Exploring The Absurd Features Of Widower’s Houses

George Bernard Shaw is regarded as the most talented playwright since Shakespeare in England. The themes of his plays are related with many subjects. His famous drama Widower’s Houses is very popular around the world and has a wide influence in literature history. Many researchers are interested in this drama. Usually, Shaw is regarded as a problematical dramatist and historical dramatist. Therefore, people often make a research on his dramas from historical background and social effects. In my thesis, I make a study on absurd features of Widower s Houses basing on the features of the theater of the absurd. In the theater of the absurd, the dramatists use multiple artistic features to show the sense of absurdity. The theater of the absurd has its own particular characteristics in plot, language and character’s mind. Its typical features are summarized as anti-plot, anti-language and so on. It has wide themes in their dramas, such as, the crisis and cruelty of the existence, social disillusion and so on. In detail, I make an analysis on the artistic features of Widower’s Houses, such as euphemism, pun, contrast, hyperbole. Through these artistic features I explore the absurd features in this drama. The dramatists in their ages made a research on the crisis and cruelty of human beings, the dissimilation of the society and so on. In the theater of the absurd, playwrights use many artistic techniques to strengthen the sense of absurdity in their works, including describing the tragedy with a comic form, enhancing the absurdity from the plot and language. Among them, the absurdity of theme and language is the focal points in my thesis. All of these characteristics have been embodied in different artistic techniques, language forms and the characters in Widower’s Houses. Furthermore, on the basis of the theater of the absurd, my thesis is specialized in digging out the deeper and realistic significance.