Rhinocerous

"Oh, a rhinoceros!" shouts Jean, the smug and somewhat shallow friend to the main character, Berenger, in the 20th century French play, Rhinoceros. Jean's response to the noisy intrusion of the two rhinoceroses running past the cafe is followed by a number of similar senseless responses from Jean's co-workers and acquaintances. Eugene Ionesco, the Romanian-born French dramatist, uses the absurd notion of rhinoceroses taking over a small provincial town in France to explore life's constant …

…of human beings and also of the triviality of the universe. The rhinoceros contrasts completely with the images of beauty and nobility which characterized plays of earlier eras. The utter chaos and preposterousness of this "tragic-comedy" is enough to make it memorable to all who read it or get the chance to watch the production. To those who can look past the comedy and see the true meaning behind the absurdity, it is possibly life-changing.