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The Dance of Death in Modern Drama: Auden, Dürrenmatt and Ionesco

1977; University of Toronto Press; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/mdr.1977.0028

1712-5286

Corona Sharp,

Theater, Performance, and Music History

The Dance of Death in Modern Drama: Auden, DUrrenmatt and Ionesco SISTER CORONA SHARP THE DANCE OF DEATH and the Triumph of Death are themes that appeared across late medieval and Renaissance Europe in the visual arts, poetry and drama. ' Death snatching people away became a favourite subject of didacticism. In Germany, France and Switzerland, particularly, the lasting impressions made by extant murals, verses and plays have continued into our time. Quantity of scholarship alone shows the growing interest in the subject. In modern drama, there are two distinct manifestations of the influence of the Dance of Death: first, the imitative Dance of Death plays, like Emil Wachter's, produced at the Berne Festival, 1962-64; and second, the more original adaptations of the theme such as Auden's The Dance of Death, DUrrenmatt 's The Meteor and Ionesco's Mmsacre Games.' Auden's familiarity with Germany perhaps included the Dances of Death on view before World War II. DUrrenmatt grew up near Berne and Basel, locations of TOlentlinze, and Ionesco learned his first lessons in staging death from puppet shows in the Luxembourg Gardens. Historical evidence of dramatic performances of the Dance of Death goes back to 1393 in France. That dramatic presentations existed from the beginning- soon after the outbreak of the Black Death, 1347- is clear from the pictures, where conflict was suggested from the first. The Renaissance artists Niklaus Manuel Deutsch (c.1484-1530), Bernese playwright and painter, and Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), who spent some time iri Basel, added realism and violence to their creations of the Dance. Holbein's Images of 107 108 SR. CORONA SHARP Death are complete scenes, crowded with characters, detailed scenery and intense dramatic conflict. Both Manuel and Holbein specialized in the grotesque comedy and social satire that replaced the dignified allegory and metaphysical meaning of the older Dances. Although drama gradually displaced the processional dance, the Renaissance artists retained the motif of music. Death as musician is prominent in the German tradition, whereas the French tradition generally prefers Death as gravedigger, carrying coffins or coffin lids, mattocks and shovels, though these objects may be combined with the pipe, and the dead figures-messenger of Death, or Death himself, depending on the text- are usually executing dance steps. In the three plays under discussion, these aspects of the Dance of Death are present. Dance and music appear most prominently in Auden's play, with social satire as well. DUrrenmatt, imbued with the spirit of Manuel and Holbein, has transferred Renaissance realism to his play, together with a disconcerting touch of otherworldliness. His satire, too, prevails along with grotesque comedy. In Ionesco, we find the most stunning use of the medieval Dance of Death. In his play, the ominousness of Death, his dignity and irresistible power are vested in the allegorical Black Monk, who stalks his victims. Anonymous type characters come and go. Above all, the metaphysical aura, so strong in this author's later work, obtrudes in the midst of universal dying. Though devoid of theological meaning, this aura signifies man's helplessness before transcendence. Although the appearance of Death is sombre, Ionesco has injected the Grand Guignol farce in which he is now an expert, and in this context, it reflects the comic cavorting of the corpses in numerous Dances.' Ionesco rejects realism categorically, of course, and by doing so he locates his work in fantasy. Rapid changes of scenes, simultaneous staging and use of lighting reinforce the vagueness of location. Common to Dilrrenmatt and Ionesco is the medieval levelling of death, which carries off the rich and poor, the great and weak. The medieval hierarchy has its counterpart in a crosssection of modem society. Of the three playwright., Auden alone parodies medieval didacticism in a half-serious exaltation of Marxism. Structurally, The Meteor and Massacre Games resemble the episodic scenes of Holbein, though Dilrrenmatt's play is more tightly knit with a semblance of plot. Auden's play is in a single unit. Auden's The Dance of Death (1933), performed by Rupert Doone in their Group Theatre, is only a lesser achievement in the Auden canon. More a cabaret act than a play, it presents...