| Description |
Conformity and reality have long been associated in the minds of men. A supposedly clear perception of reality is thought to be at the base of generally accepted social norms which demand conformity of the individual. Whereas human society has collectively tended to look upon existence primarily as it is experienced through the senses, certain writers, in search of a more subjective, more spiritual reality, have criticized and subsequently departed from the automatic acceptance of society narrow definition of reality. Inasmuch as man's nature is spiritual as well as sensual, such writers have examined the relationship between the perception of reality and dreams, the imagination and the conception of an ideal. Thus the quest for reality becomes a quest for the achievement of a real balance of these widely disparate elements. It is the purpose of this study to examine the literature of the Decadent movement and the theater of Alfred Jarry and Eugene Ionesco in order to trace a non-conformist revolt against the blindness and absurdity of society's perception of reality. |
