Tadeusz Różewicz — the Poet in Drama

Abstract

The Polish writer Tadeusz Różewicz brings together lyrics and drama in his plays. This feature of his work has already been noted by previous researchers. The paper sets the task of understanding how and for what purpose the combination of lyrics and drama occurs in Różewicz's plays “The card-index” (1959), “Funny old man” (1965), “An Old Woman Hatches” (1968). The methods of the poetic in Różewicz's dramaturgy are diverse: the conflict, taken into the subconscious of the hero; internal, hidden content that dominates the external action and plot; the abundance of images-symbols, allusions, reminiscences, on which the subtext of the drama is based; frequent and sometimes obsessive repetitions that create a certain rhythm in the lines, etc. In the play “Card File”, the means of a lyrical kind of literature help the playwright to understand an ordinary, average, devastated person. Poetic images-symbols become the basis for Różewicz's plotless plays. The poeticization of drama gives the playwright the opportunity to bring inner world of a person to the stage, make the author's voice more independent and connect the viewer and reader to reflection on the key conflicts and problems of the world. Różewicz's plays are considered absurd, although most often there is no case of absurdity, since they are built according to the laws of the lyrical kind of literature.