1804—1872). Although he was a disciple of Hegel# Feuerbach professed material istic and humanistic positions. In his writings he de- ! scribes the antinomy between mind and nature and urges his 'fellow men to be aware of the contradictions of life and to 'concentrate on present-day tasks. Dagobert D. Runes feels I that the contribution of Feuerbach to modern existentialism is noteworthy. 19 Modern existentialists ought to recognize Feuerbach j as well as Kierkegaard as their forerunners, instead ! of regarding the former as a mere materialist. It is true that Feuerbach, while opposing Hegel's idealism, professed materialistic views, but materialism, to him, meant only a part of the truth, not its entirety. j Feuerbach did not deny the existence of God, but said that man formulated the notion of God because he longed to re concile the apparent contradictions of life. He said that !idealist philosophers had deprived man of his feelings of i immediateness and existence. Having traced the existential mood from its begin nings, one now arrives at the philosopher Who is known as the "father" of modern existentialism, Sdren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Since the modern existentialists will be dis- jcussed in detail in subsequent chapters, I will not comment further on Kierkegaard here. As can be seen by now, the list of philosophers who ihave contributed to the existential mood is exhaustive, and still to be discussed are the modern existentialists. In order to understand the magnitude and grandiosity of the existential movement, one may liken it to a massive river |into which a number of smaller rivers or rivulets flow. i 13 Treasury of Philosophy, p. 394. 20 The mainstream is the existential movement or spirit and jits tributaries are the historical, religious, literary, I |psychological, and artistic manifestations. Historically, existentialism can be traced in its sporadic appearances throughout history, or it can be viewed as a reaction |against a previous movement. From a religious standpoint, i jexistentialism can be traced linearly in its progressive shadings from anti- and non-theistic humanism to theistic humanism and theism, or the two opposing manifestations, ; the atheist and the religious, can be contrasted. From a i literary perspective, existentialism can be examined in various genres: drama, the novel, poetry. I Philosophically, existentialism is seen as a revolt against the colossus of the nineteenth century, Georg Hegel (1770-1B31). Hegel left such a towering monument that much of later Western thought was either affirmation or negation of his philosophy. According to Hegel, history is a single process with a beginning, development, and end. It is the world spirit unfolding. Bach historical age fulfills its task and each successive culture makes its contribution, jHegel emphatically opposed the idea of the romantics that Being is in itself an incomprehensible all with which 21 we can only mystically feel ourselves one. His dialectical method of pitting thesis against antithesis to achieve syn thesis is a system which has been utilized by many philoso- I iphers within the existential frame of reference, among ! the most notable. Sartre. Heidegger, and Sastre himself. i According to Hegel, this dialectical process results in jultimate arrival at the Truth or the Absolute. The problem jis that Hegel's idea of the progressive amelioration of I imankind throughout history is never redeemed within his | I system. Ernst Breisach offers two reasons for the failure i of the Hegelian system and the revolt of the existential- r ists during the nineteenth centuryi I First, pure thought and its development represent the | only genuine reality. Everything else is reflection. Accordingly the man of flesh and blood with his feel ings. fears, sorrows, joys, loves, and hates has no room in it. Second, the grand design of world history reduces the place of the individual's existence and actions to that of a grain of sand in forming a desert. While the grain of sand certainly makes a contribution, it hardly has decisive importance. Even the great men of history do What they do only under the inducement of the inevitable process of the unfolding world spirit. They are tricked into doing it by a sly process. Man has become the agent of an all-powerful process. The world is the stage, history the drama, man the actor, and the self-realization of the spirit its final denouement. 4 14 Introduction to Modern Existentialism (New York* Grove Press, Inc., 1962), p. 15. t __ 22 It was the Danish counterpart of Schopenhauer* Sdren Kier kegaard who opposed Hegel's closed system so vehemently. |In citing Socrates against Hegel, Kierkegaard insisted that truth is not objective and systematic but subjective and personal. He contended that truth existed only as the individual himself produced it in action. He and the exis tentialists who followed him protested against the rational ists and idealists who saw man only as a thinking being. They likewise fought against the tendency to treat man as a machine who as an anonymous unit was placed into the vast technological, political* and industrial systems of the day. Existentialism as viewed from still another perspec tive can be seen as the continuation of the Romantic move ment, According to Colin Wilson, existentialism is a new form of romanticism. Faust became aware that all the knowledge in the world will not free man from his limita tions. In a fundamental sense we can know nothing. Faust's failure is the failure of romanticism. At first the roman tic felt that he had achieved a new kind of freedom, but he soon realised that it had limitations and envied the hap piness of less complex creatures. Wilson feels that the 23 fundamental reason for the collapse of romanticism was its inadequate language. Words like "rapture" and "ecstasy" soon became meaningless. As a new kind of romanticism, existentialism added a revitalized language to the romantic spirit. In addition, it produced an undefeated stoicism in 15 contrast to the total defeat of the romantics. Existen tial seriousness tests the subjective authenticity of ideas rather than their objective truth. The term "existential" from the Latin word "existere" (to take a position, come forth) conveys an invitation to anxious self-scrutiny. Existentialism may be thought of as romanticism brought to fruition. As modern existentialism is traced from its beginnings with Kierkegaard, a gradual change or transition is observed from a stress on the antisocial to the social concern, from an emphasis on anguish, loneliness, despair, and nihilism to an emphasis on hope, authenticity, and a meaningful existence. lhe existential disturbance is the impassioned search of the romanticist for meaning in life and for the freedom of the individual. Kierkegaard in a sense became a modern Socrates. That is to say, he placed 15 Bevond the Outsider (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965), p. 40. --- 24 !into the center of thinking an appeal to existential self- i 1 scrutiny or self-examination. It is the romantic malady, the irony of disillusionment and "Weltschmerz," which gave birth to the Great Negation and existentialism. In the !twentieth century, two national catastrophes, the German I defeat of 1918 and the French debacle in 1940, were instru- | : i mental in reviving Kierkegaard's existential concern. Man j i » I ] 'once again asked the agonizing question of the early Greek | philosophers: What is the meaning of it all? Paul Tillich j j I sees a transition from late romanticism, Bohemianism, and i romantic naturalism to present-day existentialism. Roman ticism emphasized the uniqueness of the individual. One Imust not live according to norms established by others whether they be individuals or groups. Tillich claims that this self-affirmation can be dangerous: The romantic irony elevated the individual beyond all content and made him empty: he was no longer obliged to participate in anything seriously. In a man like Friedrich von Schlegel the courage to be as an indi vidual self produced complete neglect of participation, but it also produced, in reaction to the emptiness of this self-affirmation, the desire to return to a col lective. Schlegel, and with him many extreme indi vidualists in the last hundred years, became Roman | Catholics. The courage to be as oneself broke down, and one turned to an institutional embodiment of the courage to be as a part. Such a turn was prepared by I the other side of romantic thought, the emphasis on 25 the collectives and semicollectives of the past, the ideal of the “organic society. * ' Organism, as has so ■ often happened in the past, became the symbol of a balance between individualization and participation. I I According to Tillich, Bohemian!sm was a continuation of the ,romantic courage “to be as oneself" (live an individual existence), as it continued the romantic attack on the established bourgeosie and its conformism. He labels Nietzsche a "romantic naturalist" and says that voluntaris- tic naturalism is an important constituent in the formation of existentialism. Existentialism owes a great deal to the contribu tions of modern psychologists like Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Carl Jung (1875-1961). Freud stressed heredity as the basic factor influencing man's early development. He thought of man as a primarily instinctual creature whose basic instincts are aggression and sexuality. Freud labeled the instinctual impulses the Id (Latin for "it") and the rational part of the mind the Ego (Latin for "I"). In addi tion, Freud spoke of the Super-ego which is the psycho analytic equivalent of "conscience." Hie conscience. 16The Courage To Be (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971), p. 117. 26 according to Freud, was in direct opposition to the in stinctual impulses and the strict taskmaster of the rational i jpart of the mind, never permitting the Id to satisfy its iimpulses unrestrainedly. Freud's collaborator, Carl Jung, ! i like Freud attached great importance to the concept of the 'unconscious. But unlike Freud who attempted to delve into |the past for the solution of emotional difficulties, Jung j thought that the solution was to be found in facing the |present situation. Whereas Freud thought pessimistically that man is dominated by instinctual impulses, Jung thought i that man's basic psychological tendency is toward self- irealization (existentialism). Freud did a great deal to l jundermine the two essentially optimistic views of man \rfiich iwere upheld by Europeans until the 1900's. One view de scribed man as a dualistic creature comprised of an immortal i soul and a mortal body. This was the Judeo-Christian view. The Enlightenment concept defined man as a sociable, per- | fectible being who was motivated by rational self-interest. The suspicions aroused by Freud were confirmed by two world wars and the international upheavals that they caused. For many this meant adopting a pessimistic outlook. The "Age of Confidence" (1815-1914) had passed and the "Age of Anxiety" (1914-to the present) had arrived. Eric and 27 Mary Josephson describe the present world situation in the following manner: Our present age of pessimism* despair and uncertainty succeeds a quite different earlier period of optimism* hope and certainty— a period when man believed in him self and the work of his hands, had faith in the powers of reason and science, trusted his gods, and conceived his own capacity for growth as endless and his widening horizons limitless. Bold in his desires for freedom, equality, social justice and brotherhood, he imagined that ignorance alone stood in the way of these desires. But tumult and violence have unseated these traditional beliefs and values. Knowledge has spread, but it has not abolished war, or fear; nor has it made all men brothers. Instead, men find themselves more isolated, anxious and uneasy than ever.^7 Artistically, existentialism can be traced to ex pressionism, a movement in painting as well as literature, which centered in Germany in the first quarter of the twentieth century. It attempted to express the basic reality of its subjects rather than to reproduce their mere appearance on the surface. It was a revolt not only against current art, but against present-day civilization, which was considered to be prosperous on the surface, but rotten at the core. An expressionistic work relies heavily on distortion of salient features. Although existentialism is a break-away from expressionism, it retains some of the 17Man Alone (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1970), Introduction, p. 10. 28 main principles of the expressionists. The literary exten sion of expressionism is surrealism. This trend first developed in France as the dadaist movement* with Jean Cocteau as its iconoclast. Dadaism was a revolt against the hegemony of reason. The creed of the dadaists was that contraries are identical (compare to the dialectical method employed by Sartre, Heidegger, and others of the existen tialist movement). It was the dadaists1 belief that art is an absurdity, and that what is most essential is to destroy everything in all the traditional forms of art. Their con tention was that true reality is not visioned by the eyes or reached by the processes of reason or analysis; it is apprehended intuitionally or even revealed in dreams. The aim must be to reach the spontaneous unconscious. In order to do this one must sweep away the illusory cohesion of realism in its dictionary sense and impose what the French Dadaists dubbed "1’anti-pofitique raison." Dadaism sobered gradually and passed over into Surrealism, which has glaring Freudian elements. The root concept is absolutely negative, for it springs from the feeling of a human creature that he is cast out into a world on Which he is helplessly depen dent, and that if he seeks escape in art, it can only be 29 by laughing it off derisively. For Jaspers, however, there are moments in which by the very intensity of this feeling ;one dimly feels the Transcendent, and the Surrealist may seize this perception to shape it in art. The final out come of existentialism may be either nihilism or mysticism. What is seen in the most representative works of the sur realists is a glimpse of the transcendent behind the raw reality of life.1® Perhaps by now some idea can be perceived of the depth and scope of the existential current in its many- faceted manifestations. No area of human endeavor has remained untouched by this movement. There has been a com plete break with cherished established patterns of thought. There are no longer eternal truths to which man can cling, Man is completely free to choose his own course in life, and he is utterly responsible for the choices he makes. The individual must strive to live an authentic existence. He must take up his burden of responsibility and involve himself with life. He is responsible not only for himself, but for his fellow man as well. Man's nature is not fixed; 18 Jethro Bithell, Modern German Literature (1880- 1950) (Great Britain: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1963), p. 449. 30 he possesses a free will either to act or to refrain from acting, and the choice is always his. But, in refusing to I choose, man is nevertheless making a choice, one of in action. There is never any guarantee that the choice he makes is the correct one. This causes man to live in anguish. Man is never an "essence"; he is always a process, a becoming. This process continues until he dies. As Ortega has said in one of his famous essays, the difference between man and a stone is not that man has intelligence and the stone does not, but that the nature of the stone is fixed and the stone lacks the power of decision. Man, on the other hand, must decide at each moment what he is going to do and what he is going to be. Man is nothing more than a potential. He can choose to live authentically or in- authentically, or as Sartre prefers, "in good faith" or "in bad faith." Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, one sees the emergence of technology, which is the visible and ma terial incarnation of science over religion. Science has become the chief intellectual activity of modern man. Reli gion was attacked by Reason during the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. During the nineteenth century, there 31 was a passionate struggle either to recapture or to abandon the religion which was in its decline. In succinct clarity, iW. Warren Wagar gives an excellent summation of the role of ! existentialism in the twentieth century: The existentialists give expression to twentieth-century European man's alienation from science and culture, conventional religion and morality, politics and the dream of progress. They alone seem to speak with abso lute candor of the meaning and meaninglessness of total war, total states, and the total organization of human life by science, technics, bureaucracy, and the mass media of persuasion. At a deeper level, they come face to face with the spiritual nothingness which lies wait ing at the end of man's historic search for truth. When all metaphysical, theological, scientific, ethical and political structures of thought have been weighed and found to weigh nothing, what then? To this colossal "what then?" existentialists both in the anti-religious and the religious camps address themselves with a tough ness of mind unparalleled in the history of modern thought. ^ European Intellectual History Since Darwin and Marx (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), p. 203. CHAPTER III MAJOR EXISTENTIALISTS I j Sflren Kierkegaard i i i Any discussion of modern existentialism must begin with Sdren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), who is often referred to as the "father" of existentialism. In spite of the fact ‘that Kierkegaard's work does not add up to a well-ordered i system (the same may be said of practically all existential i writers), his work contains almost all of the precepts of the existential movement which came to full bloom a century jafter his death. Kierkegaard's attack centered on two main i i targetst Hegel's grandiose philosophical system, and the l I jEstablished Church of Denmark. The first vehement attack charged Hegel with complete distortion of man's image in the world. Hegel viewed history as a single process with one beginning, development, and end. According to Hegel, leach historical period had a task to fulfill, each culture had a contribution to make. Nothing was left to chance. i L _ J 33 Seeming setbacks were only temporary and often necessary to introduce the new stage of development. The thesis (the present state of affairs) was opposed by its antithesis (the opposite) to arrive at a synthesis (a combination or merging of the two) which was thought to be a better solu tion. This process continued with each antithesis of the previous stage becoming the thesis of the subsequent stage to merge into another synthesis. This system is known as Hegel's dialectical system. What disturbed Kierkegaard about the Hegelian system was its complete disregard for the individual. Under this dialectical system, the individual was swallowed up in the mainstream of the world spirit. Man's decisions are impor tant only in so far as they concern the ongoing process, not as determining his personal welfare and developing his own goals. Hie second attack waged by Kierkegaard was directed at the Established Church of Denmark. Kierkegaard charged that the Christianity offered by the Church was not authentic and true. It demanded that man follow in blind subservience the rules and dictates of other men. Hie only true form of Christianity was that Which sought to encounter God directly. The dogmas and rituals of any church were not 34 representative of true Christianity. Man's personal rela tionship to God is placed on a plane far above his observ- ] ance of all moral laws. Kierkegaard's method of approaching God is not rational. Rather it is almost a mystical "leap" 'which leaves all reason behind in a dynamic struggle to lead a Christian existence. One is reminded here of the intuitive approach of the Spanish Mystics Santa Teresa and San Juan de la Cruz in their attempt to achieve a mystical union with God. Like Kierkegaard, the Mystics were looked upon with disapproval by the established Church. Whereas the mystics sought to communicate directly with God within the boundaries of the Catholic Church, Kierkegaard sought to achieve "true" Christianity by openly attacking the Established Church of Denmark. Another difference is noted here. Whereas the Mystics sought to reach God in a pre scribed, systematical manner (las vlas purgative, contempla tive. v unitiva)# Kierkegaard did so by means of a momentous "leap" which gave his life an entirely new direction. According to Kierkegaard, man must struggle to be worthy of Christ. This struggle lasts a lifetime. It is only after one has lived his life to the end that he may be called a "Christian." 35 Kierkegaard distinguishes three stages or inodes of existence: the aesthetic* the ethical* and the religious. These need not be sequential. In each individual one mode predominates over the other two. The aesthetic individual lives for the present moment. In the pleasure of the here and now he forgets all continuity and personal involvement. He is essentially unable to communicate because he is solely concerned with himself. On the aesthetic level of existence man chooses nothing and makes no commitments to anyone. He tries to fill his life with sensuous and sensual pursuits. Don Juan and Faust are examples of the aesthetic mode of existence. In the ethical mode of existence man seeks to communicate with his fellow man. On this level he begins to assume responsibilities; he "chooses” himself (lives authentically) in strict adherence to law and duty. Kierkegaard discusses the ethical mode mainly in terms of marriage and the duties and responsibilities contained therein. The religious mode refers to man's lonely en counter with God. On this level* the man of faith chooses freedom and faith in God. It is interesting to note that marriage is excluded from the religious mode of existence. It is only in the religious mode of existence* according 36 to Kierkegaard, that man finally recognizes himself as the * unique individual he is. The emphasis that Kierkegaard j places on choice, decision, and action lays the foundation for the existentialists who followed him. Above all, man | must be responsible for his actions. TOiis imperative is in direct contrast to Hegel's de-emphasis of human responsi bility. In direct opposition to the theory of Nietzsche and Sartre that "God is dead," Kierkegaard builds his philosophy on the thesis that "God lives." Like the Mys tics, he aims at ultimate harmony with God. Since man realizes that he is a finite being, he clearly sees the gulf between himself and God. He realizes that God cannot be an object of knowledge and description. Therefore, he must make the "leap" into a Christian existence through Which he confronts God as the total "Other." This Chris tian existence of which Kierkegaard speaks is not to be confused with Christendom or objective Christianity with all its doctrines, dogmas, rituals, and creeds. According to Kierkegaard, no church can administer salvation through a salaried religious bureaucracy or the dispensing of sacraments. The church can only give guidance to the indi vidual in his search for a personal relationship with God. 37 One ever strives to become a Christian# sacrificing comfort I and peace of mind for an existence filled with anguish# suffering, "fear and trembling." There is no security 'offered, only everlasting risk. This life is an everlast- : I j ! jing struggle which does not result in the harmonious life i which many are seeking. I Kierkegaard once made a statement vttiich rather sig- ; t nificantly sums up his reflections on life. "Luther has I ninety-five theses, I have only one. Christianity has not ; i been made a reality." j | } There are two other prominent figures of the nine teenth century who can be considered important in their ! I ; : | :contributions to twentieth-century existentialismi Fyodor I jDostoevsky (1821-1881) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Fvodor Dostoevsky Dostoevsky was a staunch defender of Russian Ortho dox Christianity. Although he cannot be considered an exis- :tentialist in the true sense of the word, he nevertheless contributed greatly to the existential mood in literature. ! Whereas his first novel, Crime and Punishment (1866) |preaches a redemption from guilt only in confession, suf fering, and love, his second novel, The Brothers Karamazov 38 (1880) is considered the most profound and the most complex of Dostoevsky's books. It is this book which contains "The Grand Inquisitor' * section which tells the story of the Grand Inquisitor (an aged Spanish cardinal) who discovers Christ once again performing miracles. The cardinal tells Christ that He is a threat to the Church. After centuries of indoctrination the Church has finally succeeded in per suading its members to forfeit their freedom and to find happiness in servitude. Christ has now reappeared to upset this situation in which all are content to do the Church's bidding. The cardinal tells Christ that he must die so that the Church will be saved. Another great work of Dostoevsky which has been praised by Walter Kaufmann as "the best overture for existentialism ever written" is Notes from Underground. This book* published in 1864, has been called "one of the most revolutionary and original works of world literature." Kaufmann goes on to say, "With inimitable vigor and finesse the major themes are stated here that we can recognize when reading all the other so- called existentialists from Kierkegaard to Camus. 1,1 ^Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre (New York* Meridian, 1956), pp. 11-12. 39 Friedrich Nietzsche i | Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Leipzig, Germany to what is termed in German, "gut bflrgerlich" (solid bour geois) . His family was deeply loyal to the Lutheran church. He spent his years as a university student in Bonn and Leipzig, and was granted a doctorate in philosophy by the University of Leipzig after which he left for Switzerland to teach at the University of Basel, where he taught classi cal philology. His first book is entitled, The Birth of Tragedy (1872). In this work he examines philosophical questions which extend far beyond the realm of classical philology. Attracted to the philosophy of Arthur Schopen hauer (1788-1860), Nietzsche revealed the influence of this great philosopher on his works. In both men there is the profound desire for truth without illusions. According to Schopenhauer man views the world as he does because of a "will to live." He therefore deludes himself into finding order where there is none. Only a few have the courage to destroy their illusions and accept a world without aim or harmony. One can readily see that this philosophy of Schopenhauer formed the stage for Nietzsche's proclamation, "God is dead. 1 1 According to Nietzsche, if man were more courageous, honest, and introspective, he would accept the death of God as factual and abandon the old tribute paid to religion. Nietzsche examined the question of what hap pens to man when he has severed his bonds to God and a transcendent world beyond this one. Nietzsche pledged himself to the Greek god, Diony sus, who was the patron deity of Greek tragic festivals. Dionysus was the god of the vine, of drunken ecstasy and frenzy (like the Bacchus of Roman mythology). It was this god who united all men in the joy of intoxication (obliv ion) . In this mythological deity are found the anti- rational symbols so prevalent in Nietzsche's writings. H, J. Blackham says that Nietzsche is the product of his Christian heritage: The roots of Nietzsche’s thinking remain in the Protes tant Christianity in which he was bred ("I am the descendant of whole genealogies of Christian clergy men"), in the philosophy of Schopenhauer whom in adolescence he chose for his master, and in the Greek studies in which he was engaged by choice and by profession. However the tree is riven, blasted, and 2 bent, it feeds from these soils and is anchored there. He goes on to say: 2 Six Existentialist Thinkers (New York: Harper & Row, 1952), p. 24. 41 Thus he (Nietzsche) posed and lived a problem he J could not himself solve. Ihe problem was to over come scepticism, pessimism, and nihilism.^ According to Nietzsche, thought without passion leads to decadence. Like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche does not regard any so-called "system" as a solution to man's problems. He felt that man should be seen as an aggregate of forces uniquely shaped, Maurice Friedman says of Nietzsche: Nietzsche recognizes that life must be lived from within— from the standpoint of the person or the self. Ibis does not mean introversion or subjectivism, but it does mean that there is a crucial and inescapable distinction between authentic and inauthentic exis tence. Man's task in life is to authenticate his existence, and to the existentialist this can never mean the mere adherence to external moral codes, on the one hand, or the romantic's deification of pas sion and feeling, on the other, nor even the vitalist's emphasis on the organic flow of life. Instead it means personal choice, decision, commitment, and ever again that act of valuing in the concrete situation that verifies one's truth by making it real in one's own life— in one's life with man and the world,^ Nietzsche regarded laziness as man's most characteristic weakness. He even attributed to this laziness or compla cency a more important place than fear. Here one sees Ortega's "mass man" who prefers to be absorbed in the 3 Ibid. ^The Worlds of Existentialism (New York: Random House, 1964), p. 9. 42 conventions of the masses rather than shoulder the respon sibility for action and determination individually. j It is laziness which leads men to hide behind the customs, opinions, and habits of the everyday life, of the crowd. . . . Through lassitude, men identify themselves totally with the moods, practices, and moments of their history, a history which molds, crumbles, and metamorphoses, a history which soon will be gone even as that with which and in which a man has his being is gone, forgotten in a quiet, meaningless nonexistence,5 According to Nietzsche, philosophy*s task should be to up set, not to comfort, Man is not free as long as he remains committed to herd morality. Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (1889) is considered as one of the greatest and most creative philosophers of the twentieth century. He was born in Baden, Germany. He spent some time in a Jesuit seminary, but decided that his vocation lay in philosophy. His work in the seminary contributed to the formation of his thought. He studied at the University of Freiburg where he was guided by the great philosopher Edmund Husserl. Heidegger's philosophy is centered around 5Thomas Hanna, The Lyrical Existentialists (New Yorki Atheneum, 1962), p. 111. 43 the meaning of Being. This inquiry into Being is known as 'philosophical ontology, and was very prevalent in early Western philosophy. It has now fallen into neglect. According to Heidegger, man differs from everything else because he not only is, but he has an understanding of what it means "to be.n Within limits man is responsible for what he is. In referring to man, Heidegger uses the term "Dasein" (Being-there). This expression calls attention to man's finitude. Man alone "exists" (stands out) from the general run of beings as the particular being Who has to decide about Being. John Macquarrie describes Heidegger's approach to the understanding of Being as dialectical: We can best understand the relation of the earlier and the later work, and likewise the successive dominance of the ideas of existence and Being, in terms of a massive dialectic. The focus of the inquiry is always the question of the meaning of Being. But there is no straightforward or simple path that leads to the solu tion of this problem. One must first come at it from the side of man's existence and from his firsthand understanding of what it means to be in the world; but then one must come back to look afresh at human exis tence in the light of Whatever understanding can be gained of that wider Being within the context of Which our human existence is set.6 g Martin Heidegger (Richmond, Virginia* John Knox Press, 1968), p. 9. 44 Heidegger restricts the use of the term "existence" to "Dasein" or human existence. The dialectic between existence and Being, the existential and the ontological, can be found in Heidegger's early works, but it is in his later writings that it comes to fruition. Hie personal decision that each individual must make concerning how he is to direct his own existence is called by Heidegger the "exiatentiell1 1 question. The "existential" question is an explicit theoretical inquiry into existence in general. Some of the basic concepts of Heidegger are ex tremely important as they appear in the philosophies of subsequent thinkers. Ortega y Gasset is an exception. According to Ortega, most of the ideas found in Heidegger's philosophy were found in his works thirteen years earlier. This will be discussed further in the section on Ortega. Heidegger describes man as being "thrown" (geworfen) into the world and left to his own devices, Man is responsible for what he makes of his life. Heidegger refers to this condition of man as "Geworfenheit" (thrownness). Man can not be thought of as being divorced from the world in Which he lives. Therefore he is referred to as *'Being-in-the- world." Man concerns himself with other persons, things. 45 and himself as they exist in the world. The first of these so-called "existentialia" describes the way in which man is placed in life and in the'world and is called "Befindlich- keit." The second of the "existentialia" is that of the "Verstehen" (understanding). The significance of things, persons, and one's "Being-in-the-world" is derived from the purpose for which man understands himself to exist. The third of the "existentialia" is "Rede" (speech). The human being by means of speech expresses himself. He reveals his understanding through articulation and interpretation by use of words (thoughts). Werner Brock says that "Dasein" is concerned only with its own potentiality of "Being-in-the-world." "Being-in-the-world" is a unitary structural whole. Up to this point the phenomenon was analysed in its various constitutive aspects: the worldiness of the world; the Being-together-with-othere, the self-Being and the "one like many”; the in-Being, the "There" of Dasein.7 The concept of "Angst” (dread) which waa introduced by Kierkegaard plays an important role in the philosophic dis cussion of Heidegger. Both Heidegger and Kierkegaard make 7Existence and Being (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1968), p. 43. 46 a distinction between "Furcht" (fear) and " ' Angst. 1 1 "Fear"' is always the fear of something definite. "Dread" is the fear of nothing in particular. It is the feeling that man has when he realizes his complete freedom. It is the threat of nothingness that causes "Angst" (note the simi larity to the word "anxiety"). According to Heidegger, every man has to choose to be either authentic or inauthentic. He can accept his voca tion or destiny, or subordinate his selfhood to thinghood. Han often loses himself in the complexity and superficiality of modern life. In this way he becomes alienated from his authentic possibilities. Man often engages in useless chatter (Gerede) rather than meaningful communication or thoughtful silence. It is man's conscience that gives him a feeling of guilt for not realizing his potential and having the courage to be true to himself. As a man lives he realizes that his life is threatened by brevity of time and the threat of death. Heidegger expresses this as (sein zum TOde) or "being for death." If man faces time properly, the future is for him the time he has left in which to find himself and not just what will happen to him. The past is not time passed or over with; it influences a realization 47 of his guilt for not accepting responsibility. The present, then, is filled with resolve to live authentically. In i Heidegger’s later writings he leans more and more toward an atheistic position: In his later writings he [Heidegger] dismisses Kierke gaard as merely a religious writer, and he devotes more and more attention to the works of Nietzsche whom he has come to consider one of the very greatest philoso phers of all time.3 Heidegger's major work is Sein und Zeit (1927). It was translated into English in 1962 under the title, Being and Time. Karl Jaspers Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) was born in Oldenburg, Germany. He studied law at Heidelberg and Munich, and then turned to the study of medicine for a period of five years. Before the First World War, he worked at the psychiatric clinic in Heidelberg as a scientific assistant. In 1921, he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at Heidelberg. From 1948 on, he was professor of philosophy at Basel. Jaspers was a bourgeois Protestant who could find no final Q Walter Kaufmann, Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre (New York: Meridian, 1956), p. 33. 48 resolution for the tensions of the human soul in Protes- jtantism. To Karl Jaspers existentialism is a struggle to i 'bring the individual to grips with an authentic and genuine life in the face of the modern drift towards a standardized i i i mass society. In his book, Man in the Modern Age (1930), Jaspers depicts both the great threat and the great promise j i i | iof modern life. It is in this book that Jaspers, who was j the first philosopher to use the term "existential philoso phy" in its most recent connotation, spelled out many of I the existentialist concerns. As a whole the book is con cerned with the difficulty of man's life in a mass culture, and the means by which man can become a genuine self within I such a culture. Jaspers describes existential philosophy I as that which transgresses the sciences in search of the i authentic self. He states that it is impossible to put existential philosophy into a final form. Knowledge is bottomless, according to Jaspers, and requires an endless process of clarification. Communication is vital to a man's becoming an authentic person. Jaspers believes in transcendence, but denies that ! God can be isolated. He says that transcendence encom passes everything and therefore cannot be surveyed as a 49 whole. The key themes in Jaspers' writings are: boundary situations# shipwreck# transcendence, and existential i communication. Existence as we know it is "being-in-a- situation.” Boundary situations are the obstacles that an individual encounters along life's path. Some of these obstacles are suffering, guilt, and death. The anxieties caused by contemplating these occurrences keep a person from indecisive existence. They challenge him to make something of his life. Death’s ultimate restriction and limitation form the most important boundary. Han realizing his finitude must act. He must become himself. Jaspers does not accept Sartre's nihilistic view of life. Although he does not state a belief in life after death, he believes that there are some things in life which are immortal. Some of the values and decisions that man makes in life are indestructible. In other words, Jaspers subscribes to the belief, shared by many, that a man survives in the works which he has left behind. The influence that an individual has made on others during his lifetime is an example of this immortalization of values. There are moments in life, however, when man feels that everything is lost. This is the situation which Jaspers refers to as "shipwreck.” In 50 order to understand what Jaspers means by "shipwreck” it is necessary to understand his concept of "ciphers." A "cipher" is any ordinary finite event which points beyond i itself. A "cipher" is an intuitive signal which bypasses reason. "Shipwreck" occurs when there is an absence of "ciphers." Man searches for intelligibility and encounters silence and emptiness. "Shipwreck" can serve the purpose of preventing man from feeling too attached to the world. Man must struggle against "shipwreck" knowing that ulti mately he must lose. It is only when man releases his hold on the material world that he comes into contact with the Eternal. Jaspers differs from Sartre in his stress on the need for existential communication. Whereas Sartre con siders "the Other" as a hostile being whose "look" (regard) fills one with guilt and makes him aware of himself. Jaspers sees man's relationship with his fellow man as one Which rises above competitiveness and hostility to a feeling of communion and love. This love is based on honesty, and enables two people to be perfectly sincere and frank towards each other. Jaspers saya that man cannot achieve genuine faith until he has passed through despair and nihilism ("shipwreck"). This "shipwreck" that Jaspers speaks of 51 Is not. unlike “the dark night of the soul" experienced by 1st. John of the Cross. Man must leap across the void i beyond nihilism to reach the Absolute. This “leap" is ;reminiscent of Kierkegaard's "leap of faith.“ Unlike Sartre, Jaspers feels that religion has a value for man. j jfle adds, however, that philosophical faith is superior to i the role of religion. Here Jaspers seems to be caught i ; midway between religion and atheism. Jaspers' philosophy is one of faith in Transcendence, but he never clearly ex- i i plains what this Transcendence is. Jaspers preaches a l i [heroic effort on the part of man in the presence of un avoidable defeat. One must believe in and trust Being if I [life is to have meaning. ! Ernst Breisach states the essence of Jaspers' phi losophy in the following manner: In Jaspers, as in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, the term existence clearly points toward the hope for a truly human answer to the baffling problems of human life. It will not be an answer which man can just memorize and view as an object of intellectual existence. It will be one which he can make his own only by living it. In fact, even the questioning must be an existen tial questioning which involves man as an entity, unique and of absolute quality. And nobody has made it clearer than Jaspers that the questioning is just as close to the mystery of human life as is the answer itself. His whole philosophy is one constant reassess ment, gaining a standpoint and overcoming it, never 52 ceasing to project oneself beyond what fills one's life at the moment. Man must be like a traveler on a never- ending journey in vrtiich the horizon of today is the aim for tomorrow. He never gives up in disillusionment and despair, and never builds a shelter in which he plans to stay forever. He is at home at each day's destination, but his heart is filled with the expecta tions of tomorrow's horizon.^ Martin Buber Martin Buber (1878) came from a family which was jsteeped in orthodox Judaism. He taught at Frankfurt, Ger many from 1923 to 1933, and continued to publish books in ! Germany until Hitler came to power. In 1938, he emigrated to Palestine where he taught at the Hebrew University. The ! essence of his philosophical thought is contained in his i book I and Thou (1923). Buber retired from teaching in i 1951, but he continued to be active in educational projects. He has constructed no elaborate ontology. The center of his philosophy is human existence which Buber describes as a life of relationships. His philosophy is more systematic than that of the great French existentialist, Marcel. The two relationships which Buber distinguishes in his "life ^Introduction to Modern Existentialism (New York: Grove Press, 1962), p. 111. 53 in dialogue" are: "I-Thou" and "I-It.M Man becomes "I" only through the "Thou.” He emerges as a person solely in relation to a "Thou." It is important to note that the j"Thou" to which Buber constantly refers in his writings is I not only man, but also God. Therefore there is a temporal !"Thou" (one's fellow man) and a spiritual "Thou" (God). I Other existentialists do not place the emphasis on inter relationship that Buber does. Kierkegaard shows preference for man in isolation ("the single one"). Sartre regards "the Other" as an adversary. According to Buber, all i authentic life consists of a triadic relationship: I-fellow man-God. Whereas the "I-Thou" relationship gives life mean- jing, the "I-It" relationship is incomplete and meaningless in itself. Modern man, as Buber sees it, has adopted a materialistic means of living. Scientific and philosophical ! reasoning based on the separation of subject and object {Without personal involvement reveals man in an "I—It" rela tionship. The malaise of contemporary man is a result of his inability to relate to his fellow man and to God who is the center of his life. Buber distinguishes between two types of society: community and society. By community (Qatwoinschaft) Buber means a society united by established 54 customs, morals, and beliefs. Society (Gesellachaft) is an artificial group of members Who live together be cause it serves their purpose to do so. Buber endorses : "Qemeinschaft* * which consists of members who strive to {become authentic individuals. Community must recognize the dignity of the individual. These communities are small groups as opposed to the larger collectives of modern society. The commune must remain the center of society. Buber1s position has been referred to as "communal social ism. " In Buber's philosophy man's failures are not caused by other people or things, but by himself. A man, accord ing to Buber, lives authentically if he adheres to the triad ("I-Thou-Thou”). Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born in Prague, son of a German-Jewish-Bohemian family. He died at the age of forty-one of consumption. Thomas Mann writes of Kafka in his "Homage": He was a dreamer, and his compositions are often dream like in conception and form? they are as oppressive, illogical, and absurd as dreams, those strange shadow- pictures of actual life. But they are full of a reasoned morality, an ironic, satiric, desperately 55 reasoned morality, struggling with all its might toward justice, goodness, and the will of God.10 Kafka longed to be near to God, but felt very remote from Him. Kafka's works express the solitude of an author who felt very insecure in the discrepancy between God and man, and the incapacity of man to unite himself to the good. Kafka's most important shorter work is perhaps Metamorpho sis. The theme is the conflict between father and son. One morning Gregor Samsa awakens to discover that he has been transformed into a life-sized insect. When his father, mother, and sister find him transmogrified in this manner, they turn away in disgust. He can understand what they are saying, but cannot speak intelligibly. Gregor eats any thing that is rotten, but turns away in disgust from any thing fresh. His faculty of thinking is unimpaired and he feels that he should be treated with all human consider ation. He reflects on the wretchedness of his old way of living and the abject subjection to the tyranny of the mem bers of his family, who were incapable of understanding his appreciation of higher things and creative activity. In 10Franz Kafka, The Castle (New Yorki Alfred Knopf, 1968), p. x. 56 his transformed state, Gregor still longs for what is beautiful. As his family's loathing for him grows, so does i :his feeling of isolation. Finally, he dies of starvation l j Iand his family celebrates by going on a picnic. Some | |critics have described Metamorphosis as an allegory of Kafka's conflict with his father. Inauthenticity versus authenticity is the theme of the above story. Man, in his attempt to live authentically, is thwarted by those who would have him live in a completely subservient, conven tional manner. Any deviation from what is considered to be the norm, is countered by rejection. Jethro Bithell says the following about Kafka's iworks: The leading motifs of Kafka's works are fear, isola tion, frustration, the sense of being cast out, the feeling of being guilty somehow or other without knowing why, the premonition that judgment must be spoken, negative the doctrine of salvation by belief in God— Kafka's God is inscrutable. But "God" is not a word used by Kafka; neither is Jehovah. But Jehovah, the old divinity of the Jews, who brings men to judg ment and vengefully condemns them, comes to life anew as the Power behind these tales. In Kafka's fiction, as in the Hebrew scriptures. He judges and casts out those who have cast themselves out. This is the Law, against Which there is no appeal. Moreover, the Law is indifferent to what we suffer in seeking it. It is no use praying; prayers are not heard. For the Divine ordinance acts immutably whatever we do; all we can hope to do is to act in accordance with the 57 Divine Ordinance. We must save ourselves. The door is open. The radiance beyond the door to the Law is reality, the only reality, the world of the spirit. What we need is humility and work for work's sake, not for reward. We can live a full life if we are innocent and humble, and if we do not question the inscrutable and possibly in appearance, foolish ordering (but foolish only because we apply "reason" to things that are divine) of whatsoever Power controls us. Reason is the foe of faith. Not reason but faith gives sense to life, and this faith we must seek as Parcifal sought the Grail. Faith alone gives us the power to endure the disharmony between the physical and the spiritual world. Finallyi "Wer sucht, findet nicht, aber wer nicht sucht, wird gefunden." This, Kafka might have said, is the theology of today--the theology of time- wearied men in rotting cities. Paul Tillich The essence of the existential philosophy of Paul ! Tillich (1886-1965) can be found in his book. The Courage i To Be (1952). Tillich was reared as a German Protestant. His youth was sheltered and steeped in tradition. After the First World War, Tillich, whose religious attitude had became someWhat transformed, proposed a radical reformation of German society. After Hitler was installed as Chancellor of Germany, Tillich left Germany to accept a position in New York at the Union Theological Seminary in 1933. In the ^Modern German Literature (1880-1950) (Great Britain: Methuen & Co., 1963), p. 459. 58 United States. Tillich turned from socio-critical concerns to a preoccupation with theological problems. There is a great deal of interrelationship between the philosophy of jTillich and that of Heidegger and Jaspers. All three philosophers are much more systematic than most existen tialists. Tillich regards man's existence as a tension between being and non-being. Man's anxiety is rooted in an ;awareness of his finitude. Ernst Breisach differentiates between the question of authentic existence as viewed by Heidegger. Jaspers. Sartre, and Tillich: While the three great secular existentialists remain formal on the question of what authentic existence means, leaving to the individual existent to give it content, Tillich can be more concrete, since in the I Christian tradition he can discuss the essential struc ture of man. This return of an essential structure of human life is of crucial importance in Tillich's work. To him, whenever possibilities enter into the realm of actualities, an estrangement ensues. Existential analysis is primarily an analysis of this estrangement of what is from its essential structures. In the case of man, this estrangement can be called the falling away from the image of God which he is potentially. Accordingly existential analysis always is directed toward and motivated by the human predicament. It is characterized by a sense of immediacy, since man him self is at stake and his whole life is always in volved. 12 According to Tillich, authentic life is more than just a 12 Introduction to Modern Existentialism, p. 141. 59 knowledge of traditional religious creeds, it is religious existence or, as Tillich terms it, faith. Faith, although |linked to doubt, goes beyond doubt and anxiety to an affir- l mation in the face of doubt. Miguel de Unamuno William Barrett discusses two great Spanish exis tential philosophers in his study of existential philosophyt iMiguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) and Jos6 Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955). Unamuno, a poet first and last, wrote one of the most moving and genuine philosophic books of the whole [existential] movement; his Tragic Sense of Life is a work that fulfills, though in an anti-Nietzschean sense, Nietzsche's command to remain true to the earth. Unamuno had read Kierkegaard, but his thought is an expression of his own personal passion and of the Basque earth from Which he sprang. Ortega, a cooler and more cosmopolitan figure, is best known in this country as the social critic of The Revolt of the Masses. All the basic premises of Ortega's thought derive from modern German philosophy! so far as he philosophizes, his mind is Germanic; but he was able to translate German philosophy into the language of the people, without pedantry and jargon, and particu larly into the simplicity of an altogether alien lan guage, Spanish, so that the translation itself becomes an act of creative thought. Ortega loves to hide the profundity of his thought behind simple and casual language. ^ 13 Irrational Man (New Yorks Doubleday & Co., 1958), p. 16. 60 Miguel de Unamuno wrote in moat genres, but in his hands they lost their conventional form and became highly jlyrical. Although his fame rests mostly on his essays, he i jwrote plays, novels, and poetry as well. In his writings, j ! Unamuno was restless and uneasy and offered no solutions or I doctrines. In his novels and essays, Unamuno pours out his soul in anguish and struggle, in an attempt to discover the meaning of existence. In his novel, Niebla (1914), the protagonist, Augusto Perez, remarks that men do not die of great sorrow or joy, but from small incidents which close over them like a "mist." Abel S&nchez (1917) is a tragic drama of hate and envy. Joaquin, who is the counterpart '■of the biblical Cain, is in reality a more authentic indi vidual than the object of his envy, Abel. An opportunity arises for Joaquin to kill Abel, but he refrains from doing so. Throughout Unamuno's pessimistic novels, one is aware of Unamuno's attempt to impose his will upon the world. The problems faced by the protagonists in his works are to a great extent those which he faced in life. When Unamuno was thirty-three, he suffered a severe I religious and spiritual crisis. This was a period of anguish and despair at the thought of the nothingness Which ifaced a man in death. Unamuno felt the desperate need of ] ja God who would grant him immortality. Through love for his fellow man, Unamuno in a sense creates God who will {guarantee him this immortality which he longs for. Reason !tells him that there is no God, but an agonizing faith {requires that he struggle to believe in survival as a man i of flesh and blood. This conflict of the rational versus jthe antirational is presented in the essay, "Del senti- i miento tr&gico de la vida.” Madariaga believed that this i work placed Unamuno as the greatest figure of twentieth- century Spain. Paul Hie regards Unamuno as one of the ichief contributors to the existential movement. I Without doubt, the issues that he [Unamuno] raised con cerning consciousness, anguish, death, transcendence, ! and personality anticipate the more systematic— and less vital— analyses of Heidegger, Buber, Jaspers, and Sartre. Although the latter have been recognized as i the leaders of modern existentialism, Unamuno wrote well in advance of their philosophies, and specifically enough to be considered more than just a precursor.^ Unamuno has been criticized for his lack of system in writing. He wrote as he lived, with a passion that seldom resolved the problem which he had stated. He is closer in i method to Nietzsche and Kierkegaard than he is to Jaspers, 14 Unamunoi An Existential View of Self and Society UMadison: University of Wisconsin, 1967), p. 4. 62 Heidegger, or Sartre, whose writings are much more system atic. Ilie places him between the figures of the nineteenth i land twentieth centuries as a sort of link between the two* i I He recapitulates the ideas of the nineteenth-century exis- i jtentialists and anticipates the concerns of those of the l twentieth century. The general outline of Unamuno's existentialism can be seen by a few comparisons. He demonstrated that the rational mind shatters the foundation of Christian values, as did Dostoyevsky; he suggested that man's will dictates to the imperative of moral judgments, as did Nietzsche; his need for God resulted in agonistic faith, as in Kierkegaard; the fear of death revealed to him the most authentic feature of existence, as in Heidegger; his self-realization consisted of acting upon the world, as in Sartre. Unamuno's entire life was a dialectic of lonely soul- jsearching and meaningful action. In isolation, he carefully i jweighed various courses of action. He sought to reconcile the opposing positions of solitude and isolation with the fulfillment of social responsibilities and social activi ties. In solitude, Unamuno was able to rest and restore his powers of thinking after the exertion of social engage ment. Without solitude, according to Unamuno, it is 15Ibid., p. 5. 63 impossible to acquire self-knowledge. The process of self contemplation is called "ensimiamamiento" by Unamuno. A jperson who is thus "enBimismado* 1 is submerged within him self, I Unamuno's main preoccupation was the study of man, i whom he referred to as "el hombre de carne y hueso" (the man of flesh and blood). He was concerned with mortal man i in his social environment on the one hand, and with man's lofty aspirations to immortality on the other. Unamuno's chief philosophical question centered around immortality. The basic question echoed throughout his writings is: What remains of man after death? Unamuno's major essay is "The Tragic Sense of Life" '(1913). In this essay, Unamuno examines the conflict between time and eternity? faith and knowledge; and ma terialism and idealism. Whereas reason insists that there is no eternity, the heart in its longing for immortality insists that there is eternal happiness. Unamuno in most of his works attempts to resolve the contradictions implicit in the immortality of spirit and flesh. He is concerned with "the concrete substantive man," The man of flesh and boner the man who is born, suffers, and dies— above all, who dies; the man who eats and 64 drinks and plays and sleeps and thinks and wills; the man who is seen and heard; the brother, the real brother. Unamuno defends man's right to be himself, to be an authen- itic individual. To propose to a man that he should be someone else, 1 that he should become someone else, is to propose to I him that he should cease to be himself. Everyone de fends his own personality, and only consents to a change in his mode of thinking or of feeling in so far as this change is able to enter into the unity of his spirit and become involved in its continuity; in so far as this change can harmonize and integrate itself with all the rest of his mode of being, thinking, and feeling, and can at the same time knit itself with his memories. Neither of a man nor of a people— which is, in a certain sense, also a man— can a change be de manded which breaks the unity and continuity of the person. A man can change greatly, almost completely even, but the change must take place within his con tinuity.^-7 The most tragic problem of philosophy to Unamuno is: . . . to reconcile intellectual necessities with the necessities of the heart and the will. For it is on this rock that every philosophy that pretends to re solve the eternal and tragic contradiction, the basis of our existence, breaks to pieces.1* * Upon hearing the news of Unamuno's death on December 31, 1936, Ortega y Gasset said that the absence of his voice would produce a vacuum very hard to fill. Had Unamuno 18Introduction to Modern Spanish Literature (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1968), p. 280. 17Ibid., p. 287. 18Ibid.. p. 291. 65 lived, he undoubtedly would have followed the numerous Spanish intellectuals who went into exile. He would not have tolerated Franco's dictatorship, for in his own words: j i I will never willingly yield myself, nor entrust my i confidence, to any popular leader who is not penetrated I with the feeling that he Who orders a people orders i men, men of flesh and bone, men who are born, suffer, ! and, although they do not wish to die, die; men who are ends in themselves, not merely means; men who must be themselves and not others; men, in fine, Who seek that which we call happiness. It is inhuman, for example, to sacrifice one generation of men to the generation which follows, without having any feeling for the destiny of those who are sacrificed, without having any regard, not for their memory, not for their names. Jos6 Ortega v Gasset Ortega y Gasset is the intellectual leader of the .generation which followed "la generaci6n del '98." Ortega counters Unamuno's man of flesh and bone with a thinker who views life as a problem. After obtaining his doctorate from the University of Madrid in 1904, Ortega went to Ger many and studied at the University of Leipzig. He loved German culture, but was torn by a need to affirm Spanish culture as well. He urged Spaniards to formulate a more 'objective, scientific pattern of thinking, and to became 19Ibid.. p. 292. 66 a part of European culture while still retaining what was uniquely Spanish. It was Ortega's feeling that Spain's ; decadence was because of the absence of a "select minority" ; (minoria selects). The masses are in need of men of su- perior ability to lead them. Ortega claims that there are I / I scarcely one or two important concepts of Heidegger which do not preexist in his works, sometimes as much as thirteen years earlier. Most of Ortega's philosophy is discussed by Juli&n Marias in his recent book, Circumstance and Voca- 20 tion. According to Ortega, Philistinism was Spain's national problem. He calls Unamuno "the supreme hermit" land blames him for initiating a torrid youth into fanati- icism. Ortega stresses the importance of Kant's formula "behave in such a way that you do not use men only as a I means, in such a way that they are like the ends of your own act." Kant's imperative seeks to have other men be persons for us, not utilities or things, Ortega contrasts thing and person. "Thing," according to him, is what is utilizable. A person is an "I." One can treat another jperson as a "thing" or as an "I." Ortega regards man as a I "hero": 20 Circumstance and Vocation (Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970). 67 Man, the hero, . . . advances swift and straight, like a dart, toward a glorious goal; we march “projected" toward the far distance; circumstance asks of us that I we accept its "offer,” The reabsorption of the circum stance consists in its humanization, in its incorpora- i tion into this project of man's; that is, man makes , himself with the things that are offered to him; he | makes life with them, his life; he appropriates them by projecting into them meaning and significance— in short— "l6gos." The destiny of man, of each man, when he is faithful to his situation--that is, his concrete and circumstantial destiny— is to impose his personal project on the real, to give meaning to what does not have meaning by itself, to extract the l6gos from what is inert, brutal, and illogical, to convert that which is simply "out there around me" (circumstance) into true world, into personal human life.^ Ortega calls the individual who lives authentically a hero. He says that "All of us in different measure, are heroes.H In other words, every human being is a composite of au thentic and unauthentic existence. The man— and in the last instance, all men— who wants adventure does not content himself with reality; he makes it and reshapes it in the light of that project Which is not he, but is what he aspires to be. Ortega contrasts this project with custom, tradition, and the biological instincts; that is, nature, society, and history, what is "real," what is "thing" in man. Being a hero consists in being one's own self. If we resist the fact that heredity, that which lies around us, im poses certain actions on us, it must be that we are seeking to concentrate on ourselves, and only on our selves, the origin of our acts. When the hero wants, it is not his ancestors in him (heredity) or the uses 21Ibid., p. 405. 68 of the present (environment) Which want, but he him self. And this wanting of his to be himself is heroism.22 Ortega believes that resistance and invention constitute authenticity. He goes on to explain why he calls the au thentic man a "hero '*: I His life is a perpetual resistance to the habitual and customary. Each movement that he makes has first had to conquer custom and invent a new kind of attitude. Such a life is a perennial pain, a constant tearing himself away from that part of himself Which is given over to habit, the prisoner of matter. Resistance and invention, then, constitute authenticity: they are the two faces of authentic life, which in order to claim its originality, to make its acts emerge from its self ness, needs previously to free itself from the pres sures and temptations of the social surroundings, from custom, from habit, from What others do— that is, from I the ordinary man. But the decisive point is that it is not only a question of a resistance with regard to what is external and outside oneself, but that one ; must tear oneself away from part of oneself; that is, the person is made partially extrinsic, alienated, made unauthentic.2^ In his very first book. Meditations on Quixote (1914), Ortega lays the foundation for his entire philoso phical system. It is in this book that Ortega makes the existential declaration (thirteen years before the same concept was to appear in Heidegger's Being and Time (Sein und Zeit, 1927): "I am myself plus my circumstance, and 22Ibid., p. 408. 69 24 if I do not save it, I cannot save myself." Juli&n Marlas calls this "the most compressed formula of Ortega's fundamental intuition." The same concept had been ex pressed metaphorically in "Adam in Paradise" (1910). One's ‘ self cannot be separated from his circumstance. Conversely, i i 'the circumstance only has meaning as it exists around 1 (circum) a self, not just any self, but an "I myself," 25 capable of introspection. In 1930 Ortega wrote The Revolt of the Masses, which laments the fact that "mass man" has triumphed. According to Ortega, the masses seek to destroy anything which is different or outstanding and attempt to bring everything down to their level of mediocrity. Europe is in I danger of falling into the extreme of fascism or communism. ! iThe only solution to the problem lies in a return to the power of the "minorla selecta." Some of the other existen tial themes in The Revolt of the Masses predate similar ideas in Sartre. Life, which means primarily what is possible for us to be, is likewise, and for that very reason, a choice, from among these possibilities, of what we actually 24(New York: Norton & Co., 1961), p. 45, 25Ibid., p. 173. 70 are going to be. Our circumstances— these possibili ties— form the portion of life given us, imposed on us. This constitutes what we call the world. Life does not choose its own world/ it finds itself, to start with, in a world determined and unchangeable: the world of the present. Our world is that portion of destiny | which goes to make up our life. But this vital destiny j is not a kind of mechanism. We are not launched into existence like a shot from a gun, with its trajectory 1 absolutely predetermined. The destiny under which we l fall when we come into this world— it is always this world, the actual one--consists in the exact contrary. Instead of imposing on us one trajectory, it imposes several, and consequently forces us to choose. Sur prising condition, this, of our existence.' To live is to feel ourselves fatally obliged to exercise our liberty, to decide what we are going to be in this world. Not for a single moment is our activity of decision allowed to rest. Even when in desperation we abandon ourselves to whatever may happen, we have decided not to decide.^* The major work which followed The Revolt of the Masses was I published in 1933 under the title, En torno a Galileo ;(English translation, Man and Crisis [1958]). In this work Ortega continues to expound his existential theories. . . . man is a most strange entity, who, in order to be what he is, needs first to find out What he is; needs, whether he will or no, to ask himself what are the things around him and what, there in the midst of them, is he. For it is this which really differentiates man from a stone, and not that man has understanding while 27 the stone lacks it. 26 The Revolt of the Masses (New York: Norton & Co., 1932), pp. 47-48. 27Man and Crisis (New York* Norton & Co., 1958), p. 21. 71 In a footnote to Part Three: Tierra Firma of his book. Circumstance and Vocation, Juli&n Marias sees many of the basic ideas found in Sartre's works after 1943 as a recapi tulation of Ortega's philosophy as found in Meditations on i Quixotes i Sartre's works after 1943 present again and again ideas which seem to be in part mere developments or repeti tions of these ideas in the Meditations on Quixote, even though they eventually lead in a very different direction.2® Ortega's work may be divided into three periods: obletl- vismo, perspectivismo. and racio-vitaliamo. The first period, which stresses the importance of things and ideas, was soon abandoned by Ortega. Perspectivismo deals with ithe theory of absolute relativity. Racio-vitalising (vital I reason) is Ortega's existential viewpoint and the most im portant of the three periods. Nicolas Berdvaev Nicolas Berdyaev (1874-1948) was born in Kiev, Russia. His early education at a military academy installed |in him a strong dislike for all regimentation. He turned 28 Circumstance and Vocation, p. 410. 72 to Marxism in 1894 when he was a law student at Kiev Uni versity, as he was deeply concerned about social justice. |After reading the writings of Ibsen and Dostoyevsky, he ibegan to recognize the weaknesses of Marxism. In 1922 he iwent into permanent exile. After spending a short time in |Germany, he went to Paris where he was free to develop his i philosophy of freedom. Prior to his exile, Bergyaev fought Communism chiefly on spiritual grounds. He gained first hand experience of what Dostoyevsky meant by the "Legend of the Grand Inquisitor" in The Brothers Karamazov. Berdyaev watched as man traded his freedom for a crust of bread. 'Berdyaev found that man willingly trades his freedom for i security and in the process ceases to be human. In search of freedom, Berdyaev ultimately gave up his homeland. Berdyaev's loyalty to Russia was never broken. The sufferings of the Russian people were his sufferings and their hopes were his hopes. Since the Eastern Ortho dox Church had experienced no Reformation and Counter reformation, there was more freedom of thought and less rigid doctrine and dogma in this church than in either the Protestant or Catholic churches. Berdyaev felt that man's hope lay in the pursuit of God through His vehicle on earth, 73 the Eastern Orthodox Church. Like most existentialists* Berdyaev deplored the mechanization of life and the enslavement of man by the i machines he created. According to Berdyaev the man of the masses is distinguished from the individual by "a lack of jexpressed personality, the absence of personal originality, a disposition to swim with the current of the quantitative force of any given moment, an extraordinary susceptibility 29 to mental contagion, imitativeness, repeatability.” In discussing man with respect to the historical process Berdyaev says: On the one hand I accept history as my path, the path of man, and on the other hand I indignantly tear the mask from it and rebel against it. . . . History has set its ineffaceable stamp upon me. Yet at the same time I am a free spirit, a person who bears the image and likeness of Sod, not only the image of the world. . . . One must preserve one's freedom in the realm of ■ J A necessity. v In opposition to Heidegger, Berdyaev claimed that existence has priority over being. Being can only realize itself in existence. The concrete human experience according no Nicolas Berdyaev, Slavery and Freedom {New York: Scribner's, 1939), p. 121. 30Truth and Revelation (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954), p. 80. 74 to Berdyaev, is what is most essential. Berdyaev's dialec tic is based not on the duality of soul and body, which he considered as a unity, but between spirit and nature, the victory of the spirit over nature, of freedom over neces sity. He agrees with Buber's "X-Thou" relationship. In 'contrast to Buber's Jewish religiosity, Berdyaev practiced Christianity in an existential manner. He believed that living life in co-creativity with God is more important than theorizing about it. Ethical values are generated through this free creative activity. Freedom can only be secured through the true "Liberator of mankind, the God-man, Jesus Christ." Hie existence of the human personality with its loves and fears, with its hopes and anxieties, with its j unique and unrepeatable destiny, is a paradox in the world |of nature and within the confines of society, civilization, and history. Personality is unceasingly faced with an en vironment which is alien to it. The human personality with its aspirations, and the conditions of existence in this world are contradictory to each other and cannot but clash. In the process of its self-realization, personality must constantly struggle against the forces of estrangement and exteriorization, against what Berdyaev calls the principle of objectification which enslaves man by its chains of necessity and threatens his freedom with the fetters of i 31 ; causality, I Berdyaev1s thought may be considered as a bridge Ibetween Russian and Western thinking. He says that even i j |Christian man has been tempted to create God in his own | image. This patriarchal conception of God has resulted in Imaster-slave relations, or as Sastre would express it, an ioppressor-oppressed relationship. God, who is not acces- / i sible through reason, is discovered in mystical communion, Berdyaev regards God as a Mystery towards which man tran scends and with Which he enters into communion. The basis j for the unity of mankind is Christianity, In Berdyaev's i 32 jown words: "God is the Meaning of human existence." I Gabriel Marcel I Gabriel Marcel (1889), unlike most of the other 1 i existentialists, whose families were deeply rooted in reli- i gion, came from a family which was practically devoid of I 31 ! Berdyaev's Philosophy: The Existential Paradox of Freedom and Necessity (New York* Doubleday, 1966), p. 77. 32 Slavery and Freedom, p, 87. 76 religious practice. Marcel's father was an agnostic, and Jhis mother died when the boy was quite young. His only religious influence came from an aunt, a Jewess \rtio had jstrong Protestant leanings. Marcel was greatly influenced i i I jin his youth by the German philosopher, Schelling. Gradu- i | i ally, Marcel developed his own philosophy and was converted 1 ito Roman Catholicism. Ernst Breisach describes his phi losophy in the following manner: The estrangement of man from the source of his being and the means of overcoming it is the central theme of Marcel's philosophy, as it is with all existentialists. He protests against the life of modern man led on a flat surface rather than in the more valid true and full depth of human life. Modern man is seduced in two ways, by a glittering and attractive life as a functional part of his society, and by the lure of a thinker knowing only problems but not mystery. In 1 the functional life man feels his life to be filled to the brim with meaning. We "are" teachers, husbands, wives, member of clubs, etc., etc. Our life is se curely channeled in a routine but the price paid is a terrible one of de—humanization. The consequences of | it are experienced in our period. Turmoil instead of the envisaged harmony and deep-reaching dissatis faction in the place of the looked—for happiness. In Marcel's philosophy man cannot live as an isolated being without concern for others. His view of the relationship iwith other persons parallels that of Buber. The "I-Thou" I encounter is linked to love. The absence of love leads 33 Introduction to Modern Existentialism, p. 150. 77 to distrust between individuals and reduces their relation ship to one of possessing or being possessed. There is a striking similarity in Marcel's philosophy of hope (Which is anxiety and despair overcome) and the esperanza (hope) of Sastre which will be discussed later on. ‘ Hope belongs only to a life lived in the inexhaustible ontological mystery that is love, freedom, and encoun ter. Accordingly it is the hope of the man who is always on his way, the homo viator. . . . This wayfarer ' to and witness for the ontological mystery represents Marcel's conception of authentic existence.-*4 Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre (1905), the French philosopher and litterateur, stands in stark contrast to Martin Heidegger. i 'Although Sartre is often regarded as the high priest of the existential movement, and has been labeled by some as the "prophet" of existentialism, he is only one of the major existentialists and not the only exponent of its precepts. Sartre's facility in philosophical exposition has placed him at the head of the modern existential writers. It is chiefly through hie writings that existentialism has been transmitted to other countries in Europe and in the Western 34Ibid., p. 157. 78 Hemisphere. Sartre has been extremely successful as a playwright and to a lesser degree as a novelist. His first novel, Nausea (1938), was followed by a volume of short stories entitled The Wall (1939). Nausea expressed the hopelessness of mankind in a meaningless world in Which an individual's existence is completely unjustified. Hie stories in The Wall repeated this theme, and intensified the absurdity of man’s condition. In 1939 Sartre was drafted into the French Army. He was captured by the Ger mans in 1940 and spent nine months in a prison camp. This episode in his life no doubt had a profound effect on his subsequent writings. Most of Sartre's philosophy is con- i tained in his enormous philosophical thesis. Being and Nothingness (1943). This work has been considered by many critics as one of the most important philosophical con tributions of the twentieth century. During the year that Being and Nothingness was published, Sartre’s play, The Flies (1943), appeared. The Flies is a modern adaptation of the Greek tragedy which survives in the versions of the .three great dramatists, Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, i Eugene O'Neill transposed this theme to a modern setting in his drama Mourning Becomes Blectra (1931). All of the plays baaed on the Oresteia theme carry a message of freedom. In Sartre's version the "flies" are minor Furies or Eumenides which are representative of guilt and self-condemnation. i They serve as one's conscience to remind him of his sins. ! !Jupiter is a reality to both those who believe in him and ithose who do not. The nonbeliever must cope with the beliefs of the majority. Sartre's one-act drama No Exit was produced in Paris in 1944. The three main protagonists of the play are Garcin, a pacifist who died as a coward and who is respon sible for his wife's death; Estelle, a nymphomaniac who Ikilled her own child and was the cause of the death of her lover; In&e, a lesbian who drove her friend to suicide and i jmurder. The three are placed together for an eternity in ;a hot room where there are no mirrors and no means by which they can escape each other's glance (le regard). In this play Sartre describes the torment of those who live in self-deception in a Hell on earth. Each one is simulta neously torturer and tortured. At the end Garcin sums up I his feeling of anguish stating that "Hell is other people." Sartre's metaphysics may be branded negativistic as it describes the discord between the world and man's 80 yearning for meaning. Man has the freedom to act, but thia 1 freedom leaves him with a feeling of anguish. Anguish is the primal condition of man who is aware that the universe is a nfeant (nothingness). Man's response to being thrown (Heidegger's “qeworfen") into a meaningless universe is I "nausea," or, a sense of incompleteness, futility, and desperation. In Sartre's second stage of writing, he carries this feeling of despair and anguish into the development of a feeling of responsibility. Works such as Nausea expressed the human condition. Once man realized that he was "free" land could rely solely upon himself, he could create a new humanism out of despair. He could not rely on God or other Ipeople for help; he must realize his own potential through action (Sastre's acci6n or praxis). According to Sartre, man is not what he imagines himself to be, but what he does. In Sartre's novels and plays, man submits himself to the test of authenticity. Sartre invents his own termi nology to replace the existentialist terms found in the writings of most of the other existential philosophers. Sartre uses the term "bonne foi" (good faith) to express "authenticity," and "mauvaise foi" (bad faith) to express 81 "inauthenticity. ' * The characters of The Flies and The Victors discover their "good faith" whereas those of No Exit and The Respectful Prostitute reveal their "bad i faith." In Sartre's articles entitled "What Is Literature?" i '(1947), he calls upon both men and literature to be "en gaged. " During the Resistance, men showed "good faith" by submitting to extreme torture rather than betray their cause. Under these conditions, men discovered their humanity. In Sartre's play The Victors, man emerges trium phant in his refusal to betray his comrades. "They kept silent and man was born in their silence." One of Sartre's most popular essays was published after the war, "existentialism Is a Humanism" (1946). This is the period in Which Sartre begins to support communism. The Hungarian Revolution in 1956 caused a rift between Sartre and official communism. It is to be noted that Sartre never joined the Communist Party. Sartre's philosophy is closer to Heidegger's than lit is to Jaspers'. Sartre, however, rejects Heidegger's notion of Being as the basis of all beings and his view of the world as an entity which is meaningful in itself. 82 Sartre believes that the world is meaningful only as man gives it meaning by his existence. Man exists first and then gives meaning to this existence by living and acting. i |Sartre's famous "existence precedes essence" is the key to I the understanding of his philosophy. Man comes into the I i world without a nature, without essence (en soi). He de fines himself while existing, and therefore creates his own essence (pour soi). Man is the sum total of all of his acts. He is What he makes himself. It is Sartre's con tention that the world in which man finds himself is gra tuitous, contingent, and utterly meaningless. Sartre 'proclaims his atheistic position in the statement, "God is idead." God, according to the theological definition, is a i {Being who is What he wants to be or ens causa sui. Sartre {defines God in the typical existentialistic hyphenated fashion as "being-in—itself—for-itself" (8tre-en-soi-pour— soi) . Sartre refused the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964 in a gesture of defiance against official honors. Out of contempt for social conventions, he has never married, but he lived for many years with Simone de Beauvoir. Since his rise to fame, he has helped many individuals in need. 83 and has shown complete Indifference with regard to money matters. His latest works present a more positive, less idestructive philosophy than his prewar production. I | i Albert Camus | | Albert Camus (1913-1960) was born in Mondovi, Algeria of a French father and a Spanish mother. He studied philosophy at the University of Algiers from 1932 to 1936. His first ambition was to become a teacher, but his health would not permit his passing the medical examination re quired to obtain a credential. Instead, he turned to iwriting. Camus' writing career begins with an overriding preoccupation with the fact that man must die. His first l works reveal the anguish of the individual who suddenly ! discovers a destiny which he cannot escape. Camus becomes i aware of the nature of finitude. He sees the world as a hostile place filled with disappointment, failure, and in completeness. The universe has no regard for the desires of man who aspires towards wholeness, finality, and hap piness. In the presence of the absurdity of life, man must ask himself the question: Is life still worth living or is suicide the only honest and courageous action? 64 In The Myth of Sisyphus (1943) Camus depicts four types of individuals who live in terms of the absurd: | Don Juan, who lives for the erotic moment, the sensual delight ever sought and renewed without meaning, without higher purpose; the actor, whose thirst for the present moment is satisfied through reliving the lives of others; the conqueror, who recognizes that history is never com plete, but who gives himself to the struggles, the transient victories and defeats of history, savoring the action it self and nothing more; the artist, Who describes existence in the world. He is a mimic and lives an experience not !once but twice. Camus' novel The Stranger (1942), together with I The Myth of Sisyphus, is a philosophical analysis of the objective human experience. Meuraault, the protagonist of the novel, is characterized by a total indifference to everything in existence except the physical sensations of the moment. Aside from these sensations life is absurd and meaningless. All men are condemned to death. Meursault i i s not alone. Any human life which is forced into the mold of eternal value judgments becomes a life of guilt, sin, and failure. 85 Cantus shows man1 s feeble attempt to counter the absurd in two plays: The Misunderstanding (1944) and i Caligula (1945). Martha, the protagonist of The Misunder standing. has come to the realization that the humdrum life i ] which she leads is futile and meaningless. She seeks the i cooperation of her mother in the plan of murdering any guest that arrives at their inn if he is rich and unattached. She intends to liberate herself by seeking the freedom and aban don of the sea. She and her mother murder a wealthy guest who turns out to be her brother who has come home after a long sojourn abroad. Martha's despair of the world is total. She is defeated in her plan to strike back at the absurd. Caligula strikes back at the absurd in a different i manner. He has discovered the hopeless, limited character iof human existence in a world which is as senseless as it is implacable. He has discovered the fact that "men die and they are not happy." Caligula assumes the function of the world and creates arbitrary finitude and suffering over men. In the end, Caligula discovers that there is some thing more than the absurd; there is responsibility to others. His second experiment ends before a mirror. The world is no longer there; he sees only himself. 86 According to Camus, we may despair because of the discovery that we have no absolute place or guarantee in ;this existence. Stopping here means personal sickness, nausea, and social disorder. The second step consists of i {pushing away from the world and ceasing to despair of the i i I inability of the world to conform to our demands. Accord ing to Camus, we must attempt to accept our finitude and the uncertainty of our existence. The question arises * "Who can guarantee this life of mine?” The answer is: "No one but myself." Samuel Beckett Samuel Beckett (1906) was born in Dublin. In 1927 'he graduated from Trinity College with a B.A. in French and I Italian. After receiving his M.A. in French from Trinity College, he spent four years traveling and writing in London, France, and Germany. In 1937 he settled definitely in Paris. The absurd man is epitomized in the writings of Beckett. This is true especially of his two plays. Waiting for Godot (1954), and Endgame (1958). The two main charac- j ters in Waiting for Godot, Estragon and Vladimir, spend a lifetime "waiting," but nothing happens. Maurice Friedman 87 describes Beckett's works in the following manner: All Beckett’s works seem concerned with the long, slow process of dying. Beckett's characters endlessly and painfully drag themselves through a wasteland of non presence and nonexistence, the ultimate goal and | relief of which is death. / !The protagonists in Waiting for Godot and in Endgame are jcomplementary in nature. Although Waiting for Godot does not tell a story, it explores a static situation. Two old tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, are opposites. Vladimir is the stronger of the two. It is he who expresses the hope that Godot will come. In Endgame the protagonists, Pozzo and Lucky, are more primitive in their relationship. Pozzo I ! is a sadistic master and Lucky is a submissive slave. Nicola Abbaqnano i ! Hie last existentialist to be discussed is the Italian, Nicola Abbagnano (1901). Abbagnano was born in Salernot he received his degree in philosophy from the Uni versity of Naples in 1922. From 1922 to 1936 he taught philosophy and history in the licei classici of Salerno, Catania, and Naples. Since 1936 he has been Professor of 35 To Deny Our Nothingness (New York: Dell Publish ing Co., 1967), p. 313. 88 the History of Philosophy at the University of Turin. The importance of this philosopher to the existential movement is summed up in the following words: Abbagnano defines his existentialism positively* for though he recognizes man's finitude* whose limiting conditions are birth* death* constitution in space and | time, and freedom, he argues for the possibility of I man's relationship with being. Existence, as the human mode of being, is a problematic structure operating in a situation (that is, the relationship of man with the world inasmuch as it limits and conditions as well as establishes and determines human possibilities as such), and its horizon is the non-infallible guarantee of its realization. He strives to avoid the fatal necessity of "lo scacco" (the stalemate) and also the irrationality of an infinite and indefinite possi bility.36 Abbagnano bases his entire philosophy on the principle of i commitment. He places emphasis on man's ability to exer- cise his freedom through the choice of one of multiple possible determinations. In clarifying "being,'* he says: Being is not only the being of the self (io)? it is also the being of the world as the unity which is the foundation of the order or the system of the world? it is the being of the community, as the unity which is the foundation of the coexistential community.37 Abbagnano distinguishes between what he labels "old" and 36 Nicola Abbagnano, Critical Existentialism (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1969), p. xiii. 37Ibid., p. xxi. 89 "new" existentialism. Among the adherents of "old" exis tentialism, Abbagnano lists Sartre and Heidegger. In |differentiating between the two forms of existentialism, i ; Abbagnano says: i In reality, the difference between the old and the new existentialism can be schematically expressed in the following manner: first of all, according to the old existentialism, man cannot do other than recognize his impotence before the world and abandon himself to its course, or, as Heidegger says, "to let being be. 1 1 According to the new existentialism, man is neither potent nor impotent in principle; but must determine in every kind of situation what the limits and condi tions of his possibilities are. In the second place, while for the old existentialism, philosophy had the contemplative or prophetic task of making man recog nize and accept his impotence, for the new existen tialism, philosophy has the task of guiding and sup porting the effort of man toward consolidating his possibilities. Moreover, for the old existentialism, philosophy is the only possible knowledge because it j is the only knowledge that makes him understand his situation in the world. According to the new exis tentialism, any positive knowledge, if interpreted and supported by a philosophical intent, can contribute to the recognition and consolidation of human possibili ties. Consequently, the old existentialism claims to exclude, or consider useless, science and positive knowledge in general; whereas the new existentialism avails itself of science and of the techniques of which it disposes, recognizing it as the most powerful in strument that man possesses for the consolidation and enrichment of his possibilities in the world. 8 iThe old existentialist is filled with anguish and despair before the meaninglessness of life; his life brings him 38Ibid., p. 230. 90 face to face with what Sartre labels "nausea." The new existentialist goes beyond the initial shock experienced by !the old existentialist to the acceptance of life as it is i in its freedom of choice and responsibility to oneself and ;to others. i i Some of the main themes of existentialism which i 39 will be examined in the works of Sastre are: Subjective Truth there is no knowledge independent of a knowing sub ject. Kierkegaard defines truth as an "objective certitude, held fast in the appropriation of the most passionate in wardness ," in Sartre's philosophy this would be stated as I | "existence precedes essence." Unamuno stated this in his | l desire to return to "the man of flesh and bone" ("el hotnbre de came y hueso"). The existentialist attempts to describe man as a creature who makes his own essence every day by living in the world. Man cannot be separated from his surroundings; he is always "man—in—the—world" ("ser—en—el— mundo"). 39 For a more detailed account of existential themes see: Kurt F. Reinhardt, The Existentialist Revolt (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1967), pp. 231-243. 91 Estrangement Man appears as a stranger to the world into which he has been cast and in which he is inescapably involved. j Man is the most helpless and defenseless of all creatures. This is shown by Sartre's hostile objective world (1'en- Isoi) Which advances aggressively upon the ego (le pour*soi). Perhaps the best example of the feeling of estrangement can |be found in Kafka's works. In The Trial human existence is described as a paradoxical legal procedure or trial in which man finds himself enmeshed without ever being able to discover the precise nature of the charge brought against him. Man is guilty; he knows not why. In The i ! Castle man is subjected to the arbitrary decrees of a i j jmysterious sovereign power and despite desperate efforts he inever can solve the mystery (gain access to the castle). Estrangement is overcome in the novel La Peste by Camus through the power of neighborly love and unselfish friend ship. Man rediscovers his true self through service to his fellow man. ' Nothingness Man's contingency and finiteness force him into an existential crisis. His temporality and historicity are 92 revealed to him, Man Is brought face to face with nothing ness and enters a state of existential despair from which he may be rescued by "resolve" (Heidegger) or "faith" (Kierkegaard). In order for man to perform any action he must pull himself out of the state of anguish Which occurs I when he encounters nothingness. Freedom Man is left to exercise his own free will. Accord ing to Sartre, man is condemned to be free and he carries the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. Choice Since man is free, he must choose continually. I Ortega y Gasset is the first existentialist to express the iidea of choice in his writings. Even if man refrains from choosing, he has still chosen not to choose. Responsibility Man's freedom and the constant exercise of choice make him responsible for himself and for all humanity. I This idea of responsibility is found in the writings of all existentialists. According to Sartre, with every one of our actions, we are not choosing merely ourselves, but everyone else as well, because In our actions we affirm i that a particular act is within the realm of human behavior. i Ancruish ! Since man has to choose between alternatives and must create his own future, he feels anguish. He realizes that he has total freedom within the threat of nothingness. Anguish is stressed by most existentialists. The problem i was first stated in Kierkegaard's The Concept of Dread 1(1844). The theme is elaborated upon by Heidegger, who, |like Kierkegaard, insists on a distinction between "anguish" and "fear.“ This distinction has been discussed in the esection on Heidegger's philosophy. Briefly, in anguish one ! is not threatened by something definite, whereas a person jfears something definite. In anguish man's relationship to the world is totally shaken. What threatens is "nothing" : (no thing), and man finds himself alone and lost in the Void, One is here reminded of the total feeling of desola tion that San Juan de la Cruz describes in his "Dark Night of the Soul." Anguish destroys false security, according to Heidegger, and frees an individual for existential tasks. Anguish, in addition, prepares man for an "authentic exis tence. " Boredom (ennui), melancholy, and despair are 94 degrees, modes, and variations of anguish. In authentic ennui, man is seized by a nameless emptiness. Everything i seems to be equally unimportant and indifferent. Anguish and melancholy reach their greatest intensity in existen- jtial despair. The understanding of anguish points the way i I to the understanding of being. Under the veil of nothing ness, man becomes a partaker of Being. / Authentic Existence Authentic existence is closely related to responsi bility. Man, if he accepts responsibility, can live authen tically. If he fails to be true to himself, he is said to live an "unauthentic existence." Sartre prefers to refer I i I to authentic and unauthentic existence as "good faith" tbonne foi) and "bad faith) fmauvaise foi) respectively. A man iB living authentically when he directs his own life, when he refuses to conform to the norm, and when he refuses to lie to himself. Authentic existence is the sum total of man's consistent and constant responsible choice. i"The Other" "Hie existential thesis asserts that authentic existence can only be realized in and by the solitary indi vidual. Hie social collective can be of no help in the 95 40 attainment of this kind of authenticity." The self and the masses are virtually at opposite poles. Nevertheless/ authentic existence cannot survive without the world and I "the Other." "Hie Other" is used by Sartre to mean other human beings. In the writings of the religious existen tialists, like Marcel and Buber* "the Other" is used to refer to God as well as other individuals. Authentic exis- i tence demands a new "existential community" Which makes i"existential communication" possible. According to Jasperst "I cannot become myself without entering into communication* and I cannot enter into communication without being a human self." ; Limit Situation I Human existence is essentially "being in situation" (Sartre's "en situation"). Man feels oppressed and hemmed in (imprisoned) by a strange* hostile environment. This "limit situation" is psychological as well as physical. Man is imprisoned and enslaved by changing emotional re actions, instincts* and urges. He must confess his inability to cope with the most fundamental limits of his 40The Existentialist Revolt* p. 236. 96 human condition as he encounters suffering, guilt, and death, lhese are the walls which resist every attack, and are the causes of human shipwreck. Limit situations are those in which man faces insurmountable walls surrounding L his existence which cannot be bridged by any exertion of i human thinking. Ihey impress upon man the actuality of his imperfection, fragility, and homelessness. If man opens his eyes to his precarious human situation, he can proceed to self-realization. Temporality and Historicity The present is a combination of the past and the future. History is the recording of objective events which jhave run their course in time. Historicity is the subjec tive form in which man experiences historical events. Progress in existentialism is meaningless. Each generation has to face the identical human and moral problems and has to make his own choices. For the existentialists there exists no utopia. Death I ----- I Man lives authentically by being prepared to die at any moment. In the vertigo of the fear of death, man is overcane by the dreadful thought of 'Toeing—no—more. " In 97 existential perseverance, man may reach an absolute "hold" beyond time in the face of death. God Kierkegaard and theistic and Christian existential ists place human existence in a teleological perspective, | God is omitted in Heidegger's speculation# and He is denied in Nietzsche's and Sartre's. Marcel and Kierkegaard see Christianity as the spiritual force Which raises the tem poral and finite self into the eternal and infinite self. Atheistic existentialism demonstrates the utter futility of every endeavor to save man after having abandoned God. !Intermediate stages of belief are found in Jaspers, who I believes in transcendence (however, he does not use the iterm "God"), and in Kafka, Who feels that at times we have glimpses of God's presence# but can never really reach him. Man is constantly frustrated in his attempts to decipher ithe mystery of creation. Absurdity Man# a victim of irrational forces# finds himself i in an unknown world, without fixed values. This causes an emptiness in which man feels cosmically alone. Absurdity 98 is emphasized in most of the writings of Camus, and in the Theater of the Absurd, in writers like Beckett and Ionesco. i I 'Writers of the Theater of the Absurd have carried the feel ing of irremediable exile to its culmination. The Theater i of the Absurd lacks the lyricism of the theater of Sartre ior Camus. Whereas the latter use conventional language to 'describe this feeling of uprootedness, the former through !a devaluation of language and disunity and inconsistency of characterization and the absence of a plot show the dis orientation of modern man. What happens on stage transcends and often contradicts the words which are spoken by the !characters. Martin Esslin describes the Theater of the I Absurd as part of the "anti-literary" movement of our L 41 , time. i i i The purpose of examining existentialism in a rather detailed manner has been to establish a background against which the existentialism in Sastre's works may be examined. By providing the essential ideas of the world's major exis tentialists/ one may now proceed to determine whether Sastre can be considered an existentialist thinker and ^^The Theatre of the Absurd (New York* Doubleday and Co., 1969), p. 7. writer, and if so, how his theater fits into contemporary European theater. Using the material presented here as a basis for analysis, a discussion of existentialism in the theater of Alfonso Sastre will follow. CHAPTER IV ALFONSO SASTREi HIS LIFE AND HIS THEATER To the Spaniard who desired freedom of expression I l land freedom from strict government censorship after the jtriumph of Francisco Franco in 1939, there were two courses I open. He could choose to go into exile, as Jacinto Grau, Alejandro Casona, Ram6n Sender, and numerous others did, or i I he could elect to remain in Spain and attempt to combat the i I forces of severe censorship, as Buero Vallejo and Alfonso ! Sastre have done. Farris Anderson describes the conditions in Spain after the Spanish Civil War: The Spanish society that emerged from the wreckage after 1939 has provided a difficult context for the artist, and in particular for the creative writer. Strict government censorship, a powerful Catholic Church, economic hardship, and national intellectual lethargy have combined to produce an atmosphere in I which serious writers frequently leave the country, compromise their work, or abandon literature alto gether. The dramatist especially, and consequently the Spanish theater, have suffered from these influ ences. Economics and censorship are more immediate facts of life in the theater than in other areas of ! the literary world, and the playwrights who have 101 aspired to restore Spain's theater to its former dignity have found their paths encumbered by the fre quently fatal obstacles of commercialization and j government control. Most dramatists have, in one form | or another, abandoned the struggle. Alfonso Sastre is one of the few who have not.^ I ! In order to understand fully the work of any author jit is essential to know something about his life. In the ! case of Alfonso Sastre, it is illuminating to trace his ! 2 literary career from the onset. ' Alfonso Sastre was born in Madrid in 1926. In 1936 |Sastre enrolled in the "Bachillerato.“ The year 1939 marked the beginning of the Franco regime which has con tinued up to the present time. In 1943 Sastre completed Ihis "Bachi1lera to" and had a brief experience as a student |of Aeronautical Engineering. He continued to write poetry i l jand some experimental theatrical works, which have since been lost. In 1944 Sastre was inspired by the French Resistance to write a play on "terrorism." In 1945 Sastre i i participated in the founding of an experimental theater I group, "Arte Nuevo." During the same year he wrote his ^Alfonso Sastre (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971), p. 13. 2 See Appendix for a detailed account of Sastre’s year-to-year activities taken from a typewritten pamphlet Which Sastre gave me during an interview in Madrid in 1970. first experimental play to be published, Ha sonado la muerte, in collaboration with Medardo Fraile. Ha sonado la muerte and his own Uranio 235 were premiered in 1946, I and Sastre completed another play, Cargamento de sueftos. i I In 1947 Sastre began to study for a degree in i Filosofia v Letras (Philosophy and Letters) and collabo rated once again with Medardo Fraile on the play, Comedia json&mbula. He translated Kafka's The Trial into Spanish (El veredicto). Carqamento de sueftpa was premiered in | 1948. Sastre was placed in charge of the theater section I of the newly published magazine La Hora. The year 1948 marks the collapse of the theater group "Arte Nuevo." Antonio Buero Vallejo's play, Historia de una esca- !lera, the first major work of Spain's postwar theater of |social concern, was premiered in 1949, In this same year i Sastre, together with other members of the university, | formed the Teatro Universitario. He continued with his iWork as theatrical critic in La Hora. In 1950 Sastre cam paigned for a Teatro de Agitaci6n Social (Theater of Social Agitation), and together with Jos& Marla de Quinto issued a manifesto, which was prohibited by government censor ship. 103 In 1951 Sastre completed Pr61ogo oatfetico. El cubo de la basura, and began work on Escuadra hacia la muerte. In 1952 Sastre completed Escuadra hacia la muerte and accepted a part in Anouilh's Antigone with the company Teatro de Hoy. In October of 1952 he began work on El pan detodos. After completion of Escuadra hacia la muerte in j 1953, Sastre sent it to the Premio Lope de Vega, but it was rejected. Escuadra was produced by a university theater, i [Teatro Popular Universitario, enthusiastically received, but ordered closed after three performances. It was this ;play that established Sastre*s reputation as a major young !dramatist. In 1953 Sastre received his degree in Filosofia i v Letras in Murcia. He founded the magazine Revista Espa- i 1 I ! hola and wrote numerous pieces of dramatic criticism for Correo Literario, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos. and Quia. i During a lecture which he gave in Santander at the Palacio de la Magdalena, Sastre denounced the censorship to which his plays had been subjected. I In 1954 Sastre entered two plays, Pr61oqo patfetico and El pan de todos, in the Premio Ciudad de Barcelona. Both plays were prohibited for stage production by govern ment censorship. Sastre wrote to the Pirecci6n General 104 explaining his professional situation and demanding that he he given reasons for the censorship to which he had been i {continually submitted, but received no reply. Sastre*s I newly completed play, La mordaza. was premiered in Madrid j iunder the direction of Sastre's good friend and colleague, l jjos6 Maria de Quinto. This was Sastre*s first professional production to have a successful run. In 1954 Sastre the i ’ play, Tierra roia. He had received the idea for this play iwhen he visited the mines of Riotinto in the city of Huelva, i In 1955 Sastre wrote four plays, two of Which were I prohibited, Muerte en el barrio and Guillermo Tell tiene los oios tristes. Ana Kleiber was not produced until 1961. I La sanare de Dios was premiered in Valencia. El pan de I todos. which had previously been denied presentation, was produced at the request of the actor Rodero after some editing. Once again during some lectures on the theater i in Santander, Sastre asked that the censorship of his works I , be lifted. As a follow-up to this oral entreaty, Sastre ! i sent a petition to La Pirecci6n General de Teatro explain ing his plans for a theatrical presentation of Escuadra l i hacia la muerte and his idea for a movie version of the play. La Pirecci6n sent the petition to the Estado Mayor 105 Central del Elfircito Which condemned the work in a state- i jraent issued by that office, i In 1956 Sastre was imprisoned for political reasons. jAfter his release, he collaborated with Jos6 Forqu6 on a i film script, Amanecer en Puerta Oscura. His first book of I dramatic theory. Drama v sociedad. was published. The revenue earned for his publications was seized by the / ;Sociedad de Autores for the payment of financing the trial, iSastre completed the play El cuervo. , In January of 1957 El pan de todos was premiered in Barcelona. Sastre ordered the play to be closed after ;it was interpreted by many as an anti-revolutionary state ment. Sastre collaborated once again with Forqu6 on movie scripts for three films which he described as dealing with I ideas aienas (foreign ideas): La noche v el alba. Un hecho violento. and Tres hombres. As a result of the personal decision of Claudio de la Torre (which was not officially sanctioned), rehearsals were begun on El cuervo. Hie play was premiered in Madrid. In 1957 Sastre*s passport was seized and he was placed in "provisional liberty." During I this year the first issue of the Spanish theater magazine I Primer Acto appeared. 106 In 1958 the play Medea was premiered. Sastre wrote I 'his only novel, El Paralelo 38. which was to be published jafter being revised at a much later date (1965). Sastre's |play, La mordaza, was produced in Hamburg, Germany. I Sastre completed the plays Aaalto nocturno, En la i red, and La cornada in 1959. In 1960 La cornada and Ana Kleiber were premiered i jand the Realistic Hieater Group (Gruoo de Teatro Realista) was founded by Sastre and Quinto. In July Sastre completed i | La dama del mar, a version of Ibsen's work (The Lady from the Sea. 1888). In November he completed Los acreedores. a version of Strindberg's work (Creditors, 1888). It is I worthy of note that Sastre has shown great admiration for i ;the works of Ibsen and Strindberg, both of whom are re- garded as existentialists by Paul Tillich: Hie Existentialist revolt, in all its phases, produced a tremendous amount of psychological material. Exis tentialist revolutionaries like Baudelaire and Rimbaud in poetry, Flaubert and Dostoievsky in the novel, Ibsen and Strindberg in the theater are full of dis coveries in the deserts and jungles of the human soul.3 Sastre was one of 227 Spanish intellectuals and The Courage To Be (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971), p. 137. 107 artists who signed a public statement condemning censorship in Spain. After a long delay Sastre's En la red was jauthorized for presentation. The G.T.R. (Grupo de Teatro Realists) had only one successful season (from January to April. 1961). En la red " I iwas premiered by this group, but diplomatic repercussions ! j ^led to the play's prohibition for performances in the jprovinces outside Madrid. Sastre was arrested and im prisoned briefly for political reasons, but was released jafter being interrogated. The G.T.R. released a document / ! attacking and condemning the situation of Spanish theater. I In 1962 Los acreedores was premiered. The director 1 i of the Maria Guerrero asked Sastre for a play and tried to [ ipremiere Sastre's latest work, Oficio de tinieblas. but 'the Ministry would not authorize it. He wrote the chil- jdren's play El circulito de tiza. His play La cornada was translated into Italian under the title L‘Incornata and |included in Einaudi's anthology for Italian consumption ITeatro Uno. An English version of Ana Kleiber appeared in i [Robert Corrigan's The New Theater of Europe which was pub lished in New York. Sastre began work on La sangre v la ceniza. 1 ! 108 s | In 1963 Sastre wrote a Spanish adaptation of | iLangston Hughes' Mulato. wrote his second book on dramatic | theory. Anatorn!a del reallsmo. and a collection of short stories entitled Las noches ldcrubres. A collection of four I of his revolutionary dramas (Cuatro dramas de la revoluci6n) 'was also published. En la red was produced in Moscow. j ! 'Portuguese translations of Ana Kleiber and Muerte en el barrio were published. There was a violent repression of !striking miners in Asturias. Sastre's plays and those of ja number of other playwrights who protested publicly against the government action upon the miners, were banned I I from Spain's national theaters. i Noches liacrubres, Mulato, La dama del mar, and i Flores roias para Mi cruel Serve t were written in 1964. In 1965 Sastre was unsuccessful in an attempt to l | i ' obtain a visa to visit the United States. His play La sangre v la ceniza was completed, but refused publication, Italian television presented La cornada. Anatomia del realismo, El paralelo 38 (a short novel), Tree dramas i espafiolas. and a Portuguese version of Guillermo Tell tjene i los oios tristes were published. Sastre wrote a Spanish version of Peter Weiss' Marat Sade in 1966. Sastre gave a number of lectures 109 at various universities, was arrested, fined, thrown into prison, and some of his writings were seized by the govern- ment. He wrote La taberna fant&stica. Sastre*s play El cuervo was transmitted by the BBC in London. The German version of En la red was published in the German magazine i 1 Sinn und Form and transmitted by German television. In 1967 Oficio de tinieblas was premiered in Madrid i under the direction of Jos& Marla de Quinto. The play was i received with little enthusiasm. A short literary bio graphy of Miguel Servet entitled Flores roias para Miguel Servet was published. This work was intended to accompany i Sastre*s play La sanare v la ceniza which has been refused Ipublication and performance in Spain. In this year Sastre ! translated two of Sartre's works into Spanish, Huis clos ^and La putain resoecteuse. Which were premiered in Barce- ' Iona. I In 1968 Sastre translated Sartre's Morts sans I sepulture. Lee mouches. Lee Trovennes. and Lee segueatree Id'Altona into Spanish, but they were prohibited publication jby the censors. i Since 1968 Sastre has worked on several new plays, i articles, and has written his third book of theory. La revoluci6n v la crltica de la cultura (1970). 110 Sastre's unwillingness to compromise ideals or to I | make concessions resulted in a long polemic between Sastre and Buero Vallejo, Which will be briefly summarized here as |it contrasts the philosophies of two otherwise very similar i playwrights whose purpose it is to revitalize Spanish i i theater. Essentially, the polemic began when Sastre, who i i ! is willing to endure hardship and severe censorship rather |than sacrifice freedom of expression, published an article iin which he attacked Buero18 ideas of an "impossible i I theater" (teatro imposible) and Alfonso Paso's attitude regarding the necessity of submitting to a "social pact" ! (pacto social) in order to facilitate the publication and presentation of one's dramas, I j It had been Buero Vallejo's observation that cer- itain playwrights in Spain (obviously referring to Alfonso i Sastre) had written dramas whose presentation to the public I i was an impossibility, either because of private reasons '(the unwillingness of theater managers to premiere them) or because of official censorship. He felt that these i [authors of "impossible theater" were attempting to draw I i attention to their works so that they would be performed in foreign countries. He labeled these impossible postures 1 i Ill regarding the theater as "dolorosamente estferiles." Accord ing to Buero, it is necessary to write plays which are possible of presentation and publication, even if this I 'means that the author must sacrifice certain of his prin- f ciples. Sastre feels that sacrificing principles and l |conforming to the demands of others, whether they be cen- jsors, theater managers, or the public in general, are in i jessence a form of self-censorship. Sastre, while admitting that there is a "teatro imposibilitado," denies that there I I is a "teatro imposible." No hay un teatro "imposible," en la medida en que no existen criterios de certeza de su imposibilidad: el aparato de control es contradictorio y su acci6n es imprevisible; adem&s las empresas est&n evolucionando y hoy es normal que estrenen lo que hace unos aflos rechazaban.4 Sastre considers the attitudes of both Buero and iPaso to be a form of Sartre's mauvaise foi and labels them 5 i "la coartada de un larvado conformismo." According to Sastre, an author must never antici pate obstacles or impediments to his work. If an author makes concessions and compromises, he is following 4 Alfonso Sastre, "Teatro imposible y pacto social,H Primer Acto. 14 (May-June, 1960), 1-2. 5Ibid., p. 2. 112 an unauthentic course and is placing a priori limitations on the creative act. In reply to Rafael V&squez Zamora's i i question about a charge that Sastre was writing plays that could not be performed in Spain, Sastre replied: Si el autor dram&tico empieza admitiendo la imposibili- i dad, se privarfi de escribir lo que, a lo mejor, resul- | taba posible. En primer lugar, el dramaturgo tiene ! consigo mismo el deber de escribir lo que su espiritu I le reclame ... Yo hago siempre teatro para un ptiblico espaftol, y no admito, no reconozco la existencia de un ! obst&culo ajeno a la intrlnseca dificultad literaria o tfccnica que presenta toda obra teatral digna. Si ese obst&culo surge, lo considero como algo inesperado. Me sorprendo de encontrarlo y prosigo. Pero tenga usted i en cuenta que, si de antemano se crea el dramaturgo su i propia barrera, le puede ocurrir, y efectivamente este ocurre con mucha frecuencia, que haya sido uno mismo su propio interventor. Uno debe decir todo lo que quiere decir en el drama, sin plantearse de antemano, por un criterio "posibilista, ' * cuanto tiene que rebajar o que desviar. En definitiva, no creo que exista una linea de demarcaci6n entre lo posible y lo imposible j dentro de lo que es autentico arte dram&tico. In opposition to Paso's attitude regarding a "social jpact," Sastre maintains that instead of subscribing to a i "pact" and producing ineffectual, second-rate drama, one |must fight any threat to freedom of expression and set as his goal "la preparaci6n de un mundo mejor" and "el pro- : 7 greso de la sociedad y del teatro." ®"Alfonso Sastre no acepta el 'posibilismo,'" Insula, Afto XV, Nos. 164 y 175 (1960), 27. 7Sastre, "Teatro imposible y pacto social,” p. 2. 113 I For his refusal to make concessions and compromise his principles Sastre has been labeled an "aquafiestas." I Domingo P&rez Minik defines the term in the following man ner : "Generalmente, el aguafiestas no echa agua al vino. Lo refuerza con la intenci6n de sacarlo un poco de sus i 6 madres, acentuando su valor combativo." According to P&rez Minik's definition, an "aguafiestas" is not a wet blanket or a spoil Bport, but one who refuses to "dilute the wine," This refusal to conform has brought reprisals I in the form of strict censorship which Sastre has re peatedly condemned. In one of his most vehement attacks |Sastre wrotet i La existencia de la censura de teatro, y especialmente j en la forma en que se viene ejerciendo entre nosotros I (se trata de una actividad conceptualmente arbitraria, administrativamente irregular, 6ticamente irresponsable y legalmente amorfa, sin que ni siquiera tenga autori- dad para mantener sus propios dict&menes), es una verguenza ptiblica y privada. Ptiblicamente (objetiva- mente) lo es porque tiene el car&cter de una calamidad cultural. Privadamente (subjetivamente) porque es el | signo de nuestro conformismo— el de los autores, direc tor es, actores, empresarios ... y de nuestra propia corrupci6n. Es urgente la absoluta liquidacidn, que puede irse desarrollando en etapas, de este mecanismo. ^Domingo P&rez Minik, "Se trata de Alfonso Sastre, dramaturgo melanc6lico de la revoluci6n," in Alfonso Sastre, Teatro (Madrid: Taurus, 1964), p. 12. L 114 No se trata de que desaparezca toda vigilancia social_ debe haberla, desde luego, para la pornografla— , sino de que &sta toma un car&cter regular y legltimo, a ! travfes del aparato judicial ordinario. Por referirnos a lo concreto, decimos que— por ejemplo— es urgente, para la nivelaci6n del panorama teatral espafiol a la j medida de los palsea cultos, que puedan ser represen ts do a en Espafta autores como Brecht y Sartre, cuya ausencia da a nuestro panorama un car&cter aldeano y precario.9 j j The major problems in addition to government cen- j isorship are centered around public apathy toward new and I unfamiliar works and the lack of financial support from jthe state. The proprietors of commercial theaters produce j i i works that involve a small cast and simple scenery. There jis too much of a risk involved in presenting the work of a i controversial playwright. Sastre himself recognizes the i [problems of reaching a provincial, rigidly-controlled i j jaudience. He sees these problems as originating outside i I the theater. According to Anthony Pasquariello: The attitudes of impresarios and public are almost inextricably tied in with the problems of censorship. While Sastre is contemptuous of managers Who eschew plays that deviate sharply from conventional themes, he understands that they cannot all afford to be heroes, bucking the current of economic, political and social pressures. All he asks for are some new faces 9Alfonso Sastre and Jos& Marla de Quinto, "Docu- mento sobre el teatro espahol,” Primer Acto, 3 (1964), 121. r 115 who may offer new points of view to help the cause of j freedom of expression. As for the public, Sastre ! realizes that you cannot expect miracles from audiences | Which have been almost hermetically sealed for the past ! twenty-five years from plays which are too tragic or j too despairing. They are no less victims than the playwrights who say they are writing the kind of theater the public wants. But it is the mission of the dramatist not only to follow but also to fashion the tastes of his audiences. This mission can hardly be realized if Spain's theater continues on the same 1 barren course.10 i i i Sastre's refusal to accept the limitations placed j on his writing and his sharp denunciation of government I censorship have led to his arrest and imprisonment on i i several occasions and to the confiscation of several of his works. In spite of harassment and persecution he has con- j tinued as a "dramaturgo comprometido." What began as an [act of protest in Arte Nuevo soon developed into a course j of action in the magazine La Hora. This action was to be i i continued in the Teatro de Agitaci6n Social (T.A.S,) whose I purpose it would be to bring the theater of Spain to a level not reached since the Golden Age. Sastre states in j an issue of Primer Acto: i — — ... en torno a un teatro de agitacion como posibilidad purificadora y revolucionaria de poner el teatro espaftol "Alfonso Sastrei Dramatist with a Mission," Preface to Escuadra hacia la muerte (New York: Appleton- Century-Crofts, 1967), p. 3. a la altura de los tiempos, desmontando radlcalmente la escena espaftola actual y dando a nuestro teatro una ! dimensi6n fuertemente espaftola y en definitiva univer- ! sal. Para conseguirlo, proponla para nuestro teatro— el teatro espaftol— un moderno contenido social y politico. En suma, el teatro de agitaci6n tal como lo formulaba podia ser el instrumento eficaz de raa- ! chacamiento de todo un orden teatral retardatario, 1 materialists y burgues y de su situaci6n por un teatro moderno de gran altura. * i JThis Teatro de Agitaci6n Social was stifled by the govern- i jment in an initial rejection of a manifesto issued jointly by Sastre and Quinto. Ten years after the failure of ;T,A.S. Sastre and Quinto once again joined forces in the ^founding of a new theater group, the "Grupo de Teatro jRealista" (G.T.R.). The avowed purpose of this group was j to revitalize Spanish theater by presenting the plays of [Sastre and those of renowned contemporary foreign authors. ■The G.T.R. had only one successful season, after which it |folded. I Sastre has been called a "revolutionary" by some i critics, whose purpose it is to improve societyi j Despite Sastre'a avowed preoccupation with social issues and his belief that the mission of art is to point the way toward improvements that are badly needed in an imperfect world, his plays have nothing 11Alfonso Sastre, "El T.A.S. por 6ltima vez," Primer Acto, 3 (1964), 84. 117 | propagandistic about them and contain no explicit indictment of society. Instead, he has created dramas rich in suggestion and implication, employing symbols that most critics have found open to interpretation as social commentary. Usually he places an individual in opposition to an inexorable fate, a situation destined ; to end in tragedy. Murder, suicide, and violent death are frequent elements in Sastre's drama, but they are i played out on the personal level; the audience must draw its own conclusions concerning the broader social significance. The influence of Sartre, Camus, and Pirandello is evident, as well as that of American playwrights such as O'Neill and Arthur Miller, but the I voice that is heard is essentially Sastre's own, the voice of a "revolutionary" who necessarily presents his ideas with indirection and subtlety, this perhaps being the only path for a socially conscious dramatist writing in a nation ruled by a dictator.*-2 i Kessel Schwartz sees Sastre's dramas as existential irather than sociological: In spite of their emphasis on a social conscience and action, transcending cathartic effect, Sastre's dramas j are in no way sociological. He incarnates his social ! problems and investigation of reality through the indi- ! vidual conflicts of his lonely and isolated heroes Who live in an absurd world of false values. He maintains a delicate balance among the sometimes difficult and obscure social message, the metaphysical, and the lyrical poetic note which permeate his dramas, pre serving artistic integrity by writing tragedies of ' great esthetic quality without sacrificing his authen tic social commitment to fight for a better future. As a realist he sees man's anguished problems, but he keeps hoping that, within the limitations of our 12 Encyclopedia of World Drama, Vol. 4 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972), p. 33. l i e existential world, his dramas will have direct social I consequences for good, IHe states that: I Sastre sees modern tragedy as involving a closed | existential situation in which the hero, in reality i innocent, feels guilty, and suffers one more self- inflicted torture in an attempt to find a solution where none exists. I In praise of Sastre and his theater, Farris Ander son states: I i Because of his experimental dramatic forms, his depar ture from Spanish traditions, his intellectualism, and his revolutionary politics, Sastre has been treated ■ with less than objectivity by Spanish critics, pro ducers, censors, and theatergoers. The controversy that surrounds him frequently obscures the fact that | he is a talented playwright, a perceptive critic, and 1 a vigorous intellectual.*5 i In the rather succinct foregoing sketch, Sastre i [emerges as a dedicated and determined man of the theater-- [an "aquaflestas," and "homme enaaqfe" in the true Sartrean i i i 1 ■ ■“ 13 | The Meaning of Existence in Contemporary Hispanic i Literature (Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami !Press, 1969), p. 170. * ~ 4Ibid., p. 167. 15 Alfonso Sastre (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971), "Preface." The material on Sastre's life and activities contained in "Para una bio-bibliografla de Alfonso Sastre" is for the most part corroborated by Anderson in this work. (See "Chronology" and "Chapter 1," pp. 13-17.) 119 sense of the term. His life reflects an existential struggle to renovate Spanish theater by reviving a sense of concern in the dramatic arts, which will hopefully lead to an improvement of living conditions in Spain. Chapter V will examine how Sastre proposes to do this by means of a "teatro de aqitaci6n social. * ' CHAPTER V j ALFONSO SASTRE: HIS THEORETICAL WORKS I I I Drama v aociedad Sastre's first book of dramatic theory. Drama v l aociedad, was published in 1956. In the Prologue, Sastre | ; explains why he has written a book on dramatic criticism. "Yo escribo este libro, entre otras razones, porque los jcrlticos no lo escriben.He goes on to say that Drama v i ’ aociedad is the first step in saying "media docena de cosas ! elementales que muchas veces nadie, por el riesgo de pare- 2 jeer estftpido, se atreve a decir." Drama v sociedad is divided into four parts: "Del drama, " "Del drama y de la sociedad, " "Del drama en Espaha, " ^Drama v sociedad (Madrid: Taurus Ediciones, S.A., 1956), p. 8. All quotations cited from this work will be 'taken from this edition and will be indicated in the text by (DS, page). The punctuation used in quotations from Sastre's works are as found in the original. 2Ibld., p. 9. 120 121 and “Los dramaturgos mueren." Of the four sections* only the first consists of entirely original work. Hie others I 1 draw heavily from his previously published essays and articles. Sastre claims that tragedy has changed very little since the times of early Greek theater. The same elements and form have been composed differently according to the period in which they were written. Sastre sees an identi cal metaphysical substance in Oedipus Rex (ancient Greek tragedy), Othello (Elizabethan tragedy)* and The Hairy Ape (modern tragedy). He equates these tragedies with the existential term "authentic," since he believes that they Ideal with the tragic human condition. La sustancia metaflsica de la tragedia es la existencia humana en su modalidad (llamada por Heidegger) “aut&n- tica." Podriamos decir que es la existencia humana encarada desde un “sentimiento tr&gico" (Unamuno). (PS* 20) Hiere is something permanent in the tragedy Which holds true for all ages, but there is also something mutable which changes according to the particular social atmosphere of the age in which the tragedy was written. Hay* pues* en la tragedia algo permanentex su sustancia metaflsica; algo permanente* pero dotado de plasticidadx la forma artistica, y algo corruptible: lo que llega 122 a la tragedia por ser 6sta, en cada momento, una fun- ci6n social. tPS, 22) Sastre's views on man's existential condition. i 1 which are discussed in Chapter Three, are essential to an understanding of the existentialism in his works. Sastre I describee his view of human existence in the following manner: Entiendo— veo— que la existencia humana es, en los pocos mementos en que la charlatanerla de la vida cotidiana se desvanece: a) Una situaci6n cerrada b) en la que se encuentran existiendo (facticidad) c) unos seres condenados a morir d) que desean— en realidad, es una exigencia previa, j no deliberada, anterior a todo deseo, bioldgica, constitutive--una felicidad e) que, al menos como estado de plenitud, les es negada f) y, a veces, se interrogan sobre su destino (mundano y ultramundano) g) y sobre el pecado desconocido o la culpa por la que son castigados. h) Es una lucha. i) en la que la vida humana es siempre derrotada j) en mementos que provocan horror (ante la magni- tud de la cat&strofe) y piedad (ante la nihilidad del ser humano) en el espectador de esta derrota, en la que ve anticipada, su propla y natural derrota, a la que estS abocado por el simple i hecho de existir. (PS, 23-24) The above view of life would be accepted by practi- I cally every existentialist. Sastre's view of life as a i '"closed situation" coincides with that of Sartre fHuis clos), Life is a crucible in which men act, struggle for |a tfiile, and ultimately die. Sastre's Escuadra hacia la i muerte is a good example of this view. Man feels guilty for having committed some sin of which he is unaware. He is being punished for some unknown crime. This view coin cides with the feeling of isolation, frustration, and guilt 'to be found in practically all of Kafka's works. The Trial is an allegory of the human condition. Man is forever on itrial for a crime of which he is completely unaware. He is ! being punished; he knows not why. i Sastre shows how the three previously mentioned |works Oedipus Rex, Othello, and The Halrv Ape fit into his joutline. The "charlataneria de la vida" of which he speaks is obviously Heidegger's "Gerede" or "idle chatter" which imust be dismissed as unauthentic and inconsequential, be- | jfore one arrives at the truly significant or authentic basis for existence. In reference to the three plays 124 Sastre contends that: Edipo. Otelo y Yank se encuentran: a) Cada uno en su propla "situaci6n cerrada." (No hay salidas practicables para ninguno de ellos. £Por d6nde escapar del espanto?) b) Se encuentran existiendo. (Edipo no eligi6 casarse con su madre ni matar a su padre; Otelo no eligi6 ser celoso; Yank no eligi6 ser fogo- nero de un barco.) c) Est&n condenados a muerte. (Y, en cumplimiento de esta condena, Edipo se sacar& los ojos; Otelo pondr& fin a su dolorosa historia san- grientamente y Yank morir& de un modo horrible en el Zoo.) d) Ellos hubieran deseado ser felices. (Lo vemos en que lloran su felicidad perdida o la felici- dad que no han conseguido; en que protestan; en que se desesperan.) e) Esa felicidad les ha sido negada. ( por qui&n? Yocasta no tiene la culpa de la tragedia de Edipo. Ella hubiera deseado su felicidad. TambiSn a ella la felicidad le ha sido negada. No es Desdimona, desde luego, quien ha dicho "no" a la felicidad de Otelo. Yank no ha sido puesto en las calderas por la gente que pasea por la cubierta del barco.) f) Se sorprenden y se interrogan sobre su destino. (No es preciso. que esta "sorpresa" y esta "interrogaci6nH lleguen a ser expllcitas. Esta nota— f— y la siguiente— g— pueden no llegar a ser evidentes en una tragedia. De hecho, en muchas obras tr&gicas, los personajes no se paran en su lucha para realizar esta reflexi6n sobre el sentido de su sufrimiento.) g) Y sobre el pecado desconocido por el que son castigados. 125 h) La vida de los tres es una lucha. Un debatirse en un trance como de ahogo. i) En la que son derrotados. (El h6roe es— como decla Miller— "destruldo y deshecho.") i j) Asistimos con horror a los hechos (muerte* deso- i laci6n) y con piedad (porque Edipo* Otelo y I Yank son inocentes o, por lo menos* no son en- 1 teramente culpables* no son perversos.) (PS* 24-25) Sastre gives an existential definition of tragedy. He agrees with Kafka* that man is a tragic figure who !negates happiness because he feels guilty. Camus has re peated this feeling of hopelessness and despair in his play Calicrula. It is Caligula's observation (as well as that of i Camus) that* "Men die and they are not happy." Sastre has defined tragedy in the following manner: i La tragedia* como vemos, no recoge la existencia humana en general ... sino situaciones existenciales concre tes* episodios* por decirlo de algtin modo* de la exis tencia humana, que remiten, eso si, en los momentos culminantes* a la situaci6n general del hombre en el mundo. Esta situaci6n general* que nos es revelada a travfes de una concrete situaci6n tr&gica, es la sustan cia metaflsica de la tragedia. (PS* 25) Sastre's reference to "hombre en el mundo" is taken directly from Heidegger's "Being-in-the-world" and from Ortega's ! "hombre y su circunstancia." As has been mentioned before* Ortega's existential philosophy predates Heidegger's ap proximately thirteen years. It is probable that Sastre 126 was familiar with Ortega's works before reading Heidegger's, It is interesting to note that Whereas Heidegger's name is referred to in Drama v aociedad. Ortega's is not. Sastre has seemingly turned to philosophers and authors from other 'European countries and the United States for inspiration and direction. His praise for Spanish authors is limited. This attitude is consistent with Sastre's attempt to re- > i vitalize the Spanish theater. In attempting to renovate |the theater, Sastre has opened the doors to the world out- > aide of Spain in an effort to bring in fresh new ideas. I In Chapter Four Sastre outlines two possible j "situational forms" that are found in a tragedy either i (separately or combined. I j En la situaci6n At j Eeoa hombres moralmente normales i a) que se quieren o se estiman o por lo menos no se odian (madre e hijo, hermanos, amigos ... ), b) se hacen dafto (que llega hasta la sangre, hasta j la muerte) | c) sin querer (fatalidad). I En la situaci6n Bt Esos hombres moralmente normales ( a) son torturados b) por una entidad superior a ellos 127 c) bajo cuyo doloroso dominio se encuentran sin posibilidades de salida. En la observacidn de las obras trigicas singulares , advertimos que muchas veces su estructura es la | de una situaci6n mixta AB. (PS. 28) |A tragic hero can be neither a saint nor a monster. Un "santo" no puede ser h&roe trigico. Un "monstruo, ' * | tampoco. Eso he querido decir. Los "justos1 ’ del drama de Albert Camus son, en efeeto, "justos" pero no llegan a ser santos. Edipo es, seguramente, orgulloso; pero no es un monstruo. (PS, 29) I i A tragedy causes "horror" and "pity" in the spec- i jtator. This "horror and pity" of which Sastre speaks is in reality what the existentialists call "anguish" (from ;Heidegger‘s "Angst"). Es el horror y la piedad que sentimos ante una catis- trofe, aun la mis simple y habitualt la muerte natural de los otros. Un horror lastimero. Una misericordia horrorizada. Un paso mis— que en las grandes tragedias j se da— y ya no hay ni una cosa ni otra. Hay una cierta suspensidn del inimo. Estoy mis alii del horror y de la piedad. Es la angustia. (PS. 31) The influence of Heidegger is seen in Sastre's i definition of the feeling of ancrustia. He refers to Heidegger's "Oerede" (idle chatter), which he terms "char- lataneria cotidiana," and says that true anguish is felt when the veil of everyday chatter is torn away and the j reality of human existence is revealed. He goes on to r 128 !describe what Sartre has termed "nausea*1 when one en counters "nothingness." Sentimos, en el teatro, la angustia que experimentamos en los momentos autfenticos de nuestra existencia* cuando se rasga el velo de la charlataneria cotidiana | y se hace patents la verdadera realidad de la existen cia humana; cuando nos enfrentamos con nuestras verda- < deras posibilidades; cuando se hace problems metafisico ! nuestra existencia y su sentido; cuando de pronto nos encontramos extrahos en el ser y nos angustia eso que j ahora llamo "nada” por hablar de algtin modo; eso que j ahora— en el momento en que escribo esta p&gina— no es ni una vaga adivinaci6n y es poco mis que una palabra de la que me puedo relr, pero que en otros momentos es un vfertigo, una conmocidn, una suspensi6n del inimo, un horror* una extraheza, un silencio, una paraliza- I ci6n, un abrir los ojos desmesurado, un grito que no es posible dar y, en fin, jnada* (DS, 32) Sastre describes tragedy as a lucid representation of human existence and terms the drama of good and bad characters as melodrama in which the protagonist is a saint and the antagonist is a monster. i El "melodrama" termina— y para siempre— cuando el te!6n cae; el horror y la piedad se han desvanecido con el castigo del antagonists, que es el culpable de toda la desgracia. Mientras que en la tragedia,£quiin es el culpable? ^A quiin habria que castigar? £C6mo? iQu6 hacer para que "Willy Loman"— en la realidad--deje de sufrir y hacer sufrir a bus hijos? El tel6n cae. La tragedia contintia. (DS, 34) The basic difference between a melodrama and a tragedy is |that whereas a melodrama ends definitively When the curtain falls, a tragedy lingers in the mind of the spectator 129 I long after he has left the theater. In a melodrama, the iantagonist, Who is guilty, receives all the punishment he deserves. In a tragedy, the protagonist is punished un- Swhich are currently being written in Spain. He terms these i Dos grupos— segfin las (iltimas observaciones--parecen I perfilarse ... en el panorama del teatro espaftol. De un lado, el teatro de magia. De otro, violentado, reprimido, deformado criticamente, el teatro de an gustia. Teatro de magia y teatro de angustia son tferminos con inmediato fundamento en la realidad de lo que se estrena y de lo que est&n escribiendo los j6venes autores. (DS, IS3) The “theater of magic" is an escapist theater. A myriad of I spirits, demons, sirens, angels, dead people who speak, i ;and spectres is unfolded in a type of magic realism. The i "theater of anguish" is a realistic theater. The purpose of the "theater of anguish" is to reveal things as they / iare, not to entertain or to amuse. Sastre cites existen tialism as one of the main adversaries of escapist litera ture. Most of the theater-goers in Spain prefer the j"theater of magic” to Sastre's "theater of anguish." They seek to escape from their daily problems and worries. In addition, they have been deprived the freedom of choice ijustly. Sastre distinguishes between two types of plays !"teatro de magia" and "teatro de angustia." I for more than thirty years under the regime of Francisco j j Franco. La corriente m&gica ha sufrido, en los tiltimos aftos, varios rudos golpes. El "existencialismo*" la litera- tura fundada en postulados "neorealistas" y* en j ' general* todo el frente cultural "social-realista" han ! descargado sus pistolas en la si&n de la "cabeza a < | pijaroe" de la magia* de la evasi6n culpable y de la j 1 suicida y complaciente sonrisa. Estamos en lucha. El J 1 publico burguis— es decir, el pdblico— pide magias, i evasidn y ensueho. La ciudad alegre y confiada confla la mayorla de sus teatros a la farsa despreocupada y I sentimental, mientras hay hambre, miseria y se afilan los cuchillos. Mientras se ensayan nuevas categories . de bombardeo. Mientras el proletariado pide en todo | el mundo— sin esperanza— aumento de salario, y los I presupuestos para el armamento de las naciones y el equipamiento de los ejircitos crecen. En algunos , escenarios se oyen voces de angustia y se declara la j urgencia de una purificaci6n. (DS, 155, 156) j Existentialism and the entire "social-realist" movement, » jaccording to Sastre, have dealt severe blows to the "theater 'i i ' o f magic. " Sastre and all the other proponents of the i ' "theater of anguish" in Spain are attempting to convince the people of the need for reform. The bourgeois public I is demanding magic* evasion of reality* and soporific entertainment. Sastre condemns this evasion as unauthentic in the face of extensive injustice. El teatro* puss, sigue teniendo dos m&scaras. La c6mica se ha dejado crecer barbas de mago. La tr&gica I suele llevar casco de guerra, pitillo de tabaco prole- i tario o corbata de partido politico. La c6mica tiene sonrisa de degeneraci6n. La tr&gica, una mueca de j hambre y de congoja. Por lo dem&s, las cosas no han cambiado. fDS, 156) i Alongside this escapist theater there are anguished voices declaring the urgency of purification. Sastre is calling out for justice and the end of all strife, injustice, and | jhorror in life by means of a *'grito existencial." Sastre feels that he is poorly accompanied by the members of his {generation since most of the younger playwrights of Spanish theater seem to follow more willingly the "magic" rather jthan the "tragic" road. After reading Sastre's plays, one comes to the realization that his theater is almost completely devoid I of humor. Sastre regards playwrighting as a serious art. i He is committed to writing serious plays for his contempo- I raries which will agitate and stir them to action (praxis). 'The comic playwright and spectator are in a sense avoiding |their responsibility. In Sastre's words: "El espectador es traido por la comedia a un risueflo mundo; es dis-traldo" (DS, 63). In other words, the spectator is "mis-lead." He is distracted from life's problems. Sastre feels that !any literature that avoids "social purification" is without !much merit. Sastre agrees with Sartre that philosophy ichanges for each generation and each society. An author jalways writes for his contemporaries. There is no eter nally valid "discourse of method" as Descartes had formu- I lated. The public, the society, and the dramatic author • i himself, dief and with them much of their dramatic work j |dies. What will happen to the works of Ibsen, which are j j .totally intelligible now, in the span of several centuries? i ; According to Sastre, the drama has different social func tions throughout history. j 1 El drama, que desde el punto de vista de su funcionali- j dad, de su operaci6n social, ha cumplido distintas funciones (ha sido una funcidn religiosa, una f6rmula I de expresi6n teol6gica, una escuela de costumbres, una diversi6n, un instrumento politico ... ) a lo largo de la historia, se salva del derrumbamiento temporal por el talento de los dramaturgos solidarizados con su tiempo mis que por la pretensi6n metafisica de los dramaturgos no solidarios con lo fugitive. (DS, 56) Sastre expresses approval of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. He defines this play as a tragicomedy whose plot is polysituational, with an alternation of tragic and comic situations. Sastre considers a true tragicomedy to be one whose drama is monosituational or ;polysituational, but which does not alternate. The same I situation can make the spectator laugh, weep, or become i horrified. Sastre applies an existential definition to | 133 tragedy by applying the term "authentic" to this "modali- ;dad." He labels comedy as "unauthentic," and tragicomedy j as a combination of the two, "authentic-unauthentic." Hemos visto lo que es el drama en general: una repre- sentaci6n de zonas de la existencia humana en sus modalidades "aut&ntica" (tragedia), "inaut&ntica" ! (comedia), y "autfentica-inautfentica" (tragicomedia). La representsci6n de estas zonas existenciales remite a la existencia humana en general, de la que el drama, a travfes de sus tres figures, pretende ser una omni- representaci6n. (DS, 65) I Sastre labels the trend of contemporary art and literature as "social-realism." Within the general term "social-realism" are grouped "neo-realism," "socialist- ! realism," and "existentialism." Sastre states that: "La !formulaei6n 'social-realismo' significa una toma de conciencia del principal signo literario de nuestro tiempo" (DS, 69-70). El "social-realismo," en sus formas fecundas, funciona sobre el supuesto de la independencia——o 1ibertad— del escritor y el artista, capaces de elegir, en Gltimo j caso, su enrolamiento en determinada forma ideol6gica o religiosa. (DS, 70) i The "aesthetic emotion" which is caused by "social—realist" art and literature possesses a tremendous ethical nucleus r |which, having broken, remains in the spirit of the spec- jtator after the purely aesthetic has vanished. This j [nucleus projects itself socially as a purifying element. | 134 i j The writer and artist* realizing this fact* works towards {achieving this aim. i I Sastre is opposed to "art for art's sake." As jhas been mentioned before* his is a literature of social i i jcommitment. j Results* segfin todo esto* que la situacidn del artista en la sociedad— del artista concebido en este modo— no se diferencia mucho de la situaci6n de otro hombre ! cualquiera enrolado en la lucha de su tiempo. El I artista tiene conciencia de su responsabilidad 6tico- social, responsabilidad muy superior a la que alean- zaria un puro decorador del mundo dedicado a la producci6n de objetos bellos. Lo cual no quiere decir que sus objetos no sean* en algfin sentido y secun- dariamente* bellos. (DS* 74) j Sastre supports the literature of social protest I as represented by the American novelist Upton Sinclair, |He admires this nonconformist author who at the age of seventy-five proclaimedi "With all of my forces I have ! tried to change the world." The same may be said of Sastre himself. He has opposed tyranny and oppression in their ;manifold forms throughout his literary career. Sastre agrees with Sinclair's six virtues of art in which six | fallacies are opposed by six theses: Mentira ndimero 1. El arte por el arte: se demostrar& que hay en esta noci6n un mecanismo j de defensa de ciertos artistas y que marca una j degeneraci6n, no s6lo en el arte* sino igualmente en la sociedad donde se manifiesta. 135 Mentira nfimero 2. El snobismo artlstico: [ Se demostrar& que, con algunas excepciones, el gran arte ha sido siempre un arte popular y que los gran- j des art!stas han ejercido una acci6n profunda sobre el pueblo. i Mentira nftmero 3. La tradici6n: Se demostrari que los artistas deben construir su propia tfecnica. i i Mentira nfimero 4. El dilettantismo: Se demostrarft que esta mentira es producto de una inferioridad mental y que el verdadero fin del arte i es modificar la realidad. I ! Mentira ntimero 5. La perversi6n: Se demostrar& que todo arte trata de cuestiones morales, puesto que no hay otras. Mentira nfimero 6. El arte no comprometido: A este proposito, afirmamos sin equlvoco: todo arte es propaganda. Es universalmente y obligatoriamente propaganda. Algunas veces, inconscientemente, pero casi siempre de modo deliberado: propaganda. (DS, 79-80) Sastre upholds Arthur Miller's definition of tragedy which i 3 coincides with the "mimesis" of Aristotle. Arthur Miller dice que tragedia es "la documentacidn perfectamente equilibrada de los momentos de la lucha del hombre por conseguir su felicidad" y ahade que 3 i According to Aristotle (Poetics, translated by S. H. Butcher TNew York: Hill & Wang, 1961], p. 61): 1"Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, com- iplete, and of a certain magnitude: in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play: in the form of action, not of narrative: through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions." 136 | la tragedia surge y llega a ser inteligible "cuando | en esa lucha el honibre es vencido y deshecho." | (DS, 82) According to Sastre, modern tragedy has not made even a iminimal formal or artistic addition to the six classical I elements of the tragedy. Plot is the heart of tragedy. jMany modern playwrights minimize the importance of plot in idrama; some of them deny it altogether. I | Sastre complains about censorship, and one under stands that he is referring pointedly to the censorship 'which has been continually imposed upon his writings by the Spanish government. I La tragedia sufre, a veces, una represi6n casi poli- claca, y en algunos paises se ha convertido en instrumento de propaganda de la polltica oficial. La I tragedia— en estos regimenes totalitarios— no puede | dar testimonio de la verdad, no puede trasladar a la escena lo horrible y lo miserable que hay en la exis tencia. El tragedidgrafo tiene que quemar todos los documentos y atenerse s61o a la polltica oficial. La tragedia dirigida es, naturalmente, una tragedia j estrangulada. (DS, 88) Once again, Sastre is stating his position on the absence i of freedom of expression in Spain, He reinforces his I abhorrence of any kind of "pacto social" which might facilitate the exposure of his plays to Spanish audiences. f i Elbert Bilyeu has expressed Sastre's position accurately in the following wordst 137 ! His TSastre's] "afan transformador" is the constantly | recurring motif of his total production. Certainly his position is an uncomfortable one. and he is sub- | ject to severe criticism along with all the other usual "bofetadas que andan sueltas en el aire.” His role is distinctly difficult, daring, and painful, and he seems ! condemned to solitude. His attitude has led to severe i attack by his colleagues as well as by government officials. Perhaps no other author has suffered so severely from censorship and from what would appear to be a premeditated campaign to prevent his professional activity.^ i | In light of the fact that censorship in Spain under i the dictatorship of Franco has prevented most controversial plays from being staged, Sastre finds it amusing that various French authors complain of censorship in their relatively liberal country. "Es curioso ver que hay auto- i, res franceses que se quejan de la censura" (DS, 88). In |the introduction to an anthology of modern Spanish plays, jMichael Benedict says of contemporary Spanish theater: In the style of (if not to the same degree as) Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, Spanish drama has been ! subjected to the frustrations of vigilant censor ship. . . . Since the Civil War of 1936-1939, this censorship has been particularly vigorous and has 1 involved a regular review of all forms of creative writing— including newspaper articles, poetry, and 4 "Alfonso Sastrei An Analysis of His Dramas Through I960" (an unpublished doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Colorado, 1968), pp. 20-21. 133 plays— obviously designed to prevent outspoken criti- j cism of Franco's regime.5 | Sastre places some of the blame for the failure of i his theater to take hold, on Spanish critics. The position i i |of the drama critic is extremely important. A critic }should be qualified to distinguish good drama from bad drama. It is his duty to "extraer del informe mont6n de [los dramas que se estrenan las piezas significativas, es i jdecir, las obras importantes" (DS, 159). In order to be l |a good critic, it is not sufficient to be a sensitive and intelligent spectator. The critic must be qualified, and capable of supporting his opinions with ample documenta tion. I ! Si, el crltico debe tener un profundo conocimiento del teatro. No basta con que sea un espectador sen- | sible e inteligente. La opini6n de un espectador sensible e inteligente es siempre interesante, y la olmos con gusto en el cafe o en cualquier conversaci6n de tertulia. Pero reducir la critica a pura "opini6n" es disminuirla notablemente. (DS, 161) | What is terrifying to Sastre is that the arbitrary deci sions of a drama critic can affect the destiny of a play wright so decisively. Sastre comes to the conclusion that 5 Modern Spanish Theatre (New York* Dutton & Co., 1968), p. ix. "en Espafta la critica teatral no funciona" (DS. 163). ! In Drama v sociedad Sastre presents some paradoxi- [ cal ideas. On one hand, he endorses a "committed" theater whose purpose it is to awaken a sense of guilt and respon- j sibility in the spectator who in turn will ultimately act. ;This is quite an idealistic concept which hardly seems viable in a society which by Sastre's own description is i i more enamored of "magic theater" than "theater of anguish." If man is incited to action, it seems highly improbable in I I present-day Spain, for him to find the impetus in a given drama. In contrast to this theory which seemingly endorses a "drama of thesis." Sastre insists that the dramatist should not propagandize in his plays. The author's own i |ideas should be suppressed to give stress to the develop ment of the plot in a verisimilar manner. The drama should :be allowed to take its own course. Hacer dramas es— en mi opini6n— algo radicalmente distinto de expresar las propias ideas, aunque no se puede negar el influjo irremediable de esas ideas, por lo menos en el planteamiento del drama. Hay que anotar a este respecto que. desde el punto de vista dram&tico. es preferible que el autor no tenga una ideologla cerrada: que el autor no sea un dogm&tico. El dogmatismo cerrado del autor entorpece— y norma 1- | mente llega a ahogar— la pureza objetiva del drama. Falla por este costado el teatro cuando queda conver— tido en el mero soporte de una tesis. Y esto ocurre cuando el autor posee una ideologla cerrada (o es poseldo por ella)j cuando, por decirlo de otro modo, i el autor posee un sistema. ... El dramaturgo debe— | por lo menos en la medida en que eso sea posible— poner sus ideas entre parentesis y dejar que el drama funcione en su piano. El puede ser (de hecho, lo es muchas veces) el primer asombrado de la ideologla que alii se produce. Y puede, por este extrafto camino, llegar y conducir a los espectadores a la verdad. (DS, 123-124) | “ ISastre labels Sartre's play Le Diable et le bon Dieu a ;failure since Sartre sacrifices the normal development of the plot to his own ideology. According to Sastre, Sartre, in presenting everything in a manner Which reflects that God does not exist, eclipses the play's thesis. In analyzing the paradoxical nature of Sastre's I theories, one has the problem of arriving at some sort of solution. Obviously, Sastre, who is an intelligent man, land a playwright par excellence, has given much thought to the development of a philosophy. One cannot attribute his paradoxical remarks to carelessness or lack of ability. It seems that Sastre, in refusing to supply a solution to j a problem, is saying that each individual must view a play, supply his own interpretation, and draw his own conclu- i 1sions. I in nrniM y sociedad. Sastre has clearly stated his aims: to achieve social purification through agitation and action. El dramaturgo intenta que el drama— extra!do de la realidad— repercuta en la realidad. Trata de que la extracci&n social que ha efectuado resuene despu6s en la Sociedad y sirva a su purificacidn. (DS, 128) I Therefore (in viewing Sastre's plays), the spectator should |be allowed to formulate his own ideas and devise his own I S {course of action which are merely implied in the drama jwhich he is witnessing. Sastre's opposition to dogmatism is in agreement with the existentialist's freedom of choice jand responsible action. Sastre provides the guidelines; the solution must be found by each individual. Hie spec- i tator is a witness to authentic and unauthentic behavior on j the stage. He must choose an authentic or unauthentic life ;for himself. Ho one can solve his problems for him. If he iaccepts his responsibility, he will ultimately arrive at j the right solution. Sastre only poses as a possible remedy, revolution (as both Sartre and Camus, each in his own way, j have done). Sastre cannot assure that the outcome will be i either desirable or effective. He would agree with Kierke gaard that truth exists only as the individual himself jproduces it in action. What has been said of Sartre is equally true of Sastre: He develops the fundamental view that literature is a mode of action, an act of the writer's freedom 142 that seeks to appeal to the freedom of other indi viduals and eventually to the total free collective j of mankind.** It is Sastre's contention that a play must serve jas "hilo conductor" between the anguish that the spectator isees on the stage and his own spirit. The anguish which | i ; I i ;is seen is not "purged. " It produces real horror and pity j i ! ! i ; which are then available to be acted upon. According to \ j Sastre, ideal tragedy causes the spectator to reflect on his own existence. Through "horror and pity" the spectator isubmits to catharsis. I I La existencia humana, en la exaltaci6n tr&gica, se | hace sGbitamente inteligible. La masa gris e indi- J ferenciada de los cuidados, las preocupaciones y las j relaciones humanas, del trabajo y de la distracci6n, adquiere de pronto— en la exaltaci6n del aconteci- I miento tr&gico— sentido y diferenciaci6n. Desaparecen, de pronto, las deformidades de la vida cotidiana y cada cosa aparece en su sitio. Se desvanecen como suehos los fantasmas de lo que— en la indiferencia- ci6n— habla parecido densa y opaca realidad. El honibre se encuentra con sus verdaderas posibilidades y s61o entonces puede decirse que es felizi Cuando I sabe a qu6 atenerse con relaci6n a su destino. (DS, 142-143) i In his first book of dramatic theory Sastre gives tragedy an existential definition, supplying a modern ^William Barrett, Irrational Man (New York: Double day & Co., 1962), p. 250. i 143 version of Aristotle*s Poetics to an interpretation of i !drama which links the early Greek and the Elizabethan play wrights to those of modern times. Man* i s existential plight {knows no bounds. It transcends the ages, and is reflected i i in man's perennial search for the meaning of his short {existence, and his feelings of anguish upon pondering his 'ultimate destiny. i Farris Anderson acknowledges that although Sastre*s ^aesthetic values are fundamentally Aristotelian, they "are {stamped with characteristic twentieth-century existential- 7 ism and social leftism." I In Correo Literario in 1953, Sastre gave an excel lent definition of tragedy which was not included in Drama I v sociedad? I Para mi ... la tragedia no es mis que el resultado dramitico (teatral) del traslado (mimesis, imitatio), objetivamente fundado en datos documentales, de la existencia humana, a trav&s de tramas (mitos, fibulas) | en las que se producen hechos dolorosos que provocan en los agonistas— o por lo menos en los espectadores— radicales preguntas sobre el sentido de tales hechos y, en definitive, de la existencia humana, y sobre la posibilidad de reducir el imbito de los hechos doloro- sos con el esfuerzo humano. El espectador participa en 7 | Alfonso Sastre (New York* Twayne Publishers, 1971), p. 42. 144 la angustla de la acci6n y, a trav6s de su dolorosa emoci6n— que participa del horror (fobos) y de la pledad (eleos)— puede verse movido a revisar su con- cepc!6n del mundo y los supuestos de su conducta, siendo empujado a vlgorosas declsiones soclales: desde el socorro a la revoluci6n* producifendose entonces I el fin supremo de la tragedia: la purificaci6n (ka- th&rsis). Hay que anotar los dos momentos de la "purificaci6nM entendida en este sentidoi Purifica- ci6n inmediata (personal) y purificaci6n social.® |This statement reveals an existentialist conception of | jtragedy. It summarizes Sastre's concept of tragedy in i I Drama y sociedad. Thus it is seen that as early as 1953 Sastre viewed tragedy as the portrayal on the stage of man's existence. The spectator who participates in the anguish of the action may be moved to revise his view of the world. The tension between existential "agonla1 1 and i i "praxis" has been established. The dialectical weighing of ithesis against antithesis will be developed in Ana torn!a de1 realismo. i Anatomia del realismo Sastre's second work of dramatic theory. Anatomia del realismo. was published in 1965* nine years after [the publication of Drama v sociedad. Sastre*s thought ®"Tragedia," Correo Literario. 70 (April* 1953)* 10. 145 had matured greatly during this span of time. In the |Preface to Anatomia. Sastre discusses his previous work In ithe following manner: Cuando en 1956 publiqu6 "Drama y Sociedad" mi intenci6n era bien modesta: apenas algo m&s que recordar crltica- mente, poni6ndolas al dla, las bases de la "Po6tica" de Arist6teles. Entonces yo era. podrlamos decir. una j especie de nihilista socializante. Mi "concepci6n del mundo' * no pasaba todavla. en el fondo, de un cierto | nihilismo desesperado: la existencia concreta se me presentaba. por lo menos, sin sentido suficiente— a j veces sin ningtin sentido— y ni siquiera me parecia posible formular la convicci6n de un sentido cierto para la Historia. El socialismo se me presentaba. pues, como una exigencia puramente moral; la Revolu- ci6n como el tinico posible sentido de lo que segura- mente no lo tenia; habla que luchar. eso si. como si lo tuviera: Tampoco rechazaba— no llegaba tampoco a eso— esta hipotesis. Yo era. en suma, y mi teatro respondla naturalmente a tal cosa. un "moralista social.H que trataba. sin conseguirlo, de trascender. | polltiz&ndolas, sus posiciones." I Sastre admits to a lack of depth and an absence of i i a clearly formulated philosophy during the period in which Drama v sociedad was written. At that time his attitude I was one of "social-nihilism." He regarded life as devoid of meaning and failed to attach importance to the role of history in the betterment of man's condition. He labels I Anatomia del realismo (Barcelona: Seix Barral. |S.A.. 1965)# p. 7. All quotations cited from this work will be taken from this edition and will be indicated in the text by (AR. page). himself a "social moralist" Who was attempting to transcend :these positions. Sastre states the purpose for writing I Anatomia del realismo as an attempt to present the theme iof realism in literature from the viewpoint of one who is continuing the search for the meaning of existence fagonla) i I and who is attempting to find his place in society as an |effective writer (praxis). In essence, this is a restate ment of the goals set forth in Drama v sociedad. The anti thetical method of arriving at a synthesis between agonla and praxis has come into clearer focus. In Anatomia# Sastre presents a dialectical study of realism. The goal I that Sastre sets before himself is that of transcending {social optimism and existential pessimism. The development i of his philosophy is seen to parallel that of most exis- i ; tentialists— the encounter with "nothingness" which results l in a feeling of "nausea" as one confronts the absurdity of ! the human condition, followed by a search for meaning and direction in life. Sastre*s nihilism in 1956 was countered by a concern for the individual as an acting member of his society. The fusion of the two, which is called "la espe- jranza" by Sastre, has been formulated by the time Anatomia del realismo is written. Sastre calls this synthesist 147 ... la superaci6n dialectic* de la antinomia pesimismo- | optimismo. A esta superaci6n es a lo que yo llamo esperanza. Esta esperanza integrarla, super&ndolas, i las formas m&s evolucionadas del nihilismo (el pensa- miento de las situaciones-llmite)7 ello nos librarla de los optimismos oficiales y burocr&ticos. Esta esperanza integraria y superaria tambi6n el construe- i tivismo acrltico, el optimismo activists; ello nos J pondrla a salvo de la desesperaci6n.^ ! i The verbosity and rhetorical style employed by j | ! Sastre in Anatomia stand in stark contrast to the simple. ! straight-forward style of writing in Drama v sociedad. Despite the difficult style and somewhat contradictory 1 ideas which appear occasionally in Anatomia. it is an im portant book as a continuation and refinement of many of Ithe ideas presented in Drama v sociedad. for the definition j jof realism (which Sastre calls "realismo profundizado"). land for the explanation of his dialectical method. Sastre j I continues the search for dramas which will satisfy his j requirements for a teatro realista which was begun in Drama v sociedad. Names frequently mentioned ares Beckett, Sartre, Hiller, and Brecht. In Chapter One, Sastre sets forth eleven precepts |to serve as guidelines for writers of "social-realismo": 10Alfonso Sastre, "Prefacio," in Cuatro dramas de la revoluci6n (Madrid: 1963), p. 8. 148 1. El arte es una representac!6n reveladora de la realidad. Reclamamos nuestro derecho a realizar esa representaci6n. 2. Entenderaos la realidad como una revelaci6n que el hombre va realizando a lo largo de su his- toria. Hay distintas provincias ontol6gicas y diferentes t&cnicas de capture y representa- ci6n. Todas las provincias del ser son inte- [ resantes y ninguna t&cnica, forma o estilo es rechazable en principio. [ 3. Entre las distintas provincias de la realidad i hay una cuya representaci6n o denuncia consi- deramos urgente: la injusticia social en sus distintas formas. 4. La revelaci6n que el arte hace de la realidad es un elemento socialmente progresivo. En esto consiste nuestro compromiso con la sociedad. Todo compromiso mutilador de esa capacidad reveladora es inadmisible. 5. Rechazamos toda coaccidn exterior, ajena, por tanto, a nuestra conciencia moral y a nuestro sentido est£tico. Nos sentimos responsables de nuestros actos morales y artisticos— un acto artistico es siempre un acto moral— y rechazamos toda tutela extraha. 6. El arte, por el simple hecho de revelar la estructura de la realidad, cumple— en un sen tido muy amplio, metajurldico, de la palabra justicia— una funcidn justiciera. Esto nos hace sentirnos fitiles a la comunidad en que vivimos, aunque 4sta, en ocasiones, nos re- chace. 7. Pertenecer a un partido politico no tiene por qu& significar la p6rdida de la autonomia que reclamamos para el artista. Este compromiso ser& licito y fecundo en los casos en que el artista se sienta expresado totalinente por eBe 149 partido. Su compromiso serd entonces, precisa- mente« la expresidn de su libertad. 8. No pertenecer a un partido politico no tiene por qud significar inhibicidn en el artista; su culpable evasidn; su traici6n a la respon- sabilidad social que postulamos para su i trabajo. Desde fuera de los partidos progre- sivos se puede luchar, y de hecho se lucha, por el progreso social. Es llcito rechazar la alineacidn en un partido siempre que el artistaj no se sienta expresado suficientemente por ese ! partido, ya sea en el piano tedrico, ya en el orden t&ctico. 9. Lo social es una categoria superior a lo artls- tico. Prefeririamos vivir en un mundo justa- mente organizado y en el que no hubiera obras de arte, a vivir en otro injusto y florecido de excelentes obras artisticas. 10. Precisamente, la principal misidn del arte, en el mundo injusto en que vivimos, consiste en transformarlo. El estimulo de esta transfor ma ci6n, en el orden social, corresponde a un arte que, desde ahora, podrlamos llamar "de urgencia." Queda dicho que todo arte vivo, en un sentido amplio, es justiciero; este arte que llamamos "de urgencia" es una reclamacion acuciante de justicia, con pretensidn de re- sonancia en el orden jurldico. 11. S6lo un arte de gran calidad estdtica es capaz de transformar el mundo. Llamamos la atencidn sobre la radical inutilidad de la obra artls- tica mal hecha. Esa obra se nos presents muchas veces en la forma de un arte que po drlamos llamar "panfletario." Este arte es rechazable desde el punto de vista artlstico (por su degeneracidn estdtica) y desde el punto de vista social (por su inutilidad), (AR, 16-18) Sastre rejects the doctrine of the Parnassians* "art for art's sake." He places the aesthetic value of I art in a secondary position. Art is a representation of reality. Man experiences reality as he lives his life in the course of history. There are many different ways of [arriving at the truth. No approach is to be rejected so ilong as social injustice is denounced. Political affili ation is not necessary in combatting injustice. Social jconcerns are more important than artistic concerns. Sastre ! sees as the most important task of art that of transforming the unjust world in which we live. This art is called "arte de urgencia" by Sastre. Only art of high quality is capable of transforming the world; poorly constructed art j |is useless. Sastre condemns the art of the Parnassians as I ] being pure decoration and places it in the category of comedy— an escape from the reality of life. Anyone who {refuses to face up to life's problems and injustices is 'living an unauthentic existence. Sastre, in true existen tial fashion, allows the writer great latitude in selecting |an appropriate style, technique, and form. Each person must express himself in his own way, adopting a posture of social responsibility. Cuando el cuchillo del asesino se clerne sobre una vlctima, hay que detenerlox el crimen es m&s que una | realidad, * es una sangrante realidad. La sangre, el j hambre, la injusticiax esta es la realidad radical en los momentos en que se producen. (AR, 27-28) ISastre asserts that everyone, individually and collec tively, is responsible for social injustice. It is the [playwright's duty to write serious plays Which will agitate ! i and cause in the spectator a "toma de conciencia" which i ■will in turn incite him to act. In Anatomia del realismo Sastre has replaced the linear method of Drama v sociedad with a dialectical approach. A tension is established between thesis and antithesis which is resolved in a synthesis of the two. i Sastre views the theater of Beckett (vanguard) and that of I Brecht (epic) as the two opposing poles of modern tragedy. i An ideal tragedy, according to Sastre, must be a fusion of the two. Sastre' s theater is the tension between the optimistic theater of Brecht and the pessimistic theater I of Beckett. Whereas Brecht presents man as pure history, Beckett presents him as pure existence. Sastre's man is ithe synthesis of aaonla and praxis which results in what |he terms esperanza (hope). Sastre reveals a profound admiration for both Beckett and Brecht, but prefers the 152 !"dramatic theater" (Sartre, Miller), to the "theater of the I absurd" (Beckett), or the "epic theater" (Brecht). With i I f reference to Beckett's Waiting for Godot# Sastre saysi "Y es que yo nunca he viBto un drama m&s realists; nunca he ivisto— por decirlo de otro modo--una obra menos fant&s- itica" (AR, 32). | Waiting for Godot was first published in Spanish ;in 1957 in Primer Acto. It appears that Beckett's dramatic 'representation of man's existential condition coincides I iwith the view of Sastre Who feels that the plot of Waiting i I for Godot is the plot of man's life. | • "Esoerando a Godot" captura precisamente ese "no suce- I der nada" constituyente de nuestra existencia cotidi- ana. Es, por eso, un cuadro familiar, una placa radiogr&fica en la que nos reconocemos con horror. La trama de "Esperando a Godot" es, justamente, la trama de nuestra vida.^ I At the time that Sastre wrote the above review, he was i still in the nihilistic phase of his writing. This period was followed by one in which Sastre searches for meaning in life. Sastre's nihilistic view of life is ultimately :replaced by meaningful action (praxis) which takes the ^Alfonso Sastre, "Siete notas sobre 'Esperando a Godot,'" Primer Acto, 1 (April, 1957), 46-52. 153 i form of social activity (social agitation). Sastre cannot accept Beckett's complete rejection of history and absence i jof hope for the future. j Sastre disagrees with Brecht’s dramatic theories. |but agrees with his end purpose: to reform the world ! through social reform. The theater can be an effective j means of effecting change which will result in the ameli oration of mankind. In direct opposition to "dramatic i 1 theater," the "epic theater" of Brecht rejects catharsis jachieved through identification with the protagonist. He offers the principle of distantiation instead, which makes such identification with the dramatic hero impossible. !The purpose of such distantiation is to free the spec tator's intellect so that he may arrive at his own conclu- I I ision. In 1960 Sastre expresses his attitude towards the i theater of Brecht in the following manner: ! Yo comparto el deseo de que el teatro se aleje de la magia; de que sub objetivos sean otros que los de suscitar esa "ilusi6n" que trata de provocar, precisa- mente, el naturalismo; pero pienso que la critica de Brecht est& montada, si no sobre un seudo-problema, sobre algo cuya problematic!dad es discutible. Para ml, en el teatro "dram&tico" hay lo que le pide Brecht | al teatro: distanciaci6n, critica y todo lo dem&s; i mientras que en el teatro "£pico" encuentro el peligro 154 de que, al alargar las distancias, el espectador nos j plerda de vista y nosotros a 61.^ |In 1961 Sastre says the following of Brecht: l Es un autor fundamentalmente antitrigico, cuya materia l literaria es la misma de la "vanguardia," pero vista ! desde fuera--distanciaci6n—-con la perspectiva del socialismo; de modo que si la "vanguardia" nos presents I con negro humor un mundo que se disgrega, cerrado y ; sin sentido, Brecht nos presenta el mismo mundo desde la perspectiva de una soluci6n; si para la "vanguardia" la tragedia no tiene sentido, porque "no hay esperanza" (entiendo por esperanza la superaci6n dialectics del pesimismo y el optimismo), para Brecht la tragedia no tiene sentido, porque 61 encuentra y presenta las razones de un optimismo fundamental y fundamentante. [In 1963 Sastre begins to regard Brecht as an effective combatant of the "theater of magic." He sees the theater of Brecht as one of transition, but feels that the theater i I of the future must surpass what Brecht has attempted to I do. Theater, to Sastre's manner of thinking, is more than i i narration of past events (historical or epic theater); it l is the reflection of man's existential situation within the j I context of his social praxis. By 1965 Sastre has accepted i 'Brecht's dialectical goal. 12 Alfonso Sastre, "Primeras notas para un encuentro con Bertolt Brecht," Primer Acto. 13 (March-April, 1960), j11-12. 13 Alfonso Sastre, "Tragedia y esperpento," Primer Acto, 28 (November, 1961), 16. r 155 , El drama no -tiene por qufe ser lo que Brecht criticaba-- un espect&culo hipn6tico, inmovilizador--, pero s£ lo era el teatro natural!sta y el mismo expresionismo en j el que nacid Brecht. Brecht no tenia raz6n frente al drama en general pero si ante el drama de su tiempo, en el que faltaba todo lo que 61. muy justamente, pro- i ponia. ... Brecht trae la conciencia del teatro como hecho hist&rico y es un llamamiento a desterrar del teatro la ilus!6n y la magia propias del naturaliemo I que era, precisamente, una negaci6n del teatro. j Brecht, afirmando el teatro y diferenci&ndolo de la I 1 vida, propone la alegre imagen de un teatro dial£ctico I frente a la imagen fdnebre de un publico puramente | j pasivo y receptor.1 The influence of Brecht on Sastre can be seen in some of j Sastre*s more recent plays. This influence, however, is more stylistic than it is ideological. The major premises and theories of Sastre remain unchanged. Changes occur ! in the use of experimental stylistic devices and other con- jtrivances which were lacking in Sastre1s early plays. I The entire question of influences on Sastre's theater is one which merits mention. Some critics have 'seen the influence of Camus and O'Neill on his theater,1^ whereas others consider him to be Spain's Brecht, Miller, 14Alfonso Sastre, "Del ensayo 'Teatro 6pico, teatro Idram&tico, teatro de vanguardia,1,1 Primer Acto, 61 (Febru ary, 1965), 4. 1 15 Alfredo Marquerie, Veinte aftos de teatro en Eapafta (Madrid! 1959), p. 200. 156 and Sartre.*® Leonard Pronko says of Sastre: “Toller# > Galsworthy and Kaiser have all influenced him to some ex tent, and among living dramatists he feels affinities 17 I particularly with Sartre and Arthur Miller." The most important statement with regard to influences, however, i I comes from Sastre himself. He was asked the following i question: "£Qu& autores contempor&neos considers de m&s vigencia e influencia en su obra?*1 His reply was: I Mayor vigencia: Sartre, Brecht, Miller, Beckett. Mayor influencia: Otros anteriores y de menor o nin- guna vigencia, como Pirandello, O'Neill, Toller, Galsworthy, Lenormand.*® The four authors "de mayor vigencia" can all be considered i as existential playwrights in greater or lesser degree, jOf the four, Beckett and Sartre are the most consistent in j |their portrayal of man's eternal plight as a creature devoid of hope in a meaningless world. Brecht passes from |a state of existential pessimism to social optimism. i | --------------------------- j *®Domingo P6rez Minik, "Se trata de Alfonso Sastre, ! Dramaturgo melanc61ico de la revoluci6n," in Sastre, Teatro (Madrid: Taurus, 1964), pp. 11-35. I 17 ! "The 'Revolutionary Theatre' of Alfonso Sastre," The Tulane Drama Review. 5 (December, 1960), 112. *^Primer Acto, Nftmeros 29—30 (December, 1961 - January, 1962), 5. 157 Miller's theater can be considered a synthesis of the other I 1 three (Sartre, Brecht, and Beckett). Miller is closest to what Sastre has achieved in his "dramatic theater." In |transcending "pessimism" and "optimism," Sastre has arrived i at "hope" (esperanza) as the only solution to man's eternal I quest. | Sastre refers to present-day theater as atheistic, \ | I {dialectic, or political. The theater of Sartre or Beckett 'would be considered atheistic; that of Brecht, political. Sastre's theater would fall into the category of dialecti cal theater, i ' En los mejores momentos de su historia, que son natu- j ralmente los actuales, el teatro "est& siendo" un I arte a-tea, dial&ctica, politica. En este sentido, el mejor teatro de hoy es un teatro crltico, como el mejor teatro del futuro ser& un Teatro de la Construc- ci6n, en el sentido de un humanismo comunitario. (AR. 68) i ! In Anatomia Sastre abandons the idea that litera ture and art in general are "mirrors" or "reflections'* of llife. Instead of merely reflecting life, art is "inter- ! action." When Waiting for Godot first appeared in Spain ! (1957), Sastre regarded it as an "X-ray" of life. By the ! I time Anatomia was published (1965), Sastre had changed his view regarding the effectiveness of Beckett's theater 158 in portraying reality. He now regarded vanguard theater i ’ I i j(the Theater of the Absurd) as "la literatura negadora de i la perspectiva hist6rica, del socialismo" (AR, 224). He I regards vanguard theater, together with naturalistic 1 f theater, as presenting an antidialectical, ahistorical i |image of man. i 1 El naturalismo, dirlamos, es heterocida; la vanguardia i es suicida. El naturalismo cree en la fuerza y en la selecci6n de las especies; para la vanguardia el honibre es una especie condenada. El naturalismo, en su ala | mfis pasiva, la de la resignaci6n, puede gritars "s&l- ! vese quien pueda." Para la vanguardia, sencillamente, no hay salvaci6n. (AR, 108-109) Sastre defines several literary modes as "formas i mixtificadoras del realismo." He mentions the following l i six forms: posibilismo. populismo, obietivismo, vanguar- i I dismo, naturalismo. and cons true tivi smo. Sastre labels these forms as pseudorealistic. Posibilismo is the prac- ! tice of writing only that theater which is "possible" of ipresentation. As has been seen, the posibilista makes the necessary concessions to censors. i La tesis del posibilismo queda impugnsda por la con- sideraci6n de lo "posible" como un concepto hist6rico, j como algo "por hacer." La libertad, que amplia con- ! tinuamente el campo de la posibilidad, se crea y constituye con la praxis, con el ensayo audaz, con el riesgo. (AR, 106) 159 Populismo is the tendency to concern oneself unduly with the problems of the proletariat. This focus on the [proletariat has been quite common in Spain since the end i of the Civil War. La tesis del populismo, por su parte* queda impugnada por una consideraci6n total* dialfectica, de la reali- j dad socio-econ6mica, siendo la mis f&cil de todas las impugnaciones la que se refiere al proletariado como realidad que el populismo considera audiente en la sociedad capitalists# la cual es el campo de nuestro trabajo como escritores "hie et nunc." (AR# 107) The populista portrays the working class unauthentically, according to Sastre. Sastre feels that literature should portray all classes of society rather than idealizing one. He insists that the problems of society can be solved only i through the agitation of society (revolution). Many times an author will sacrifice the quality of his writing in order to reach the proletariat. Obletivismo is an extension of naturalism. It is ian exaggeration of human behavior. Ofbietivismo is the 'synthesis of naturalismo and vanguard!smo. El objetivismo es en realidad, una especie de "natu ralismo vanguardista*" cuya sustancia puede ser I descrita como una paradoja. Por el miedo a la pro fundi dad se cae en las tinieblas. Se rechazan los fantasmas y se encuentra uno habitando en un mundo fantasmag6rico. Se trata de destruir las mixtifica- ciones burguesas y uno mismo forma parte— una parte 160 activa— de la mixtificaci6n, El prurito de mate- rializar lo esplrltual lleva a la eapirltualizaci6n j aberrante de la materia. Se trata de solid!ficar lo gaseoso y hasta lo s6lldo se evapora. (AR, 109) I The concept of the world presented in both naturalismo and i | vanguard!smo is nihilistic. Life is absurd to the van- guardist, while it is brutal to the naturalist. It is Iworthy of mention here that naturalism took a special {direction in Spain, tremendism. The basic difference i 'between naturalism and tremendism (Laforet, Cela) is that I {naturalism stresses heredity as the major deterministic factor, whereas tremendism stresses environment. Sastre's {early plays reflect many of the vanguardist techniques. |His later works seek to synthesize agonla and praxis. i Pues, £c6mo, por no caer en el nihilismo radical, vamos ! a prescindir de la nihilidad real? El rechazo del nihilismo no puede barrer con la conciencia de la ! nihilidad objetiva verificable al nivel de la exis tencia individual? del ser-para-la-muerte. Pero tam- bifen, £c6mo resignarse a que el ser-para-la-muerte se muestre envolvente y explicante del desarrollo de la realidad humana, de la Historia? £Por qu6 reducir toda actividad, incluso la praxis, a agonla? £Por qu6, al contrario, reducir toda actividad, incluso la agonla a praxis? £C6mo no plantearse como fundamental la relaci6n dialectics entre lo que la actividad humana tiene de praxis y lo que tiene de agonla? £Entre lo que el desarrollo de lo real, a nivel humano, tiene de socializaci6n y de interiorizaci6n? £C6mo, a la diso- ' luci6n en la estructura? £Y cu&l es la frontera entre los fueros y los desafueros de la individualidad, entre lo individual y lo individualoide? £0, lo que es lo mismo, entre los fueros y los desafueros de la socia— lizaci6n? (AR, 127) 161 The last mode of writing which Sastre opposes as l |antidialectical is constructivismo. This trend is related ^ to posibilismo. Whereas posibilismo regards current i obstacles as permanent, construetlvlsmo regards all criti cism as harmful to the government. Profound realism I i (realismo profundizado) is * ' des-mitificador " as well as i"des-mixtificador.” The theater, in order to be valid, must disturb, agitate, and elucidate. According to Sastre: / ... el realismo es una negaci6n de las mixtificaciones negadoras de las verdaderas estructuras de lo real, y lo proponemos como tarea desmixtificadora, descu- bridora, reveladora. El realismo es, pues, una verda- dera afirmaci6n de la literature como posibilidad, totalidad, profundidad, historia, dialectics, y construcci6n, frente a: autocensura, abstracci6n, superficialidad, &xtasis, mecanicismo y did&ctica. 1 (AR, 124) i j j Many of Jean-Paul Sartre's fundamental concepts are 1 to be found in Sastre's nonfictional writings, Sastre ^grees with Sartre that: man's existential plight causes 'him to be eternally 1 1 en situaci6n" (becoming). In Anatomia ‘del realismo. Sastre attempts to transcend this predicament i 1 by turning to the amelioration of man's social condition. Many of Sartre's terms have been given their Spanish i I counterpart in Sastre's writings: facticidad (facticity), lo otro (the Other), suieto-obieto (subject-object), 162 !situaci6n-llmite (limit situation). Hyphenated terms, J Which are one of the characteristics of the existential ists, are to be found in abundance in Sastre's theoretical works: ser-en-el-mundo (Being-in-the-world), Which is a j restating of Ortega's "hombre y su circunstancia," ser- j |para-la-muerte (Being-toward-death), which is a rendering i of Heidegger's "Sein-Zum-Tode." Alfred Stern finds this |penchant for hyphenization so widespread among the exis tential writers that he designates existentialism as "a 19 philosophy of hyphens." Sastre gives a summary of his idea of tragedy as 'he views it in 1965: i La tragedia es, en suma, una "rara avis" en la cultura j occidental (no s6lo en Espafta). No es extrafto: pues | propone una diflcil tensi6n entre los dos polos de una i doble toma de conciencia: de nuestra situaci6n como existentes y de nuestra situaci6n hist6rica; entre la | inmersi6n en la angustia propia de un ser-para-la- muerte y la actividad colectiva en el sentido del progreso; entre la pureza &tica y la eficacia social; entre la angustia privada y la acci6n pfiblica, tan lejos de un disgregado nihilismo existencial como de un imperturbable activismo politico. Esta tensi6n se resuelve algunas veces en la esperanza activa y supe rs dor a que las grandes tragedies procuran al especta- dor; pero en ocasiones tambien el espectador cae herido, desgarrado, ensangrentado, con el hdroe. (AR, 66-67) ^Sartre (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1967), p. 26. 163 Thus it can be seen that Sastre*s continual search for '"profound realism1 * ("realismo profundo") is a dialectical i i 'process. His mission is one of agitating and disturbing, irather than comforting. One is here reminded of Nietzsche's i | imperative, "philosophy's task should be to upset, not to comfort." Whereas Sastre believes that all dramatists t I should be united in an effort to renovate the theater, in j itrue existentialist fashion, he offers no clear-cut pattern I for all to follow. Each playwright must strive to attain I !the truth? each in his own way must attempt to find a responsible course of action. Dramatists must be more than playwrights? they must be "hombres de teatro" (men of the i ; theater) who are willing to engage themselves in the struggle against injustice. 1 El Teatro une a los hombres, deciamos; tambien a los "hombres de teatro": los une en el amor al oficio, en el estudio de la tfecnica y en la emoci6n del arte. ! Pero tambi&n, y sobre todo, los separa, distingue, enfrenta, y no s6lo en lo puraraente po&tico y formal— que tambi&n en ello— sino, sobre todo, en cuanto al sentido que se da al teatro en la vida, por unos y por otros. Pues bien, yo estimo que lo que en el teatro diferencia es, hoy por hoy, m&s importante que lo que en 61 nos une, a los "hombres de teatro." Con el teatro que hacemos o tratamos de hacer se manifiesta ardientemente un hecho radical: que lo que nos separa en la vida es m&s importante que aquello que nos une en el teatro. Esto es bueno? y yo creo que algo posi- tivo se abre en nosotros cuando, "hombres de teatro," 164 nos damos cuenta de que es poco realmente lo que nos une a otros "hombres de teatro" y mucho lo que nos j hace amigos de algunos de ellos y de otros hombres que j luchan por lo mismo que nosotros, desde semejante concepci6n del mundo* en el campo intelectual o tfec- ! nico; y lo que nos sitGa pr6ximos de otras gentes que ! del Teatro lo desconocen todo; hasta la luz electrics. (AR, 170-171) With reference to Anatomia del realismo, Farris {Anderson states: j The value of Anatomy of Realism lies in its piecemeal ! illumination of a realism whose totality can be visual ized only in terms of its components. Sastre's realism emerges as a process rather than as a formulistic i literary mode: a process which consists of a clarify ing dialectical movement toward an ideal synthesis. Rather than propose themes or modes, Sastre stresses the process and the agitating, illuminating mission of literature. Literature that effectively fulfills this mission is necessarily realistic: its agitation of spectators or readers affords maximum proof that it | is grounded in human reality. w i In this, Sastre1s second book of theory, one en- ! 7 counters a continuation, refinement, and at times a I redefinition of his dramatic philosophy that was begun in Drama v sociedad. The definition of realism has now come I into clearer perspective, as a dialectical rather than a i i linear process. This "new" realism which Sastre calls I i "realismo profundo" strives to include two dimensions of 20 Alfonso Sastre, p. 63. 165 Iman's existence— the inner, individual reality, and the i external, social reality. Man is seen as a being Who lives !within the framework of his historical moment. The tension iestablished between the two opposing poles— the individual iand the collective— results in an equilibrium of the two. ! I The resulting view of life is neither pessimistic (Beckett) ? \ |nor optimistic (Brecht), but a fusion or synthesis of both. j | Sastre labels this synthesis "esperanza1 1 (hope). La tragedia se sitfia, cuando consigue trascender el i desgarramiento— es decir, cuando se cumple como I tragedia— en una unidad dial&ctica superior que quiz&s podamos llamar la esperanza, al margen— o sea, por encima— de cualquier optimismo o pesimismo excluyentes de sus contrarios. El espectador toma conciencia de su situaci6n real como "existente"— y, con ello, del ser para la muerte— y de la situaci6n social, his- t6rica, en la que participa, o ha de participar, como i agente: de su tarea o "praxis'* y de su agonla; de lo ablerto y de lo cerrado de su situaci6n; de las interacciones entre lo que su actividad tiene de praxis— a veces, ag6nica— y lo que tiene de agonla— a veces, sublimada en praxis--. S61o entendida asi, la tragedia es un modo literario de nuestro tiempoi I entendida, quiero decir, en el campo de un realismo profundo: tan lejos de un ltigubre nihilismo como del optimismo burocr&tico, del inmovilismo cargado de "ideologia" como del activismo puro. (AR, 129) Sastre brings his philosophy into clearer focus in Ihia latest book of theory. La revoluci6n v la critica de I ila culture which will be discussed next. 166 La revoluci6n v la critica de la cultura Sastre*s most recent nonfictional work, La revolu- ! f c ci6n v la critica de la cultura, was published in 1970. j ! ! Sastre describes this work as an attempt to reflect in an ! j"operative” and "active" manner on the "difficult times" in {which Spaniards have been living during the present epoch. ! Este libro, escrito desde el verano de 1964 hasta el de 1969, es un reflejo mAs— un reflejo que trata de ser activo y operante? no un puro y pasivo testimonio— de los "tiempos difidles" que nos ha tocado vivir a ! los espaftoles de estos aftos; se trata aqul del campo de la cultura en tArminos muy especificos y restringidos: la literatura y el arte.2^ i Once again, Sastre has included some previously published i articles and essays. These articles and essays have not, however, been chosen at random, but have been included in I {this work as they contribute to a better understanding of the problems which must be resolved if the theater in Spain jis to be awakened from its state of lethargy and place it- ! self among the great theater of the rest of Europe. 21 La revoluci6n v la critica de la cultura (Barcelona: Ediciones Grijalbo, S.A., 1970), p. 9. All quotations cited from this work will be taken from this edition and will be indicated in the text by (RCC, page). 167 f Algunas de estas polemicas reflexionss han ldo saliendo | en forma de ocasionales articulos, pero el llbro no es una mera coleccl6n de algunos trabajos m&s o menos j relacionados entre si, como tampoco fueron meraa reco- gidas de articulos m&a anterlores pub11caclonea te6ri- cas; alno una expreai6n (relatlvamente) eatructurada en tomo a los problemas de la creaci6n cultural com- | prometida o aedicentemente lnteresada en la revoluc!6n i Or por lo menos, en el "progreso" de las socledades humanasr y sua relaclonea con la critica de la cultura I que podrlamos caracterlzar en los mlsmos o parecldoa t6rminos, durante estos afios. (RCC, 9) An Important observation that Sastre makes in the '"Prologue" to La revolucidn v la critica de la cultura is with reference to individual tastes in art. It is his con- ! tention that what makes one artist or playwright great and Ianother mediocre is that an individual finds one aestheti cally pleasing whereas the other is not. He cites as an jexample Marat/Sade of Peter Weiss which to Sastre is a great synthesis because it is appealing to him aestheti- ! Ically, He quotes T. S. Eliot to support this views "It is i jpossible that we adopt a theory and then convince ourselves that we like the works of art that conform to that theory" (RCC* 11). j From the first chapter on, the reader is made aware of Sastre1s continuing struggle against the seemingly in surmountable obstacles to his theater in Spain. He once again assails the critics and censors, but this time 168 one detects a trace of satire not evidenced in Sastre's previous books. Sastre points to the sickness inherent in ia society Which does not permit open discussion and disa greement. Of this type of society Sastre complains: I Se crea una situaci6n ficticia. Ante lo asfixiante de J la vida ptiblica, el mundo cultural pierde su fluencia. | pierde— dirlamos— su salud: se soterra y clandestinizaj y enferma. (RCC. 25) |He excoriates the existence of a clandestine censorship j ; whieh he labels "critica secreta. ' * How did such critics come into being? Sastre replies: La adquieren (la autoridad) precisamente de su proximi- dad ... a las plataformas del dominio cultural y a los establecimientos y los filtros de la cultura. Pregun- t&bamos tambi&n "c6mo surgen." No imports: son muchos los caminos transitables para la impotencia. el opor- tunismo. el resentimiento o la holgazanerla. (RCC. 24) jSastre condemns the arbitrary manner in vrtiich certain i 'writers are denounced and others praised. He cites Xavier !zubiri as an example of a "philosopher" who has been highly J ipraised whereas Jean-Paul Sartre has been ignored. i ... en Espafta se ha venido haciendo esto durante muchos aftos. tozudamente. con Jean Paul Sartre--, mientras a pensadores sin obra se les otorga a priori la condici6n de "grandes filfisofos"— en Espafia ha venido sucediendo i esto con Xavier Zubiri. (RCC. 18) i To Sastre's dismay. Juli&n Marias glosses over the philoso phies of Ortega and Unamuno to express great admiration 169 : for Zubiri. j En el librito de Juli&n Marlas La filosofla esoaftola actual se da cuenta del pensamiento de Ortega o de Unamuno pero, al llegar a Zubiri, se balbucea una admiraci6n grande y respetuosa, y no se pasa del re- i cuerdo anecd6tico. "Era tan profundo lo que nos decla ! en clase," viene a declr Marlas, "que hasta nos costaba i trabajo sacar apuntes." (RCC, 18) i j In Chapter Three of La revoluci6n Sastre reaffirms i ihis confidence in the Poetics of Aristotle Which he ex- i [tolled in Drama v sociedad. Hie points outlined are in rebuttal to Brecht's criticism of Aristotle's work on I idramatic theory, Sastre contrasts tragedy and epic theater. He describes tragedy as imitative reproduction of actioni 1 Es, pues, tragedia reproducci6n imitative (mimesis) de acciones esforzadas, perfectas, grandiosas, en deleitoso lenguaje, cada peculiar deleite en su correspondiente parte; imitaci6n de varones en acci6n, no simple recitado; e imitaci6n que determine entre ! conmiserac±6n y terror el t6rmino medio en que los ! afectos adquieren estado de pureza (catarsis). I (RCC. 36-37) j Sastre continues to stress the importance of plot I i and action in tragedy. Quoting from the Poetics he writes; I . *'La trama o argumento es ... el alma de la tragedia. " "Sin acci6n no hay tragedia." "La trama debe estar compuesta de 'modo que ... haga temblar a quien oyere los hechos y com- | padecerse por lo ocurrido" (RCC, 36-37). 170 Sastre lists some of his main objections to the i |theater of Bertolt Brecht: Brecht omite el mundo de las "situaciones llmites." Su mundo es el de los problemas pr&cticos: el de los j problemas solubles por la praxis. (RCC, 41) i i Nosotros, admiradores de Brecht, no estamos de acuerdo i con Brecht. ... El "brechtismo" conduce el teatro al j "music-hall." (RCC. 41-42) La existencia "social" no agota los problemas de la existencia: hay problemas inasequibles a la praxis. Pero la existencia del ser-para-la-muerte no excluye la realidad de la Historia: no todo ha de resolverse en agonia. (RCC, 42) In the second part of Chapter Three, Sastre dis cusses the theater of Peter Weiss. He classifies this theater as "teatro documental," and calls it a negative of the Aristotelian postulate "the plot is the soul of tragedy" and the Brechtian "the plot is the heart of the spectacle." I This "documentary theater" of Weiss together with the "epic !theater" of Brecht are direct descendants of Expressionist I ;theater. Although there were marked individual differences ' among the Expressionists, there were enough similarities for them to be considered a group. (The same may be said j of existentialists.) The features which unified the Expressionists were: innovation, distortion, and revolt. As has been pointed out before, existentialism also has its roots in expressionism. The basic concern expressed in i I all these theaters: the expressionist, the dramatic, the I epic, the documentary, and the vanguard (Theater of the Absurd), is the same, man. The basic differences center i i i around technique, manner of presentation, and the way in jwhich man is viewed. The elements contained in all of the iabove theaters may be conceived as a massive dialectic of i Sastre's agonia and praxis. Nan is viewed as an individual engaged in a lifelong existential struggle. The tension l I established is one between metaphysical searching and social responsibility. Sastre looks to Peter Weiss' theater as a synthesis of the three negations to natural ism: Existen hasta ahora— en nuestros dias— tres respuestas i que son otras tantas negaciones (internegativas) del naturalismo: la respuesta 6oica (Brecht), la respuesta dram&tica (Sartre, Miller), la respuesta vanguardjsta (Beckett). La primera comporta una negaci6n (dial6c- tica) de la tragedia. La segunda, una afirmaci6n (critica) de la tragedia. La tercera, una afirmacidn- y-negaci6n de la tragedia (itragicomedia?, igrotesco?, iesperpento?). (RCC, 52) Some of the deterministic elements of naturalism carried lover into the Theater of the Absurd. In this theater, man ihas ceased to struggle against his ultimate, senseless fate, annihilation. The characteristic shared by the 172 expressionists, vanguardists, and "epic" and "documentary" playwrights, is their tendency to present "thinly veiled i 22 !monologues" rather than dialogues. In these dramas, |genuine conflict rarely arises. They are theme-centered j i rather than plot-centered. Walter H. Sokel describes the j i [dualistic nature of Expressionism: i I Expressionism had two faces: With one of these it j looked back to Romanticism; with the other it looked j forward to vhat is most significant and new in the theater of our own time. It was the positive content given to "mission" in Expressionist plays that harked back to Romanticism. It was the parody of "mission" that pointed to the future.^3 i Many of the expressionist techniques are to be i I found in the plays of Sastre. Especially notable among i :these is the tendency toward economy of dialogue. "The single emotional word replaces the involved conceptual ! 24 [sentence as the basic unit of Expressionist language." jAnother similarity is Sastre's extensive use of symbolic I images. "The projection of abstract ideas and psychic i [situations into symbolic images and happenings is one of 22Walter H. Sokel, An Anthology of German Expres sionist Drama (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1963), p. xxi. 2~ * Ibid., p. xxii. 24Ibid., p. xviii. 173 25 jthe most basic features of Expressionist drama." Sastre's i r iattempt to appeal to both the audience's emotions and in tellect can be traced to Expressionism and Epic Theater I I respectively: Both Expressionism and Brecht's Epic Theater emphasized theater as "show" or demonstration rather than as drama I with emphasis on action and suspense. The difference j was that most Expressionists (although by no means all) sought to appeal to the emotions* while Brecht's Epic j Theater tried to appeal to the critical intellect of i its audience. Sastre* in reference to the Marat/Sade of Peter Weiss, mentions the "triple root" of a future theater: "la triple ralz de un teatro futuro: la vanguardia nihilizadora* el i drama (tragedia) de la esperanza y el teatro &pico y I : socialists" (RCC. 52). He gives the provisional name of j"complex theater" to this synthesis of "triple root." i En este sentido serla conveniente trabajar, propo- ni&ndose la adquisici6n de lo que podriamos designar provisionalmente como una "tragedia compleja": un teatro que, admitiendo el "fuego nihilizador" de la I vanguardia— que corresponde a la existencia real* objetiva* de "situaciones llmites"— * superara, a su vez* la superaci6n tr&gica (esperanza) de esta nihili- dad, abriendo el horizonte a la perspective (tambi&n real) socialista. (RCC* 52-53) [On the political plane* Sastre feels that what is most 25Ibid.* p. xviii. 26Ibld.. p. xxi. 174 urgent is to strive for the realization of liberty. | In La revoluci6n Sastre complains of stricter j censorship than ever for Spanish authors and states that I Jthere is a liberalization towards the works of foreign playwrights. He finds this situation to be paradoxical, jand fears that it will prevent the appearance of younger i playwrights. ... hoy se da una mayor rigidez en la censura para los autores espaholes y una cierta apertura para el teatro extranjero y para la critica periodlstica: Los autores espaAoles somos menos libres atin que antes. Los criti- cos son algo m&s libres que antes. No es s61o que la censura previa obligatoria continue, sino que se ha endurecido para nosotros mientras se ha ablandado ("liberalizaci6n de fachada") para las importaciones culturales: algo de Brecht, algo de Sartre, Weiss. ... No es s6lo que la prensa goce— es un decir— de un nuevo status, sino que, de hecho, ese status se ha utili- zado ... como un instruments m&s contra los autores i espaftoles "inconformistas." El resultado de esta operaci6n administrativa ampliamente secundada est& a la vista: el fen6meno de un teatro espaftol ineonfor- mista, incipiente aAn y s61o a trancas y barrancas I llevado hacia delante, ha sido finalmente liquidsdo: o los autores se "conformaron" degrad&ndose; o, radi- I caliz&ndonos, desaparecimos. Por lo dem&s, las posi- ciones trabajosamente ocupadas en el teatro eran tan insignificantes que nuestra desaparicidn no ha produ- cido ni la m&s ligera sensaci6n de vacio. La dureza de la situaci6n, agravada sin embargo por nuestra ausencia, viene impidiendo tambifin la aparici6n de | autore s m& s j 6vene s. (RCC, 129) / In La revoluci6n Sastre outlines nine points on the function of today's theater: 175 El teatro no puede ser hoy un expedlente did&ctico nl una lnstltucl6n moralizante, nl un mero instrumento politico. El teatro no es un refiejo (pasivo) de lo real ni una investlgaci6n "cientlflea" de lo real. El teatro tampoco es un juego gratuito. El teatro es--podrlamos decir un juego "serio, * ' ■ una exploracl6n arriesgada y hasta aventurera j (de lo real), una propuesta— a veces imperti- nente— que el arte hace a la politica. El teatro no es, pues, un fitil, sino m&s bien un "in&til" actual mediatamente 6til, cuya utilidad (no inmediata) se desarrolla en la forma de una progresiva toma de conciencia, por via lCtdica. Esta toma de conciencia debe ser doble y dia- l&cticamente articulada: el espectador toma conciencia de su existencia concrete e indi vidual (cuyo horizonte es la muerte), y de la existencia hist6rica (cuyo horizonte es el socialismo). Se trata de un conocimiento (no verificable por sus propios medios, como el cientlfico) que apunta a una acci&n (apunte que se hace por vlas diferentes a las de la poli tica propiamente dicha). El teatro es, como el arte en general, un campo "relativamente" aut6nomo. La desarticulaci6n de este par dial&ctico hace del teatro, o bien un arte simplemente nihili- zador (Beckett) o el instrumento de un opti- mismo burocritico (por ejemplo, las formas espurias del llamado "realismo socialists"), bordeado en ocasiones por el mismo Brecht. La relative slntesis que supone la esperanza (tr&gica) es hoy insuficiente. La via de superaci6n puede estar en esa "nueva tragedia" que provisionalmente hemos llamado Traaedia compleia y que puede adquirir una forma apta 176 para expresar los nuevos contenidos y realizar la funci6n social que, en este apartado, se ha | indicado someramente. 8. No es llcito pedir al teatro en general conse- cuencias social-pollticas inmediatamente ohjetivables; €se puede ser, sin embargo, un objetivo del "teatro de urgencia" que hemos 1 seAalado como rama colateral con el nombre de j "teatro documentario." Este teatro signifies ! una extrema reducci6n del componente ltidico i del arte, lo que lo sitGa, si no extramuros | del campo estfctico-poetico, si en una zona | fronteriza con la polltica propiamente dicha o con la investigaci6n (hist6rica). 9. Los anteriores puntos no son mfis que un intento de aproximaci6n al tenia. (RCC, 53-54) So it is that Sastre gives his latest evaluation of jthe theater which he feels is applicable to modern times. He regards the theater as a sort of "serious" game, a j"risky and even adventurous" exploration of reality which iart makes of the current political situation. The theater i i 'today cannot be a didactic expedient, a moralizing institu- | tion, or a mere political instrument. It is neither a passive reflection of reality nor a scientific investiga tion of reality. It is not a gratuitous game, nor can it be considered a "useful" (practicable) vehicle for change. Its effects are not immediate. They take the form of a gradual awakening of conscience which is expressed in a dialectical manner. Through the medium of the theater. the spectator becomes aware of his concrete and individual i i i Iexistence whose horizon is death* and simultaneously he i becomes aware of historical existence whose horizon is i jsocialism. This awareness* which is not verifiable scien tifically* points to action which takes a different course i than political action. The theater* therefore* can be con sidered a relatively autonomous field. i j Host of the above is either a recapitulation or an <extension of the ideas contained in Drama v sociedad and I I Anatomla del realismo. In La revoluci6n v la critica de la cultura* however, Sastre regards the synthesis of agonia and praxis which he labeled "esperanza." to be an j inadequate solution. On the one hand* the disarticulation of the dialectical pair as exemplified by the theater of jBeckett (pessimistic) and Brecht (optimistic), leads either I ! to nihilism or bureaucratic optimism. On the other hand* jthe relative synthesis (which Sastre proposed in Anatomla) i "hope" is today insufficient. Sastre offers the possible i solution in what he has provisionally termed "Complex ;tragedy," and whose evidence is to be found in the theater of Peter Weiss. In true existential fashion, Sastre offers no panaceas* no utopias. He states that the social—political i 178 ! consequences of the theater are not immediately realizable. i i One must wait and see, and if this new “complex tragedy" proves unsatisfactory, another solution must be sought. | In the last section of the book entitled "Premios" ! iSastre discusses the myriad of prizes and awards that have j been distributed throughout the world to writers of so- called "merit." One detects a note of discouragement in the final comment that Sastre makes, "Despu&s de m&s de iveinte aftos de escribir en Espafta, no puedo exhibir ni un jsolo premio. ... No me digan que no es dificil" (RCC. 270). i The next chapter will be devoted to an examination I !of existentialism in the plays of Alfonso Sastre. It will ibe interesting to see if Sastre's theories, for a theater which Garcia Pav6n has called "teatro de clave y contra- 27 iclave," have been applied to his own dramas. ^Garcia Pav6n, El teatro social en Espafta (1895- 1962) (Madridi 1962), p. 174. CHAPTER VI ! ALFONSO SASTRE: HIS PLAYS i ! Sastre’s first plays were experimental, one-act idramas which were written during the phase of the experi mental theater group, "Arte Nuevo" (1945 to 1948), Hie two < works which will be discussed are Uranio 235 (1946 and Carqamento de sueftps (1946). Both works reveal the anguish land sense of meaninglessness that confront man in his attempt to find the reason and purpose of his existence. i ! jThe contingency of life causes in man an insatiable desire |to find God and in finding Him to achieve personal immor- jtality. i One senses the presence of Unamuno and Grau in these early works. Unamuno's "hombre de came y hue so" is clearly defined as is his personal search for immortality. The affinity to Jacinto Grau is even more evident, perhaps (because of the fact that both Sastre and Grau are men i of the theater. Grau, who deserves to be called the 179 180 existentialist dramatist of the Generation of *98* began the job of combatting the overcommercialization of the I Spanish stage in exile Which Sastre was to continue on the I Imainland. Grau stresses free will and the importance of i action in the pursuit of freedom. What Chandler and I 'Schwartz say about Grau's theater can be equally applied i 'to Sastre1s: i His [Grau's] protagonists stress free will and the premise that freedom lies in action. Man is respon sible for what he will do with his life* for in the creation of his essence* man must show faith in humanity and understanding of the "boundary situ ations" which hem him in. To the extent that life is limited by temporal boundaries it loses its value, for this temporality primarily consists of the knowledge that man must die. Because of the ensuing anguish which they feel. Grau's characters often show an in satiable appetite to know God. to identify Him. and to seek through Him a resurrection of the flesh. Others, preoccupied with their own being, refuse to surrender to a superior power, act as their own God or give what human love they possess to humanity.^ Uranio 235 This one-act play was premiered at the Infanta i Beatriz Theater in Madrid on April 11, 1946 when Sastre Richard E. Chandler and Kessel Schwartz, A New Anthology of Spanish Literature (Louisianai Louisiana State University Press, 1967), 181 was twenty years of age. He wrote the play shortly after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. i I Sastre describes himself at that time as "un espa- I I ftolito doliente, mlstico, y, en el buen sentido de la [ 2 palabra, bueno." This was Sastre's second work to be I performed. His first drama had been written in collabora tion with Medardo Fraile (Ha sonado la muerte). Sastre's i concern for the betterment of mankind had already been ex pressed in an early poem, the bulk of which has been lost, i I but which stated in part: "jTraemos la gran idea, la encen- dida idea de una vida mejor, de un arte nuevo!” (OC. 7). Desiring to depart from the course taken by the theater in |Spain, Sastre writes: j No somos la vieja gente de teatro que nos I viene diaria, petrificada ya en la cartelera. j Somos la nueva gente del teatro' (OC, 8) j So it is that from the very beginning of his the- ! atrical career, Sastre promises to be different from i ;the ordinary and commonplace. He subscribes to the 2 Alfonso Sastre, Obras completas (Madrid: Aguilar, 1967), p. 7. All quotations cited from this work will be taken from this edition and will be indicated in the text by (OC, page). 182 presentation of a nonconformist theater— one which is to jbring him many disappointments and cause him to be sur- i passed in Spain by the other "escritor comprometido, " Buero [Vallejo. i Sastre says of Uranio 235# "La suerte estaba i i jechada" (OC/ 8). This expression is the Spanish equivalent of the title of one of Sartre's plays, Les Jeux sont faits i j(The Dice Are Cast). In Uranio 235 Sastre reveals existential anguish jand a profound concern for the welfare of his fellow man. He agrees with Jaspers in this philosopher's search for i meaning in life, / Nan is not able correctly to order the world as a whole i into a unity, in the sense of giving a final and perma nent duration to his existence. Every one of his | world-arrangements soon proves to be impossible, to contain the seeds of its own destruction, and to strive restlessly on into the immeasurable— and yet we strive incessantly for the one, unifying and self-sustaining arrangement.^ Life is fragmentary; man tries to find the missing pieces ito life's puzzle. The search for selfhood can be realized only in transcendence. 3 Karl Jaspers, Philosophy of Existence (Philadel phia; University of Philadelphia Press, 1971), p. 74. r 183 True unity# as the pivotal point on which all changing | unity in the world turns, and as the archetypal unity | of all visible and reflected unity# is in transcen dence .4 The existential theme of death is reflected in this Iplay. Han is portrayed as a "Being-toward-death." Hombre" (representing mankind) is listening to Professor transform the world into a Garden of Eden. “El Hombre" reads a passage from the Book of Ruth in the Bible and leaves the stage. The curtain opens upon a sanatorium. The characters are all ill and die one by one. Symbolism Jis seen in the names of each of themi el Hombre Viejo# la lAnciana# Mara, el Joven, la Mujer de luto# el Cinico# el i ■SoIdado alem&n# el Soldado ingl&s# el Softador, and Xv&n. life Which is dying out? Mara is the "bitterness" (amar- 'aura) of living without hope; el Joven represents the (possibility of a new existence, a "rebirth" which is to be realized by the younger generation (Iv&n). The possible The play opens with a "Prologue" in which "el Rufus, who is lecturing on the potential of uranium to El Hombre Viejo and la Anciana represent the old !significance of the name "Iv4n" (Russian for John) is that 4 Ibid. , p. 76. the hope for man lies in the Russian system or Marxism, as !Sastre has stated in his nonfictional writings. Likewise, i I 'the English soldier and the German soldier are brought l {together in sickness. This possibly shows the insignifi cance of nationality, race, political affiliation in the i jface of total annihilation. El Clnico is contemptuous and iderisive; la Mujer de luto is in mourning because she has i Host all hope that tomorrow will come; el SoAador views life idealistically. The existential anguish of the Joven is reflected in the dialogue with Mara: Joven.— Es inmen so este sanatorio, Mara ... {Qu6 grande es .' Uno se siente oprimido, pequeAo .. . Cada uno de nosotros somos una sola cilula, una simple c&lula en- i ferma de un gigantesco cuerpo que se pudre entre estas montaAas: en el reposo ... , en la tranquilidad mis ; absolute. Mara.— (Muy quieta, susurra.) Cada uno de nosotros tenemos dentro una pequeAa muerte inm6vil. Joven. — (Apagadamente.) No nos movemos, Mara ... No nos movemos. Deberlamos rebelarnos, tno te parece? Rebelarnos. (OC, 17) Even in this early work, Sastre is not content to give up hope in salvation. Man feels oppressed and insignificant !in comparison to the immensity of the universe. Each per— i son is a "single cell." Viewed from without, man is as 185 miniscule as a grain of sand lost in the universe. viewed from within, man is a universe in himself. The seeds of I rebellion are to be found in Joven's "Deberiamos rebe- jlarnos." The play ends on a note of hope. Mara and Joven I jhave been married and have a son# IvAn# who is the hope of I i humanity after the atomic destruction. El hombre of the i "Prologue** returns at the end of the play with the Bible i under his arm. Hombre.— ... Uno ... Un hombre ... Cualquiera ... Un hombre humilde ... Rezo de rodillas sobre las rocas de la montafia ... El sanatorio encierra a sus enfermos abajo ... La montaha es alta. El cielo es azul. Hay verdades humildes que nos salvan ... Estamos aqui. ! Todo se mueve. Hay estrellas. Yo he visto a Dios. I No ha muerto. Nos ama mAs que nunca. Es hermoso. i EstA con los hambres de buena voluntad. Nos salva. Angeles nos rodean. jAdelante# IvAn.1 Dios existe . .. Recuerda ... Empez6 la historia ... (Abre ante Al su libro. SePiala con el dedo. ) El GAnesis .. . Atiende, IvAn; no te distraigas con las cosas. (Con dulzura# leyendo.) "Al principio cre6 Dios los cielos y la j tierra ... " (IvAn ha mirado el libro curiosamente. i Ahora# Avido, se apodera de Al.) IvAn.— (Sorprendido.) "La tierra estaba confusa y vacla# y las tinieblas cubrian el abismo# pero el esplritu de Dios estaba incubando sobre la superficie de las aguas ... " (A medida que lee se ha ido incor- porando, y por primera vez sonrie. En el centro de la escena# abrazado al libro# mira hacia arriba. El tel6n cae sobre la inquietud de Mara.) (OC# 29-30) Sastre has used many surrealistic techniques in 186 this play. The symbolism of the clock striking the hour as each of the characters dies and goes to the back of the I stage is reminiscent of a similar technique employed by iThornton Wilder in Our Town (1938). The "flashback" tech- | inique is employed by Sastre in Uranio 235. There are simi larities to some of O'Neill's early plays to be found in jthe structure and tone of the play. Both O'Neill and ! |Sastre are indebted to Strindberg. It is to be remembered ‘that Sastre praised both of these playwrights in his theo- i iretical works, Drama v sociedad and Anatomia del realismo. The absence of plot in Uranio 235 has its origin in German Expressionism which developed into the Theater of the I I ; Absurd. It is interesting to note that the roots of the Epic Theater of Bertolt Brecht can also be found in Expres- i i isionism. I Several years after Uranio 235 was written Sastre I l |described it as a weak protest: ... a la posibilidad de una cat&strofe at6mica no oponla nada fuera de una d6bil protesta y de la necesi- dad moral de que los supervivientes, si quedaban al- gunos, reconstruyeran el mundo, recomenzaran la i Historia. c Alfonso Sastre, "Teatro de vanguardia, regreso al realismo y experiencia 6pica," in Teatro (Madrid: Taurus, 1964), pp. 139-142. 187 In Uranio 235 the idea of action (praxis) is not developed. This work is more an expression of horror* j languish, and quest, than a call to action. Man finds him self in an existential plight from which there is no escape. I The only hope he has is contained in the Bible Which 1 {promises eternal life and the salvation of the soul. War I has caused a feeling of despair and solitude. Man seeks to I jbe comforted. This feeling of contingency parallels ISastre's first stage of writing in which he suffers (aqonla) I f .and searches for meaning in a seemingly absurd situation. Carqamento de sueftos l i In its expressionistic and surrealistic techniques, I Carqamento de sueftos resembles Uranio 235. This play was I premiered at the Ramiro de Maestu Theater in Madrid on j January 9, 1948. After the premiere of Uranio 235, Sastre i immediately began to write Carqamento which was the last iplay to be performed by "Arte Nuevo" before its collapse I iin 1948. Sastre had dedicated Uranio 235; "A nadie en este jmundo." Carqamento de sueflos was dedicated. "A los vaga- bundos." He states that during this time his feelings were those of rejection and disappointments "Tales nos sentiamos 188 por aquellas fechast expulsados, despreciados, apaleados" !(OC, 33). i ! As the play opens, one sees a crossroad with a sign in German "Ewicrkeit" (eternity) . In the background there i jare sphinxes "irreales" or "sobrerreales." This somber i |landscape is illuminated by the light of the moon and a i [solitary street-lamp. Towards the front of the stage there i are a spiritualist's table and an enormous chess board r without pieces. The entire scene is one of desolation and i j depression. Two men enter and approach a third who is stretched out on the floor face upward. One of the men kicks the jhead of "Man" to see if he is dead. The two men exit and I "Man” sits up and begins to weep. He takes out a handker- :chiefi dries his tears, and looks fixedly at the audience. I ! Jeschoua enters from behind with an umbrella over his arm i land stands quietly; he lights a cigarette, puts it into "Man's*' mouth, and hands him a lighted match. "Man" accepts it silently without looking at Jeschoua, Who is i istill standing behind him. Then "Man" turns to the au dience and asks sarcastically* "£A qu6 hab&is venido aqul? Me gustaria saberlo. Resulta curioso pensar que ni 189 vosotros mi sino a lo sab6is" (OC, 37). As he smokes, he turns to Jeschoua, who has opened his umbrella and is pro- j tecting “Man" from an imaginary rain. "Han” looks at him, and softening his voice a little, adds: "Y t<i, £qu& |queries?" (OC, 37). Jeschoua asks "Han” if he was talking jwith someone, to which "Man" replies that many people are mocking him. Jeschoua assures him that they are alone. i '"Man" replies: "Es como si la humanidad entera me content- I plara esta noche" (OC, 38). "Man" tells Jeschoua that he |is ill, that he was walking along until he came to a sign post indicating a crossroad. He could not continue, and stretched out on the road to sleep. Suddenly someone iawakened him. "Man" is from the North. Jeschoua says: I |"Hay buena gente por all& ... como en todos los sitios. jPero luego algunos se extravlan" (OC, 39). The symbolism that man can choose between two alternatives— authentic and iunauthentic existence, is apparent. "Man's" problem is that he has been unable to make a choice. "He sentido ... i una sensaci6n ... Y ya no podia dar un paso" (OC, 39). Sartre has stated that man's nature is not fixed; he has the free will either to act or to refrain from acting, but, in refusing to choose, man nevertheless makes a choice. 190 one of inaction. What causes anguish in man, then, is the terrible responsibility thrust upon him to act, never knowing whether his choice is the correct one. It is no jwonder, then, that "Man" awoke weeping profusely. He is unable to make a choice; he cannot accept the responsi- jbility of his actions. He is living in 'Toad faith" accord- i r 'ing to Sartre's use of the term. i Jeschoua explains to "Man" that the two men had i kicked him to ascertain whether or not he was dead. "Los jhombres no quieren que haya cadiveres por los caminos" (OC, 40). Men do not want to be reminded of death; they want to push this morbid thought aside as if it did not exist. It is important to understand the existentialist's jconcept of death in order to comprehend the meaning of this j play. Existentialism treats the problem in an individual jmanner; it humanizes death. In other philosophies, death |is usually a collective or a general concept. For nonexis- tential thinkers, death is something beyond life; for existentialists it is the last term of life. Most indi viduals try to escape into the crowd and avoid facing the i anxiety of death by remarking, "One must someday die. " Heidegger calls this evasion of reality "Gerede1 * (idle chatter), and says that man must avoid "unauthentic being-toward-death" by courageously facing the anxiety of his individual death. "Man" tells Jeschoua that he is carrying a load of |dreams ("un cargamento de sueftos"). | Man.— Si. (Bnciende.) Arrastro, isabes qu6? Un cargamento de sueftos. Esto hace la Humanidad. Es | como una caravana que desde hace muchos siglos arrastra un cargamento terrible de sueftos. Todo es demasiado vago, casi irreal ... No llegamos nunca. A veces me dan ganas de acabar. {OC, 42) Jeschoua warns "Man" that he must tell his story ] ibefore he dies. "Man" then relates the story of his life. I While he narrates, the scenes from his past are enacted on ! the stage. His father and mother enter and tell briefly ; about their existence. "Man" tells of how he met "Frau," j [a harlot, as she was on the verge of committing suicide. He convinces her to accompany him to Paris, but "Frau" soon j iabandons him for someone else. He follows her to England i where he kills her with a poker (which is leaning against i r the lamp-post on the stage). The love affair between "Man" j land "Frau" forms the schematic for a later play entitled Ana Kleiber in which the affair between Ana and Alfredo is i (much more clearly defined. Man's existential condition is excellently revealed in the following quotation; 192 Nan.— Hay algo que se interpone entre mi y la verdad. Una carga querida y absurda. El estfipido soporte de los sueflos. Y, por otra parte, acaso yo sea un sueAo, | una pasi6n sin objeto, un error del eapacio. Las cosas viven ignor&ndome. No existo para ellas. Ellas tampoco existen. Nadie las ve. Esfinges ... jOh, si,1 j Esfinges espantosamente pl&cidas en su muerte, Y eso j soy yo: algo detr&s de una m&scara, algo detr&s de una equivocaci6n biol6gica. Aqui estoy, vi&ndome. He llevo encima como un traje, un viejo, roto y querido } traje. Eso es mi cuerpo. Ya lo ves. Brazos, pier- ! nas ... cosas que palpitan, liquidos que circulan ... ! (Se toca la frente.) Y algo raro, que me estorba, ; aqui dentro, jC6mo pesa.' (OC, 41) ! The statement of "Man" that he is "una pasi6n sin i objeto," is very close to Sartre's "Man is a useless pas sion. " Sastre denies that he was aware of Sartre at the time that the play was written. However, regardless of i influences, it is apparent that the above passage reflects i ! Sartre's "etre-en-soi" and "etre-pour-soi" concept. Man jis a being and at the same time an awareness of his being. He is estranged from himself and "the Other" ("1'autre") jbecause he can never come to know himself. Man, according I i to Sastre's description of him in Caroamento de sueflos, ,is more than a body. He is perhaps a biological mistake, i a dream, or a "passion without an object." The existen tialists express this condition as de trop (superfluous). At the end of the play when the two men come for "Man's" body, they carry off his jacket which he has left behind 193 as the c&scara of his real existence. I I One of the most moving comments in the play is uttered by "Man1 1 after his parents have left the stage: Jeschoua.--Piensas que debe ser tremenda la causa de j que existamos, iverdad? ! ' Man.— Si, debe de existir una raz6n ... * una raz6n ] enorme. Porque aqui ocurren cosas tremendas. ! (PC. 43-44) jMan searches for meaning in life, but he finds none. He is i filled with anguish at the realization that he must die. In his search for love, "Man" is equally frustrated. He turns to another in an effort to communicate and is aban- i doned and disillusioned by the callousness of "Frau." No jsolution is given to man's plight. The spectator is left jwith questions which Sastre hopes will lead to introspec- jtion. By portraying "Man" as a weakling who is unable to iaccept his responsibility, Sastre is offering the spectator jan alternate choice, one of responsibility and authen- i jticity. This play can be said to be an excellent example ! of Sastre's existentialism. He is still within the bounds l ;of the first literary stage (which parallels that of i |Sartre) in which he is more concerned with the human con- i dition than he is with a means of transcending it. One baBic difference between the philosophy of Sartre and that 194 of Sastre must be pointed out. Whereas Sartre ends his plays and novels on a hopeless note, Sastre always offers I I the possibility of a solution (although he does not i factually provide one). Perhaps this is the difference 'between the French and the Spanish mind. The Frenchman is I 'capable of viewing life nihilistically; the Spaniard is i not. No doubt this is the reason that Naturalism flour- i jished in France whereas it did not take hold in Spain. Chandler and Schwartz distinguish between the French and i the Spanish temperament; i There is a basic difference between French and Spanish Naturalism. The Spanish artist, though he can be objective, cannot be coldly and scientifically so. All Spanish writers put some of their personal passion of life into their works. The French can be objective ! in a cold and impassive manner, eliminating the author's sensibility, and in an accumulation of ma terialistic detail, say, "Here is life." As Valera says, “French naturalism is almost always materialistic and pessimistic, but the Spaniard is a believer and optimistic.® I | By studying Sastre's first two plays (Uranio 235 and Carcamento de sueftos) one can readily see why Sastre I has praised Sartre and Brecht in his theoretical works. :His affinity toward the plays of these dramatists (although £ A New History of Spanish Literature (Baton Rouge; Louisiana State University Press, 1961), p. 36. 195 not always toward their theories) stems from the fact that | ;the Theater of the Absurd, which influenced Sastre*s early I i iworks to a great degree, had its roots in Sartre's early plays as well as in the Expressionist Theater which de- veloped into Brecht's Epic Theater. Here one finds the 1 common denominator of theater, in which situation is em- i jphasized over character. Character psychology and motive- j j tion do not assume the overriding importance that they had i been given in the naturalistic drama. One important characteristic of Existential theater is that it also I ;stresses situation over character. All of the above theaters (Theater of the Absurd. Expressionist Theater. ! Epic Theater, and Existentialist Theater) oppose Natu- i jralism. Sastre refuted Naturalism in all of its forms. In La revoluci6n he states: "Todavia hay. entre nosotros. gentes que asimilan el realismo a una forma superada de 61: jel naturalismo o los modos neo-naturalistas. Es preciso seguir combatiendo esta asimilaci6n" (RCC. 51-52). | Symbolism is found in abundance in Carqamento de i | sueftos. The name "Jeschoua" approximates the Hebrew word i for God, "Jehovah” ("Yahweh"). whereas "Man" (abbreviation I of "Manfred") is symbolic of mankind. The relationship 196 established between these two principal characters is that I I of "master-slave." This basic pattern can be found in most of Sastre's plays. In many of them it takes the form of i "oppressor-oppressed" (as in Escuadra hacia la muerte). At the end of the play, "Man" plays a game of chess with I |"death,*' "Death" chooses the black pieces. "Man," Who has {beaten "death" every time before, loses the game and with { jit his life. "Man" makes his exit, knocking three times on the spiritualist's table. He then leaves the stage with his hands in his pockets and whistling. The two indiffer ent men enter with pick and shovel and carry off "Man's" discarded jacket. In the end "Man" seems to realize that i jthe only release from the agony of living is death. Sastre ! is closer to the philosophy of Jaspers than to that of I I I Sartre in this play. His indication that man somehow tran- I ] scends mortal existence is reminiscent of Jaspers' "ciphers" {which point beyond themselves. As has been mentioned {earlier, a "cipher" is an intuitive signal which bypasses i reason. "Man" seems to possess one of these "ciphers" at the end of the play When he walks off whistling. According to Jaspers, it is only When man releases his hold on the material world that he comes into contact with the Eternal. Another indication of existentialism in Cartramento de j | sueflos is the despair and "shipwreck" (Jaspers) which "Nan" passes through before he receives a "cipher." Prior to his game of chess with "death," "Nan" feels abandoned by God (Jeschoua). He cries out: "]Jeschoua; jVuelve.' j Eetoy solo* j Jeschoua.' {Jeschoua.'" (OC, 52). Jaspers states ! that man cannot achieve genuine faith until he has passed ithrough despair and "shipwreck." All of the major themes of existentialism are to be I found in Sastre*s first two plays. In both Carcamento de sueflos and Uranio 235 are found the themes of authenticity, absurdity of human existence, lack of communication, human i jsolitude, anguish, love, death, quest, and transcendence. i j i Pr61oao pat^tico I Pr6logo pat&tico was published in 1950. It was |Sastre's first full-length play to be published. Of all jthe plays that Sastre has written, he regards this one as the most difficult to write because of the moral question jit raises. Sastre obtained the idea for the play from an article against French terrorism entitled "Les tueurs sont i la ... " which appeared in the French newspaper. La Gerbe. 198 The following excerpt is taken from that article: i i i Elle est bien 1’armAe du crime* c'est bien sa stratAgie J de la terreur: l'acte est inutile quant a son fait, il est "gratuit, " corame disent les anarchistes, mais il cr&e le d&sordre et la peur. (OC, 59) i {With the writing of this play, Sastre considered himself ; "bautizado como autor dramAtico" fOC, 59). ■ Sastre states that by writing Pr6looo patfetico he {was investigating the possible reasons behind the actions of a terrorist. "Trato ... de recoger el pulso de una ,6poca subversive, que ha sumergido a tantas conciencias en jla angustia" (OC, 59). A later notation, dated 1953, reads: Escribo esta nota despu&s de haber leido el drama de Alberto Camus Les iustes. Creia que Pr6loqo patAtico era, hasta ahora, el tinico drama que trataba, de cara, ! el tema del "terrorismo," No es asl. Camus, en Les iustes, se enfrenta con el mi smo problems moral— y partiendo, como yo, de la "acciAn terrorists"— que yo en Pr61ogo patAtico. Hubiera preferido que mi drama se hubiese estrenado a su tiempo, cuando lo escribi. Entonces los estrenos de Lea iustes, en Paris, y Pr61oqo patAtico, en Madrid, hubieran sido casi simultAneos. (OC, 59) The problem posed is an ethical one. Can the shed- j ding of innocent blood by a terrorist act be justified if the objective is social justice? I Pr61oqo patAtico presents a phase of terrorism t before an actual revolution. In the opening scene of the play, Beltr&n, Ant6n, and Oscar, who are members of a block I 199 j of terrorists, are waiting for Pablo to return with the plan of attack. Pablo returns with instructions for Oscar > to plant a bomb at a designated street corner on the fol lowing evening in order to kill the Minister of War. The i bomb explodes as planned, killing the Minister and a number I jof innocent people as well. It is feared that Oscar's jbrother, Julio, was riding a bus Which was destroyed by the iexplosion. Beltr&n informs Oscar that the police know that jhe planted the bomb. Oscar, stunned and tormented by the ! fact that he possibly killed his brother, is captured, taken to prison, and tortured. He is shown a photograph I I of a mutilated man who he is told is his brother who was killed in the bombing. Oscar is later freed by one of the i "hombres de castigo" who is a member of the terrorists 'posing as a policeman. Oscar returns to the terrorists' headquarters where he finds Pablo and Beltr&n discussing | his dedication to the cause. In an ensuing argument, Oscar | ‘ blames Pablo for his brother's death and kills him. It is learned that Ant6n, who opposed the act of terrorism from ithe start, has committed suicide. Oscar returns home to i j find that the police had lied to him. His brother, Julio, is alive. Julio tells Oscar that the initial revolutionary 200 act has been successful. The support of the people has jbeen indicated by their refusal to attend the funeral of the Minister of War. In the final scene, Oscar and Julio !await the police who will imprison Oscar once again. This i time, however, Oscar will submit to torture willingly to i |expiate for his crime of killing innocent people and to i ishow the oppressive forces how one can accept torture and l ! death courageously for the revolution. The terrorism presented in Pr6logo oatfetico is con sidered to be a necessary prelude to political revolution. Ant6n and Oscar represent two opposing views on terrorism. i I Ant6n is a sensitive young man who condemns needless kill- !ing of innocent people. In order for Ant6n to kill, he i must hate. He cannot hate someone he does not know. He | ! maintains that one must kill only those who are responsible I for the oppression of the people. I Ant6nx— Yo s6lo pido disparar sobre un honibre concreto. Una bomba en la calle es algo tan vago que me da miedo, como cuando de pequeho hula de la oscuridad ... Veo que la muerte que nosotros damos es la pura indetermi- naci6n ... Nada ... Se nos escapa entre las manos. Y yo pretendla ser responsable de algo determinado, i exacto, fijo ... (OC, 66-67) Oscar views the destruction of the State essential at all costs, even if this means the sacrifice of innocent 201 people. In reply to Ant6n's accusation that "han muerto ;otros ... hoiribres inocentes sacrificados," Oscar says: TO tienes raz6n ... Mueren "otros" tambifen, pero ni siquiera esa sangre es inOtil. La acci6n en conjunto— | incluso con sus "inocentes sacrificados," como t0 dices— hace que se conmueva esa superestructura que es el Estado, un Estado que hay que desmontar a toda j costa. (OC, 67) l | Of the two views above, one might say that Ant6n's l Iview coincides with that of Camus, Whereas Oscar's "revolu- Ition at all costs" reflects the viewpoint of Sartre. | i The themes of rebellion and revolution are irapor- tant in the works of Sartre, Camus, and Sastre. It will serve the purpose of this study to examine briefly the attitudes of each author concerning the role of rebellion and revolution in modern society. Since the value of the individual is held to be sacred in existential philosophy, ! jhow do two major existentialists justify sacrificing the Welfare of the individual for the welfare of the group? In the frantic search for justice and liberty, man faces i the perpetual danger of substituting one form of tyranny for another. Hie outcome of rebellious acts cannot be pre— |determined. Are there times when sacrificing an individual is justifiable? 202 j Camus began his search for meaning in life in 1938 I When he considered the question of suicide in The Mvth of Sisyphus. During these years, Camus concludes that he is ia nihilist. Logic denied the notion that life has meaning, i but intuition longed for happiness. As Camus probes the i |incomprehensibility of existence, he decides that suicide is not the solution. Man must struggle against the in justice of the human condition and he must turn to his fellow man for happiness. Man must accept his finitude and |direct all of his efforts toward the amelioration of man- i kind. In The Rebel Camus concerns himself with the inter relationships of individuals Whereas in The Myth of Sisyphus i he had concentrated on solitary man. The similarity of the l jtwo works is reflected in the proximity of their themes: i suicide and murder. If suicide is unjustifiable because there is value in life, it follows that murder is unjusti- jfiable for the same reason. i It is Camus' contention that we shall know nothing until we know whether we have the right to kill our fellow jmen, or the right to let them be killed. Camus distin- i I guishes between revolution and rebellion. According to his definition, revolution is a politically directed action 203 which is planned and organized. Revolution, according to Camus, will go to any length to achieve its aims, and is a deliberate attempt to replace the existing form of govern ment with a new one. Rebellion is a spontaneous, pas- I sionate resistance to oppression that man undertakes When I his level of tolerance is completely exhausted. Rebellion f jis not organized, nor is it political in nature. Camus feels that rebellion is justifiable, but that revolution is not. He poses the question, how can one justify the ideliberate destruction of human life in order to achieve liberty and freedom? Camus feels that revolution perpetu- i ates itself. It can never achieve its determined goal, as i I 7 !new revolutions will be engendered by the old. The disagreement between Sartre and Camus on the (question of rebellion and revolution resulted in a lengthy polemic Which ultimately led to the dissolution of their j friendship. Sartre maintained that rebellion was inef fectual since it was disorganized, passionate, and could i lead to nothing but anarchy. He felt that only revolution Icould bring about the desired results, as it had definite ! ; — — ^Albert Camus, The Rebel (New York: Vintage Books, 11956), p. 4. 204 goals and sought to establish a new order which would |result in greater benefit for all of humanity. In other words, Sartre is willing to sacrifice the welfare of the jindividual for the welfare of society if the results are i realizable in the foreseeable future. It is his contention that the end justifies the means. Camus' view is much more humanitarian. He regards life (individual life) as some- i |thing precious and irreplaceable. It must be preserved at iall costs, even if this means abandoning revolt or rebel- I I lion. Camus' position that nothing can justify murder is Ibest exemplified in his play, Lea Iustes (The Just Assas- i sins. 1950). This play, written at about the same time as Sastre's Pr6loqo patAtico, has the same theme as Sastre's jwork, Camus had received the idea for the play from a book by Boris Savinkov entitled Recollections of a Terrorist. :In Camus' play the combat organization of the Socialist Party decides to assassinate the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Two men, Kaliayev and Alexandrovich, are jgiven orders to hurl a bomb into the Grand Duke's carriage | as it passes by. At the designated time Kaliayev refuses to carry out the plan. There are two small children in 205 jthe carriage with the Duke. Kaliayev says that he cannot I I i add to the pain and suffering of the world he knows for a l I future that he does not know. The other of the two men* Alexandrovich argues that the plan should be carried out for the future happiness of mankind. So it is then* that jin Camus' play the positions of Sartre and Camus are repre- jsented. Camus insists that the innocent be spared* whereas | !Sartre claims that they must be sacrificed if need be for i the establishment of a just society. j The question now arises: What is Sastre*s position regarding rebellion and revolution? The answer is not a simple one. As Sastre has stated many times in his theo- jretical works* the author's own ideas and attitudes should not predominate in his works. He should maintain an objec- I itive stance. It is for the reader or the spectator to i select the view that he feels is most appropriate. Sastre has stated many times that his is not a theater of propa ganda or thesis. He offers no solutions. The spectator is presented with the facts. Sastre attempts to bring ! about agitation. The thoughts of the audience must be stirred to praxis. The direction that this praxis will take is not known. Sastre hopes that it will lead to 206 ;a "toma de conciencia" Which will ultimately result in the i I I amelioration of society. As is seen in Pr6loao patfetico the two opposing views represented by Ant6n, who abhors the jassassination of innocent people, and Oscar, who condones it, are presented as alternatives. Sastre places great i jfaith in the ability of each individual to find an appro- priate course of action. In this respect, he is probably {the most existentialist of the three. The existentialists I I |stress freedom of choice and acceptance of responsibility, ] According to Sartre, "Man is condemned to be free.“ It i seems rather inconsistent with one of the major premises of {existentialism that an author such as Sartre or Camus would propagandize. Admittedly, Sartre is more inclined to do j {this than Camus who, in similar fashion to Sastre, presents i many different views in most of his works. In accordance i iwith the principles set forth in his theoretical works, jSastre does not attempt to influence judgment? he merely I wishes to illuminate it. El cubo de la basura J ; Sastre began to write El cubo de la basura in 1950 and finished it in December of 1951. In the Preface to 207 the play Sastre gives the following description: Dos 6rdenes quedan comprometidos en la acci6n de £1 | cubo de la baaura: el orden personal y el orden social. El autor del crimen no es m&s que un anarquista, produ- cido por nuestro tiempo, indiferente a los movimientos colectivos, incrfedulo de la justicia social (y, cohe- rentemente, de la llamada in justicia social) ; un hozhbre que cree, sin rodeos, que uno tiene que tomarse la justicia por su mano. La actitud del invisible anta- j gonista no provoca en fel angustias de orden social y antagonismos colectivos, de clase a clase. Estamos ante un antimarxista puro. El orden social funciona por su cuenta, al margen de la tragedia personal a que asistimos: ah£ est& el tr&gico desnivel de las clases y la dialectics de la lucha. En El cubo de la basura est&, por otra parte, el precipitado de toda guerra civil: el desolador panorama de los vencidos. La sangre ciega los caminos de reconciliacidn. El drama, hoy, es testimonio y denuncia. No s£ si El cubo de la basura se representar&, pero, al raenos, ya esti es- crito. {OC, 109-110) As Sastre has said above, El cubo de la basura |operates on two levels: the personal and the social. The "heap of trash" which is tossed into the corner is symbolic of the "spoils” of any civil war; the sad, depressing panorama of the vanquished can be found in large numbers. !The memories are too vivid for any reconciliation to take place, Sastre closes his comment with the doubt that the play will be premiered. He is quite accurate in his sup- ! position; it was not published until 1965 in Paris and was staged only once, in Geneva by a university theater group. It is not difficult to surmise the reasons for rejection 208 by the censors. The play is an allegory of post civil war I Spain. The major existential themes represented in ei j de la basura ares freedom, choice, responsibility, authen tic existence, and death. In tracing the major concerns jin Sastre's plays from Uranio 235 to El cubo de la basura Ione detects a gradual, progressive shift from a stress on ! 'estrangement, anguish, nothingness, and absurdity to a I ! stress on freedom, choice, responsibility, and authentic |existence. This evolution corresponds with Sastre's own philosophical evolution. Host existentialists have followed the same development— from a realization of man's contingency to a nadir of despair ("shipwreck," "nausea," j"sickness unto death") to a search for meaning (or a reason ;to continue living) to "the Other" or one's fellow man who i shares the same fate. It must be remembered that in the i i instance of the religious existentialists, the last stage is a turning to God. Kierkegaard is an exception to this progression as he achieved the religious experience by imeans of a "leap of faith." The "Prologue" of the play focuses on a "barrio i pobre" somewhere in Madrid. The protagonist, Germ&n, 209 i somewhat drunk, is asleep on top of a rubbish heap. Some drunks, who are celebrating New Year's Eve, spot him and j start a fight, after which they leave him buried in the jrubbish. The symbolism of these degenerates is seen in 'their names: Cara de Cerdo (filth), Cara de Burro (imbe- i jcility, torpitude), El de la Calavera (death, destruction), and Hombre con Labios Pintados (promiscuity). There is ialso a ragman who appears later on (Trapero). A young boy i ! (Chico) who is looking through the rubbish finds Germ&n Who (promises to buy him a cup of coffee. Juli&n (Trapero) tells Germ&n that the latter's former girlfriend, Julia, jhas returned to the "barrio." Germ&n goes to her house as he wants to find out what has happened to her. Two years before Julia had run off with a man named Pablo. When she became ill, Pablo deserted her. At Julia's home Germ&n i converses at first with her father, Sefior Tom&s, Who seems J to represent the "old" generation with its belief and faith I !in life (Age of Optimism). "Hijo, mira lo viejo que yo soy y c6mo me afano atin por las cosas" (OC, 121). Germ&n is 'representative of the "new" generation with its anguish and j feeling of fortuity (Age of Anxiety). "A veces, a uno no le apetece vivir, sefior Tom&s." Later on when he is told 210 the entire story of what happened to Julia and secretly 'plans to avenge her abuse, he feels useful and needed: ] I Qu6 cosas m&s raras. Ayer me sentia de sobra en el mundo, si, de sobra ... inservible, como la m&s asgue- 1 rosa basura de una pocilga. ... Y, sin embargo, soy i un hombre, y es bonito serlo, y ahora estoy alegre. ; (OC, 125) 1 Germ&n' s feeling "de sobra1 * (superfluousness) is what Sartre has called 1 1 de trop. " It is an existential feeling i iof vacuity that one experiences when he realizes that the i 'world would go on the same without him. After man has jturned to God and has found that He is missing (Nietzsche*s and Sartre's proclamation that "God is dead"), he passes 'through what Sartre terms "nausea," and as he searches for meaning he turns to his fellow man. In this case Germ&n turns to Julia. He has found a meaning in life; he must j restore her honor. Germ&n leaves without telling anyone i where he is going. The foregoing relates the personal !level of the play. On the Bocial level Germ&n*s friends land his mother (his father died in the war) are meeting clandestinely at Germ&n's home. Since Germ&n does not 'believe in collective action, he does not form part of the jgroup. In his absence, the members of the group, who are planning a strike, begin to suspect that Germ&n has 211 betrayed them. Finally, ten days later, Germ&n returns and visits his friend Luis. Germ&n’s new feeling of usefulness (choice) is contrasted with Luis' existential anguish and |feeling de trop. Luis complains: i No hay nada que hacer ... Yo he luchado y ya tengo bastante. Al final tuve la mala pata de que me > hirieran los de la C.N.T. y este pulm6n no estar& ya ! bueno nunca, Se perdi6 la guerra y adem&s muri6 la mujer. No tuve ya nada. Ahora, £d6nde estoy? Aqui, i en el cubo de la basura. Donde tengo que estar. : Nunca debi salir de este asqueroso sitio. Parece que cada uno tiene su lugar en este mundo y que es idiota i buscar otra cosa. El que nace para pudrirse, se pudre. (Bebe.) Entonces, ique hay que hacer? Qn- borracharse. Que el vino se le meta a uno hasta la sangre y luego tirarse a dormir en un rinc6n. Y al otro dia tener la boca seca, y otra vez emborra- | charse ... hasta que uno se muera, hasta que se acabe esta perra vida. No hay nada m&s. (OC, 132-133) In a later passage after Germ&n has returned from his "mission," he expresses a feeling of accomplishment: j Luis.— Vienes de buen humor, Germ&n. Como si todas las penas hubieran terminado para ti. I Germ&n.— Es que han terminado, Luis. Soy feliz, dentro de lo que un honibre puede serlo. Me encuentro bien. ! Me siento Ctil, necesario,ientiendes? Creo que est& bien que haya nacido. Creo que he venido a hacer algo a la vida. (OC, 142) iThe happiness that Germ&n speaks of is the happiness for i ; which Camus was also searching. According to Camus man can only live authentically by accepting life's limits and en gaging fully in existence for the happiness of self and 212 others. This is precisely what Germ&n has done. He has (to his way of thinking) brought happiness to Julia by ; accepting his "responsibility" and destroying the source of I her unhappiness, Pablo. By killing Pablo, Germ&n is {attempting to expunge Julia's sense of guilt, i Luis' "bad faith" is revealed in the above passage !in Which he refers to his surroundings as "el cubo de la i |basura." It is apparent that he will do nothing to ameli- ! orate his own condition, nor is he concerned with others, |He is a prototype of the unauthentic man who avoids all responsibility and blames his environment for his failings. i 'The symbolism contained in this play may be viewed on many I levels. In the "Prologue" the boy (representing the lyounger generation after the Civil War, possibly Sastre himself) is looking through the rubble of a devastated |country for something salvageable. He finds Germ&n, Who represents a true existential, authentic individual. The I I |suggestion here is that not everything was destroyed by the lwar. The salvation of Spain seems to rest on the poor and oppressed members of society (the proletariat). The kill ing of Pablo possibly represents the destruction of the oppressor who is exploiting Spain just as Pablo "used" 213 Julia. Spain must be restored to her former dignity just as Julia must regain her honor. If Spain is to return to her former glory, she must depend on the strong and the i I courageous. This "oppressor-oppressed" theme is to be i found in most of Sastre's plays, | Luis shows great admiration for Germ&n and wishes i I that he were like him: Luis.—-Es estupendo que hayas conseguido eso (lograr ser feliz). Es muy diflcil dejar de acordarse de las cosas ... Pero no para ti, que eres capaz de todo, i por que tienes fuerza .... aunque no seas ni alto ni | fuerte .... pero tienes la fuerza del coraz6n ... Yo te admiro, Germ&n ... 7 te admiro, de verdad. (OC. 143) I Germ&n gives his explanation of the killing of i Pablo. ... yo no creo que haya cometido un crimen. He matado a un honibre .. . pero era un hombre que estaba fuera de la ley. o, por lo menos de mi ley ... Hay que ser | honrados y portarse bien con la gente, esto es lo que pienso. Ese no era honrado y se ha portado cruelmente | con alguien ... Estaba al margen de la ley/ y lo he i castigado ... Tenia pena de muerte en mi coraz6n ... 1 He entrado en sitios ... adonde la justicia no puede 1 llegar ... ni lo pretende ... , porque hay miserables que no vienen en el C6digo. A ese le he matado a conciencia. (OC, 151) Both Germ&n and his mother accept the consequences of his act stoically. When they have arrested Germ&n near the end of the play and Luis cries out, "jHay que hacer algo*", 214 Germ&n's mother replies: “C&llate, Luis. No hay que lamen- jtarse por nada. El Germ&n ha cumplido como un honibre" I (OC. 153). Escuadra hacia la muerte | Escuadra hacia la muerte was published in 1952. It i was premiered at the Marla Guerrero Theater on March 18* 1953* by the "Teatro Popular Universitario." Although the jplay was enthusiastically received, it was ordered closed i {because of political pressure. This play established i Sastre*s reputation as a major young dramatist. Even after i i Escuadra was excluded from the major theaters, it continued I to be popular and was frequently staged by university groups and experimental theater companies. In reference ito the play's premiere, William Giuliano states: i j Aque1la noche, tanto los crlticos como el pfiblico se dieron cuenta de que habla surgido en Espafta otro j dramaturgo que merecla ponerse al lado de Buero Q Vallejo en la vanguardia de la renovacidn del teatro. Escuadra hacia la muerte is an allegory of the human situation. Sastre has drawn heavily from his early QBuero Valleio. Sastre v el teatro de su tiemgp (New York: Las Am&ricas, 1971), p. 171. 215 experimental theater in presenting man as an anguished, frustrated, creature existing in a "closed situation." The setting is vague, and the characters are not clearly j defined. Farris Anderson describes the play as: "a bridge between the two major ideological tendencies of Sastre's i !workt paralysis and despair on the one hand, mobility and i i 9 hope on the other." i I j Six members of a squad of men condemned to die for ihaving committed some crime are stationed in a desolate I ! |outpost somewhere between the enemy and their own troops. They will be sacrificed in order to save the rest of the i army. The leader of the squad, Corporal Goban, maintains rigid discipline, which is ridiculous in view of the circumstances. It is mid-winter as the squad awaits the t ienemy offensive. The soldiers have supplies for two i months, after which time they will be met by a patrol in the event that the offensive does not occur. The men take I turns standing guard in the bitter cold. TCieir hatred for the cruel corporal mounts. The tension reaches a climax jon Christinas Eve when the men, who are intoxicated, t Q Alfonso Sastre (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971), p. 91. kill him. The act, which occurs almost gratuitously, is ireminiscent of Meursault's killing of the Arab in Camus' I I L'Etranqer. Whereas Meursault's crime occurred in the lintense heat, the soldiers' crime occurred in the intense I cold. The only member of the squad who is not involved in i jthe murder of Goban is Luis, Who is standing guard.* The i imen realize that with the killing of Goban their last and |only hope for survival has been shattered. In order to avoid anarchy, Pedro attempts to replace the corporal. He is unsuccessful and the two-month period is nearing a close Hie men cannot carry the burden of their overwhelming '"freedom" (Sartre's "Man is condemned to be free") and one i by one they meet their fate. i Escuadra hacia la muerte reveals the anguish and ! hopelessness of the human condition. Man is being punished iby being made to suffer in a closed situation. The men |desire Camus' happiness, but it is denied them. The ^arbitrary "Third World War" of Sastre's play provides the excellent setting for a representation of Heidegger's "Sein-zum-Tode" concept. Unamuno's agonizing "hombre de i came y hue so" emerges even more clearly than the more jobjective "hombre y sus circunstancias" of Ortega. Hie 217 lonely forest cabin symbolizes man's metaphysical barrier, !death. In Sartre's philosophy, death is symbolized by a wall past which the individual cannot go. Corporal Goban refers to the situation that the men face as "otro infierno" i !(Sartre's "Hell is other people"). The men individually | [face the same enemy— death. Each one has been sent on this ] I I mission as a punishment for a past crime. One is reminded of Kafka's The Castle where man attempts to gain access to the "castle" (meaning of life) but is thwarted each time. i There is also a parallel to his The Trial in which man is i represented as being perpetually "on trial" and suffers extreme guilt feelings at being alive. Just as each member i ;of the squad is condemned to die, all individuals must face the same fate separately. By means of the absurd strict |military discipline in the play one is made to realize that !regimentation and strict adherence to outmoded useless laws i |is likewise absurd. Men live as automatons refusing to i choose a course of action and avoiding all responsibility. It is possible to see in Goban the antithesis of !the Christ figure, or a cruel, ruthless omnipotent power i who subjects his creatures to anguish and torment. The killing of the corporal takes place on Christmas Eve. The 218 celebration of Christ's birth, which symbolizes peace and love, is defiled by the committing of a brutal crime. I Pedro.— Cabo, hablamos pensado celebrar ... Andres.— Si, eso ... Felices Pascuas, cabo. No se i enfade hoy. Es dia de perd6n y de ... alegrla ... | Paz en la tierra ... y gloria a Dios en las alturas ... Todo eso ... Celebremos la Nochebuena. "Perd6nanos | nuestras deudas, asl como nosotros ... , 1 1 etc&tera, etc&tera. (OC, 195-196) i i The men are trapped in a closed situation from Which there is no escape. According to Sastre's definition I i of the tragic situation "B" in Drama v sociedad they are i i i "torturados por una entidad superior a ellos bajo cuyo dominio se encuentran sin posibilidades de salida" (DS, 28) . Sastre is concerned with characters who represent the 1 |lowest levels of society as he was in El cubo de la basura. (The purging quality of a death faced courageously and un flinchingly is expressed by Goban in the following lines: No sois soldados. Sois el desecho, la basura, ya lo ! s6 . . . , honibres que s6lo quieren vivir y no se someten a una disciplina. jlndisciplinados y cobardes.’ Bien. Vais a tragar la disciplina del cabo Goban, la dis ciplina de un viejo legionario. Necesito una escuadra i de soldados para la muerte. Los tendr6. Los har& de vosotros. Los superiores saben lo que han hecho | poniendo esta escuadra bajo mi mando. Voy a ir con vosotros hasta el final. Voy a morir con vosotros. Pero vais a llegar a la muerte lirapios, en perfecto estado de revista. Y lo ftltimo que vais a olr en esta tierra es mi voz de mando. iQu6 os parece la perspec tive? (OC, 172) 219 The existentialist feeling of guilt as found in the ; works of most of the major existential writers is expressed ] jby Javier in the following words: Hay alguien que nos castiga por algo .., Debe haber ... si, a fin de cuentas, habrfi que creer en eso ... Una falta ... de origen ... Un misterioso y horrible ; pecado ... del que no tenemos ni idea. Puede que haga I mucho tiempo ... (OC, 217) The idea that when religion dies, man is lost and unhappy is expressed by Javier, the "philosopher" of the j group: i La muerte del cabo Goban no fue un hecho fortuito. ... Formaba parte de un vasto plan de castigo. ... Mientras 61 vivia llev&bamos una existencia casi feliz. Bastaba i con obedecer y sufrir. Se hacia uno la ilusibn de que estaba purific&ndose y de que podia salvarse. ... Goban estaba aqui para castigarnos y se dej6 matar ... j para que la tortura continuara y creciera. Estaba aqui ' para eso. Estaba aqui para que lo mat&ramos. Y caimos en la trampa. Por si eso fuera poco, la filtima opor- i tunidad, la ofensiva, nos ha sido negada. Para noso- tros estaba decretada, desde no s£ d6nde, una muerte sucia. (OC, 216-217) [ Sastre outlines the characteristics of a tragedy which he follows closely in his plays, in his theoretical writings especially Drama v sociedad and Anatomia del ! :realising. One of the characteristics that he refers to is | that the characters in a true tragedy are: "seres conde- nados a morir que se interrogan sobre su destino y sobre | 220 | el pecado desconocido o la culpa por la que son castiga- dos" (PS. 23). Luis searches for the reason for their i suffering: "Pedro, y todo esto, ipor qufe? iQufe habreraos I ihecho antes? £Cu&ndo habremos merecido todo esto? £Nos lo i mereciamos, Pedro?" (OC, 220-221). Pedro answers: "(Bah.' |No hay que preguntar. £Para qu6? No hay respuesta. El finico que podia hablar est& callado" (OC. 221). The above remark uttered by Pedro is indicative of the "God is dead" |concept of Sartre and Nietzsche. After Goban had been ‘ killed, at the beginning of “Parte Segunda," Luis had given a reason for the extreme unhappiness of the men. Referring 'to Goban, he says: "No era un mal hombre, Sefior, y nosotros tampoco, aunque no hayamos sabido amarnos" (OC, 198). The implication here is that since "God is dead,“ man in order to find a meaning and purpose in life must turn to his fellow man. This idea, which forms the basis of Camus' philosophy, is found in most of Sastre's plays as well. i Man's humanity to man was an important theme in two of the i plays studied so far: Pr61ogo patetico and El cubo de la ; basura. Sastre directs his concerns more and more to "the Other." As Farris Anderson has stated and as was mentioned earlier, Escuadra is the bridge between frustration and r 221 .hope. Sastre's dialectic of aoonia and praxis is by now |well established. I I 1 Javier's feeling of solitude, contingency, and I superfluity is an exemplar of the first stage of existen- 'tialisra. His cry in the night as he stands guard, alone, |surrounded by the threatening forest, is a true "grito existencial." No se ve nada ... sombras ... De un momento a otro parece que el bosque puede animarse ... soldados ,.. disparos de fusiles y griterla— muertos, seis muertos desfigurados, cosidos a bayonetazos— es horrible— . No, no es nada ... Es la soitibra del irbol que se mueve ... Estas gafas ya no me sirven ... nunca podri hacerme otras ... Esto se ha terminado. iSon pasos? ... dQuifen vive? No es nadie ... nadie ... Seri el viento ... Tengo raiedo ... Hay que pensar en otra cosa. Llorar ... Estoy llorando ... Una escuadra hacia la muerte ... Una generaci6n estftpidamente condenada al matadero ... Esto no puede durar mucho ... Estamos ya muertos ... No contamos para nadie ... Yo no quiero caer prisionero. jNo.' Prisionero, jno.' jMorir.’ jYo prefiero ... (Con un sollozo sordo) morir; jMadre^ [MadreJ jEstoy aqui ... lejos' £No me oyes? jMadre' j Tengo miedo.’ j Estoy solo.' (Estoy en un bosque, muy lejos.' (Somos seis, madre: (Estamos ... solos ... solos ... solos ... I (La voz, estrangulada, se pierde y resuena en el bosque, Javier no se ha movido desde ! la frase "No es nadie.") The early experimental plays that Sastre wrote during his i"vanguardist period" have served him well. He incorporates imany of the techniques of the Expressionist theater and I the Theater of the Absurd. In fact, one can find many 222 similarities between Beckett's Waiting for Godot and !Sastre's Escuadra hacia la muerte. Hie theme of both plays i is the same, but it is treated differently in each work. [Beckett's Theater of the Absurd has gone beyond Sastre's dramatic theater. His protagonists show life's futility ! i [in quite a different manner. The "existential cry" of iJavier in Escuadra is replaced by sardonic "black humor" in i [Beckett's play. The technique employed in the above so- j liloquy of Javier is "interior monologue" or "stream of jconsciousness." Hie "flashback" technique was employed in i Uranio 235 and Caraamento de suelios. i i Later on Javier expresses Heidegger's feeling of 1 “thrownnes sM ("Geworfenheit"). j Solo que yo soy una de las bacterias que hay en la [ gota de agua ... en esta gota que cae en el vaclo. j Una bacteria que se da cuenta, £te imagines algo mis [ espantoso? (OC. 216) J Hie Sartrean concept of "l'autre" ("the Other") is also expressed by Javier and reveals the desire of Javier ,to reduce others to objects by means of Sartre's le regard (the Gaze or the Stare). Sabemos que su mente esti dispuesta de otra forma— y eso nos inquieta, porque no podemos medirlos, redu— cirlos a objetos, dominarlos en nuestra imaginacion. (OC. 178) 223 j In Escuadra hacia la muerte, it is not the cor- » poral's presence which imprisons the men. Rather it is |their own lack of direction and their unwillingness to i I assume responsibility which prevents them from living an i authentic existence. | i Javier represents the intellectual who depends on i !reason to solve life's mysteries. Sastre is no doubt {indicating that it is necessary for men to act rather than 'theorize about reality. One must involve himself in social jagitation and praxis to help remold the world. Alfredo Marquerle has found Escuadra to be a true i work of art and states that Sastre is a master technician: I Nos planted en ella una tesis* un nudo. un conflicto total y absolutamente dram&tico sin ninguna clase de j concesiones. Exhibi6 un dominio t&cnico extraordi- nariOt ya que la acci6n y el movimiento esc&nico con j solamente seis personajes son de lo m&s perfecto y , limpio.-LO i l Other critics have compared Sastre to Sartre and I have found Escuadra to be an "existential cry": i El primer grito existencial y profundo del teatro espafiol de postguerra. ■^Anthony Pasquarielo, "Alfonso Sastre y Escuadra hacia la muerte. * ' Hispan6fila. N&n. 15 (1962) , 57-63. 11Ibid., p. 60. 224 Recuerda la desnudez y oacuridad de Sartre, y esti llena de angustla pura y sin consuelo.^2 i Once again Sastre fails to provide a solution, as I has been his stated purpose in Drama and Anatomia. The spectator or reader must interpret the play in his own I manner and provide his own remedy. El pan de todos El pan de todos was published in 1953. In 1954 Sastre submitted it together with Pr6loqo patetico to be Japproved for production. They were both prohibited by the censors. Sastre explains what happened to prevent the l staging of these two plays in the following manner: i j Ese mismo afto— 53— la present6, con Pr6loqo patfetico, al "Premio Ciudad de Barcelona" (1954), que se falla todos los aftos en enero. Al mismo tiempo, el director de la Compaftia "La Miscara," Cayetano Luca de Tena, la I envifi a la Censura— que la prohibiria— con intenci6n j de montarla. La obra fue designsda para el premio por los jurados. Pero la prohibici6n de la Censura pro- j dujo--con el veto del delegado del Ministerio de In- formaci6n en Barcelona— -un conflicto en el seno del i jurado, que se resolvi6 lesionando impunemente mi derecho al premio: mis obras— como queda dicho en la Noticia de Pr6logo pat6tico——fueron consideradas como "no presentadas," contra todo derecho. (OC, 225) 12 Josfe Marla de Quinto, "Breve historia de una lucha, ' * in Alfonso Sastre, Teatro (Madrid: Taurus, 1964), p. 51. 225 Sastre places the tragic dimension of El pan de I !todos in Greek tragedy. The theme of both El pan de todos ;and the Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, Euripides, and {Sophocles, is the same: a son is responsible for the death i of his mother. In the three versions of the Orestes and i j Electra tragedy the son {Orestes) kills his mother (Clytem- nestra) as she has been responsible for the death of {Orestes' father, Agamemnon. The similarity between 'Sastre's play and the Greek tragedy ends here. Sastre has {introduced this classic theme into a modern play of revolu tion. In a note about the play Sastre wrote: ! La dimensi6n tr&gica de este drama est& ya en la tra- gedia griega: Orestes mata a Clitemnestra y es perse- guido por las Furias. El pan de todos es, en este sentido, una tragedia antigua. Pero su presente articulacidn solo ha sido posible despu&s de las gran- I des experiencias revolucionarias del siglo XX. (OC, 226-227) It is interesting to note that O'Neill, who is I highly regarded by Sastre, wrote a modern version of the iGreek tragedy in 1931, entitled Mourning Becomes Electra. O'Neill's play differs from Sastre's in that it adheres more closely to the original tragedy. The action of El pan de todos occurs "in an imagi nary country" the same as many of Sastre*s other plays. 226 Sastre was criticized on a number of occasions for not writing "Spanish" theater. The fact is that most of his |plays have remote settings or settings which could be found {universally. Sastre defends his position by stating that i I he is attempting to write “universal" theater. His plays i are not intended for Spaniards alone, but for other socie ties as well. He states: "Soy un escritor *realists.1 Pero no un sainetero" (OC. 227), | Whereas Pr6loao patetico dealt with a terrorist stage before the revolution had taken hold. El pan de todos I takes place after the revolution has taken over the govern- ! ment. In Sastre's plays about revolution* he does not jpropagandize; according to his stated purpose in Drama v j sociedad: j El dramaturgo debe. por lo menos en la medida en que i eso sea posible. poner s ub ideas entre parentesis y dejar que el drama funcione en su piano. El puede I ser (de hecho lo es muchas veces) el primer asombrado de la ideologla que alii se produce. (PS. 25) i I Differing from Greek tragedy, modern tragedy does I inot depict the struggle against the gods, but the struggle :against other men. Hie heroes are not personnages of high rank or status. They are not kings or nobles. They are common, ordinary men like most of us. Henrik Ibsen 227 is often accredited with bringing the tragedy down from i jMount Olympus— from the gods to mortal men. His "problem I play" emphasized social or psychological problems# and I subordinated characterization and plot structure to the i theme. Sastre's plays for the most part follow this "prob- i i Hem play" concern for social justice. i ! The action of El pan de todos takes place in a l {socialist country. David Harko, who belongs to the Central i Committee of the party, obtains permission to conduct a i i purge of the people's party. It seems that certain party I members are becoming rich at the expense of the people I (proletariat). Meanwhile, David's mother has made a pact jwith Pedro Yudd granting him permission to use the party i money as he sees fit. In turn for this concession, Yudd promises that she will have enough money for her family to I escape the country. Peter Yudd has been guilty of selling jthe people's wheat for personal gain, (He is selling "el pan de todos.*') Juana, David's mother, has helped Yudd because she fears that her son is in danger in the party, |Yudd visits David because he knows that he will be investi gated, and tells him of his mother's part in the crime. Torn between love for his mother and love for the party. 228 David finally orders Yudd arrested. Soon afterward, the agents take Juana to prison. Paula, David's aunt, accuses 'him of betraying his mother. The party asks David if the |case should be dropped and his mother released. The ques tion is asked in the presence of the party's high official. David, ridden with feelings of guilt and torn by loyalty to both his mother and the party, cries out, "No.' " After his mother is executed, David becomes despondent and finally ;in a mood of depression hurls himself from a seven story l |window. The chief of the party, Jacobo Fessler, makes use of David's death to further the Cause. He announces to i 1 the press that David died in an accident and that his last l words were in support of the Cause and faith in the party's i I future. ' The tension established in this play is one of love 'of family versus love of country. David sincerely believes i Jin the aims of the party. The decision he makes is an !extremely difficult one. He loves his mother dearly, but he comes to the realization that the welfare of his country iis more important than the welfare of one person, no matter who. One is again reminded of the Camus-Sartre polemic, and one wonders how each of them would react to this situation. Camus, no doubt, would condemn the betrayal of ! |family and friends. Sartre would probably take the same course of action as David. i Hie selfishness of men has impeded the party's i |progress. There are too few dedicated men like David. f Jacobo Fessler says in the final scenei David Harko ha muerto en un accidente ... Sus filtimas I palabras fueron de solidaridad para la causa, de amor al Partido y de fe en el porvenir ... David Harko es un ejemplo para las juventudes del Partido. David ... es un h&roe de la Revoluci6n. (OC, 278) I i Many of the nonreligious and atheistic existen tialists, Sartre, Nietzsche, and Camus among the most notable, have returned to Greek mythology for inspiration. 'Hie reason for this is that this early period reveals man i !in his "healthiest state" before either Christianity or science had "blighted" mankind. Nietzsche, it must be 'remembered, was a scholar of Greek literature. In his | studies of Greek tragedy he discovered Dionysus, patron deity of Greek tragic festivals. For Nietzsche, Dionysus, the god of the vine who brought all men together in a state ! of drunken frenzy, was the salvation of mankind. Sastre jhas used Greek themes in several of his plays. His adapta- j tion of Medea is a modern version of the ancient Greek 230 ! tracredv. Sastre' s use of the Orestes theme in El Dan de I I i todos caused a great stir among Madrid theatergoers as they i i considered such an act as killing one's mother a mon strosity. Sastre himself ordered the play closed because i of the scandal it caused. The reaction of the Spanish jaudience to the theme of the play is indicative of the j | I state of affairs in Spain. The Spaniard, who has been i hermetically sealed for more than thirty years, attends the ! j theater for escape from his problems and for entertainment. i |The "intellectual." thought-provoking theater of Sastre. therefore, is not popular among the general populace. ^TOiose who praise Sastre's works invariably are the intel lectuals. and notably among them, the university students. I ! As he does in many of his plays, Sastre makes use |of the weather to intensify the tragic situation. In i Escuadra hacia la muerte. the bitter cold symbolizes the numbness of spirit that the men feel. As anxiety mounts, I the weather grows colder. In La mordaza, which some ■ critics have compared to O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, the hot summer reflects the intense passion of the charac- i ters, for it is in summer "cuando se cometen los crimenes," i |In El pan de todos, anguish, torment, and sorrow are i j __ 231 symbolized by the constant rainfall. i i i David becomes disillusioned with the revolution as I he views the worsened conditions of the people: Las cosas van peor de lo que yo creia. En muchos sitios la situaci6n de los obreros y campesinos es m&s terrible# mis cruel que antes de la Revoluci6n. j (OC, 243-244) i |It is apparent that David is not like the others. Martha I says of him: "Yo sabia que no era un hombre como los i detn&s” (OC, 261). David is anguished as he ponders his {mother's fate. Although he has attempted to live an au- thentic existence# he has been guided by an ideal. His | "choice" has resulted in a feeling of guilt and anguish too !heavy to bear. The existential "gaze" (le regard), which I ^intensifies David's guilt feeling# is evidenced in the |following comment addressed to his aunt: ^ No haces mis que mirarme en la casa. Yo no puedo I andar por aqui. Porque s6 que me est&s espiando. Me est&s condenando con tus ojos. Me est&s llamando asesino. (OC. 263) I Sastre's idea of praxis is contained in David's concern for the betterment of conditions: Se ha derramado mucha sangre. Pero el hambre est& todavla ahl. Hay que salir a la calle. Luchar. Necesitamos la orden de depuracitin. Hay que conse- i guirla a toda costa. Entonces ... (OC, 246) | 232 i | It is evident that David is representative of I Sastre's own "commitment." He is "un homme engagfc": "Estoy i comprometido a seguir. No dejaria esto por nada del mundo” (OC, 256). i i I In El nan de todos Sastre shows the interaction of j !individuals, some of whom act responsibly, attempting to ^ 1 ! i , live an authentic existence, and others who avoid responsi bility and in so doing lead unauthentic lives. Juana and David both emerge as individuals who are attempting to live jresponsibly. Although the outcome is tragic, the motiva tion of the protagonists is sound. This play surpasses Pr6loro patfetico in that the protagonists emerge as clearly- defined human beings with whom the spectator can identify. |Two contrasting views are presented in El pan de todosi ! responsibility to society (David), and responsibility to family (Juana). Sastre seems to suggest that this dia lectic can be resolved by synthesizing the two. It is interesting to note that Arthur Miller, whom Sastre has so highly praised, stresses the importance of responsibility to others in his plays. Miller criticizes American family- oriented morality which causes one to avoid responsibility i 'to society. 233 La mordaza In the "Noticia" to La mordaza. Sastre states: i 1 Escribi La mordaza en un inomento en que todo lo que , habla escrito hasta entonces estaba prohibido— . Tratfe de hacer una protesta cauta: un drama de apa- riencia rural y de mensaje subterr&neo. Tratarla de : declr: "Vivimos amordazados. No somos felices. Este silencio nos agobla. Todo esto puede apuntar a un ! futuro sangrlento." (OC, 283) Sastre goes on to state that his message was not ! detected by the censors. The play was authorized imme- I diately and viewed simply as a "rural drama." Sastre comments that of all his plays. La mordaza has been the jmost performed on the professional stage throughout Spain. i The fact that such a play of protest against censorship and oppression could receive government approval strongly sup ports Sastre*s views on posibilismo. J I La mordaza was premiered at the Reina Victoria iTheater in Madrid on September 17, 1954. This was Sastre*s I I first professional production to have a successful run. Farris Anderson classifies La mordaza as a "drama of social realism," and compares it to Escuadra hacia la muerte: j In many ways The Gag (La mordaza) resembles The Cpn- j damned Scruad (Escuadra hacia la muerte). It is characterized by the same tightness of form and ideology, and the same allegorical quality. Isalas Krappo, who silences his family with violence and 234 ! intimidation, recalls Corporal Goban. The family's ' revolt is analogous to that of the Corporal's soldiers. ! And The Gag projects the same rich, ambiguous ideo- j logical suggestions, although with an emphasis somewhat different from that of The Condemned Squad. Again, the transcendent implications are a natural product of the ■ dramatic situation. The “oppressor-oppressed*1 theme that rises again i \ |in La mordaza is a familiar one in the plays of Sastre. j I l In this play, the tyrant is the father of a family. The play's setting is undetermined, Isalas Krappo, a wealthy old farmer, rules his i ;family with an iron hand. His three sons, Juan, Teo, Jandro, Juan's wife, Luisa, and his wife, Antonia, live with him. The lascivious Isalas attempts to seduce Luisa. One day a man, just released front prison, visits him and i swears that he will avenge the deaths of his wife and ! daughter Whom Isalas killed during the Resistance. In a drunken stupor, Isalas had raped the collaborator's wife ^before he killed her. When the collaborator leaves the jhouse, Isalas gets his pistol, follows the man and kills him. Luisa, his daughter-in-law, witnesses the event. Isalas threatens to kill her if she tells anyone. She 33Alfonso Sastre, pp. 96-97. remains silent as long as she can/ but finally tells her husband of the crime. One by one, the other members of the I family discover the secret, but each one remains silent; Teo, because of fear; Juan, because of love for his father; Luisa, because she does not want her husband to suffer more; Antonia and Jandro, because they do not want any harm / ito come to the old man. They are all silenced ("la mor- i I j daza"). Finally, Luisa, who can bear the dreadful silence |no longer, confesses to the police commissioner. Isalas i I is taken to prison. Later, he tries to escape and is killed. The principal existential themes in La mordaza are: freedom, choice, responsibility, authentic existence, and !"the Other." It is obvious that all of the members of the i I family have acted in "bad faith" by refusing to bring Isalas to justice. The only one who, because of guilt i feelings, finally accepts her responsibility is Luisa. Isalas and Luisa represent Sartre's concepts of "the Other" and "the Stare." As Isalas1 crime is witnessed by Luisa, I she becomes in essence "the Other," the subject who makes of Isalas an object Who is submitted to her "stare" (le regard). Sartre explains this situation in the following manner: 236 By the mere appearance of the Other, I am put in j the position of passing judgment on myself as on | an object, for it is as an object that I appear to I the Other.^ j If Isaias had been alone when he committed the crime, he 1 would have been subjected only to his conscience, which | I icould be made to subliminate the horrible deed, Luisa, however, by means of her "stare" is a constant reminder of !the crime who causes in him guilt feelings which cannot be discharged. Sartre continues: i Shame is by nature recognition. I recognize that I am as the Other sees me. . . . Shame is an immediate shudder which runs through me from head to foot with out any discursive preparation.^ Isaias is totally "free" and in this sense repre sents one of the major existentialist concepts. He exer- j [cises his freedom at the expense of "the Other." The I I members of Isalas* family are "objects" to be used by him i !in any way he deems necessary or satisfactory. The I Sartrean concept evidenced here is the "slave-master" rela tionship which Sastre has made great use of in his plays 14 Being and Nothingness (New York: Philosophical Library, 1956), p. 222. 237 |and Which was referred to earlier as the "oppressor- I oppressed" relationship. | While I attempt to free myself from the hold of the Other, the Other is trying to free himself from mine; while I seek to enslave the Other, the Other seeks to enslave me. We are by no means dealing with unilateral relations with an object-in-itself, but with reciprocal and moving relations. The following descriptions of concrete behavior must therefore be envisaged within the perspective of conflict. Conflict is the original meaning of being-for-others. After his crime has been divulged, Isalas seeks a little compassion and turns to Luisa for solace and com fort. She, however, repulsed by the terrible crime he has committed, rebuffs and derides him: Isaias.— Hija mia ... ide verdad tti piensas que yo ... j 1 podrla hacerte algfin daAo? ! Luisa.— Usted me dijo ... que me iba a matar ... | Isalas.— Tenia que asustarte de algOn modo para que no me delataras. Ahora ya todo ha terminado y solo quiero ... que no me rechaces en el filtimo memento ... ! (La abraza y la estrecha contra su pecho.) Que tengas para mi una palabra amable y una mirada de cariAo ... | £Es mucho pedirte? £Es mucho pedirte, hija mla? , (Luisa trata de soltarse, pero Isalas la retiene. Forcejean.) Luisa.— |Su6ltemeJ jSufeltemei (El Agente interviene y retira a Isalas. Lo arroja brutalmente contra un sill6n. Isaias trata de removerse, pero el Agente le apunta con la pistola.) 16Ibid., p. 364. Agente.— Quieto. 0 se la va a jugar. (Isalas queda I inmfivil. Luisa entonces se echa a relr nerviosamente. Se rle de Isalas. Lo mira y se rle.) Isalas.— No te rlas, Luisa. No te rlas. £De qu6 te rles? No te rlas asl. (Se tapa los oldos.) jNo te j rlas as!.' (OC, 337) |So it is that at the end of the play, Isaias has become the '"slave" whereas in the beginning he was "master.” It is jimportant to note that Sartre's regard for "the Other” is i accompanied by a sense of distrust and a feeling of aliena tion. He has stated that Whereas an individual needs "the i ! Other," he is often reduced to an object and thereby ex ploited. If we start with the first revelation of the Other as a look, we must recognize that we experience our inapprehensible being-for-others in the form of a I possession. I am possessed by the Other; the Other's 1 look fashions my body in its nakedness, causes it to be born, sculptures it, produces it as it is, sees it as I shall never see it. The Other holds a secret— the secret of what I am. He makes me be and thereby he possesses me, and this possession is nothing other ! than the consciousness of possessing me, | The symbolism of this play is quite obvious. La mordaza is an allecrorv of oppression, any oppression, but more specifically that which has been perpetrated by the i 239 Franco regime. Sastre expresses the hope that one day I !Spain will be free from the tyranny that enslaves her and I the gag that stifles her outcry. Luisa reveals the atmo sphere of repression that hovers over the house: Hay silencio en la casa. Parece como si no ocurriera j nada por dentro, como si todos estuvi6ramos tranquilos y fu6ramos delices. Esta es una casa sin disgustos, sin voces de desesperaci6n, sin gritos de angustia o de furia ... Entonces, £es que no ocurre nada? £Nada? [ Pero nosotros palidecemos d£a a dia ... estamos m&s trietea cada dla ... tranquilos y tristes ... porque no podemos vivir ... Esta mordaza nos ahoga y algftn dia va a ser preciso hablar, gritar ... si es que ese dia nos quedan fuerzas ... Y ese dia va a ser un dla de ira y de sangre ... (OC, 326) Symbolic of Sastre*s position in Spain and the censorship to which his works have been submitted are the following words expressed by Luisa: “’Te voy a matar si lhablaaj', me dijo vuestro padre ... El buen silencio ... " |(OC, 326). | Tierra roia I Tierra roia was published in 1954. It has never i been staged because of its controversial theme, although ! it has been submitted to the censors a number of times. Sastre explains his purpose for writing the play in the following manner: 240 1 Es infitil tratar de encuadrar Tierra roia, de un modo preciso* en la geografia o en la historia de Espafta. El lugar de la acci6n se parece* eso si* a las minas I de Rlotinto— en cuya tierra roja tuve la idea de es- cribir el drama— , pero nunca hubo alii* que yo sepa* tales incendios* ametrallamientos y violenciaB, que* sin embargo, como tantos hechos dolorosos y crueles. han sido una realidad en parecidas circunstancias y en j otras tierras de Espafta. En este sentido* Tierra roia j tiene mucho que ver con la Historia. Quiero decir I que los hechos a que asistimos en el drama han suce- dido de un modo o de otro* en una o en otra tierra de ; Espafta, y en uno o en otro momento de su historia [ reciente. Asi, Tierra roia* que no es— como digo— una j descripci6n geogr&fica ni un relate hist6rico* ni ! siquiera una f&bula encuadrada en un fondo hist6rico preciso* es un drama que pretende dar cuenta de la realidad. (OC, 347) l Similar to his confreres, Sartre and Camus* Sastre has shown a predilection for mythological themes in his ;plays. He expresses the influence of myths on his works in I I the following way: ! Durante los tiltimos tiempos* la "creacidn" dram&tica se ha nutrido en gran parte de los mitos cl&sicos. A su trav&s, los dramaturges han expresado sus actuales inquietudes y angustias. Tales mitos han evidenciado su gran potencialidad para servir de testimonio a Spocas distintas de aquella en que fueron creados y elaborados. A mi me ha parecido que correspondia a un dramaturgo espaftol la tarea de glosar y replantear en algtin sentido uno de nuestros mitos dram&ticos mis queridos* en el cual se halla potencialmente toda una fecunda linea del teatro moderno: el mito de Fuente- oveiuna. (OC* 347-348) i Tierra roia can be compared to Fuenteoveiuna in its portrayal of the effectiveness of collective action. One 241 salient feature of all of Sastre'a dramas that deal with l {revolutionary themes Is that whereas the revolutionaries i !or terrorists often act In unison, they always suffer Indi vidually. This confirms the existential concept that each Iman must accept his burden, suffer anguish and terror, and |ultimately die alone. Hie English owners of a mine in an undetermined i Sforeign country exploit the mine-workers ruthlessly. Al- i ithough housing is supplied for the miners while they are i [productive, when they become too old to work they are driven from their homes. No retirement provisions are made for them and they are left to their own devices. As the iplay opens, Pedro, an old miner who had tried to start i an uprising against the mine owners When he was young, | (prepares to abandon his home. Pablo, a young miner, is (appalled at the injustices to Which the retiring miners l (must submit. He wants to lead a revolt against the company {owners. Pedro tells him that he had tried to conduct an insurrection when he was young, but that much blood was I shed and that nothing was accomplished. Nevertheless, Pablo incites the miners to rebellion. A number of them I go to Pedro1s house with the intention of preventing the 242 company officials to evict Pedro, The police arrive and one of them accidentally shoots and Hills a baby. All the iminers join in the uprising against the mineowners, set j fire to the owners' houses, killing the engineer and the j ! I inspector of the mines. Many others are killed in the lonslaught. The police brutally interrogate a number of i miners in an attempt to find the persons responsible. The j i I 'miners, however, assume collective responsibility. In the i !Epilogue, ten years have passed. Pablo is now preparing to i jretire. A young man (El Joven) arrives and says that they need not leave. Pedro and his wife, In&s, tell him that it is hopeless to attempt another rebellion since all of ithe previous attempts have failed. El Joven assures them jthat this time all the miners will lend their support to jthe rebellion. Collectively they will succeed in over— ! [coming the injustices. Pablo exclaims that "they will not [leave tomorrow." In this play Sastre portrays the cyclical charac- I teristic of revolution. The spectator is left with the question: Will the failure be repeated or will the revolu tion somehow effect a solution? One thing is certain; for the first time the effort will be collective (the ageless "in unity there is strength" adage). Sastre seems to be suggesting that more people join him in his revolt against injustice and exploitation. He has traveled the road alone !for the most part. Those who could be of assistance have either "signed pacts" like Juana in El pan de todos and Alfonso Paso (pacto social), or they have taken a position |of posibilismo as the majority of miners in Tierra roia and I Buero Vallejo. In Tierra roia. as in most of Sastre's plays# ! |nature performs an important role in reflecting the moods land sentiments of the protagonists. In this drama death | is prefigured by the red landscape (tierra roia)# which |symbolizes barrenness and unproductivity. In the opening scene the red sunset casts a glow Which envelopes the j | stage. The use of color to symbolize mood was used ex tensively by Jacinto Grau, a playwright Who was also highly I -esteemed by a select minority, but Who artistically speak- ing ranks among the most outstanding dramatists of the twentieth century. Other similarities can be drawn between :Grau and Sastret the predominance of existential themes in their plays, their emphasis on action rather than 244 i 18 Jwords, man's anguish and desolation, and man's authen- i |ticity. i l The theme of unauthenticity or "had faith" is the ! predominant existential theme in Tierra roia. The miners j who refuse to participate in the uprising because of fear r ieven though they believe in its aim, are acting in "bad i faith." The police sergeant is a friend of many of the , miners. Still, he follows the orders of the mineowners and ievicts Pedro from his house. The reasons he gives are: I i*|Tengo 6rdenes.' " "Yo obedezco a mi teniente" (PC, 382). |The sergeant repeats this "tengo 6rdenes" when questioned las to the reasons behind his actions. He is clearly an l unthinking, automaton Who acts in "bad faith.” He follows junquestioningly Whatever instructions the mineowners give ihim. i Suggested in Tierra roia is the notion that every i iact of rebellion has some merit. It is true that the in surrection has been unsuccessful, but it is also true that 18 Grau's philosophy of "action" and Sastre's phi- ;losophy of praxis can be summed up in the statement that Grau's protagonist, "El Novio*' makes in La casa del diablot "Ho es cuesti6n de decir sino de hacer" (It is not a ques tion of saying, but of doing). the miners have received some benefits. They have received j a slight increase in pay and the working conditions have i improved somewhat. The situation, however, is closed and jcyclical, stressing the existential concept of "limited action" or Sastre's idea of the synthesis of aqonia and I j praxis. Within life's boundaries (closed situation) man jean act for the amelioration of self and society (open situation). The final boundary which cannot be surpassed j(limit situation) is death. Sastre's synthesis of aqonia and praxis, esoeranza, is found in the Epilogue: Pablo.— dVerdad ... verdad que entre todos hemos hecho posible gue t6, hijo mlo, puedas hablar as£? I Joven.— Es cierto. Pablo.--dVerdad que fue preciso que nosotros y los de antes que nosotros no supi6ramos bien lo que querlamos para que t6 ahora lo sepas? ! J Joven.— Es verdad. (OC, 410-411) i i Ana Kleiber i The play Ana Kleiber was published in 1955. It has not been staged in Spain although it was performed in Athens in 1960 and in Paris in 1961. The theme for this iplay was taken from Carqamento de sueftoe, which dealt jbriefly with a similar ill-fated love affair between "Man" i >and "Frau." The main focus of Ana Kleiber was metaphysical ! !anxiety; the love affair was presented by means of "flash back. " Ana Kleiber is not in the direct line of progres- ! sion that Sastre's theater has taken beginning with his |earliest plays, Uranio 235 and Caraamento de sueflos. con- I i tinuing through Escuadra hacia la muerte (which some j critics still regard as his best work), and going on to dramas of revolution El pan de todos and Tierra roia. Some critics have reacted unfavorably to Ana Kleiber since they say that it is not typical of Sastre's work. One major critic and a professor of dramatic literature has praised it highly and has included it as the representative !Spanish drama of contemporary times in two anthologies: i Ana Kleiber was written as an experiment and is not typical of Sastre's other work. But the very absence of social stridency in this play may very well make it the best one he has written thus far. In it he attempts to come to grips with some of the most dif ficult problems confronting us all, and he refuses the too—easy solution of social reform that oftentimes weakens his other plays. 19 Robert W. Corrigan (editor), The New Theater of !Europe (New York: Delta, 1962), p. 22. The other anthology in which Ana Kleiber is included is: The Modern ^Rieatre (New York: Macmillan, 1964). This anthology is also edited by Robert W. Corrigan. 247 i In the 1957 edition of Ana Kleiber, Sastre stated in the prologue: i Aprovecho la publicaci6n de Ana Kleiber para dar noti- cia de mi a mis buenos amigos. Sepan que confio, trabajo* espero* vivo. Encontrar&n en Ana Kleiber i un drama que no corresponde a la llnea modular de mi trabajo. Desde el punto de vista formal* signifies i una utilizaci6n de las experiencias realizadas por ml ' I en el seno del grupo "Arte Nuevo" durante los aftos j 1946* 1947* y 1948. Quien conozca mis obras cortas de aquellos ahos reconoceri, adem&s* en Ana Kleiber varias ! situaciones apuntadas en un drama mlo de ese tiempo: Carqamento de sueftos. (OC* 415) The play begins in the vestibule of a hotel in Bar celona. Three conversations are going on simultaneously. One of the conversations is between a writer (Sastre him self) and two reporters. The effect of this opening is l that the play has not yet actually begun, the spectator i |still awaiting the arrival of the protagonist. Ana Kleiber j enters and requests a room. She has a tired look and seems {about to faint. She signs the register and requests to be | called early the next morning as she has an appointment* Ana is not destined to keep a long-awaited rendezvous with her lover, Alfredo Merton; that evening she dies of a heart attack in her hotel room. At the funeral, the writer j i meets Alfredo who was scheduled to meet Ana. Alfredo tells the writer the story of their love affair by means of a 248 series of flashbacks. Alfredo meets Ana in Paris where she is on the verge of jumping over the side of a bridge. (It will be remembered that this is the same way in which j "Man" met “Frau.") He dissuades her from committing suicide and they fall in love. Sensing a basic weakness | of character which will bring Alfredo unhappiness. Ana .leaves him after an ecstatic eight days. Alfredo searches i for her and finally finds her in Germany, where she is working as an actress. After a reconciliation they decide I to get married. Her former theatrical director maligns Ana, saying that he has had an affair with Ana who makes herself available to all men. Alfredo kills the director to silence him and flees. He does not see Ana for a long !time. Then, one day he meets her in a park. Subsequently, they resume their former relationship for a while. The I !Second World War breaks out and Alfredo is drafted into the German army. During his absence Ana has affairs with other ;men. When Alfredo returns and learns of her escapades, he picks up a poker and hits Ana with it, but she is not : seriously injured. Alfredo goes to Barcelona. One day i he writes her asking her to meet him in the lobby of the Strangers• Hotel (el Hotel de los Extranieros) in Barcelona < on the twenty-sixth of December for a rendezvous. She goes to the hotel where she dies in her room the evening before the proposed reunion. Alfredo says that it is possible j that they will be united in death. ; i Ana Kleiber is the only play in which Sastre has I igiven the starring role to a woman. In all of his other I I plays, women have supporting roles, but never play the ‘ principal. In El pan de todos. David's mother has an im- portant role, but it is he who emerges as protagonist. The l ichief significance of this play, I feel, is in its depic tion of the inability of twentieth-century man to com- i ! municate with others. this existential feeling arises from | 'modern man's feeling of alienation and abandonment by his i Creator. He is a sad, anguished, tortured creature who no longer possesses the faith of his ancestors. His has | been the legacy of centuries of conflicting, incompatible iphilosophies, none of which supplies the answer to the most iimportant questions: Who am I? What is my purpose here? i What really happens to me after I die? The very nature of 'modern man's questions reveals a shift from objective to jsubjective concerns. i Ana and Alfredo symbolize man's loss of identity j 250 | |in modern society. The entire play is a testimony of jSartre's concept of "the Other," which is explained in his monumental philosophical treatise. Being and Nothing ness. Sastre portrays Sartre's sadistic-masochistic i concept in a manner easily comprehensible. Sartre's dif ficult notions such as "being-an-object-for-others-for-me" j 20 land "detotalized-totality** are conveyed to the spectator in Ana Kleiber. Aha reveals her masochistic tendency to Arturo in the following statement: I i Ana.— (Cierra los ojos.) Sigue ... Instiltame. Puede que eso me purifique un poco. Cast!game. Siento una necesidad terrible de ser castigada, Alfredo. (PC, 470) ; Later on she exclaims: | Para conservar y aumentar mi amor por ti necesitaba I sentirme sucia, mancharme ... para que tti volvieras ! a aparecer en mi memoria como una maravilla que no me merecia, como algo adorable ... (OC, 471) ;Ana is seemingly unable to avoid the self-destruction into {which she plunges. It is almost as if she is afraid to be happy and truly love Alfredo. After eight days of extreme I happiness. Ana abandons Alfredo. One observes the duality 20 Being and Nothingness, p. 422. For a deeper ;understanding of the psychological aspects of the play see !Chapter Ihree, "Concrete Relations With Others," pp. 361- j 430. 25X of her nature in the letter that she leaves for Alfredot "Amor mio, adi6s. He llegado a quererte tanto que ya j no puedo continuer contigo. Antes de que me vaya por otra raz6n triste y sucia, antes de que ocurra algo que te haga sufrir mucho, antes de que empiece el in- fierno que, por mi culpa, seria nuestra vida, he decidido irme. Me voy con angustia, con el m&s pro- fundo dolor de mi vida y sin que haya algo que me solicits fuera de ti. Nuestra separaci6n, ahora, es algo hermoso y terrible ... uno de estos hechos que, segfin dicen los que me conocen, atraen a Ana Kleiber. Estoy contenta de mi comportamiento contigo. Esta tarde me siento buena y purificada. Me he contratado en una pobre compafiia que va a hacer una gira por Alemania, por tu pais. Te recordar& en cada pueblo, en cada camino. Creo, amor mio, que no volverfe a verte nunca y no hay nada esta tarde que pueda conso le rme en el mundo. Adi6s. Mi Gltimo beso. Ana Kleiber." (OC, 442) The presence of Sastre in the play as "the Writer" seems to sustain Sastre's contention that the dramatist i ;should not propagandize in his plays. If his ideas are i discernible, they should be "entre parentesis." He is there to discover what happened, the same as the reporters. In his first book of dramatic theory Sastre statesi £Y que piensa el dramaturgo de todo esto? No se sabe. El dramaturgo es un hombre misterioso que deja hablar a todos. Puede que no crea en nada. Puede que crea en todo. Puede que crea lo que dice un personaje y le duele en el alma escribir lo que dice el otro. No. No se sabe. Su ideologla personal es un misterio. El es un dramaturgo y no un ide61ogo. Sus ideas habr& que buscarlas en otros textos y no en i los puramente dram&ticos. (DS, 47-48) t In true existential fashion, Sastre leaves the interpreta tion of his plays for his readers and spectators. As has 'been stated before, his plays are not dramas de tesis. :His only hope is that the reader or spectator will experi- I ] ence a toma de conciencia which will lead him to a respon— i ' sible choice. This toma de conciencia theoretically will i i lead to praxis which in turn will result in greater social I justice. i Once again, weather plays an important role in iAna Kleiber, as it has in most of Sastre's plays. The constant rainfall symbolizes the anguish and disillusion- ment of a love which can never materialize. The love affair between Ana and Alfredo is doomed to destruction i i from the start. What could have resulted in temporary i happiness within the bounds of a closed situation has {resulted in a series of postponements and delays. The two i I lovers plan to find happiness the next time they meet. As {it turns out, the "next time" is too late, Ana dies. The i {existential concept demonstrated here is one of living-for- j the-here-and-now (aer-en-el-mundo). Ortega expressed the i iidea (some years before Sartre's "man is condemned to be free") as* "Soy por fuerza libre, lo quiera o no" (I am 253 21 forcibly free, Whether I like it or not). Neither Ana nor Alfredo is living an authentic existence. Ana is seek ing to attain immortality through the fleeting sexual moment which she constantly renews with different men. Her love cannot endure as it is based purely on the sensual and , I not the altruistic (being-for-others). In this sense, she j i is the feminine counterpart to Don Juan, ever seeking 1 i jrenewal and ever ending in disappointment. The return of the last scene to the first, and the i 1 i !"story-within-a-story" techniques seem to emphasize the cyclical nature of life (“to everything there is a season"), as was done in Tierra roia. This repetition also symbol- i ;izes ennui, boredom with life, and the absurdity of the h 1 jhuman condition. The song "Mam'selle," which was heard i when Alfredo picked up the poker to strike Ana, is reminis- I cent of the movie The Razor's Edge, in which the song was also heard. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge expresses the idea of the meaninglessness of human existence, a theme similar to that of Ana Kleiberi a love which did not ma- 1terialize. The question raised in The Razor * s Edge is: I ' ; Jos6 Ortega y Gasset, "Historia como sistema," Obras completes, tomo VI (Madrid: 1950—1952), p. 34, 254 Why must man die? Hie soldier who saves the protagonist's life in the war dies himself. Alfredo's statement that each person must suffer i |alone is an idea which Sastre expresses in many of his plays. Although men may fight together for a cause, take i I |part in a terrorist plot, or form part of a rebellion or a revolution, they must always suffer alone. This is a key I i idea to the understanding of existentialism in Sastre's ! works. Some critics believe that Sastre is mainly con cerned with history and community, especially in his later plays. The characters in Sastre's plays are actually people who live and work together but who are not part of j an amalgamated whole. They are individuals who join forces Jfor the benefit of the many, but who must suffer and ulti- I mately die alone. I interpret Sastre's synthesis of aqonia |and praxis to mean not only a fusion of the two elements, but a dialectical process in which individuals are some times aqonia and sometimes praxis. Both elements are operative in their lives, not necessarily simultaneously. With reference to Ana's death, Alfredo sayst ! Alfredo.--Ha llegado muerta a la cita, seftor. i Escritor.— Pasa a veces ... No es un caao especial ... Alfredo.— Para ml si es un caso especial. Yo sufro. I Nadie puede sufrir por ml todo lo que estoy sufriendo yo esta noche. | Escritor.--Cada uno tiene que soportar su propio dolor. En cbo nos podemos ayudar muy poco los unos a los otros. Yo no puedo sufrir por usted. Lo que puedo hacer es escucharle. Alfredo.--Es poco. (OC, 433) La sangre de Dios l j La sangre de Dios was premiered in Valencia on iApril 22, 1955. Sastre was inspired by Kierkegaard in the i l writing of this play and pays him homage in the dedicationi "Este drama es un hamenaje del autor a Soren Kierkegaard. I Leyendo su Temor v temblor tuve la idea de escribirlo" |(OC, 478). I ' “ j Sastre had begun to write the play in 195 3. At jthat time he planned to entitle it El cuchillo en la mano, j and defined it as "una tragedia frustrada." Sastre states that the play "tuvo un momento diflcil en la Censura." The difficulty seemed to lie in the fact that in an auto- critica. Sastre had questioned Whether the God of the New I Testament would order a father to kill his son (as the God of the Old Testament had ordered of Abraham). Sastre writes: I 256 He declaro al margen del problema teoldgico, que puede | plantearae, de si es concebible que el Dios del Nuevo I Testamento ordene un sacrificio semejante. Esta habla sldo una de las "objeciones" esgrimldas contra la obra en Valencia. (OC. 479) Jacobo Parthon is a university professor who is t ivisited by his former student. Luis Opuls. The early i ;dialogue between Luis and Jacobo's son. Ben. establishes the antithesis between faith and reason. Luis cites Abraham as the greatest example of faith the world has known. Abraham was willing to kill his son at God's com- i jmand. Ben replies that the biblical story of Abraham has always filled him with dread. He goes on to say that his J father has been dismissed from his position at the univer sity because of "extravios misticos." Ben makes other jcomments which create an aura of mystery. He states that I his grandfather had been committed to an asylum for killing i |a servant. The dog has been howling at night. Luis re- i !marks that there is a superstition that when a dog howls I someone will die. The foreshadowing being well established. Jacobo Parton enters. In the course of his conversation with Luis. Jacobo states that he has seen and spoken with !God. Ben and Luis fear for his sanity. Jacobo's wife. Laura, has not uttered a word since the death of her eldest 257 i i i |son. Luis offers Jacobo scientific explanations for the j"miracles" he has experienced. One evening as Jacobo looks I upward* he begins to speak as if God were communicating I jwith him. He tells Ben that God has demanded proof of his faith and has asked him to kill his son. Ben replies that i although he does not believe in God* he is willing to die I iif his father so wishes. Jacobo then kills Ben with a i i iknife, after which he is committed to an asylum. After a I long time he is released and returns home to find that jLaura has recovered her speech. She assails him continu ally for his heinous deed. Poor Jacobo feels completely abandoned* especially since God has not communicated with him since the night that he killed Ben. Laura tells him | jthat he should commit suicide. The play ends as Jacobo i ! in desperation keeps repeating: *'|Creo en Dios.'" There is i ia third act which gives an alternate ending. The third act |begins with the scene in which Jacobo* with raised knife* is about to kill Ben. At that instant he hears cries coming from the garden and goes outside to find that Sofia* Ben's fiancee* is being attacked by the household dog* who |was ordinarily gentle by nature. As a consequence* Jacobo kills the dog with the knife instead of killing his son* Ben. Laura appears and states that a few minutes before 258 she regained her speech. Everyone is happy and Ben remarks ithat possibly God really exists. The principal existential themes in La sangre de i ! |Dios are: subjective truth, freedom, choice, responsibility, languish, authentic existence, limit situation, temporality I and historicity, and death. In La sangre de Dios. Sastre i i returns (as he did with the previous play. Ana Kleiber) to metaphysical rather than social concerns. Sastre has been i criticized for returning to an earlier stage of his writing ! i i rather than continuing in a linear progression along the path of social realism. It must be remembered, however, i | that Sastre's theater is a dialectic rather than a linear i | [process. Aqonia never ceases to be a major concern, even iin the dramas of social realism, where the suffering and i !struggle of the individual are portrayed against the back- |drop of society. Sastre' s theater can be considered a theater of existential crises— man as an individual con- I |cerned with himself, man as an individual concerned with others, man as an individual concerned with the super- natural. These three stages can be explained in terms of | Kierkegaard's aesthetic, ethical, and religious man respectively. It will be recalled that the aesthetic 'individual is concerned only with himself, his desires and i longings; whereas ethical man is concerned with others, and I i in assuming moral responsibilities seeks to communicate |with his fellow man; and the religious person seeks to com- i 22 municate with God. Three major positions are viewed in the playi the man of faith (Kierkegaard's man), the atheist (Sartre's and Nietzsche's man), and the agnostic (Camus', Jaspers', and possibly Sastre*s man). Jacobo represents the first view of man as firm believer in the almighty power of God. His i |desire to be with God is reminiscent of the ecstasy and I rapture of the Spanish mystics ("muero porque no muero"). i (While speaking to God, he exclaims * | Esta noche parece que tienes algo muy importante que decirme. Sabes que dispones de ml, Seftor ... jOh Padre antiguo y sagrado, te amo tanto, que en este momento I me parece que me voy a morirj jPadre mlo, todo te lo j ofrezco.' (OC, 498) j (Luis Opuls represents the atheistic view of life. He is the "scientist" who must have a logical explanation for everything. He would like to have faith (like Sartre), but 22 The teleological concerns expressed in La sangre de Dios may be found in the play, J.B., a modern version of the story of Job, by Archibald MacLeish. 260 his reason denies the existence of God. “Yo no creo en j | Dios. Yo no tengo fe, pero admiro a los honibres que la 1tienen y se mueven desde ella ... como su padre" (OC. 489). |Luis refers to Jacobo's communication with God as "ex- i periencias misticas" (494) and "alucinaciones" (495) . When Jacobo tells him that the blood of God ("la sangre de Dios") i !dripped on his head one evening and that he wiped his face : with a handkerchief, which he has retained as proof, Luis wants to submit the blood-stained handkerchief to labora tory tests: He gustaria mandar ese pahuelo de que usted habla a un ! laboratorio ... para que nos hicieran el an&lisis de la sangre de Dios ... (Sonrle.) Puede que nos encon- tr&ramos con su propia sangre, profesor. (OC, 496) Ben assumes an agnostic position. When he first learns of his father's willingness to comply with God's request, he is filled with terror: I jEst&s loco.' (Tengo mucho miedo, padre J jEst&s loco* (Has pensado matar a tu propio hijo' [Est&s loco' (Tengo mucho miedo' (Est& inmovilizado en la butaca. i Le tiembla el labio inferior.) No me puedo mover, padre. Tengo tanto miedo, que no me puedo mover. No me hagas nada. Perd6name. eC6mo se te ha ocurrido ... ? Padre, todo esto es una locura, (una locura.' Solloza nerviosamente.) (OC, 506) Later, Ben has passed the existential crisis. He sees that the most important thing in life is to live for 261 others ("ethically"). Ris anguish has been transformed into human love: Ahora veo claro, ahora entiendo el sentido de toda mi vida ... No, padre; no te pongas triste ... No estoy desesperado ... Si quieres que te diga la verdad, 1 hasta amo ligeramente la vida .,. Creo que me complace existir, no s& ... Pero no me importa morir ... No j estoy desesperado ... Puede que sea ... un poco indi- ferente ... Y solo me asusto esta noche por ti, por lo que vas a hacer. Seria horrible para ti que Dios no te lo hubiera mandado, que tti hubieras tenido una alu- | cinaci6n y que, muerto yo, te quedaras cocnpletamente solo. (OC, 407-408) | Ben's acceptance of death is reminiscent of Tolstoy's The i Death of Ivan Ilvch. In this novella, Tolstoy shows how difficult it is to convert the general problem of death iinto the personal problem of "I must die." The powerful |instinct of survival makes the transfer of an impersonal ! ;concept of death to a personal one practically impossible. i i Only in the final hours of his life, when he finally ‘ accepts the reality of his finitude, does Ivan Ilych really ! "live" for the first time. Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard i jprepared the way for the modern existential attitude toward death. Until that time, traditional philosophers followed chiefly the philosophy of the early Greek philosophers (Socrates, Epicurius, the Stoics) whose purpose it was to dispel man's fear of death. The modern existential 262 philosophy of death, be it religious or nonreligious, |rejects the attempts of the early philosophers to dissolve i the fear of death, and tries to face death authentically jin all its dreadful reality. i It seems that Ben has come to the same realization jthat Ivan did. In his final moments, he realizes that up until that moment, he has never lived authentically. He has always viewed life from the outside. He has been an ; en soi rather than a pour soi. He has not existed as a : "being-for-othere." How he realizes (as did Ana Kleiber) j that the one thing that he can do in an act of "good faith" is die courageously. In their respective deaths, both Ana iKleiber and Ben Parthon can lessen the anguish of another. Ana's death will free Alfredo from the enslaving, destruc- 1 i I tive bond which attaches him to her; Ben's death will free I ;his father from the heavy burden of his own conscience. i He remarks to Jacobo: "Te quiero tanto que me basta con que lo creas t(i, padre. Estaba deseando darte una prueba de amor" (OC, 508). The moment before his death Ben states: He vivido siempre como extraAado de mi existencia, | como ajeno , . . £T0t me entiendes? Y con seguridad asl | debia ser yo para que esta noche pudiera morir sin nervios, sin sublevarme, en paz ... No temas, hazlo ... £A qu6 esperas? (OC, 509) 263 Laura cannot bring herself to believe in a God who \ r [would either permit or cause such suffering as that ex- I 1 perienced by her eldest son who "sufri6 horriblentente . .. Se retorcia en la cama y gemia ... " (OC/ 492). Not being able to accept this crisis/ she goes on to say: "si Dios jexistiera, no podrla permitir ... Nuestro hijo es inocente y est& sufriendo m&s alii de todo llmite. 0 Dios no existe ... o es un monstruo ... 1 1 (OC, 492). | Speaking of his father, who sought freedom of i choice in his position at the university, Ben remarks: “El i solicit6 plena libertad para su c&tedra. No se la dieron. I Insisti6 en ensehar a su modo y lo separaron" (OC, 486). iThe same may be said of Sastre (changing the word "enseflar" ! to "escribir") in his attempt to exercise freedom of ex- ? ipression in Spain. Jacobo1s authentic existence is con- 1 trasted effectively with Ben's unauthentic life until the j "death scene" in which Ben exercises freedom of choice. In La sangre de Dios the dialectic between faith and disbelief is resolved in "faith with caution" or espe ranza. 264 1 Muerte en el barrio i | The play Muerte en el barrio was published in 1955. | It has not yet been premiered. Sastre complains: "fue prohibida por la Censura, como de costumbre, sin que se me diera la m&s leve explicacidn objetiva" (OC, 529). Some time afterwards the publishers of the literary magazine, i Papeles de Son Armadans tried unsuccessfully to print it in one of their issues; the censors also prohibited it from i Ibeing printed. i In this play Sastre condemns the practice of jnegligence of one's duty which can result in the death of another. In the Noticia he states: j El supuesto documental de este drama puede resumirse | asi: alguna vez, en algftn sitio, un ser humano, en peligro de muerte, no ha encontrado la asistencia precisa y ha visto— o ya no podia ver— que llegaban j los 6ltimos momentos sin que se hiciera nada por sal- varlo. Este ser humano, alguna vez, en algiin sitio, ha muerto. Esto, que puede ser normal en la jungla, es intolerable en una ciudad moderna. (OC, 529) iSastre claims that he does not wish the episode in this play to be interpreted as one monstrous, isolated incident, ibut as an awakening of conscience to the relationship be tween doctor and patient, especially in the field of social medicine. Sastre goes on to condemn the "dehumanization" 265 of medicine: Yo he creldo observer la existencia de una especie de I guerra secreta en las relaciones de m&dicos y enfermos, sobre todo— no me muevo de este terreno— en el campo de la Medicina social. Tal guerra est& fundada en la , especialisima estructura psicoldgica de la relaci6n I m&dico-enfermo, en las deficiencias de la organizaci6n social de la Medicina, en el extraAo y peculiar &nimo del honibre enfermo que acude sin medios econ6micos a j la clinica en la que recibe a veces, desde el portero y el ascensorista hasta la enfermera y el m&dico, un trato brusco o despectivo; en la frecuente falta de vocaci6n profesional del m&dico, en las— tambi&n, por desgracia, frecuentes— deficiencias de su formaci6n &tica, que no puede ser, ni mucho menos, el efeeto de un curso de Deontologia y, en fin, en tantos otros datos. El enfermo mira humilde y recelosamente. El ! m&dico ignora lo que hay alrededor de la lesi6n, que es, ni m&s ni menos, un honibre. El sujeto enfermo llega a ser un objeto de trabajo; por ahl vamos— repito que en el campo de la Medicina social--a una 1 brutal deshumanizaci6n de la Medicina y a una penosa 1 intensificaci6n de esta guerra secreta. (OC, 529-530) i | The fatalistic aspects of Or. Sanjo's death bring r to mind the karmic element Which is present in many of 23 iSastre's plays. The manner in which Dr. Sanjo fortui- ! tously goes to the "Bar Moderno" for a drink during 23 "Karma" in Hinduism and Buddhism is action Which brings upon oneself reward or punishment, either in this life or in a reincarnation. Sastre's praxis is accom plished by a similar element of risk. "One must act never knowing whether his action or choice is the correct one," is one of the main postulates of existentialism. In the ! instance of Dr. Sanjo, his inaction caused his punishment. As Sartre has stated: MIn refusing to choose, man has nevertheless made a choice, one of inaction." (For a thorough analysis of freedom see "Being and Doing: Freedom" in Sartre's Being and Nothingness, pp. 433-556.) 266 insufferably hob weather and is killed by local inhabi tants, is reminiscent of the way in which Meursault, blinded by the intense rays of the sun, killed the Arab. The basic point of contention between Camus and Sartre ! centered upon their opposing concepts regarding freedom. jWhereas Sartre maintained the untenable position that man ■ t is totally free to choose, Camus contended that man's free ; I t | I jwill had certain limitations and restrictions. It is to jbe remembered that whereas each school or movement is a |reaction against the one which precedes it, certain ele ments or characteristics of the former school are retained. I | jRebelling against the idealism of Hegelianism, philosophi- i cal existentialism nevertheless retained Hegel's approach to solving problems (thesis to antithesis to synthesis). {Reacting against the objectivity of Naturalism, literary i I existentialism nevertheless retained some of the deter ministic qualities of the earlier school. In his concept iof free will, Sastre seems closer to Camus than to Sartre. i |Man can exercise free choice within certain natural bounda ries, or "ILmit situations," the last of which is death. In the prologue of Muerte en el barrio, a police commissioner is in the "Bar Moderno" attempting to find out 267 from the proprietor the details of the assassination of Dr. San jo which took place in the bar. The story is told by means of a "flashback." A boy has been struck by an auto- jmobile and taken to the hospital. The doctor, Dr. Sanjo, j who is supposed to be on duty, is not there. En route to another hospital the child dies. The child is the ille gitimate son of Arturo and Juana. Arturo, who has aban doned Juana, now lives in another section of town. News reaches him of the death of his son. The entire town is I enraged over the irresponsibility of the doctor. The |intense heat symbolizes the mounting anger of the people. i |Quite by chance, the doctor and the townspeople converge at the bar. In a manner not dissimilar to the mob action |in Fuenteoveiuna, the people kill the doctor. Arturo I \states that he is guilty for the doctor’s death. Pedro, spokesman for the others, says that they are all guilty, iln the Epilogue, the heat wave has broken and it has begun l to rain. The police commissioner says that if it had rained on the day of the assassination, the doctor would jprobably still be alive. The rain will clean the air and everyone will breathe more easily. The principal existential themes treated in Muerte 268 en el barrio are: estrangement* freedom* choice* responsi bility* the Other* limit situation* and death. Hie protagonist of this play seems to be the intense |heat Which causes the characters to act as they do. Hie antagonist is clearly Dr. Sanjo* who emerges as an irre- r jsponsible, neglectful individual. He is not a “monster*" I however. Hie following statement indicates his reasons for leaving his post: I A veces me pongo enfermo ... Y necesito ... salir de la clinica ... Los pasillos me ahogan ... estoy mal ... Soy ... me siento desgraciado ... [Tengo miedo' (Una guardia ... me da horror' jMe angustia esperar all! encerradoJ Esperar, £qu6? jPuede llegar todoJ |Un ! hombre con el craneo abierto . . . sangre ... . ' Yo no queria dedicarme a la clinica ... Queria investi- gar ... pero necesitaba dinero ... vivir ... Me vi metido en el hospital ... Empec6 a beber ... (Grita.) | jLes ruego que me dejan^ jDfejenme saliri jSe lo ruego a todos.' jDfejemej (OC, 580-581) j jHie doctor is clearly in “bad faith." He refuses to accept i his responsibility because he "is afraid." He was only working at the clinic to earn money. Hie sight of blood i isickened him. He was interested in research rather than I |general practice. Hie doctor emerges as a victim of the society he represents. He is a pitiable figure* and as I such* cannot be detested. Hie question arises: Who is culpable for the doctor's irresponsibility? Pablo gives 269 the answer: "Hemoa side todos. 1 1 He are all guilty for refusing to help our fellow man. The basic issue is man's inhumanity toward man. The people do not seem to be as i .much concerned with the death of the child as they are with j I retribution. They must expiate their own sins with the t |blood of the doctor. They too, then, are living in "bad i | j faith." This play is an excellent study of mob psychology. ! | \ iThe unthinking "mob" does not ask the essential questions: | i ! 1 I Would the child have died even if treated? The doctor j i I assures them that he would have, since his skull was crushed. Why was the doctor not at the clinic? The doctor frantically blurts out the reasons: nausea, fear, claustro- iphobia. ( In effect, these protagonists and antagonists por trayed in Sastre's plays are not "saints" or "monsters." ‘Their suffering or causing others to suffer fills the spectator with horror and pity, not anger or indignation !(DS, 33). Sastre goes on to state: Se ha producido el desplazamiento del centro de culpa- bilidad desde el "monstruo," da dfinde? dA la eonstitu- ci6n anatomofisiol6gica del monstruo, conatituci6n de la que no es responsable? iA la Sociedad? dAl medio anibiente en el que fue arrojado? 4A1 pecado original? El "monstruo," en los momentos lticidos, nos da horror— porque mat6 al "santo"— y piedad— porque 61, oomo el asesinado, tambiAn es una pobre criatura--. (DS, 33) 270 In Muerte en el barrio "the mob" tries to achieve What the individual cannot because of his unauthenticity. IThe estrangement and guilt that man feels cannot be re- I I solved by the Other. The "barrio" tries collectively to > 'expiate individual sins, which must be absolved singularly. Since each person exploits the Other, true existential icommunication is impossible. The limit situation, symbol- jized by the intense heat, is psychological as well as i {physical. Man feels imprisoned and enslaved by changing i {emotional urges. These urges are "released" by the killing of the doctor. Purification is symbolized by the falling I rain which extinguishes the intense heat (passions) and brings at least temporary relief. Now the people of the i"barrio” can breathe once again. i j | Comisario.— Se esti bien aqui viendo Hover. (Aumenta j el rumor de la lluvia.) Ahora llueve mis. Pedro.— jOh, ahora llueve raucho' Comisario.— Se respira, iverdad? Es un alivio. Pedro.— (Respira hondo.) Se respira ... (OC, 584) Guillermo Tell tiene los oios tristes In his "Moticia" to Guillermo Tell tiene los oios tristes, Sastre explains how he came to write the playi r 271 En el otoflo de 1955, Jos6 Tamayo, director del teatro espaftol, me comunic6 su prop6sito de montar en aquel | teatro un Guillermo Tell. No se trataba de hacer una versi6n del de Schiller, sino de que un autor actual escribiera libremente sobre este mito. Me propuso que yo me encargara de ese trabajo. Le pedi unos dlas para estudiar el asunto, al final de los cuales acept&. (OC, 587) jsaatre wrote the play in November of 1955 and gave the ! script to Jos& Tamayo, director of the Espahol Theater, who in turn presented it to the Ministerio de Informaci6n. The I play was prohibited by the censors. Sastre states in a note which accompanies the text iof the drama, that Schiller's play cannot be considered a i 'tragedy. "Se limit6 a dramatizar escrupulosamente los hechos de la legendaria historia recogida por Melchior Russ" (OC, 587). Sastre's version is a "break with the old myth." He states: Este Guillermo Tell mlo— este que tiene los ojos tris tes— signifies, independientemente de sus numerosos y deliberados anacronismos y anatopisroos, una ruptura | del viejo mito. Tell deja de ser el protagonists de una proeza para convertirse en el sujeto de una tra- gedia. Adquiere, en este tratamiento, la grandeza de un redentor por cuyo sacrificio es posible la salvaci6n de los otros. Es destruido para que vivan los dem&s. En su coraz6n no habr& ya nunca alegria, pero su pueblo ser& feliz. (OC, 587) 1 1 1 i Sastre waited ten years for the premiere of Guillermo Tell. Beginning on December 16, 1965, the play 272 ran for four days at the Instituto de Estudios Nortearneri- canos in Barcelona. Domingo P6rez Minik considers Guillermo Tell to be 'one of the finest contemporary Spanish dramas. ; I Guillermo Tell es uno de los m&s bellos dramas que se han escrito en EspaAa en estos aftos. ... Por su tema | lleno de fantasia, la humanidad de sus heroes, la belleza escenica, el vigor directo de su di&logo, el buen empaste de las situaciones, el sugerente elemento coral, la fuerza polltica de su voz grave.^4 ! In the original Tell legend, the cantons of Uri, :Unterwalden, and Schwytz form an alliance against the i opposing Austrian forces during the latter part of the ^thirteenth century. Sastre bases his play on Schiller's William Tell, written in 1604. His version is a free adap tation of Schiller's play, the theme of both being freedom, iSastre's play is a blend of aconia and praxis. For the ifirst time, Sastre seems to have achieved the equilibrium i between the two, esperanza. Tell's personal anguish caused i [by the supreme sacrifice of his son is contrasted with the cantons' collective rejoicing at their release from bondage. |The fusion of the two signifies hope for the future. "Se trata de Alfonso Sastre, Dramaturgo melan- c61ico de la revoluci6n," in Sastre's Teatro. p. 25, 273 As the play begins, two beggars are complaining i J about how society is deteriorating. On a community level, the tyrannical governor is holding the cantons in bondage; |on a personal level, the beggars are no longer treated i i humanely. I I Mendigo sentado.— Ahora parece que te desprecian. Y | si te dan algo, te lo dan sin mirarte. 1 Mendigo manco.— Y ni siquiera te lo dan en la mano ... j Te lo tiran desde lejos como si uno fuera un apestado. j (OC. 592) ] A blind man enters playing a guitar and singing a ballad of protest against the injustices of the governor. The ser geant warns him to stop singing. When he refuses, he is | i i killed by some soldiers. Guillermo Tell, who witnesses the J i incident, vows that one day when the sergeant is dressed ias a civilian he will avenge the death of the blind man. The sergeant orders the soldiers to shoot Tell, but Tell !places the sergeant in front of him and they kill him instead. Tell is imprisoned and later released. The governor orders that his hat be placed on a long lance in the town square. All Who pass before it must kneel before |it and shout, '*|Viva el gobernadorj" Tell' s father-in-law, i I who is forced to humiliate himself in public, later commits 274 1 suicide. Upon learning of this, Tell goes to the square I where he shoots the hat from the lance with an arrow. The I .governor orders Tell to shoot an apple from his son's head. I 'Unlike the successful conclusion in Schiller's version, this time Tell fails and in his anguish and horror kills jthe governor. With the governor dead, the revolutionaries rise up and overthrow the government. They offer the i governorship to Tell, Who is so griefstricken that he re fuses it. Two important Sartrean concepts are expressed in Guillermo Tell: "de trop" and "the Other," i The armless "beggar complains of feeling "super- j fluous" (de sobra), the equivalent of the French de tropi !"Parece como si estuviera uno de sobra. Creo que mucha i gente se enfada porque no nos hemos muerto. Les da asco que existamos" (OC, 592) . The paralyzed beggar replies that he almost com mitted suicide. He feels the absurdity of the human condition and would rather be dead than suffer for no apparent reason. In his desperation he has turned to his I fellow man Who gives him a reason for living. i Figtirate que cuando vino la par&lisis estaba desespe- rado. Quise matarme. Ho sabes lo que es para un 275 i hombre de la montaAa este castigo de verse asi ... sin haber hecho nada que mereciera un castigo tan grande. He ahogaba. Pero la gente fue tan buena conmigo que ! me hizo aceptar la vida y perdonar a Aquel que me habia castigado tan ferozmente y con tanta injusticia. (OC, 593) iCamus* idea that life is valuable in itself and therefore i must be lived to the fullest is suggested in the above i ! remark of the beggar. As is remembered, Camus rejected suicide as a solution to man's anguish. Life is incompre hensible; it is not meaningless. If it is true that life jis absurd, it is also true that life is precious. What ! makes life wonderful is the fact that it eludes us; it can not be reduced to human meaning. Man must find whatever meaning there is in the world; it is useless to search for I |transcendent values. The governor's castle is reminiscent of Kafka's novel, The Castle, in which man's attempts to gain access to the "castle" (God) are constantly thwarted. "El Otro" in Guillermo Tell can be interpreted in various ways. In a secular sense, "el Otro" can be one's fellow man, who in this case is characterized by feelings of inhumanity toward | others. In a religious sense, "el Otro" can refer to God's ! perpetual silence and man's constant effort to reach Him. 276 iIt will be remembered that "the Other" is used in existen- i j tialism to refer to God as well as other individuals. In the dialogue between Fttrst (Tell's father-in-law) and the i |paralyzed beggar, "el Otro" is compared to a viper without i ears, red blood, or a heart: J | Mendigo Sentado.— He leido su filtimo articulo. seftor Fflrst, El aparecido en "La Lucha," en la hoja de la resistencia ... Me ha gustado. j : ] Fdrst.— dUsted sabe gue es mlo? Mendigo Sentado.— Si. ! Fflrst.— Me alegro de que le hayan gustado. Mendigo Sentado.— Describe usted muy bien el castillo del seftor gobernador. "Sotnbrlo--dc6mo dice?— , sombrio : y rodeado de fosos y prisiones subterr&neas, en lo alto de los riscos se alza el castillo del Otro ... " Del "Otro" dice, dverdad? Eso es lo que no he entendido j bien. dQu6 quiere decir "el Otro"? Fdrst.— Quiero decir que Gessler no tiene nada que ver i con este pueblo, que es tan distinto a los hovnbres del pals como lo es una serpiente, un escarabajo o un escorpi6n. Mendigo Sentado.— Como una vlbora. Ya lo entiendo. I Fflrst.— Esti alll, en lo alto. Es inaccesible. Le hablamos y no nos oye. No puede olrnos porque es "el Otro" y no tiene oldos como nosotros, ni sangre roja y caliente, ni coraz6n. Mendigo Sentado.— Tiene la sangre frla como las ser- pientes. O verde como una planta fea. Ya lo entiendo. Fdrst.— No se puede llegar a 61. Vive en otro mundo. Nos ignora. Somos para 61 como hormigas. Igual que noaotros ma tamos con el pie una hormiga, 61 puede matar ! a un hombre de este pueblo. : Mendigo Sentado.--(Se ha guedado pensativo.) dSabe lo ! que piensot seftor Fflrst? i Ftirst. — £Qu6? Mendigo Sentado.— Que es como si no fuera un hombre. i I : Ftirst.— Claro. Mendigo Sentado.— Como si fuera ... una especie de araAa. Ftirst.— Si. Mendigo Sentado.— Y que se le puede matar como a una arafia, Sin que luego tenga uno remordimientos. Ftirst.— As! es. Como 61 nos mata a nosotros. (OC, 612-613) The above dialogue is one of the best examples of estrange ment in Sastre's works. It expresses the "God is dead" i notion of Nietzsche and Sartre. One can "kill God" (forget IHim) just as "He kills us" (ignores us). Camus would then ;replace the search for God with neighborly love and un selfish friendship. In other words, he would find life's meaning in service to his fellow man. Kafka would stop short of denying God. If he had written the above dialogue he would have omitted the last statement of the Mendigo | Sentado and Ftirst. Heidegger, in his later writings, would probably have agreed with Nietzsche and Sartre. In his I I earlier writings, he would have come closer to the agnos- i ticism of Jaspers. Jaspers would have omitted the last jstatement of the Mendigo Sentado and Ftirst, and then he would have gone on to express belief in Transcendence. I I Needless to say, Kierkegaard and the other religious exis tentialists would not subscribe either to a concept of God i as "dead" or as an "exploiter." I El cuervo El cuervo was premiered on October 31, 1957, at the I Teatro Nacional Marla Guerrero. In the "Noticia" Which Iprecedes the play, Sastre describes the conditions under I which El cuervo was written. In March of 1956, Conrado Blanco, impresario of the Lara Theater in Madrid, had re quested that Sastre write a play to be staged in his theater. Shortly afterward, Sastre was arrested in con nection with some university disturbances and charged with "clandestine publication" and "illegal assembly." Finally he was released on "provisional liberty." His account with >the Sociedad General de Autores had been depleted by the bail which he was forced to pay. He and his bride of j 279 j ;three months were compelled to live in a hotel room. i 'Sastre describes the play in the following manner; i l Es, si se quiere, un intento de teatro abstracto, desocupado de contenidos caracterol6gicos, morales, socia1-politicos. El cuervo es, en este sentido ... | una pieza-testigo, una forma casi alucinante de pro* testa, como un grito en la noche. (OC, 661) j I j I El cuervo is a metaphysical "investigation" into i j the nature of space, time, and action. Once again, Sastre i i !has returned to the cyclical concept employed in Tierra roia and Ana Kleiber. Life is shown as a closed situation which is repetitive. The techniques employed by Sastre in this play are similar to those used by Beckett, in which the dramatist attempts to show the relativity of time. The plot centers around the reenactment of a series of events which took place at the same time a year earlier. iJuan, whose wife Laura had been murdered in the garden of their home, is visited by the same three friends who were present on that fateful evening. Alfonso, Pedro, and ln6s I have received an invitation presumably sent by Juan, but Which he denies having sent. Alfonso sees the assassin through the window, just as he had the previous year. As 'the evening progresses, the characters become aware that every detail of their situation corresponds to that of 280 the previous New Year's Eve, Finally, Laura comes down the t I stairs. Because of the relativity of time, she has not yet died. The others try to prevent her assassination, but are helpless to act. Suddenly, as Laura walks out into the garden, the others are momentarily paralyzed. When they I hear Laura's screams, they rush out into the garden, but cannot find any trace of her. Juan realizes that Laura will return no more, and he and Alfonso recite Poe's "The Raven." Symbolic of the cyclical nature of life, the fol lowing dialogue between Luisa {the maid), and Juan is reminiscent of Sartre's "11enfer" (hell): Luisa,--Ahora recuerdo una cosa que mi padre decla: "Los astros influyen, pero no son omnipotentes." | Juan.— Asi lo creo. Los astros ... (Queda pensativo.) Simplemente influyen ... Hacen que siempre est6n vol- viendo algunas cosas ... (Un silencio. Se estremece.) Siempre vuelve el invierno, Luisa. (OC, 671) In order to add to the mystery of the play, to foreshadow the hallucinatory idea of Laura's return, and to depict the relativity of time, Sastre includes a Hindu 25 allegory about the god, Vishnu. 25ln Hinduism, Vishnu ("the Pervader") is the second member of the Trimurti (triad of solar deities) to gether with Brahma ("the Creator"), the first member, and Shiva ("the Destroyer"), the third member. As they traverse 281 Era un monje que le preguntaba al dios visnti su ! secreto ... El dios VisnG se lo llev6 a pasear con 61. Iban por un desierto bajo el sol. Tuvieron sed, y Visnfc le dijo al monje que fuera a buscar agua. El monje se fue y encontr6, despu&s de mucho andar, una casa. Llam6 a la puerta y le abri6 una muchacha, de la que se sinti6 enamorado. 01vid6 que iba a buscar j agua para el dios. La muchacha le present6 a su padre j y el monje se qued6 con ellos. Se cas6 con la muchacha j y tuvieron tres hijos. Al cabo del tiempo muri6 el : padre, y 61 se hizo cargo de la casa y de las tierras. | Un dla hubo una enorme tormenta y se inund6 todo. El i hombre trat& de salvar a la mujer y a los hijos, pero se ahogaron. El perdi6 el conocimiento. Cuando vol- vi6 en si el agua se habia retirado. Vio al Dios VisnCi y se acerc6 a el. El desierto quemaba bajo el sol, y el dios le dijo: "Hijo mlo, iencontraste el agua? Hace j m & B de media hora que te espero." (OC, 6 8 8 ) The above story symbolizes man's continual search for mean- ing and happiness in life. I believe that Sastre is trying i to show that man's destiny is controlled by a "mysterious [power" whether that power be named God, Vishnu, "Jeschoua" i [as in Caraamento de sueRos. or simply "fate." Man's tempo rary happiness is soon destroyed by this "mysterious power," and he experiences bewilderment and guilt. His he committed some unpardonable crime in order to be so cruelly punished? Or, does he somehow transcend this transitory existence? Sastre gives no reply. He simply ,the sky in three strides, morning, afternoon, and night, |they depict man's birth (Brahma), life (Vishnu), and death ,(Shiva). i |utters his protest "como un grito en la noche" (OC, 661), Echoes of Calder6n's "la vida es suefto" are heard in Al- i i fonso's "Vamofl a tratar de separar la realidad del suefto" |(OC, 690). I The karmic element found in other plays such as i Escuadra hacia la muerte, Ana Kleiber, and Tierra roia can |also be found in El cuervo. The characters are helpless |to act; they are caught in a net from which there is no iescape. The situation in this play is reminiscent of Huis clos in which Sartre's protagonists find themselves in a "living hell." Even when the locked door is opened, the 'characters are unable to leave. The suggestion is that ieverything turns out the same whether one acts or refrains I I from acting. In El cuervo, Sastre, in his dialectical modus operand!, returns to man's metaphysical concerns with their stress on aoonla. Sastre's fascination with the occult and demonology, and his interest in Indian mythology, is in evidence throughout the play. Juan. — ... Esa cuerda es un amuleto. Es decir ... el nudo. 1 A1fonso.— iPor qu6 el nudo? Juan.— Los nudos tienen una significaci6n m&gica muy antigua ... En la India se empleaban "lazos" m&gicos 1 283 i I [ y nudos en las luchas no solo contra los hombres .,. ] Tambi&n contra los demonios, los embrujamientos y las I enfermedades ... Las cuerdas anudadas se han empleado durante siglos y siglos con ese fin ... Los nudos son un arma m&gica ... AOn hoy los lleva mucha gente como amuletos y se emplean en los trances difidles. Alfonso.--No lo sabia. Juan.— Es el arma m&gica de algunos dioses. El dios j | Varuna est& representado con una cuerda en la mano, I (OC, 686) | i In El cuervo Sastre alludes to the scene in El cubo j de la basura in which some drunks, who are celebrating New iYear's Eve, find Germ&n in a heap of rubbish. Their appear ance in this play, representing as they do the filth, tor- pitude, promiscuity, and death in the world, seems to i allegorize Sastre's view of post civil war Spain. j Grupos de borrachos ... llevaban un enorme pandero ... i Uno de ellos iba vestido de mujer. Con los labios y los ojos pintados ... y diciendo palabrotas. Otro i llevaba una careta que figuraba una cabeza de burro; otro, una de cerdo; otro, una calavera. El de la cala- vera gritabai M|Uh» uh, soy la MuerteJM y los dem&s se reian a carcajadas. Uno se ha puesto a devolver en la acera. (OC, 675) In the first scene (of this two-scene play), Sastre plants the suggestion that Laura‘ s assassination a year earlier may have been only a dream, "0 qui6n sabe si jaquella noche no fue m&s que un suefto que ahora, al vivirlo j |de verdad, recordamos" (OC, 689). In the second scene, he 284 suggests that Laura's appearance a year later Is an hal lucination. "No es posible. Es una alucinaci6n. No puede ;ser Laura" (OC, 694). Mystery and suspense, therefore, .characterize this play which is an allegory of the human condition. i Asalto nocturno i i i i i Asa1to nocturno was published in 1959. Objections {to the presentation of this play were of a financial nature. | {Sastre was told that the production costs were prohibitive. !He states, however, that "en realidad fue un episodio m&s del bloqueo de mi obra" (OC, 719). Sastre explains the reasons for placing his plays |in an "exotic" setting or in a remote epoch. For political reasons it is prudent to withdraw as far as possible in i space or time. For aesthetic reasons the drama becomes i {polyvalent and polysignificant. In other words, Sastre*s dramas are filled with allegory and symbolism. It is the reader's or spectator's responsibility to interpret them as he will. Many times if a drama is placed in a definite {setting, it is restricted to the appreciation of a particu lar audience. As has been seen in the study of Sastre's plays, his appeal is to universal audiences. Sastre is i [ |cosmopolitan rather than provincial. He is European rather than strictly Spanish. In this respect, he is similar to Unamuno and Ortega who were also trying to renovate the literature and ideas of Spain. In fact, Sastre owes a I great debt to all of the members of the Generacl6n del *98 'for their attempt to place Spain on a literary and philo sophical par with the other nations of Europe. In Asalto nocturno Sastre once again employs the "flashback** technique. The first scene takes place in present-day New York; the sixth scene takes place in a Mediterranean island in 1890; the last scene returns to the New York of today. The narrative technique that Sastre has employed in Asalto nocturno is similar to the techniques of iBrecht in his Epic Theater. The basic difference between j the two is that whereas Brecht's theater appeals only to ;the intellect, Sastre's continues to appeal to the emotions. With the writing of Asalto nocturno Sastre has entered into a new phase of writing in which he uses many of the devices of Epic theater, including "distantiation," which is one of jBrecht's original contributions to modern theater. Sastre i i claims that at the time he wrote Asalto nocturno he was 286 i l unfamiliar with Brecht's theories! j Es de indicar que, al escribir la anterior nota (para 1 la presentacidn de Asalto nocturno), yo ignoraba la teoria de la distanciaci6n, de Bertolt Brecht, aunque ya habla tenido contactos con su obra teatral, sobre todo desde 1956. (OC, 722) The plot of Asalto nocturno resembles that of a detective story. The action takes place on two continents i over a period of sixty years. The motif is a vendetta which has caused a number of deaths over a span of several generations. The analogy that Sastre draws is between a personal vendetta and war. Both forms of destruction perpetuate themselves. In the first cuadro. Professor ^Harcelo Graffi is murdered in his home by a hired member of iUgo Bosco. Tonio Graffi, Marcelo's brother, had killed i jUgo's father, Angelo, in order to avenge the death of his .own father, Sandro Graffi, Sandro was slain by Angelo on i a Mediterranean island where the tyrannical Carlo Graffi S(who is reminiscent of Isalas in La Mordaza) imposed a reign of terror on the inhabitants. Carlo Graffi had violated the daughter of Marco Bosco. Angelo, who is then only fifteen years of age, swears to avenge his sister's dishonor. The vendetta is carried from the Mediterranean ! island to New York where Professor Marcelo Graffi has just 287 ibeen assassinated by Harry Mdller. Ugo Bosco drowned in ! :the Hudson River, but possibly one day Professor Graffi's ! i son will attempt to kill Harry Miller*s son who will be born in a few months, i Sastre draws a parallel between the Graffi-Bosco vendetta and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki : I ito show the futility of killing in all of its forms. Pro- ! i feasor Graffi makes a plea for peace on both the personal and world-wide levels. As he awaits the arrival of his assassin, the Professor records a "history" lesson and his I last words to his family on a tape recorder: La lecci6n de hoy, queridos amigos, corresponde a un capltulo sangriento de la historia del mundo. Voy a decirles unas cifras sin &nimo de que las retengan en la memoria. El lanzamiento de las bombas at6micas sobre Hiroshima y Nagasaki produjo en una diezmil&sima de segundo ciento veinte mil muertos. A los doce aftos del lanzamiento, son ya doscientas mil muertes m&s las que se han producido como consecuencia tr&gica de las explosiones at6micas ... Pero la tragedia contindia ,.. Cada afio se siguen produciendo de doscientas a tres- cientas muertes por enfermedades originadas en aquella espantosa cat&strofe ,., (En este memento se oyen unos golpes en la puerta. El Profesor deja las cuartillas. Se oyen m&s golpes. Sus manos se crispan sobre el aparato. Susurra ante el micr6fono.) Mary, llaman a la puerta ... Es posible que no sea nada, pero tengo miedo ... En el caso de que me ocurriera algo, no se lo cuentes nunca a nuestro hijo ... Le dirlas que ha sido un accidente ...iPntien- des? Para que todo termine de una vez ... Por lo I dem&s ... Si me pasara algo ... t(i seguir&s enseftandole | 286 I i a a mar la paz ... a luchar por la paz como su padre lo ha hecho ... jDe este modo guedari algo de ml cuando yo ya no exista en este pobre mundo.' Voy a abrir .. . Pase lo que pase ... os envlo un abrazo muy fuerte ... : con mi amor ... (OC. 7 34-7 35) In Asalto nocturno Sastre seems to be indicating that the i problems which plague all of humanity have their origins in ! the inability of individual man to live in peace with his | i neighbor. He intimates that if the problem can be solved I i on a person-to-person level, it can be solved on a com munity level, a national level, and finally an international! level. Sastre's great preoccupation with war in many of | his plays is understandable. He has spent his life in a Spain which was ravaged by a terrible civil war in which j I more than one million Spaniards lost their lives. The i i scars it left on the members of Sastre's generation, who were young children at the time, are deep. It is no won— ider, then, that Sastre has described the horrors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in two of his plays (Uranio 235 and Asalto nocturno) and has portrayed the sad aftermath of war in others (El cubo de la basura). In one of his most popular plays, Escuadra hacia la muerte. Sastre has equated the torturous wait for the enemy during * a World War III with the personal anxiety of an individual ; 289 I awaiting his death. It has already been established that war is a major I concern of the existentialists. The spark that ignited the fire of existential concern in the nineteenth century was j the realization of men like Kierkegaard and Nietzsche that history was not improving man's condition. War had not been obliterated as man became more and more civilized. On the contrary, as man "progressed," he devised instruments of destruction that were more brutal and savage than ever. | Man began to doubt the existence of a God of love who would permit entire cities to be destroyed as in the case of the atomic and even conventional bombings of the twentieth cen- [ tury. Laura in La sanere de Dios expresses existential anguish when she cries out: “O Dios no existe ... o es un imonstruo ... " (OC, 492). Warren Wagar in reference to ; I the twentieth-century existentialists has stated: I They alone seem to speak with absolute candor of the meaning and meaninglessness of total war, total states, and the total organization of human life by science, technics, bureaucracy, and the mass media of per suasion. The above remark most certainly applies to Alfonso Sastre, I 26 1 European Intellectual History Since Darwin and j Marx (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 203. who has struggled against and continually fought exploita- 'tion in all its manifestations and who has crusaded against i man's inhumanity to man on all levels. The next play to be analyzed is a good example of the exploitation of one man by another in the relationship which has been referred to I I 'before as the "oppressor-oppressed'' or the "master-slave" i relationship. La coma da i La cornada was published in 1959, and premiered at the Lara Theater in Madrid on January 14, 1960. The play was not supported by the Spanish public for a reason which j has been stated before, specifically, lack of interest in ! serious drama. La cornada was scheduled to be closed after ■ i the second week of performances but was permitted an addi tional week because of a favorable review by Jos6 Marla i Peman. Sastre describes La cornada as a modern play based 27 on the Cronos-Saturn myth. He calls the relationship between the manager and the bullfighter anthropophagic* . ----------- 27 In Greek mythology Cronos devoured each of his children as it was born. 291 Tengo la impresi6n ... de haber hecho el drama de una | relaci6n casi antropof&gica; una relac±6n que tiene algo que ver, en mi opini6n, con el mito de Cronos- i Saturno; alguien que devora a sue criaturas, alguien cuya supervivencia estA montada sobre la destrucci6n de sus creaciones. Encuentro este mito# desdichada- mente, vivo en la sociedad en cuyo seno nos movemos o | nos debatimos. (OC, 866) La cornada is one of the few plays that Sastre has i written which takes place in Spain. The bullfight is used I to represent the commercialization and the materialism of modern society. Sastre could just as easily have selected an employer-employee relationship in a business firm, or I the manager-boxer relationship in boxing. The reason he selected the manager-bullfighter relationship, no doubt, was to awaken Spanish audiences to their own government- ipeople plight. The hermetically-sealed Spaniard, however, i Iwas impervious to any attempt on Sastre's part to improve conditions in Spain. He would much rather attend an actual ^bullfight than attend a play of serious social intent which did not actually portray a bullfighter challenging bulls. Hie protagonist and antagonist are, respectively, the young bullfighter, JosA Alba, and his manager, Marcos. As already stated, the play has little to do with bull- ! fighting. The setting of the prologue is the infirmary of a bullring. The cries of the spectators are heard and 292 Jos& Alba is brought in slightly gored. He dies soon ! jafterward. The doctor states that Alba was not killed by I the goring, but by a wound suffered before the fight. An iinvestigation is immediately begun. The remainder of the j play is presented in a "flashback." It is the afternoon of the fight. The inclement weather is causing Jos6 to be nervous and distraught. Jos£ tells Marcos that he is planning to go back to his wife. Marcos informs him that his career in the arena will be ruined if he does. At any I irate, he must go through with the fight, after which Marcos will destroy the contract. In order to avoid entering the bullring, Jos& stabs himself with a knife. A former school i companion of his who is now a doctor, dresses the wound. i I Jose begs Marcos not to leave him. Marcos says that he i <will be at the fight "if nothing comes up." At any rate, because of heavy rain the fight will surely be cancelled, iIn spite of the rain the fight is not cancelled and Jos6 dies of the self-inflicted wound which causes him to bleed I to death. In the epilogue, Marcos enters a restaurant where he meets a young novillero whom he feels has promise of becoming a great bullfighter. Rafael Pastor, the young lad, refuses the offer Marcos extends. One of Marcos' 293 I former bullfighters# Ricardo Platero, enters the restaurant ibadly scarred and in rags, Marcos leaves without even l J 'recognizing him. Ricardo then turns to the audience and jbegs alms and asks for help. ! i William Giuliano feels that La cornada is the most , : i jsuccessful of Sastre's works with respect to achievement ofj the proper atmosphere for the development of the tragedy: j i A mi parecer, como pieza de teatro, es la obra mis ' lograda de Alfonso Sastre. El pr&logo es un gran acierto y crea el ambiente propicio para el desarrollo de la tragedia. La corrida no se ve, pero se siente de una manera muy viva, por los gritos que salen de la plaza mientras est&n jugando al ajedrez el doctor viejo y su ayudante joven.2® The relationship between Marcos and Jos£ Alba is an excellent example of the sadistic-masochistic relationship 'described by Sartre in his Being and Nothingness. Accord- I ing to Sartre, the sadist attempts to appropriate his victim's freedom: What the sadist seeks to appropriate is in actuality the transcendent freedom of the victim. But this freedom remains on principle out of reach. And the more the sadist persists in treating the other as an instrument, the more this freedom escapes him. He can act upon the freedom only by making it an objective property of the Other-as-objectr that is, on freedom in the midst of the world with its dead-possibilities. 28 Buero Vallejo, Sastre, p. 185. i 294 i But since the sadist's goal is to recover his being- for-others, he misses it on principle* for the only Other with whom he has to do is the Other in the world j who has only "images in his head1 1 of the sadist assaulting him. Marcos tortures Jos€ with frightening thoughts about the ! dangerous bulls he will have to fight under extremely bad I [weather conditions: j En cuanto a lo de esta tarde* ten cuidado. Por todo lo que sepas en la Plaza; vas a necesitarlo. Son toros de seis hierbaB, grandes como castillos* abiertos de cuerna; no te asustes por eso. Mfctete en el terreno del toro; all! estar&s seguro. [Y pdrtate.' Si quieres torear m&s p6rtate esta tarde. [Aunque caiga un dilu- vio' {Aunque haya un hurac&n! {Aunque se queden de- siertos los tendidos.1 (OC, 926) Alba begs for pity. He entreats Marcos to give him the reassurance he desperately needs in order to face the bulls: Entonces ten piedad de mi ... Cu&ntame las cosas como otras muchas tardes. Hazme ver que estoy sano* que este dolor de la nuca no es nada de importancia, que los toros son f&ciles* que va a romper el sol y hari buen tiempo ... (OC* 927) iMarcos sadistically continues to torment him: No* no puedo ... {Es mentiraj [Estoy cansado de men- tirj [Vas a torear entre barro ... y unos toros grandes como el infierno; [Ya lo sabes.' (OC* 927-928) | 29 i Being and Nothingness* p. 405. Marco8 has complete control over Jos6 Alba and is using him for his own gain. Jos& realizes this, but somehow i seems to enjoy being used by Marcos. Otherwise, he would have quit bullfighting and gone back to his wife. In Sartre's terminology Marcos sees Jos& as the Other, an object or a thing to be used for his own pleasure. Jos& feels trapped as if he were in a spiderweb, and as if Marcos were the spider. "Entonces me gustarla estar lejos. Pero no puedo; estoy cazado .., como en una tela de arafla. I (Rie.) La araha eres tti ... Una arafla vieja y peluda ... " (OC. 897). Josh's masochistic tendencies are revealed in his stabbing himself so that he will not have to fight and also so that Marcos will feel sorry for him. Marcos knows i that Jos& enjoys being tormented. “Te gusta torturarte" I (OC. 896), Sartre explains the feelings of guilt experi enced by both sadist and masochist: Masochism, like sadism, is the assumption of guilt. I am guilty due to the very fact that I am an object, I am guilty toward myself since I consent to my abso lute alienation. I am guilty toward the Other, for I furnish him with the occasion of being guilty— that is, of radically missing my freedom as such. Masochism is an attempt not to fascinate the Other by means of my objectivity—for—others; that is, to cause myself to be constituted as an object by the Other in such a way ; that I non-thetically apprehend my subjectivity as ; 296 a nothing in the presence of the in-itself Which I i represent to the Other's e y e s * 30 I I The masochistic vertigo that Jos6 feels is symbolized by I I dizziness he experiences after he stabs himself with the i iknifes "Alba, mareado, se echa en el sof&" (OC, 929). Masochism is characterized as a species of vertigo, vertigo not before a precipice of rock and earth but before the abyss of the Other's subjectivity. The impending doom is symbolized by the heavy, con stant rain and the wind. Sastre makes use of the weather to reflect and even to cause emotions in his characters i 1 (heat—passion, intensity? cold—anguish, despondency). In some plays the use of the weather seems exaggerated; in |T.» cornada it parallels the mood of Alba, Which grows in |intensity as he realizes that he may have to fight even if I the rain continues. Jos6, although being the protagonist of the play, does not awaken a sense of compassion in the spectator, as i he, as well as Marcos, is living in "bad faith." He allows himself to be used and abused. Because of his weak will, he has caused his own destruction. i 3°Ibld., p. 378. 31Ibid. I \ | Hie epilogue reveals Marcos' intention of finding j ’another bullfighter Whom he will victimize as he has so i I I |many others. He enters a small bar and is served by Rafael Pastor, a novillero who fought on the same card as Jose i ! Alba on the day Jos& was killed. Marcos promises to make i ihim a star if he will allow Marcos to manage him. After j i | I , some thought, Rafael refuses the offer. Marcos replies: \ ; 1 "Los hay a miles dispuestos a vender lo que sea ... hasta ! i t el alma ... por una oportunidad como &sta" (OC, 941). The iextended significance of the remark is obvious. With reference to Jos& Alba. William Giuliano states that his anguish is existential: La angustia de Jos& Alba es una angustia existencial. pues se halla obligado a actuar y no sabe que hacer ! y no tiene a nadie para sacarle de su apuro.32 ! En la red En la red was published in 1959 and premiered on March 9, 1961, by the "Grupo de Teatro Realista" at the Recoletos Theater in Madrid. The premiere of En la red was ! praised highly by Rafael V4zquez Zamora: 3 2 Buero Valleio, Sastre. p. 186. 298 ... es una magnlfica obra teatral, un prodigio de ten- ; | si&n dram&tica ... El di&logo de En la red tlene una | gran preclsldn y una total eficacia dram&tica ... Es | I una apasionante tragedia: la del hoiribre de hoy( perse- 1 guido, acosado, inutilizado, forzado a vivir en la | clandestinidad, y no s6lo en un pals imaginario norte- I africano, sino en palses total!tarios de diversos 1 signos.33 En la red can be considered a synthesis of Sastre's j I i ideology and an example of the fusion of agonia and praxis. 1 j 'Stylistically, it is a blend of Aristotelian and Brechtian j techniques. There is no definite beginning or end to the j play. When the curtain is lifted the action is in prog- i ress, and when it falls, the action has not terminated. I Sastre's intention is for the spectator to leave the theaterj with the "toma de conciencia," referred to in his theoreti cal works. Horror and pity are evoked throughout the play, iAlthough there are many similarities to Pr61oao pat&tico, i both plays dealing with terrorist action, En la red is a much more convincing drama. At the time Pr61ogo patfetico was written, Sastre's dramatic ideology was in its in cipient stages. When Sastre wrote En la red, nine years later, his dramatic theories had evolved considerably. I ~ ~~ ^*'En la red, de Alfonso Sastre, " Insula, XVI, No. 173 (April, 1961), 15. | 299 [By this time he had been exposed thoroughly to the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre and reflected many of the latter's I i ideas in his writings. He was also familiar with the dramas and dramatic theories of Bertolt Brecht. j The principal theme of En la red is the inability ! j of men to communicate. The oppressor-oppressed relation- j i | ship is seen once again in this play. The stress is j placed on mental action rather than physical action. The | i entire play takes place in a small room; the characters, j as well as the audience, feel the oppressiveness of the constrictive situation. Pablo and Celia, members of a l iterrorist group, are in hiding. Although they are French, j they have joined the enemy, as they believe in the Al gerian cause. The French police have extended a net over the area in an attempt to catch the subversives. Leo, Celia*8 husband, enters the room. He has just been re leased by the enemy, after being mercilessly tortured. He is chided by Celia for having come there. She is afraid that Leo has been followed and that their hiding-place will be discovered. Finally, Leo admits that he could not with stand the torture and told the enemy everything. While Leo is asleep, Pablo declares his love for Celia. Someone I arrives with safe-conduct papers for an Arab couple* I Afescha and Tayeb, Finally* the police force their way |into the room. As Leo tries to escape* he is shot on the |terrace. Celia and Pablo are handcuffed and led away to | l j ithe torture that awaits them. The protagonists in En la red are the Arabs and their pro-Arab French supporters. It is clear that Sastre i has painted a picture that places the French in the posi tion of oppressor and the Algerians in the position of i oppressed. Sastre indicates that freedom and justice take precedence over nationality and loyalty to country. The ! French protagonists who have betrayed their country emerge as heroes in the play. They are living in "good faith" inasmuch as they are fighting for what they believe is a i just cause. Pablo shows that the cause for liberty extends the boundaries of race* religion* and nationality. He expresses his belief in the brotherhood of man: "Mi pueblo I es este. Esta gente de color. Estos hombres humillados. Hace tiempo que escupi sobre la bandera de mi pais" (OC* 607). In reality* Pablo* Leo* and Celia do not consider * themselves traitors. They are opposed to the French government but feel that they are secretly supported by 301 most of their countrymen in their desire to aid the Al- i I gerians. Sastre's ideas with respect to oppression and ! subjugation are clearly reflected in the ideas expressed by jhis protagonists. It is worthy of note that Sastre's ideas i jclosely parallel those of Sartre with regard to freedom s |and liberty. Sartre, who was opposed to racial discrimina-J tion, wrote a study on anti-Semitism. He staunchly sup ported Algerian independence and condemned the atrocities perpetrated against the Arabs. He criticized racial dis crimination in the American South. Sastre wrote a Spanish version of Mulato by Langston Hughes, in which he presented f 'la tragedia desgarradora de un honibre de color en el sur i de los EE. UU. * ' 34 ; Although Leo, Celia, and Pablo are fighting to gether for the same cause, each of them must accept his I responsibility individually. Leo has weakened under tor- j ture. Pablo, who also had been submitted to torture but who did not talk, does not condemn Leo for a physical weakness over which he as an individual has no control. ! Leo, however, is extremely severe with himself, and feels a j Mulato (Madrid: Escelicer, S.A., 1964), p. 8. 302 .ashamed for having talked. Pablo replies: "La vergdenza ... Dfejese ahora de eso. Es un lujo que no nos poderaos permi- tir" (OC. 834). The telephone, which is a symbol of communication, i has not been used to warn comrades of impending danger. iHan's inability to communicate is symbolized by this unused l vehicle of communication. Sastre reveals the existential anguish and solitude that men feel even when they are with others. Celia tells Leo: “Estaba muy cerca de ti, y sin iembargo ... era como si estuvieras en otro mundo" (OC, 829). When an Arab discovers Leo's body at the end of the play, he turns to the audience and shouts: "Asesinos" i i (OC, 862). This technique of involving the audience in jthe action of the play is widely used by the dramatists I who subscribe to epic theater (Brecht and Weiss). The IInvestigation by Peter Weiss, which is a distillation of I the Frankfurt trials of 1964-1965, illustrates the inhuman uses to which power can be put. The idea of innocence is pursued by Weiss in a manner similar to Sastre's. As the horrible crimes of Auschwitz are recited, floodlights are directed at the audience. The defendants on stage insist i Ion their innocence. They state that they were merely l i 303 carrying out orders. Both Sastre and Weiss by using Brechtian techniques break the hypnotic spell of the audience and force them to think about What they have wit nessed. They reveal stark reality to the audience by suggesting that by their unauthenticity, they are indi- i vidually and collectively guilty for the injustices in the world, Sastre agrees with Weiss in the letter's belief I that a play express dualism. By this it is meant that although the author's own ideas and philosophy are con tained in the play, the individual must interpret them in his own way. Each spectator brings with him an aggregate !of personal human experiences and attitudes which greatly I affect the way in which he views a particular drama and the I |interpretation which he gives it. i Sastre states that he was attempting to achieve a synthesis of the Aristotelian and the Brechtian concepts in En la red: Mi busca va en el sentido de una slntesis superadora de la oposici6n entre la concepci6n propiamente dra m&tica del teatro (Arist6teles) y la concepci6n &pica del hecho teatral (Brecht), cuyo primer ensayo pr&ctico i ser& ofrecido al pfiblico cuando se estrene, si es que algfin dla se estrena, mi Asa 1 to nocturno. De modo que En la red no es, naturalmente, ni un manifiesto aristo- i t&lico ni una exhibici6n neocl&sica, sino una prueba j m&s dentro de un trabajo que tiene, en cuanto a una i j teorla de las formas dram&ticas, un car&cter experi mental. (OC, 795-796) i j In accordance with his stated purpose, Sastre closes the play with an indication that there is hope: j"(Cae el tel6n, y asi termina la obra con esperanza y con angustia)" (OC. 862). ! Oficio de tinieblas I i Oficio de tinieblas was written in 1962 and pre miered on February 8, 1967, at the Comedia Theater in Madrid. This play underwent several title changes. The first title was Alcohol, which was changed to La resaca 'and then to Oficio de tinieblas. Each change was made |after Sastre found an existing work with a duplicate title. [The last change was to Por la noche. The approved title, jhowever, remained Oficio de tinieblas, and it was under this name that it was premiered in Madrid. In the "Noticia" to the play, Sastre states that he did not remain exactly faithful to all the details of the historical event depicted in Oficio de tinieblas and quotes Sartre in stating: "El teatro tiene que ver con la verdad jm&s que con la realidad" (OC. 946). It would seem that ithis is one of Sastre's basic postulates. The details r 305 ( i I !(pormenorea) are often sacrificed for the more important |"reality," life itself. With reference to the premiere of the play, Fran- Icisco Garcia Pav6n wrote: j Alfonso Sastre en esta obra muestra una decidida inten- ci6n moral, llam&nosla civica, al denunciar ciertos j aspectos de la dolce vita madrilefta de nuestros dlas ...! ! Imports mucho en este tipo de teatro la tensi6n dra- m&tica, muy bien graduada y mantenida por el autor. El ! estupendo di&logo, de escritor autfentico, y el trazado | de los tipos.^5 The protagonist of Oficio de tinieblas, Miguel, is i made to believe that he killed a girl while he was in a drunken stupor. Although he remembers none of the events leading to the girl's death the preceding evening, he believes that he is guilty, and is on the verge of com mitting suicide. He is saved by Ismene, a strip-tease dancer. Miguel's companions want him to flee to Paris, but i Miguel says that he is going to turn himself over to the i police. Lola, a friend of the dead girl, is fearful for her life, and tells Ismene that Miguel was not the girl's murderer. Miguel, having found out that he is innocent, tries to leave the chalet, but is detained. Nic, the owner I 35' ' Oficio de tinieblas, de Alfonso Sastre," Insula, 244 (1967), 17. 306 of the chalet* admits that he killed the girl in a jealous rage when he saw her and Arturo embracing, Vanel, one of Nic’s henchmen, discovers Miguel trying to call the police. In the ensuing struggle between Vanel and Miguel, the Hatter falls to the floor unconscious. Arturo discovers ! I that he is dead. This play is similar to La dolce vita in that it i I portrays the degenerate society of modern times. The an tagonists are profligates, homosexuals, renegades, and prostitutes. This is the first attempt on the part of Sastre to detail these deviates of society. In El cubo de la basura and El cuervo. Sastre had alluded to the degener ates of post-Civil War Spain. In Oficio de tinieblas, |Sastre focuses his attention on the moral turpitude of 'these outcasts of society and seems to intimate that war is responsible for the deterioration of humanity. People are killed senselessly, and the absurdity of life is seen once again. Sastre*s characters are neither saints nor monsters. Conforming to his precepts stated in Drama v sociedad, Sastre shows the good and the bad sides of humanity. They I 307 | |are all tragic figures, some attempting to live authenti cally and others not. What is important is that Sastre i expresses hope for mankind. Even though there are those |who can be considered incorrigibles, the majority of people i i can live responsibly if they will act (praxis) and accept i the consequences of their actions. Of all the characters iin Oficio de tinieblas, Miguel comes closest to being a i protagonist. His error lies in the fact that he keeps bad ; company. The suggestion here is that one's environment can |influence one adversely. Sastre does not excuse him on this account, however. Sastre tries to show that the majority of people are not strong enough to live coura geously and responsibly. He does not condone the actions I i jof his weak characters, however? he, rather, pities them. Thus emerges Sastre's idea of "horror and pity" vdiich has ! a cathartic effect on the spectator. Vanel is the most .despicable character in the play, a prototype of the naturalism that Sastre was combatting in his theater. Vanel*s loathsome crime consisted of having mercilessly killed the patients in an Algerian hospital with a machine- gun. He performs senseless deeds in a deterministic manner, as if compelled by forces beyond his control. He is the 308 ! antithesis of the authentic man. In this, as in a number [ i of other plays, Sastre has put his characters into a i i drunken stupor while they commit their dastardly acts. One remembers the brutal assassination of Goban in Escuadra I i hacia la muerte which was performed while the men were I I inebriated. Many of these crimes seem to occur almost | ! gratuitously, which reveals the karmic element, discussed j ! before, found in several of Sastre's plays. In the "auto- ;critica," Sastre refers to a mixture of alcohol and crime which results in a morally abject society: Se trata de un episodic de la "doIce vita" madrilefta— j de determinada "dolce vita"— que desemboca en la "cr6nica negra": el alcohol y el sexo se mezclan con la sangre en un mundo moralmente abyecto.36 Since the writing of Oficio de tinieblas, Sastre's i last published play to date, he has written four other ’plays which have been prohibited publication and presenta tion. The only available information concerning these I 1 plays is contained in Farris Anderson's book, Alfonso Sastre. Dr. Anderson had the opportunity to read the original manuscripts. The trend that Sastre's theater 36 F, S. Sainz de Robles, Teatro espaftol, 1966-67 (Madrid: Aguilar, 1966), p. 86. 309 has taken seems to be the epic theater. (It should be re- I i ; membered, however, that even a newer phase has been entered into by Sastre, as was mentioned in his latest book of dramatic theory. La revoluci6n v la crltica de la cultura j [1970]. He calls this "new" theater, "tragedia compleia," j Which he describes as a synthesis of the fueao nihillzador of vanguardism with its limit situations, and a surpassing | of his esoeranza to a perspectiva socialista.) | i According to Anderson, Sastre's newest phase repre- I i sents evolution and synthesis rather than reversal and total negation. It is the result of Sastre's clearer con- ! ception of the meaning of revolution. In this new theater, ! I Sastre goes beyond mere catharsis. Anderson describes ISastre's latest endeavor in the following manneri l The epic theater was the only logical place for Sastre to go after social realism, given his persistent self- examination and self-renewal, his insistence on a multiple perspective, and his radical consciousness. i His long, complicated dialectical process has brought him to a profound vision of revolution, and to an art form appropriate to that vision. If producers or audiences react negatively, as well they may, to The Banquet, The Fantastic Tavern, Roman Chronicles, and The Blood and the Ashes, their reaction will confirm the epic theater's fundamental assumption! that the essential first step of revolution is to persuade men that the world they see around them is not the only world possible, to encourage them to tolerate unfamiliar images of themselves* and to break down the i mental rigidity fostered by the myths of an unjust society.37 By reading Anderson's description of La sanare v jla ceniza* which he compares to Brecht's The Life of Galileo* one sees that Sastre is continuing his dialectical course. Anderson states: "Like The Life of Galileo* The i ! Blood and the Ashes rests on the underlying assumption that I to fight for truth— at any level— is to fight for human dignity.1,38 "To leave things as they should be— not as they i were*" is the proposition to which Miguel Servet dedicates his life in La sanqre v la ceniza. The most important 1 feature of La sanqre v la ceniza is not its plot; it is I jits principal character* Servet. This sixteenth-century i 'physician and theologian was persecuted by the Inquisition* imprisoned in France* and brought to Geneva where he was burned at the stake. As Anderson states: "Two bitter enemies--the Calvinists and the Catholics— collaborate to eliminate this reformer whose extraordinary mind had posed 37 Alfonso Sastre* pp. 131-132. 38Ibid.. p. 127. 39 a threat to both of them." Sastre's Servet is a demy- | thified or "human" hero. He is a true "hombre de carne v I hue so1 1 in the Unamunian sense. He can be considered a true ;"existential" man. Comparing Sastre's Servet and Brecht's j Galileo, Anderson states: I Both Galileo and Servet were Renaissance men of science i whose research and discoveries threatened an estab lished order which happened to be under the vigilance | of ecclesiastical authorities. Both men were perse cuted by these authorities, who saw that the bases of their power would be undermined by a new way of viewing the world. Brecht's Galileo, like Sastre's Servet, is riddled with human frailties. Sastre's protagonist falsely denies authorship of incriminating treatises and becomes hysterical upon hearing his death sentence; Brecht's Galileo falsely claims credit for invention of the telescope and recants his teachings before the Inquisition, murmuring, "Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes."4® j Upon examining Sastre's writings, one finds that he satisfies all of the requirements that Patricia Sanborn 41 has stated to be characteristics of the existentialists. She divides her discussion into two parts: external simi larities and internal similarities. External similarities: The existentialists all come from continental Europe, as the Anglo-Saxon world has not been attracted essentially ‘ iq 40 Ibid.. p. 125. Ibid., p. 126. ^Existentialism (New York: Pegasus, 1968). 312 to the movement. All existentialists are interested in j political activity. Most of them have either written plays i or novels or have been literary critics. (Sastre has written plays, a novel, and has been a literary critic.) ! i Internal similarities: These similarities are those which j 'appear directly in the ideas developed. One common feature i i of the existentialists is their rebellion against the |apathy and slumber of the intellectuals; rebellion against the insensitivity of colleagues; and rebellion against the i inhumanity and irrelevance of institutions such as the church, the state, and the university. Behind these rebel- 1 lions is the conviction that many aspects of the environ- i 1 42 ment suffocate the individual. Sastre feels that the university is controlled by selfish interests and that its i administrators are incompetent: Es inaceptable que el teatro, que es un importante I instrumento social, se encuentre, en gran parte, en las manos de gente torpe, indocta, egolsta, inmoral. Esto hace precisa la incorporacidn al teatro de la gente docta y honesta que deberla dar la Universidad. (DS, 178-179) 42 Sastre would not agree with the irrelevance of the university, as it was through this institution that he was attempting to renovate Spanish theater. See Drama v sociedad (Madrid: Taurus, 1956), pp. 178—179. J 313 The existentialist seeks to understand the individual who [has been hidden in the "untruth" of the crowd. The human condition must be described in terms that are real and iconcrete (Sastre's realismo profundo). Truth is not abso lute; it is relative. It is to the individual that exis- i tential philosophy turns for answers to its questions. ; 43 "Existence precedes essence." This priority indicates an interest in present situations, not in permanent ideals or fixed definitions. Sastre supplies no utopias or ipanaceas. He admits that the danger of revolution lies in the uncertainty of the outcome. It is possible for one i form of oppression to be replaced by another. I Sastre's paradoxical, dialectical concepts have | jcaused critics and scholars to find many of his ideas obscure. Farris Anderson has stated; "Ihe reader of j Sastre' s Anatomy of Realism will probably be bothered by ;the book's obscure style before he is impressed by its 44 intellectual penetration." Many of the ideas of the jm Sastre expressed this precept as; "Man first 'finds himself' living and then comes everything else— |including theater" ("El teatro en la vida," Informaciones, jMarch 18, 1959, p. 3). I 44 j Alfonso Sastre. p. 55. | 314 existentialists are ambiguous. This is because of their constant, unrelenting search for the truth, and their refusal to adhere to a given set of tenets or subscribe to any "system." They are all dissatisfied with the inherited lor traditional conception of philosophy. Some similarities to be found in the writings of Sastre and those of major existentialists are: their use of a dialectical method of problem-solving (thesis, antithesis, synthesis) rather than the traditional linear method; their proclivity towards the use of hyphenated words (man-in-the 45 world, man-toward death); and their objection to the separation of man from himself and from the world. This theory (mind-body dualism) was upheld by Kant and Descartes, ibut rejected by the existentialists. All existentialists have one objective in common, the liberation of man from / whatever enslaves him. They all resist mass uniformity and conformity. The individual must think for himself and resolve his own problems as they arise. Sastre, possibly more than any other contemporary dramatist, has left his 45 Alfred Stern has called existentialism "a phi losophy of hyphens." See Sartre (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1967), p. 26. 315 plays purposefully unresolved. Hie spectator or reader I must arrive at his own conclusions. i Sastre has been quite vague in answering questions i which would link him to the existential movement. In his theoretical writings, he has seldom alluded to existen- ! i tialism. One of the exceptions is the following statement I in which he joins forces with the “existentialists," the i ;"neorealists," and the "social-realists" in their opposi tion to the "Theater of Magic": ! La corriente m&gica ha sufrido, en los filtimos aftos, varios rudos golpes. El "existencialismo," la litera- tura fundada en postulados "neorealistas" y, en gene ral, todo el frente cultural "social-realista" han descargado sus pistolas en la sien de la "cabeza a p&jaros" de la magia, de la evasidn culpable y de la suicida y complaciente sonrisa. Estamos en la lucha. (PS, 155) | 1 Hie unwillingness of most existentialists to be ;classified as such, strange as it may seem, is one of their characteristics. Walter Kaufmann has stated: "It becomes i plain that one essential feature shared by all these men 46 [existentialists] is their perfervid individualism." He continues to say: I 46Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre (New iYork: Meridian, 1956), p. 11. 316 The refusal to belong to any school of thought, the ; repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs | whatever, and especially of systems, and a marked dis- I satisfaction with traditional philosophy as superfi cial, academic, and remote from life— that is the heart of existentialism. < i Sastre's principle of "detached penetration" which i i , is found in Drama v sociedad is expressed in four synonymous! 'concepts: "theater of anguish," "penetrative realism," j , I j"testimonial theater," and "existential theater." Sastre ! can be considered a combination of "critical" and "social" {existentialist. The former meets existence through crisis and the latter through communion with one's fellow man. I ( I Sastre incorporates the two in his "social-revolutionary" theater. i The evolution of Sastre's theater and dramatic I ! theories has passed through the existential phases of j I search and encounter. It is now in the process of renewal. j 47Ibid. , p. 12. i r i CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION I i [ The drama is perhaps the perfect vehicle of expres-j sion for literary existentialism. Originating from the > Greek, "drama" means deed or action. What can come closer I to the existentialist mode of expression than a medium ! which expresses, conveys, and unfolds action— the deeds of man? Existentialism deals with responsible action (praxis) in an individual's unfolding of his true, authentic self. Alfred Stern regards the existentialist as a man of I"action": i The Existentialist's world-view is not purely theoreti cal, but determined by his action and his means of action. He does not recognize "things," but only ob stacles and helps for his actions. While the tradi tional philosopher1s approach to reality is that of a detached, objective observer, the Existentialist philosophizes as an actor in the human drama. ^ i 1Sartre (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1967), !p. 5. 317 318 It has been the purpose of this dissertation to examine existentialism in the theater of Alfonso Sastre and I to determine whether Sastre can be considered an existen tialist. A number of conclusions have been drawn through out the study. It will serve the purpose of this thesis I to summarize them and enlarge upon them here. ! Alfonso Sastre has sought to express in his dramas i l i the profound feelings that stir within him for the amelio ration of a society which in recent years has experienced a steady decline. This decline is reflected not only in the lives and attitudes of the people of Spain, but in the shallowness of expression to be found in their arts. The present-day dictatorship is undoubtedly to blame for some 'of this lethargy, but the people themselves are responsible i I for a great part of it. Sastre's efforts to improve the i conditions and the quality of the theater in Spain have been singular. No other writer in contemporary Spain has dared to take the strong stand that Sastre has assumed in his fight against injustice. The two men of letters Who come closest to Sastre in a desire to renovate the Spanish isituation are Buero Vallejo and Alfonso Paso. It has been pointed out, however, that these men were unwilling to take ■What they considered to be unnecessary risks. Buero i j Vallejo was willing to compromise with his principles in agreeing to write only posibilista dramas which were cer tain to be staged. Paso made even greater concessions; he came to terms with the censors by signing a pacto social ;in which he agreed to write only such dramas as were in- I i offensive to the government. Sastre refused to take part Jin any "bargain." In true existential fashion, he con tinued to write as he saw and felt the world around him. I He wrote in a responsible manner and lived and acted in "good faith." It is felt that Sastre can be considered a I true existential person, even if one limits his consider- ations to Sastre, the man, as opposed to Sastre, the dramatist. He has remained true to his principles and has accepted his "freedom" dauntlessly, even though this has s meant that he and his theater have suffered numerous I reprisals. With regard to the external and internal similari ties among the existentialists discussed by Or. Sanborn, it has been found that Sastre satisfies all of the require ments stated to be characteristic of the existentialists. i Sastre accepts the basic existential precept that "existence I 320 i iprecedes essence." He offers no utopia or panacea. He j [states that literature is meaningful to the generation for i [which it is written. He agrees with Sartre that literature i [becomes less meaningful with the passing of time. An author must write for his contemporaries. What appear to be in- J consistencies and contradictions in Sastre' s works are in essence manifestations of a dialectical approach to problen^ !solving. Sastre refuses to adhere to a given set of tenets 1 or subscribe to any all-embracing system such as the j I j ["Hegelian system." Sastre's use of hyphenated words (ser- en-el-mundo, ser-para-la-muerte) may be considered as another link to the existential movement. Sastre's chief j objective, which coincides with that of all existentialists, is to liberate man from whatever enslaves him. The attain- I I iment of this objective is essential for Sastre on a per- s sonal level if he is to survive as an effective dramatic writer in Spain. It is vital that the yoke of censorship be lifted and that freedom of expression be permitted so that Spanish writers may once again achieve their rightful place among the litterateurs of Europe. True to the existential concept that existence is !something to be encountered rather than thought, Sastre i i 321 has weighed agonla against praxis to arrive at his tenta tive synthesis esperanza. Sastre has already indicated that esperanza is not satisfactory, and has moved in new directions (Brecht, Weiss) in search of what he labels I "tragedia compleia." Farris Anderson's statement about iSastre could be said of any existentialist: i Ultimately one sees in Alfonso Sastre's vision, and in its literary formulation, a desire to reintegrate modern man, alienated from himself, his fellow men, and the forces that control his life. A fundamental suggestion of Sastre*s best work is that modern hu manity is the fragmented, neurotic result of social systems that turn people into objects, foment a split between the individual's personal and social lives, and render the complete personality impossible. Re covery of this personal completeness is implicit in Sastre's call for a realism that reflects both ex tremes of the fragmented human being, with the hope of achieving synthesis, or reintegration. However, this recovery can be realized at the personal level only through the implantation of a humanistic social context for the individual's activities.2 I Sastre has realized that in order for life to have meaning, man must be free. It is the search for this freedom that has taken Sastre along the path of praxis to social agita tion, and finally to revolution. Sastre makes no proclama tion that "God is dead. ' * His Spanish religiosity, which is a legacy of staunch Spanish Catholicism, has not permitted 2 Alfonso Sastre (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971), p. 144 I 322 ! such a schism between him and his Creator. Whereas Sastre i 'has not taken the religious path, neither has he turned to ! atheism. One of the concerns in many of his plays is meta- I physical; another is social. Transcendental concerns link him to Jaspers and Kafka, and social concerns link him to Sartre and Camus. Although Sastre, during his early ex- I perimental phase, showed a propensity toward the Theater of i the Absurd as represented by Beckett and Ionesco, he could , not accept such a nihilistic view of life, which he said iwould lead either to suicide or anarchy. The futility of i life revealed in the Theater of the Absurd, with its con- j fused dialogue, disorganization, and incohesiveness, was j i 'depressing to Sastre, Sastre has not abandoned the Ureater i iof the Absurd altogether, however. He has always retained the aoonla of the vanguard, as he has proceeded to develop his dialectical method. By means of this dialectical tension, Sastre has arrived at a point midway between what Nicola Abbagnano has labeled "old" and "new" existentialism. The "old" existentialism with its stress on life's meaning lessness finds its equivalent in Sastreas aoonla whereas |the "new" existentialism with its stress on freedom of choice and responsibility may be said to coincide with 323 Sastre's praxis. Thought of in other terms, Sastre can be |considered a synthesis of "critical" and "social" existen- i tialist. As has been mentioned, the "critical" existen tialist meets existence through crisis. Whereas the "social" iexistentialist meets existence through communion with one's ( j I fellow man. What sets the existentialist apart from the tradi- j jtionalist is the fact that the existentialist recognizes | the polarities, tensions, and discontinuities of experienceJ land regards philosophy as a continuing activity vrtiich can never achieve an absolute, all-embracing system, whereas the traditionalist seeks to achieve a utopian system in i Which all aspects of life have their definite purpose and i place. Perhaps Sastre's continuing search for an effective .theater of social realism can be summed up in the statement jthat Buddha made towards the end of his life: "X am still searching for the truth." APPENDIX 324 PARA UNA BIO-BIBLIOOIAFIA DE ALFONSO SASTRE Madrid, 1968, Ago*to 325 326 Estas notas son* diriamos* un subproducto del trabajo de algunoe estudlosos extranjeroa del teatro espaftol y, en especial# de los dramas de A. S.; y van destinadas a servir de base o ayuda— como camino ya andado— a otros estudlosos del tema. 327 1.926 - 1.936 - 1.938 - jl.943 - i i I 1.944 - I 1.945 - 11.946 - i i 1.947 - 1.948 l | 1.949 - t Cronoloqla de Alfonso Sastre - Nacimiento en Madrid. - Ingreso en el Bachillerato. - Primeros poemas. j - Termina el Bachillerato. | Breve experiencia para la carrera de Ingeniero ' Aeron&utico. Poemas y primeras obras teatrales (desaparecidas). I - Primera idea para una obra sobre el "terrorismo"t ! La Resistencia francesa. Preparacl6n para el Cuerpo Pericial de Aduanas. - Primer examen sin &xito en el Cuerpo de Aduanas. Fundaci6n de ’ ’ Arte Nuevo.1 ' Escribe con M. Fraile "Ha sonado la muerte." - Segundo examen sin 6xito para Aduanas. Estrena "Ha sonado la muerte" y "Uranio 235"? 6sta es una obra sobre la bomba at6mica. Escribe "Cargamento de sueftos." Poemas. i - Primero de Filosofia y Letras. Escribe con M. Fraile "Comedia son&mbula." Traduce y publica "El veredicto" de Kafka. - Estrena "Cargamento de suefios. " Comienza la revista "La Hora" y se encarga de la p&gina de teatro. Actor en "La Anunciacidn Maria" de Claudel (Teatro Universitario de Ensayo). Fundaci6n del Grupo "La Vaca flaca." - Teatro Universitario. Primeras notas para MPr61ogo oat&tico." Se publica "Teatro de Vanguardia." Sigue haciendo critics teatral en "La Hora." 328 ■1.950 - j t 1.951 - l 1.952 - !l.953 - - Campafia por un “Teatro de Agitaci6n. 1 1 En Marzo termina , l Pr6loao Patfetico. " Durante el verano# empieza "El cubo de la baaura." Campafia y Manifiesto del T.A.S. (Teatro de Agita- ci&n Social). Prohibici6n del proyecto. Se estrena en provincias su versi6n de "El Co- barde" de Lenormand. ! - Monta "Sonrisa de Gioconda" de Huxley, como director de escena. j Envla "Pr61ogo pat6tico" al Teatro Maria Guerrero j y le es devuelta. I En Dicienibre termina "El cubo de la basura" y [ empieza "Escuadra hacia la muerte." - intenta estrenar "Pr61ogo patetico" sin resultado en el Maria Guerrero y en la Cia. Lope de Vega. Lo envla al "Premio Lope de Vega" y no es seleccionada. j En Mayo, termina "Escuadra hacia la muerte." | En el verano, va a Santander con la Compafila I "Teatro de Hoy" y actfia como actor en la "An- tigona" de Anouilh. En Octubre, empieza "El pan de todos." - Envla "Escuadra hacia la muerte" al "Premio de Lope de Vega." No es seleccionada. La estrena el Teatro Popular Universitario. Es prohibida a la tercera representaci6n. Colabora en "Correo literario." "Cuadernos His- panoamericanos. " "Gula, * ' Etc, Termina Filosofia y Letras en Murcia. Fundaci6n de "Revista Espafiola." Da una conferencia en el Palacio de la Magdalena (Santander), denunciando incidentalmente la Censura. Reposici6n de "Cargamento de Suefios. " En Setiembre, termina "El pan de todos." En Noviembre-Diciembre hace el plan de "La mor- daza. " Presents "Pr61ogo pat&tico" y "El pan de todos" al Premio Ciudad de Barcelona 1.954. Viaje a Huelvat Minas de Riotinto. Primera idea para "Tierra Roja." 329 954 — La censura prohibe "Pr6logo patfetico" y "El pan de todos." Se le excluye ilegalmente del Premio Ciudad de Barcelona, retirando b u s obras, una de las cuales estaba sehalada como indiscutible premio por los jurados. Escribe "La mordaza." Escribe a la Direcci6n General explicando su situaci6n profesional, y exigiendo se le formu- len las razones morales del cerco a que es sometido. No recibe respuesta. Estrena "La mordaza." I Escribe "Tierra roia." j 955 — Escribe "Ana Kleiber." Escribe y estrena en Valencia "La Sangre de Dios. " Dirige unos Coloquios sobre Teatro en Santander: en ellos se pide que la censura previa sea suprimida. Plantea un recurso a la censura sobre "Escuadra hacia la muerte," por haber un proyecto para teatro y otro para cine. La Direcci6n General de Teatro envla el texto al Estado Mayor Central del Ej6rcito que condena la obra en un informe. Escribe "Muerte en el barrio"; es prohibida. Escribe "Guillermo Tell tiene los oios tristes"; es prohibida. Se autoriza, a petici6n del actor Rodero, "El pan de todos" con algunos cortes. 956 — Sucesos de Febrero. Retenci6n y proceso. Publica "Drama y Sociedad." Escribe con Jos& Ma. Forqu6 "Amanecer en Puerta Oscura" (film). Escribe "El Cuervo." Ha si do eitibargada su cuenta en la Sociedad de Autores para el pago de la fianza por el pro ceso. 957 — En Enero, estrena "El pan de todos" en Barcelona. Escribe con Jos6 Ma. Forqu6 guiones cinemato- gr&ficos sobre ideas ajenas: "La Noche y el Alba," "Un hecho violento" y "Tres hombres." 330 Estrena* por decisi6n personal de Claudio de la Torre que comienza los ensayos sin ser autori- zado a ello, "El Cuervo." Empieza a trabajar en el gui6n de "Carmen." Le ha sido retirado el pasaporte y su situaci6n es de "libertad provisional." .958 — El primer gui6n de "Carmen" es prohibido. Escribe \ uno nuevo, que tanibi6n es prohibido. Escribe un tercer gui6n, que es autorizado. (Se roda- ria* por fin* un gui6n de otros autores bajo el tltulo "Carmen la de Ronda.") De Marzo a Abril escribe "Medea." Se estrena en el verano. En Mayo prepara una edicidn de Teatro para Losada (seis obras). Escribe el relato "El paralelo 38." En Septiembre* empieza "Asalto nocturno*" sobre un plan anterior. i Se estrena "La mordaza" en Hamburgo. En Diciembre publica en "Acento" el Manifiesto "Arte como construcci6n." .959 — En Febrero* termina "Asalto nocturno." No se estrena en el Maria Guerrero a pesar de los deseos de su director* Claudio de la Torre, que ya habia querido estrenar "Muerte en el barrio." De Mayo a Junio, escribe "En la red." De Agosto a Septiembre escribe "La Cornada." Publica un breve ensayo sobre el pintor Angel Medina. .960 — Estrena "La Cornada" en el Teatro Lara. Escribe en Febrero el film "A las cinco de la tarde" con J. A. Bardem. Publica su tamo de "Teatro" la Editorial Losada (Buenos Aires). De junio a julio escribe "La Hama del mar" (ver- si6n de la obra de Ibsen). Escribe muchos poemas y compone el libro "Docu- mento Secreto." De Octubre a Noviembre* escribe su versi6n de "Los Acreedores" (Strindberg). Estrena "Ana Kleiber" en Atenas. 331 I 1.961 - i ! I i 1.962 - |1.963 - Escrito contra la censura firmado por 227 escri- tores, intelectuales y artlstas. DespuSs de larga consults es autorlzado "En la red. " Fundaci6n del G.T.R, (Grupo de Teatro Realists). En Dlcienibre empieza "Oficio de tinleblas, ' * pero abandons este trabajo. - Temporada del G.T.R. de Enero a Abril. En Febrero termina los di&logos para el film "Nunca pass nada" de Bardem. Estrena "En la red" y se prohibe para las provin- cias. Es detenido por raz6n de un documento pro-Amnistia y puesto en libertad despu6s de ser interrogado. Viaje a Paris, para asistir al estreno de "Ana Kleiber." Escribe doscientas p&ginas de lo que habr& de ser una "Estlttica como critics de la imaginaci6n. " Documento del G.T.R. sobre la situaci6n del teatro espaftol. Se publica la traduce16n portuguesa de "Escuadra hacia la muerte, " "La mordaza" y "El cuervo. * ' - Estrena "Acreedores." Viaje a Florencia al Congreso de la COMES. Reuni6n con escritores portugueses en Barcelona. De Julio a Setiembre, escribe "Oficio de ti- nieblas." El director del Maria Guerrero le pide una obra y desea estrenar "Oficio de tinleblas," pero el Ministerio no le autoriza a ello. Escribe las piezas infantiles "El clrculito de tiza. " Se publica "La Cornada" (L'Incornata) en la anto- logia "Teatro Uno" de Einaudi (Italia), y "Ana Kleiber" en la antologla "The New Theatre of Europe" (Nueva York). Empieza un drama sobre Miguel Servet: "La sangre y la ceniza." Lo abandons. - Escribe y estrena la versifin de "Mulato" de Laugston Hughes. Escribe los libros "Anatomla del realismo" y "Las noches ltigubres." 332 | i1.964 - 1.965 - I 1.966 Publica "Cuatro dramas de la revoluci6n." Estrena “En la red” en Moscft. Se publica la traducci6n portuguesa de "Ana Kleiber” y "Muerte en el barrio." Documentos de los intelectuales sobre la represifin en Asturias. Reinicia el trabajo en "La sangre y la ceniza.” Lo abandons. i j - Publica “Las noches ldtgubres" (relatos), y un volumen de teatro que incluye "Cargamento de sueAos," "Pr61ogo pat&tico" y "Asalto Nocturno." Publica “Mulato" y “La Dama del Mar. " Escribe "Flores rojas para Miguel Servet" (bio- grafla). Viaje a Cuba. La TV cubana da “La Cornada." Prepara el libro "Tree Dramas EspaAoles." "Tierra roja" se publica en la “Revista de Lite rature Extranjera" de Moscdi. - Se le niega el visado de entrada en los EE.UU. La TV italiana da “La cornada.” Asiste al Congreso de Escritores Latino-Americanos de G&nova. Publica "Anatomia del realismo,“ “El Paralelo 38" y "Tres dramas espaftoles." Escribe “La sangre y la ceniza“--la censura de libros la prohibe en Julio— , "El Banquete” y "Un pr61ogo de cuatro perras.“ Publica articulos: “Teatro y Sociedad," "Los Comi- sarios secretos," etc. Se publica la versi6n portuguesa de "Guillermo Tell tiene los ojos tristes." Estrena sin 6xito "Ana Kleiber" en Nueva York, - Escribe una versi6n espaftola del "Marat/Sade" de Peter Weiss, Escribe el texto para el disco “Me llamo A.S.," que no se graba. Trabaja en el reportaje "Algunos habitantes del subsuelo. " Lo abandona. Asambleas universitarias, detenciones, multas, prisi6n, embargo. 333 Escribe "La taberna fant&stica." Publica "Teatro Selecto" (Escelices) y la tra- ducci6n alemana de "En la red" (reviata "Sinn und Form"). Esta obra se hace tambi&n en la radio y TV de la RDA. Se transmite "El Cuervo" por la BBC de Londres. Da un cursillo sobre "Sociologia de la litera- tura." 1.967 — Estrena "Oficio de Tinleblas" en el teatro de la Comedia de Madrid. Se publica "Flores rojae para Miguel Servet." | Traduce "clos" y "La putain respectuense" de , Sastret estrenan en Octubre en Barcelona. Se publican* en italiano (Feltrivelli)* "En la red" y "La sangre y la ceniza." Aparece, en EE. UU., una edici6n escolar de "Escuadra hacia la muerte." Prepara el primer tomo de sus "Obras Completas" para Aguilar. La censura impide la inclusi6n de "La sangre y la ceniza." Articulos en ABC y "Cuadernos para el Di&logo." Prepara con M. L. d'Amico* un ntimero especial de la revista "Sipario" sobre teatro espahol. Segundo viaje a Cuba: "Congreso cultural de la Habana." | En la TV cubana se da "En la red. ” Se publica "La Cornada" en el libro "Master Pieces of the Spanish Theatre" (Collier Books, Nueva York). Se publica la traducci6n rumana de "La Cornada." 1.968 — Termina la traducci6n de "Morts sans sepulture" de Sastre. La prohibe la censura. Traduce "Lea monches," "Les Troyennes" y "Los s6questr&s d'Altona." Se estrena "En la red" en la RDA. Trabaja en "La imaginaci6n dialectics." BBC: “Escuadra hacia la muerte" y "Tierra roja." En un registro policiaco le es ocupado el plan de su obra "Algunas aportaclones al estudio de la j historia de Espafia" y los originales de ocho [ sonetos escritos durante su estancia en la Pri- si6n. No consigue recuperarlos. 334 1.969 - I 1.970 - 1.971 - Publica en la Editorial Aguilar "Oficio de tinieblaa" (Teatro EspaAol 1966-67) y el Tomo I de aua "Obras completes"; en "Colecci6n Novelaa y Cuentos" un volumen con tres obras. Eatrena "Guillermo Tell" en Mexico. Empieza la obra teatral "Tragicomedia de Viriato o La guerrilla indecente, seguida de Numancia bajo las bombas. * ’ Artlculosi "El crepftsculo y la onda," "Teatro documentario: si y no," "Peter Weias y el teatro de la crueldad," etc. Escribe "Cr6nicas romanas." - Escribe y estrena su versi6n de "Rosas rojas para mi” de Sean O'Casey. Viaje a Colombia como jurado del Festival de Teatro Universitario de Manizales. Termina el libro "La revoluci6n y la critica de la cultura." Adaptaci6n de "Los secuestrados de Altona." Empieza "Ejercicios de terror." - Publica el opftsculo "Pequeftisimo organon para el teatro y los niftos" y el libro "La revoluci6n y la critica de la cultura.” Polemics en torno a este libro. Publicaci6n en Italia de "Cr6nicas Romanas." Termina "Ejercicios de terror." Edici6n y pr6logo del "Trotsky en el exilio" de Peter Weiss, escrito el afto anterior, Versiones de otras obras de Weisst "Noche de hu&spedes," "Mockinpott" y "El seguro.” - Viaje a Chile. Viaje a Suecia, contratado por la TV sueca. Escribe una versi6n del "Asalto de Maestrique" de Lope de Vega. Escribe "Las cintas magn&ticas" (teatro radio- f6nico). Escribe "Askatasuna" (teatro). Publica el articulo "jVergtienza y c6lera:" aobre el llamado "caso Padilla." 335 .972 — Tercer viaje a Cuba: jurado del Premio Casa de las Americas. Viaje a Cerdefta con motivo de un estreno. Estreno de “Los secuestrados de Altona.“ Termina “El camarada oscuro." BIBLIOGRAPHY 336 BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbagnano, Nicola, Critical Existentialism. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1969. | Introduccl6n al exiatenciallemo. M&cico: Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica, 1969. ;Abell&n, Jos6 Luis. Orteaa v Gasset en la filosofia espaftola. Madrid: Editorial Tecnos, 1966. Adams, Nicholson B., and Keller, John E, Spanish Litera ture. New Jersey: Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1960. Anderson, Farris. Alfonso Sastre. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971. ________. "The Dialectics of Alfonso Sastre." An unpub lished doctoral dissertation, the University of Wisconsin, 1166. i iAristotle, Poetics. Translated by S. H. Butcher, New ! York: Hill & Wang, 1961. iBallester, Gonzalo Torrente. Panorama de la llteratura espaftola contemporanea. Madrid: Ediciones Guadarrama, S.L., 1956. I Barnes, Hazel E. An Existentialist Ethics. New York: Vintage Books, 1967. Barrett, William. Irrational Man. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1962. ________ . What Is Existentialism? New York: Grove Press, 1964. 337 i 338 Barrett, William, and Aiken, Henry (editors). Philosophy j in the Twentieth Century. Vols. 3-4. New York* Random House, 1962. i l i 'Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove Press, 1954. iBenedikt, Michael, and Wellworth, George (editors). Modern Spanish Theatre. New York: Dutton & Co., 1968. ; _______ . Postwar German Theatre. New York: E. P. Dutton ! & Co., 1967. Berdyaev, Nicolas. Berdyaev’s Philosophy; The Existential Paradox of Freedom and Necessity. New York: Doubleday, 1966. ________. Slavery and Freedom. New York: Scribner's, 1939. ________. Truth and Revelation. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954. j Bithell, Jethro. Modern German Literature (1880-1950). Great Britain: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1963. Bilyeu, Elbert. "Alfonso Sastre: An Analysis of His Dramas Through 1960." An unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado, 1968. ! Blackham, H. J. Six Existentialist Thinkers. New York: Harper & Row, 1952. Bobbio, Norberto. El existencialismo. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Econ&nica, 1966. Brecht, Bertolt. Galileo. New York: Grove Press, 1966. Br6e, Germaine. Camus. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1961. |Breisach, Ernst. Introduction to Modern Existentialism. | New York: Grove Press, 1962. j 339 I Brock, Werner. Existence and Being. Chicago: Henry : Regnery, 1968. 'Brown, James. Kierkegaard. Heidegger. Buber and Barth. New York: Collier Books, 1955. Buero Vallejo, Antonio. Historia de una escalera. 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Massachusetts: | Louisiana State University Press, 1967. 340 Chandler# Richard# and Schwartz# Kessel. A New History j of Spanish Literature. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1961. Clark, Barrett H. A Study of the Modern Drama. New York: i D. Appleton-Century Co.# 1947. jciark, Barrett H., and Freedley# George. A History of the Modern Drama. New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1947. I Colwell# C. Carter. A Student's Guide to Literature. 1 New York: Washington Square Press, Inc.# 1968. Corrigan# Robert W. Masterpieces of the Modern German Theatre. New York: Collier Books, 1967. ________. Masterpieces of the Modern Spanish Theatre. New York: Macmillan Co.# 1967. ________. The Modern Theatre. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1964. 1 _______ . The New Theatre of Europe. Vol. 1. New York: Dell Publishing Co.# 1962. ________ . The New Theatre of Europe. Vol. 2. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1964. | 1 _______ . The New Theatre of Europe. Vol. 3. New York: Dell Publishing Co.# 1966. Cumming# Robert Denoon. The Philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. New York: The Modern Library, 1965. Danziger# Marlies K., and Johnson# Stacy W. An Introduc tion to the Study of Literature. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co.# 1965. de Laiglesia# Juan Antonio. La rueda. Madrid: Aguilar# 1956. De Quinto, Jose Marla. "Breve historia de una lucha," in Alfonso Sastre# Teatro. Madrid: Taurus, 1964. 341 jDesan, Wilfrid. The Marxism of Jean-Paul Sartre. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1966. jDiaz-Plaja, Guillermo. A History of Spanish Literature. New York: New York University Press, 1971. Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1946. I i !Encyclopedia of World Drama. Vol. 4. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1972. iEoff, Sherman H. The Modern Spanish Novel. New York: New York University Press, 1961. j Esslin, Martin. Brecht. The Man and His Work. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1971. , (editor). Samuel Beckett. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1965. ________ . The Theatre of the Absurd. 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Modern French Theatre. New Haven: I Yale University Press, 1967. | Hanna, Thomas. The Lyrical Existentialists. New York: Atheneum, 1962. i | Harper, Sandra N. The Dramatic Presentation of Liberty in the Theater of Alfonso Sastre. 1 1 An unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1968. Heidegger, Martin. An Introduction to Metaphysics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959. ________. Discourse on Thinking. New York: Harper & Row, 1959. ________. Existence and Being. Chicago: Henry Regnery j Co., 1968. jHeinemann, F. H. Existentialism and the Modern Predica ment. New York: Harper U Row, 1958. Hospers, John. An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. Hie, Paul. Unamuno: An Existential View of Self and Society. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. Jaspers, Karl. Nietzsche and Christianity. United States: Henry Regnery Co., 1961. . Philosophy of Existence. Philadelphia: Univer sity of Philadelphia Press, 1971. 343 Josephson, Eric, and Mary (editors). Man Alone. New York* Dell Publishing Co., 1970. jKafka, Franz, The Castle. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1968. Karl, Frederick, and Hamalian, Leo (editors). The Exis tential Imagination. Connecticut: Fawcett Publica tions, 1963. Kaufmann, Walter. Existentialism from Dostoevsky to j Sartre. New York: Meridian, 1956. i ■ ________. From Shakespeare to Existentialism. New York: j Doubleday & Co., 1960. I ! I 1 The Portable Nietzsche. New York: The Viking I Press, 1954. ;Kern, Edith (editor). Sartre: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1962. King, Adele. Camus. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1964. ; j L6pez Rubio, Jos6. La otra or ilia. Madrid: Aguilar, 1956. iMacquarrie, John. Martin Heidegger. Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1968. ________. Twentieth Century Religious Thought. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. Marlas, Juli&n. Filosofla actual v existenclallsmo en Espafta. Madrid: Revista de Occidente, 1955. ________. Josfe Ortega v Gasset: Circumstance and Vocation. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970. ________. Miauel de Unamuno. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S.A., 1960. Maritain, Jacques. A Preface to Metaphysics. New York* New American Library, 1962. ! 344 ^Marquerie* Alfredo. Veinte alios de teatro en Esoafia. Madrid: Editora Nacional* 1959. |Marsak* Leonard (editor). French Philosophers from Descartes to Sartre. New York: World Publishing Co.* 1961. jMihura, Miguel. Sublime decisi6n. Madrid: Aguilar* 1956. Miller* Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Viking Press* 1949. jMoore* Harry T. Twentieth-Centurv French Literature Since World War II. New York: Feffer and Simons* 1966. i I Morehead* Albert H, A Treasury of Literary Masterpieces. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1969. I Munk, Erika (editor). Brecht. New York: Bantam Books* Inc., 1972. Olson* Robert G. An Introduction to Existentialism. New York: Dover Publications* 1962. Ortega y Gasset* Jos6. Concord and Liberty. New York: W. W, Norton & Co., 1946. "Historia como sistema, " Ofbras completes. VI. Madrid: 1950-1952. Tomo 1958 1957 & Co Man and Crisis. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.* Man and People. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.* Meditations on Quixote. New York: W. W. Norton * 1961. The Modern Theme. New York: Harper & Row* 1961, The Revolt of the Masses. New York: Norton & Co., 1932. Padovano, Anthony F. The Estranged God. New York: Sheed i and Ward, 1966. | Pasquariello, Anthony M. "Alfonso Sastre y Escuadra hacia I la muerte." Hispanofila. 15 (Hay, 1962), 57-63. i ,Pav6n, Francisco Garcia. "Oficio de tinieblas, de Alfonso j Sastre." Insula. 244 (1967), 17. | ; ________. El teatro social en Espafla (1895-1962). Madrid: Editorial Taurus, 1962. P6rez Minik, Domingo. Debates sohre el teatro espaftol contemporaneo. Canarias: Ediciones Goya, 1953. j . "Se trata de Alfonso Sastre, dramaturgo melan- c61ico de la revoluci6n," in Alfonso Sastre, Teatro. Madrid: Taurus, 1964. Pronko, Leonard. "The 'Revolutionary Theatre' of Alfonso Sastre," The Tulane Drama Review, V (December, 1960), j 112. ! | Raley, Harold C, Jose Ortega v Gasset: Philosopher of European Unity. Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1971. jReinhardt, Kurt F. The Existentialist Revolt. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1952. Rosenheim, Edward W., Jr. What Happens in Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966. Roubiczek, Paul. El existencialismo. Barcelona: Editorial ' Labor, 1970. Runes, DagoberV D. Philosophy for Everyman. New York: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1968. ________ (editor). Treasury of Philosophy. New York: , Philosophical Library, 1955. |Russell, Bertjand. The Art of Philosophizing and Other Essays. Sew York: Philosophical Library, 1968. I 346 i I I Russell* Bertrand. Wisdom of the West. Londons Crescent Books* 1959. |s&bato, Ernesto. El ttinel. Toronto* Ontario: The Mac- | millan Co.* 1969. I Sainz de Robles* Federico C. Ensavo de un diccionario de la literatura. Vols. I-II. Madrids Aguilar* 1965. | : I _. Teatro espaflol. 1966-67. Madrids Aguilar. 1968. j Sanborn* Patricia F. Existentialism. New Yorks Pegasus* I 1966. S&nchez V&zquez, Adolfo. Filosofia de la praxis. Mexicos Editorial Grijalbo* 1967. Sartre* Jean-Paul. A Collection of Critical Essays. New Yorks Anchor Books* 1971. I . Being and Nothingness. New York: Philosophical | Library, 1956. j I ' ________. Essays in Existentialism. New Yorks Citadel i Press* 1968. ; ________. Existential Psychoanalysis. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1966. I ________. Huis clos. New Yorks Appleton-Century-Crofts* 1962. : ________. L*axistentialisme est un humanisme. Paris: Les Editions Nagel* 1960. ' Nausea. New York: New Directions Publishing Co.* 1964. ________. Of Human Freedom. New York: Philosophical Library, 1966. ________. Search for a Method. New York: Alfred A. Knopf* 1963. 347 Sartre* Jean-Paul. Hie Age of Reason. New York: Grosset & Dunlap* Inc.* 1968. . The Wall. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation* 1948. Sastre, Alfonso. "Alfonso Sastre no acepta el 'posibi- ! lismo.1" Insula* Afto XV, 164-165 (I960)* 27. ■ Ana Kleiber. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, S.A., 1960. j : _________. Anatomia del realismo. Barcelona: Editorial Seix Barral* S.A., 1965. ■ _________. Cuatro dramas de la revoluci6n. Madrid: Editorial Bull6n* 1963. : "Del ensayo 'Teatro 6pico, teatro dram&tico* teatro de vanguardia.'" Primer Acto, 61 (February, 1965), 4. ! _________. Drama v sociedad. Madrid: Taurus, 1956. ; ________ . El cuervo. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, i 1960. r j _________. "El T.A.S. por filtima vez. " Primer Acto, 3 (1964), 84. i _________. Escuadra hacia la muerte. New York: Appleton- Century-Crofts, 1967. j _________. Escuadra hacia la muerte. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada* S.A., 1960. . Guillermo Tell tiene los oios tristes. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada* S.A.* 1960. | ' La mordaza. Madrid: Aguilar, 1956. j _________. 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Creator Battaglia, John Joseph (author)

Core Title Existentialism In The Theater Of Alfonso Sastre

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Spanish

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Literature, Modern,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor McMahon, Dorothy Elizabeth (committee chair), Berkey, Max Leslie, Jr. (committee member), Curtis, Robert E. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-880267

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