THE REFLECTION OF ARTAUD’S THE THEATER OF

CRUELTY IN USMAN ALI’S PLAY THE GUILT.

ABID ALI

ROLL NO: 13885

Faculty of English Language, Literature &

Applied Linguistics

National University of Modern Languages,

Lahore Campus

2017-2019
THE REFLECTION OF ARTAUD’S THE THEATER OF

CRUELTY IN USMAN ALI’S PLAY THE GUILT.

INTERNAL SUPERVISOR

MS. SOBIA TALAT

BY:

ABID ALI

A Research Article Presented to the

Faculty of English Language, Literature & Applied Linguistics

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

In partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

IN

ENGLISH LITERATURE & LINGUISTICS

JANURARY, 2019
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN
LANGUAGES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE,
LANGUAGE & APPLIED LINGUISTICS

THE REFLECTION OF ARTAUD’S THE THEATER OF

CRUELTY IN USMAN ALI’S PLAY THE GUILT.

Submitted By: Abid Ali Roll # 13885

MA English Literature & Linguistics

Ms. Sobia Talat

Name of Internal Supervisor Signatures

Name of External Supervisor Signatures

Mrs. Faiqa Rashid

Name of H.O.D. Signatures

Brig. (R) Manzur Qadir

Name of Regional Director Signatures

Date: ___________
 RESEARCHER'S DECLARATION

I, ABID ALI, do hereby solemnly declare that the work presented in this research has not

been previously submitted to any other institution for a degree.

ABID ALI
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My thanks go to MRS SOBIA TALAT, lecturer at National University of Modern

Languages, for her inspiring guidance and encouragement throughout my research work. I also

greatly appreciate her reading of the research article, helpful suggestions and support. She accepted

my ideas and her consultations were an inspiration for my work on research design; without whose

invaluable assistance I would not have had the strength to complete this work.

ABID ALI
 ABSTRACT

This research paper unveils the cruel narrative of the theater in Usman Ali’s contemporary play The

Guilt. This cruelty has come into existence due to the corruption of language. The deterioration of

language has introduced its cruel aspect in theatrical performances. Shera was a best comedy

generating figure in the past, Suffering from this paranoia of cruelty of theater and language and

now can’t perform well inspite of all his integrity and sensitivity of acting. The meaninglessness

inner fragmentation and alienation of characters on the stage look pitiable. Antonin Artuad’s theory

Cruelty of Theater helps to highlight the theater as a cruel force.

 CHAPTER # 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study:

The Theatre of Cruelty, developed by Antonin Artaud, aimed to shock audiences through gesture,

image, sound and lighting. Natasha Tripney describes how Artaud's ideas took shape, and traces

their influence on directors and writers such as Peter Brook, Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet.

Usman Ali an academic product of Punjab University hailing from Mandi Bahaudin has emerged

on the horizon of Pakistan drama writing. Amidst the galaxy of Pakistan drama writing, he is a

dazzling star as not only nationally but also internationally acclaimed one for, literary stalwart like

Edward Bond has lavish praised on his work. His dramatic deftness speaks itself as he has also

gleaned a dramatic script for Hamlet’s madness: Freud or real enacted at British counsel’s

celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday.

This research article is purposed to unveil the reflection of Artaud’s theory of cruelty which is

seeping from Shera’s guilt implicitly accentuated with artist’s sensitivity and integrity. In ‘The

Guilt’ Shera a comedy generating artist seems satisfied with his art which is evoking laughter and

applause. But now unexpectedly his artistic deftness has changed into roughness engendering the

pricking guilt. His consent self-reprimanding on the non-transparency of his performance is so

grievous that Shera like Artaud’s notion conceive the art or theater as cruelty. So, application of

Artaud’s theory will be helpful in elucidation the theater a cruel entity which is manifested through

Shera’s desperation, sensitivity and guilt are strongly reinforcing the cruelty of art.
This research entitled as Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty and Usman Ali’s The Guilt seeks to pursue

how treading to track delineated by Antonion Ataud , Usman Ali has profoundly depicted the

sufferings, pangs and anguishes of the laymen. Not only confined to its following but entirely the

dramatic features enunciated by Artaud are applicable and functionally existent here in this play.

Apart from it the theory of Existentialism has also been incorporated to get a fruitful help for

comprehending the anxiety and despair of mankind-its helplessness and desperate efforts to get rid

of them. As propounded by Artaud, Usman Ali has projected this panorama of miseries and

anxieties just to alleviate and redress them .So, in this section of research paper the notions of

Wallace Stevens about the protection from violence and Simon O Weill’s counter weighting theory

has been exercised necessarily.

As Usman Ali’s manufactured character Shera is under the threat of evaporating artistic existence

so, Albert Camus’s point of view about meaninglessness of life has been utilized also. The Guilt

based on three acts pinpoints a deplorable story of stage actor Shera who amuses himself and feels

jocund while producing comic and laughter-evoking performance. As the artist is usually perceived

merely hungry of fame, appreciation and acclamation; the same case is with Shera. Earlier, he

enjoyed immense popularity and tremendous acclamation from the cadre of audience and he went

on soaring in his art. But unexpectedly his joyfulness has converted into gloomy atmosphere. As he

is not no able to garner much popularity as he used to enjoy before it. The audience are sitting like

erected statues caring a fig about artistic performance being staged at the stage.

Through this despair, anxiety and pessimism he along with other character Gamma is deeming

himself to be at the verge of loss and existential angst. Their words have lost meanings not arousing

a tiny grain of appreciation from the audience. To Usman Ali, this frigidness of the audience is

actually a deliberate negligence because this was the era when fanaticism, terrorism and extremism
were gaining ground. And on the other hand dictator Zia had shut forcibly the doors of literature

and so this was only single alternative to be entertained, to be made aware of the circumstances and

to be subverting against the imposed dictatorship. To get rid of moral absolutism and enter moral

relativism, it was only opportunity, that’s why it is also guilt on the part of the spectators. Besides

it, Shera’s internally stabbing guilt is also evident as he is skeptic of his artistic authenticity in terms

of delivery and formation. Metaphorically it is the story of Mustana Ali animated via the story of

Shera. Mustana who provided the masses an ample source of enjoyment and amusement, he himself

expired in helplessness shorn of company of followers and friends. During his performance he was

slapped now he has expired in the hospital devoid of any company and financial or moral assistance

from the society as well as the government.

1.2 Statement of the Problem:

The sustained popularity of commercial theater, musical and shows with star power have managed

to make theater a viable option for entertainment for people “ The theater of Cruelty” by Antonian

Artaud aimed to shock audience through gesture, image sound and lightening. This research focuses

on reflection of all above mentioned elements in the play “The Guilt” by Usman Ali.

1.3 Delimitation:

This research is based on the use of the theory of Artuad “The Theater of cruelty” in the play “The

Guilt” by Usman Ali which explores the cruel behavior of the theater with Shera, a stage actor who

feels the cruelty of the theater in his performances on the stage.

1.4 Objective of the Study:

The following is the objective of this research.

 1. To highlight the reflection of Artaud’s theory, cruelty of theater through the characters of

Shera, Gama and Billa in Usman Ali’s play “The Guilt”

1.5 Research Question:

The following is the question of this study;

1. What is Artaud’s Theater of Cruelty, and how it is reflected in Usman Ali’s play “The

Guilt”?

1.6 Significance of the study:

This research unveils the critical life of a stage actor. It also provides a way to explore the true role

of an artist on the stage in all famous dramatic works of the literature.

 CHAPTER # 2

LITERARURE REVIEW

The reflection is ostensible when Usman Ali himself in his authorial notes mentions the shocking

death news of Mustana Ali. So, Mustana is occult but a driving force behind Shera and Gamma’s

life and predicament. It is the beauty of his exquisitely subtle play that he has manifested and raised

the voice for those whose cries are unheard for the others. The groans, pangs and sobbing of

miserable people like Shera and Mustana have been implicitly captured and lime lighted.

The purpose behind this is just to purge their guilt, their sins and stabbing pangs as that of Artaud’s

notion of cruelty .The contention and question in this paper pops up; is really Artaud’s theatre of

Cruelty enveloped in The Guilt? Is Usman performing the task of art as to redress mankind’s wound

and predicaments as similar with notions of Counter-weighting as enunciated by Simon O Weill?

All these questions along with above mentioned facades of the article will be explored ostensibly

within the textual building of the play. Chiefly the focused arena is to endorse and trace the

existence of Artaud’s theatre of Cruelty in The Guilt.

Pertaining to Artaud’s notion of ‘theater of cruelty’ much and numerous literary writers influenced

by his enunciated theory have immensely knitted their plays or literary texts on the fabric of

violence, barbarity and cruelty. But here the objective is to render and endorse the fact that Usman

Ali in ‘The Guilt’ has beautifully and unconventionally treated the concept of cruelty associated

with the theater.

In Jordon Mathew Walsh’s article “ stage violence and power: examination of the theory and

practice of cruelty from Antonion Artaud to Sarahkane” ; discusses how Sarahkane’s 1998 play

“cleansed” as praxis; a practical testing of these themes of violence and cruelty as particularly

pinpointed in the light of Artaud’s enunciated theoretical premise.

Tasleem A.R. Ashraf in “Marlow’s theater of cruelty: theater, Caution and Reaction in five plays”

elaborates the violence as very common theme in plays of Marlow. So, his plays can be justifiably

compared with” theater of cruelty’ theorized by Antonian Artaud.

Arther Wise in his book entitled “weapons in the theater” comment; “the purpose of an authentic

weapon is to kill; the purpose of a theatrical weapon is to appear to do so”.

And such comments are justified in major plays of Marlow like Edward the second, The Massacre

of Paris, Tamburlaine the Great part 1, 2, doctor Faustus and The Jew of Malta.

Jean Genet a French dramatist influenced by Artaud also harping plays on the theory of theatrical

cruelty reflects it in ‘The Black; A Clown Show”, which deals with bloody trials, assassinations and

monarchic rage percolating in the form of violence, “Edward Bond a distinctive voice in Modern

British drama” by Diana PREADA expresses the critics opinions which comments as that Bond’s

dramaturgic method derives from Artaud, Brecht and Beckett. That’s why we see reflections of

violence and cruelty as propounded Bond’s “saved” aims to expose brutalized nature in modern

capitalist society as well as the representation of urban gang violence. So while forging a

comparative and juxtaposing stands of these afore mentioned literary text and their dealt themes of

cruelty; and ‘The Guilt’ concern in elucidation of theater as a cruel agent we meet a sense of

uniqueness in Usman Ali’s way of dealing.

Now resorting to the critique on the play we confront the acute scarcity of it except a detailed

research paper presented in an international literary conference though it has been awarded the best

of the year 2016. ICPWE in held in Kinnaird college under the directorship of M. Ather Ali Tahir—

a renounced Pakistani poet.

“The post-colonial Dissent and Hegemony Usman Ali’s The Guilt” was unavelled and explored

Qaisar Mehmood in (ICPWE) held in 2016 at Kinnaird college Lahore.

So from both perspectives literary texts dealing with analogous theme and critique on “TheGuilt”

the topic of this paper to be explored is categorically not-explored and untouched still. The purpose

of this research paper is to unveil the occult facade that how Usman Ali’s The Guilt being harped

on Antonion Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty pinpoints the internal reproaching guilt’s, sin and foibles

and address them implicitly.

The road map followed for the execution of this research paper has followed as abstract,

introduction, literature review and research methodology and conclusion through MLA.

Usman Ali has exquisitely and subtly captured the internally piercing guilt, reproach and self-

castigations precipitating possibly out of his standard performance as ostensible from the

spectator’s frigidness. The Guilt’s functionality is not only to limelight Shera’s guilt but also of

mankind’s.

Apart from it, the paper purports also to prove and endorse the applicability of Artaud’s theory of

Theatre of Cruelty; how it’s woven around spindle of this theory. To conduct it properly the paper

is to validate the enunciated features of this methodically.

The salient features of this theory runs as; “…a drama of savage shock tactics, to expose the

audience to its own secret crimes and obsession and hostilities…The intention was to cleanse the

audience’s gilt” (Artaud 108).

Shera a dramatic actor comedy-producing figure and he has also the ability of immense laughter

arousing comedian has bushed of this job as it is not fruitful owing to the spectator’s meager

Participation and stagnant behaviors-just watching and sitting like inanimate statues. “…I stood

before a crowd making various movements and gestures to create laughter but no one laughed. The

more joke I told the audiences the more sullen and expressionless they became” (Ali 3).

On the part of audience we can categorically assert that it was their perpetrated sin, a crime and

unpardonable negligence which germinated such kind of Tran’s fixation, stagnancy and stillness in

their life. Barring it, rigorously endorsed their crime is as to veer away from the art which was only

way to slam the blowing winds of terrorism, fanaticism and terrorism. But to this transparent

alternative they have themselves bidden farewell.

Perchance quite convincing reason behind this is; “The era in which the play is written is a

confusing one. On the one hand, the state continues its war against the Taliban to become as liberal

as it can .On the other hand religious preachers, claiming their interpretation of religion as absolute

rule the hearts of the people” (Ali).

Due to this alarming situation of terrorism, moral hollowness and religious absolutism, the language

proved to be corrupted. Because the psychological growth is growing in such a posture where social

force drives artists and audiences. So now the artists are inarticulate in their writings. The language

has become corrupted and inappropriate. As Gamma’s pessimism shows his artless and

unproductive mental state.

 “Gone are those days when actors had light? When writers had stories” (Ali 8).

So, to shun the invasion of fanaticism, to rid of the quagmire of religious absolutism and to tread

the liberal track of moral relativism which they shunned wittingly. While slamming the doors of art

particularly the genre of zanies which even boldly slapped on brutal dictator of era Zia and his

fanatic practices.

The linguistic force drives the dramatic action. Usman Ali feels sensibly analyzing the linguistic

crises in modern scenario, especially of the lower middle class of Pakistani society, in which artists

have lost their skills and commitment to their artistic passions. So stage plays its own game and

exposes its own cruelty as author says in his notes:

As a result, this brand of language has created a system of mental dumbness which, in turn,

has crippled the power to think, the power to create and the power to evolve. The more the

people speak the more dumb they became the word has lost its trust.”(Ali). In his notes Ali

also highlights the cruelty of the stage in his notes he says: “All of them can be interpreted

as suppressed voices of the stage and the entire drama can be perceived as if the stage were

conjuring up its own story and telling it to the audience. (Ali)

Besides it, profoundly analyzing we can envisage that how Shera’s put a question mark on his

performance, its accuracy, its valid standard and veracity ; and moreover the dearth of wit lying

underneath.

The sentimentality, sensitivity and perceptive capacity of Shera are so augmented that he pulses the

audience’s frigidness in jiffy and self-qualms and compulsion gets commenced.

So his emotionality is: My veins disjointed. My eyes turning into coal. My palms strange to myself.

My theatre…my theatre... My theatre” (Ali 32).

Analogously it has been elucidated and projected by Antonion Artaud; “The actor must use his

emotion as wrestler uses his muscles; developing them for their power over his audience by the

exercise of his body and his breath” (Artaud 09).

“Gamma: the face has swollen in puffs and nothing is” (Ali30). Barring it, the next is the existential

intimidation marring Shera’s life, art and aestheticism seeping from it.

Usamn Ali befittingly manifested the gloomy aurora of human sufferings as encapsulated in Shera’s

life-pertaining to it Edward Bond said; “Usman Ali has an acute power of observation and a

compassionate understanding of human being, of their sufferings and dignity”.

In the other words he has transacted the task of art to redress counter-weighting as pinpointed by

Simone O Weil;

“If we know in what way society is unbalanced we must do that we can to weight to the lighter

scale” (171).

If we see this notion of counter-weighting of Simon Weil in the context of Usman Ali ‘The Guilt’

then a question is raised abruptly. How the lighter scale of an artist’s integrity and sensitivity in the

theater can be balance while society has become decompose and has lost its systematic

arrangement? Actually, this is what Usman Ali wants to present in ‘The Guilt’ that how Shera and

Gamma suffered due to some invisible and cruel force. But the fact is that they have lost their own

identity and floating in the flood of social and theatrical cruelty. It can only be compensated by a

pure artistic integrity, emotions and devotedness which pulled the audience toward critical thinking

as like Brechtian audience. To squirt the state of equilibrium he has added some weight to balance

the excessively one sided tilted scale which is again a function of art to Seamus Heaney and

Wallace Stevens emphasizing on curbing the externally invading violence through internal
violence. “The nobility of poetry art is violence from within violence that protects us from violence

without. It is imagination pressing back against the pressure of reality” (Stevens).

So, Shera’s spitted out emotionality, rage and desperation he has endeavored to deter the outer

violence. Albert Camus’s theory is much efficacious, functional and applicable to decipher Shera’s

pessimism and anxiety; “Man is caught in the tension between irreconcilable facts; the world yields

no ultimate meaning to overcome its contradiction and miseries: yet human nature demands an

order, a unity and harmony” (Camus31).

“Gama: who would write my story “(Ali 49)?

“Who will read my story? Our stories are like us sleeping on the floor .Breathing like we do” (Ali

91).

So, the characters though are stuck in the swamp of miseries yet struggle desperately to be out of it.

Reminding the fact of Shera’s disparity and Albert Camus’s theory, we have echoes of disparity and

existential angst on artistic level not birth level. Both characters Shera and Gamma looked despite

due to their artistic integrity. Shera’s reaction on the cruelty of art is looking as he has lost his

power to fight with the cruelty of art and the cruelty of theater. He looks weaponless. Their

psychological capacity disturb due to the ambiguity of the social behavior and its implication. In the

end of the play Shera shows a powerful reaction to the cruelty of the art and its implication. As he

says in the play: “This poem is poor. Art is cruel. Yes, art is cruel.” (Ali 63). But here, the

argument is that Usman Ali’s characters are psychologically disturbed by the pulled forces of

society like illiteracy, economic crises, lack of interest in the art and lack of social harmony.
 CHAPTER # 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Paradigm (Design):

This research’s paradigm is Qualitative in nature.

3.2 Research Method:

The method of this research is content analysis and the content is taken from the play The Guilt by

Usman Ali.

3.3 Sample:

The sample of this research is a play The Guilt by Usman Ali.

3.4 Data / Content Collection:

The data is collected from the play The Guilt by Usman Ali.
 CHAPTER # 4

CONTENT ANALYSIS

“I stood before a crowd making various movements and gestures to create laughter but no one

laughed.”(Ali, 33)

After critically evaluating the above lines, it is very important to judge the drawbacks of Shera’s

present as well as the past performances of acting. Shera’s present character is the product of

Pakistan’s modern society which influenced by the corruption of language. This corruption of

language is penetrated into the theatrical dialogues of Shera. Then there comes a question in

reader’s mind that how the corruption of language and cruel behavior of the theater co-exist on the

same track which later cause the failure of Shera’s theatrical to performances. Inspite of his great

integrity and hard working to create the laughable incidents he looks pessimistic. He gets no

response from audience. Then to see this pitiable condition of Shera’s character the idea of

overlapping of both the corruption of language and cruelty of theater comes into reader’s mind.

“The audience was transfixed not dead.”(Ali, 34)

As audience is also the part of theater, who are behaving like dead on the performances of Shera.

They are also living in the parstime of vulgarity and multi-shading identity of language. Shera in

the extrapolation of the cause of his failure of acting.

“I wonder if people have any spit. Once there was a vulgar honesty in the laughter of people then

the hypocrisy of actors.” (Ali, 36)

This panorama of duality of characters and also of theatrical force give a space to the Artaud’s

theory of cruelty of the theater to understand the inexpressible concerns of Usman Ali.

Antonian Artaud’s theory’s concerned with mostly implication of cruel image in theatrical

performances. But in Usman Ali’s play the posture and the visual movements of characters like

Shera and Gamma, grants the reader and critics on echo or the reflection of that theory by Artaud.

As in the play these given lines present a psychological landscape of character’s mind, who are

suffering from that notion of theater.

“The music does not heal; This instrument does not wrap the wounds.” (Ali, 63)

The real presence of pictorial presentation in this play has turned into the paratime of cruelty of

stage which causes a uselessness of the Shera and Gamma’s actions. And this is how Samual

Becket’s presentation of stage influenced by Artaud’s theory too.

“The dancer is possessed by a demon.” (Ali, 30)

In reader’s point of view the demon is a metaphor for Artaud’s notion that how the idea of action

less and meaninglessness comes into existence. If we see the conversation of Shera and Gamma in

the prism of modern theater in Pakistan’s modern society then there comes a triangle of thoughts in

reader’s mind; The duality of theater in term of survival of characters as they are performing the

very action on the stage, which gives a concept of movement, and movement is a symbol of life.

But on the other hand it becomes the devastating thing for the downfall of artistic qualities of the

characters with repeat to tremendous past performances.

Next one is sensitivity and the integrity of the characters toward their artistic struggle. In spite of

this doubling force of theater on the character’s life, they do not give up their integrity towards

theater. In the last the absurdity of language and action overcome the domain of Pakistani modern
society as Usman Ali’s characters are the product of this society, so there meaninglessness and

absurdity in actions at peak. But good thing is that they do not want to remain in this dimensionless

paratime and they are in the search of their identity. Identity is also a bulky idea to discuss in

Usman Ali’s context of cruelty which has been disappeared due to cruel behaviour of Theatrical art.
 CHAPTER # 5

CONCLUSION

Hence summing up an aphoristic conclusion of afore - mentioned and explored areas of the play. I

can bluntly assert that Usman Ali’s play The Guilt unveiling the miserable and squalor life of stage

actor Shera, his pessimistic and ennui with his artistic performance. He has projected the suffering

hidden in the crannies of societal structure.

It is intrinsically not about the life of Shera in actuality but implicitly and subtly a representation of

Maustana’s life-fraught with predicament and frigidness hailing from the audience as well as from

the state. Barring it, this paper has very systematically endorsed the fact that how Artaud’s Theatre

of Cruelty is applicable and efficacious.

From its commencing to its cessation, from setting, uttered dialogues entailing concrete

succinctness, physical action and the more intrinsic purpose of such theatre of Cruelty it is wholly

enveloped in Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty.

Besides, it via exercising Albert Camus’s notion of human anxiety and theory of existentialism this

paper has also exhausted its potential to unravel the miseries, suffering and anguishes of laymen

which are unheard to the other people. Paradoxically, it revolves around the life of Shera. Along

with, the notions of Wallace Stevens and Simon O Weill’s theory of violence and counter weighting

has heftily reinforced the fact of Usman Ali’s incentive to address, appease and alleviate the

sufferings of commonality.
 Work cited

Ali, Usman. The Guilt. Sawan, 2014.

Artuad, Antonion. “The cruelty of theater”. Modern drama in theory and practice, Cambridge

University press 1981, pp.105-110.

Hayward, F. John. Existentialism and Religious Liberalism. Bacon press Boston, 1962, p.31.

Stevens, Wallace. The Necessary Angel: Essays on Reality and Imagination. Knopf Doubleday

publishing group, 2011.

Weil, Simone. “Social Harmony”. Gravity and Grace, translated by Crawford, Emma and Mario

Van der Ruhr. P.170-177.