Alfred
Jarry

born Sept.
8, 1873, Laval, France
died Nov. 1, 1907, Paris
French
writer mainly known as the creator of the
grotesque and wild satirical farce Ubu roi
(1896; “King Ubu”), which was a forerunner
of the Theatre of the Absurd.
A brilliant youth who had come to Paris at
18 to live on a small family inheritance,
Jarry frequented the literary salons and
began to write. His fortune was soon
dissipated, and he lapsed into a chaotic and
anarchic existence in which he met the
demands of day-to-day life with
self-conscious buffoonery. He died in a
state of utter destitution and alcoholism.
On Dec. 10,
1896, at the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre, the
director Aurélien Lugné-Poë presented Ubu
roi, a dramatic sketch that was first
conceived by Jarry at the age of 15, with
some schoolmates, to caricature a pompous
schoolmaster. The play’s principal character
is Père Ubu, a grotesque and repulsive
character who becomes the king of Poland.
Ubu symbolizes the crass stupidity and
avarice of the bourgeoisie as his lust for
power drives him to abuse his authority and
commit acts of cruelty in the name of
questionable principles. The play’s first
production caused a scandal, and it closed
after two nights. This inauspicious debut
was partly a result of the outrage felt by
the audience at Ubu’s speech, which was
purposely deformed and vulgar, riddled with
malapropisms and derisive absurdities.
Jarry’s sequels to Ubu roi included Ubu
enchaîné (1900; Ubu Enchained), Ubu sur la
butte (1901; “Ubu on the Mound”) and Ubu
cocu (published posthumously in 1944; “Ubu
Cuckolded”). The first three plays were
performed by Jean Vilar at the Théâtre
National Populaire in 1958. Jean-Louis
Barrault directed a composite production
drawn from his works, Jarry sur la butte
(“Jarry on the Mound”), in 1970.
Jarry also
published stories, novels, and poems, but
the brilliant imagery and wit of these works
usually lapse into incoherence and a
meaningless and often scatological
symbolism. Jarry invented a logic of the
absurd that he christened “pataphysique”; he
presented this eccentric metaphysical scheme
in Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll,
pataphysicien (published 1911; “Deeds and
Opinions of Doctor Faustroll,
Pataphysician”).