Drama Review
Slawomir Mrozek's Striptease :
̸ Ǹüũ [ƮƼ]
Mr. I and Mr. II as Archetypal Characters
Representing Two Polar Attitudes Inherent in Us
츮ӿ ϴ ΰ ش µ
ݿϴ ιμ [ϳ] []
By Prof. Ryu Yung-kyun
Dept. of English Language & Literature
The University of Seoul
, øб а
( )
A humanbeing is like a pendulum of a clock that constantly sways inbetween two extremities. ΰ ΰ شܻ̿ Ӿ Դٰ 鸮 ڸ ð谰 .He rarely sticks to one constant idea, mood, or attitude for very long.ΰ Ѱ , , Ǵ µ ϴ 찡 . He tends to move back and forth inbetween two extremes placed on a continuum of his cognition. ΰ ν Ӽ ش̸ܻ ϴ ִ .
Such a tendency is especially more conspicuous in young people װ Ư ε巯 -- let's say college students whose intellectual curiosity is at its height. ȣ л װ Ÿ.The amplitude of the pendulum is, in their case, probably the biggest. ð 鸲 Ǵ л ũ.In one moment, they leap with joy; ٴٰ but right the next moment, they find themselves deeply depressed for no good reason. ƹ ̳ Ѵ.On the whole, they are fairly optimistic; ü ̵ 翡 ſ ̴ ; but every now and then, they show the symptoms of a manic-depressive. ɰ ﺴ Ÿ.They are attracted by one viewpoint. Ѱ Ư ŷȴ.But it is quite possible for them to be deeply involved the next moment in another viewpoint which turns out to be quite contradictory to the one they just had. ݵǴ ٸ Ѵ.
Striptease (1961) presents two archetypal characters who succinctly represent such polarities inherent not only in young people but in people in general.̸ Ǹüũ ܸ [ƮƼ] Ӹ ƴ϶ 鿡 ̰ ѷϰ 뺯ϴ ι ϰ ִ. I personally felt that this particular play could throw some light on the reality we are currently incased in. ѵ ν̶ ӿ ִ 츮 Ȳ 巯 ݰ ִ ǰ̶ . In my opinion, what this play is about is very much pertinent to the problems we are facing every day. 츮 ϰ ִ ſ ϰ ǥϰ ִٴ ̴.
Slawomir Mrozek (1930 - ) is a Polish playwright who wrote a number of plays that could be notably placed in the European tradition of the theatre of the absurd.̸ Ǹüũ(1930 - ) ӿ ǰ ſ ǰ ϴ ǰ ۰. In one of his plays which is titled "Striptease," two characters -- a Mr. I, an intellectual; a Mr. II, an activist -- are thrown by an unknown force into a basement room with only two doors and two chairs. װ ǰ ϳμ [ƮƼ] ǰ [ϳ] ൿ []̶ ִ Ͻǿ з 鼭 ۵ȴ. The men are identical in appearance. ܰ .They act as a foil to each other.̵ ΰ θ ߴ ſ(foil) . Like the two sides of a coin, they look very much alike. ó, ſ ϸ鼭 Yet, they present a curious contrast to each other in terms of their personalities and their actions dictated by them. ̳ ̿ ൿĿ ־ ſ Ư Ÿ.They have never veered from their smooth course in life. ² ź λ ƿ ű . Now that they find themselves forced into an unexpected situation, Ȳӿ Ǿ.they attempt to understand this situation, each utilizing his characteristic method of reasoning. Ͽ ̰ Ȳ Ϸ ־.
Mr. I is a passive type, who believes in his "inner freedom." [ϳ] " " ϴ ι̴. He claims that their main task be to preserves their calm and their personal dignity in order to remain in control of the situation. ״ Ȳ Ϸ ħ ϴ ̶ּ Ѵ. He contends that if he left right now while the doors are still open, he would limit the idea of freedom. ״ Ͻǿ ִ ٸ Ѱ踦 ϴ ȴٰ Ѵ.He explains his idea of freedom as follows: ״ װ ϴ Ѵ : He says, "What is freedom? It is the capacity of making a choice.״ " ΰ?" [] ִ ɷ̶ ڹڴѴ. As long as I am sitting here, knowing that I can walk out of this door, I am free. But as soon as I get up and walk out, I have already made my choice. I have limited the possible course of action. I have lost my freedom. I become the slave of my own locomotion." ̾ ״ " ִٴ ˸鼭 ̷ ɾ ִ, Ӵ. Ͼ , ̹ ϴ¼̰ Ƿ ൿ ŭ ϴ ȴ. Ұ ȴ. ڽ 뿹 ȴ." Ѵ.
Mr. II, practical and banal, vehemently defies Mr. I's idea of freedom ̰ [] [ϳ] ̰ ϰ ݹѴ.saying that sitting and not walking out is just another way of making a choice.״ ɾƼ ʴ ϳ ̶ Ѵ. Declaring that he believes in "external freedom," he is about to leave the room. But before he even hits the door, it close slowly upon him. ״ " " ϴ´ٰ ϰ 濡 Ѵ. װ ó ʿ ϱ õõ .
A series of event follow this. ̾ Ϸ ǵ Ͼ. Mr. II, being an activist, tries every possible means that he can think of in order to get out of this pent-up situation.ൿ [] ˸ ⱸ ʴ ̰ ﴭ Ȳ װ س ִ ˴ ϰ ̰ õѴ. He knocks on the wall, sings, ε ūҸ 뷡 غ ҿ . and finally chooses "willingly" to be subservient to the Hand who appears each time and relieves Mr. I and Mr. II, in turn, of shoes, belt and suspenders, trousers, and jackets. Ź ū Ÿ λԼ , , ủ, , ϳ . ħ ״ "ڹ" ū տ ϰ ϰ ÷ϴ ƹ ҿ . Thus, the Hand forces them to realize that their futures have been determined no matter what they do. λ ̷ ϵ ϵ ̹ Ǿִٴ λ νϵ ū ϰ ִ ̴. Each time, the two blame what happens to them on each other -- Mr. II blames it on Mr. I's "idiotic theory" while Mr. II blames it on Mr. II's "vulgar pragmatism." λ Ͼ װ ̶ θ ϱ ޱѴ -- [] [ϳ] "ٺ ̷" ̶ [ϳ] ϰ [ϳ] [] " ǿ" ̰ ٰܳ [] Ѵ.
All this time, they do nothing but bitching, blaming and hurting each other. ٰ θ ϰ Ƴ ó ִ ϸ ϴ . The last appearance of the Hand leaves them handcuffed to each other and blinded by dunce caps placed over their heads.ū Ͽ տ ʾ ä Ӹ ڸ Ѵ. It is not until then that they realize that they are after all on the same boat no matter what and who they are. ϵ ̵簣 踦 ź ó̸ Ÿٴ ݰ ȴ. It is ironical that they don't realize it until they are physically bound together. Ͽ ϳ λ ڽŵ ü ϴ ſ ū ̷ϴ. Being frantic, they finally agree on a course of action -- that is to leave the room to follow the second Hand which appears just in time. ʻ Ǿ ° ū ߿ Ѵ. For the first time in the play, they help each other groping for their briefcases and stumble obediently toward the second Hand. ؿ ó ã Ѿ ں鼭 аϰ ° ū ̲´ ã θ ش. Would they have a chance whether they are inside the room or out in the world? ̵鿡 ̷ ? ̵鿡 ѹ ȸ ? ȿ ״ ? ƴϸ ٱ ̰ ɼ ? Is it not too late to face life as it is and try to solve the problems as they go through it? ִ ״ Ƶ̰ ư鼭 ذذ ϱ ʹ ʾ? I think it is a compelling parable to life in general -- problems we now have and problems every living human being faces all the time. ǰ 츮 ſ Ѵ. ̸ Ǹüũ ܸ [ƮƼ] 츮 츮 ִ ϳ ħ ż̰ Ǵ 'Ʈ ' Ͽ 츮 ް ִ ΰ ٽ 巯 ִ ̴. What could be done?̰ Ȳ 츮 ؾ ұ? The task of making choices is left to each of us. 츮 ؾ ִ. (THE SUNGKYUN TIMES) (հ б ڽŹ Ÿ)