Jean Anouilh (1910— )

Abstract

Theatre ‘must create by every artifice possible something truer than truth,’ wrote Jean Anouilh.¹ He has succeeded admirably in achieving his goal in The Traveller Without Luggage (1937), and in many other plays. The theatrical medium was a perfect vehicle for him to lay bare the soul of his protagonists, to probe those eternal questions of identity, integrity, and the dichotomy between the real and the unreal worlds. The techniques used by him to point up the ambiguities and contentions which lie at the heart of his works (coincidences, shock, improvisation, puns, jokes, the play within the play, a variety of images and symbols, masks, and other devices) also convey the mysteries of the heart and mind which haunt humankind. The multiple attitudes toward life which Anouilh delineates in his stage plays may seem harsh and brutal at times; nevertheless, they enrich the viewer and the reader by underscoring the indecisive nature of so many who seem to be immersed in an ever-alluring fantasy world. Derisive, fascinating, frustrating, his works are endowed with point and humour, with artistry; they glisten with urgency and meaning.