Bald Soprano Research Paper
A Cycle, A Cycle, A Cycle No one is bald, nor is there a singing soprano. So what is going on in Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano? Ionesco slowly strips his characters of all things that define them: religion, roots, the way in which they communicate and at times, even the functioning of their brains. Thus creating blank humans with no individual character who are useless and absurd. Now these people with no concrete definition to their being are to live in this gigantic world to the best of their ability. Their lives aren’t normal ones. Ionesco brings out the absurdity in his characters by excluding any solid foundation or motivation for living on earth. One very important form of guidance on life’s journey is Time. If there was no concept of time then all chaos would ensue and no one would know when anything is to be done. It is also a key factor to know how to live and work alongside time: to work with it, not against it. Will they be able to live in some sense of normality or will they be off on their own supernova to be absurd for evermore. Through the use of symbolism, irony and dialogue, Eugene Ionesco’s, The Bald Soprano conveys the idea that life is a never-ending cycle to express the absurdity of the human condition.
The cycle of life is symbolized through the clock to reveal that the characters are stuck in an endless loop of time. The clock seems to take on a life all its own. It seems to decide when it wants to ring and how many times. The clock rings in a way that is quite shocking to the audience. This is because in the real world a clock does not normally ring 17 times. Nor is it normal for it to shoot out random times that don’t even go in order. In only one moment “ The clock strikes seven times. Silence. The clock strikes three times. Silence” (The Bald Soprano 2). There seems to be no set regimen for time to follow. Time in the play is unorganized and almost absent in its common purpose. In no possible way could these characters even have the
The cycle of life is symbolized through the clock to reveal that the characters are stuck in an endless loop of time. The clock seems to take on a life all its own. It seems to decide when it wants to ring and how many times. The clock rings in a way that is quite shocking to the audience. This is because in the real world a clock does not normally ring 17 times. Nor is it normal for it to shoot out random times that don’t even go in order. In only one moment “ The clock strikes seven times. Silence. The clock strikes three times. Silence” (The Bald Soprano 2). There seems to be no set regimen for time to follow. Time in the play is unorganized and almost absent in its common purpose. In no possible way could these characters even have the