Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)
STUDIES - Judit Kádár: The Figure of 'Everyclown'in Jack Richardson's Gallows Humour
1. 'Everyclown's' Perspective of a Changing World 1.1. Introduction Jack Richardson is usually interpreted as a prominent representative of the process of the Americanization of the European dramatic heritage and the creation of a distinctively American mood in drama. As for the subject, form and technique of his play, he takes elements from outstanding European predecessors, such as skepticism concerning human relations, especially sexual ones, and the tragic treatment of the hopelessness of communication in the Strindbergian Theater; DUrrenmatt's parodical social parables and dark grotesque and burlesque elements; G. B. Shaw's deep social concern and Stanislavsky's "room-sized destiny" technique (see Szilassy 32); Jean Genefs preoccupation with escapism in visions of the senseless existence; Jean Anouilh's pessimistic existentialism and witty, humorous dialogues as well as the alienation and estrangement theme and the interest in the opposites in Samuel Beckett's plays. However, in Beckett's truly Absurd Theater the apocalyptic atmosphere, the shockcatharsis technique, the empty spaces show features of the so-called 'intermedia category' (Szilassy 56). Applying Zoltán Szilassy's classification of the plays of the 1960s, I feel that Richardson's Gallows Humour is closer to the category of the Rebellious Theater than to the Intermedia, since it carries the elements of pseudorevolutions, suffocating interior setting and claustrophobia; as for the plot and characters the play contains everyday family and office relations with the death of tragedy at the end of the two parts as a catharsis; and finally, the transparent "rites of passage do not occur before the audience —they are monologized upon" (Szilassy 56). Trying to situate Richardson's Gallows Humour in the mainstream of American Drama we have to go back to Eugene O'Neill and see that this heritage marks two major tendencies: one is the psychological trend followed by Tennessee Williams, the other is the analytical social criticism and determinism marked especially by Arthur Miller and his followers. The two trends gain a new power together in the dramas of Albee and other OffBroadway playwrights. I would rather call the latter's works absurdist for they carry Absurd elements such as the setting, the ending, the Rite de Passage motifs (here: death and the dilemma of divorce —detailed below) , 46
