Le Roi se meurt (English Exit the King) is an absurdist drama by Eugene Ionesco that premiered in 1962.
It is the third in Ionesco's "Berenger Cycle", the first two being The Killer (1958) and Rhinocéros (1959), and the final one being A Stroll in the Air (1963). In the other plays of the "Berenger Cycle", Berenger appears as a depressed and insecure everyman who is prone to sentimentality. In Exit the King, he is the solipsistic and belligerent ...
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Le Roi se meurt (English Exit the King) is an absurdist drama by Eugene Ionesco that premiered in 1962.
It is the third in Ionesco's "Berenger Cycle", the first two being The Killer (1958) and Rhinocéros (1959), and the final one being A Stroll in the Air (1963). In the other plays of the "Berenger Cycle", Berenger appears as a depressed and insecure everyman who is prone to sentimentality. In Exit the King, he is the solipsistic and belligerent King Berenger the First who was apparently at one point able to command nature and force others to obey his will. Also, the king is, according to his first wife, over four hundred years old. He is informed early in the play that he is dying, and the kingdom is likewise crumbling around him. He has lost the power to control his surroundings and is slowly losing his physical capabilities as well. Through much of the play, he is in denial of his death and refuses to give up power. Berenger’s first wife, Marguerite, along with the Doctor, tries to...
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