Alfred Jarry

Alfred Jarry (born Sept. 8, 1873, Laval, France—died Nov. 1, 1907, Paris) was a 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.

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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”).