Ubu Roi

Ubu Roi is probably the most widely known work of writer Alfred Jarry. Jarry began as part of the symbolism movement in France. He fell in with this crowd and worked and worked at the Theatre L’Oeuvre, a famous theatre that was eventually the first to produce Ubu Roi in 1896. When Ubu Roi was first put on, the opening night caused a riot, now known as the Ubu riot, because of the vulgar language and overall nature of the play. It was shut down immediately after opening night and was not revived again for over 10 years. Although Jarry wrote other plays, including several more with the character of Papa Ubu, he could never distance himself from his first work. He eventually fell into drinking absinth, and in later life he was said to have started acting like Ubu, perhaps even believing he was the character. He died of tuberculosis in 1907. His second most famous work, Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician.

1. 1. The riot induced by Ubu inspired later avant guarde movements to try and get a rise out of their audience. In this way, Jarry was very influential in movements to come. Artaud even named his short-lived theatre after Jarry. Talk about why you think this one play had so much influence and staying power in a movement that lasted for many more years.

2. 2. Though he started with the symbolists, Jarry actually developed his own movement within the first wave avant guarde, known as pataphysics. Why do you think he was so eager to label himself differently from his peers, especially since his movement seemed to be a one-man movement?

3. 3. Jarry subtly changes a lot of words in his writing. For example, in the original French, the characters said “merdre” instead of “merde.” He also made up many words by combining other words. Why do you think he changed these around, and was not happy with just using the regular French vernacular, especially in the case of “merdre” which is a subtle variation on a swear word?

4. 4. The characters in this play use a lot of phrases that seem to be nonsensical, such as “by my green candlestick.” Pick a phrase and discuss what you think it is referring to or means.

5. 5. It is commonly mentioned that Jarry referred to several Shakespeare plays, including Macbeth, Hamlet, A Winters Tale, and Henry IV. Pick a reference from the play and discuss where in Shakespeare’s cannon it is from.

6. 6. Jarry’s original concept, and several staging’s of Ubu Roi involved marionettes or puppets instead of actors. Discuss how this would aid or hinder the telling of the story.

7. 7. Ubu is considered to be the first “antihero.” Discuss what you think this means, why it applies to Ubu, and give an example of an antihero that has come about since.