Eugène Ionesco, Le Roi se meurt [The King is Dying/Exit the King]

Edward Forman (University of Bristol)

Ed. by David Houston Jones, University of Exeter
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (Universidad de Antioquia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication Dec 1962

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play
Tragedy

Resources

Eugène Ionesco’s Le Roi se meurt [literally The King is Dying, often translated as Exit the King] was first performed at the Alliance française in Paris on 15 December 1962, directed by Jacques Mauclair. Whilst retaining many of the features associated with the Theatre of the Absurd, it is a serious and challenging reflection on the inevitability of death, and an investigation into the reactions of a powerful leader and his entourage as he comes to terms with his own end. Set in an imaginary realm with an imaginary king, it combines symbolism with realism, comedy and tragedy, in a sometimes disconcerting way.

The name Bérenger, given to the king, was frequently used by Ionesco to represent an Everyman …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1535 words

Citation: Forman, Edward. "Le Roi se meurt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 January 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33125, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Save this article