Exit the King (1962) by Eugène Ionesco (Key Facts)

 

Exit the King (1962)

by Eugène Ionesco

(Key Facts) 

Key Facts and Study Guide: Eugène Ionesco’s Exit the King (1962)

 

Full Title: Exit the King

 

Author: Eugène Ionesco

 

Type of Work: Stage play; absurdist theatre

 

Genre: Tragicomedy; absurdist drama; existential drama

 

Language: French (original); widely translated into English and other languages

 

Time and Place Written: 1962, Paris, France

 

Date of First Publication: 1962

 

Publisher: Editions de Minuit (original French publication)

 

Tone: A mixture of tragic and comic; reflective, absurdist, existential

 

Setting (Time): Indeterminate; symbolic “present” of a king’s final days, highlighting universality rather than historical specificity

 

Setting (Place): A crumbling kingdom; the castle of King Bérenger I

 

Protagonist: King Bérenger I

 

Major Conflict: The central conflict is man versus mortality—King Bérenger’s struggle to come to terms with his impending death and the collapse of his kingdom.

 

Rising Action:

Bérenger notices signs of his failing health and begins to confront mortality.

Courtiers, ministers, and attendants perform rituals that emphasize order, while the kingdom begins to decay.

Bérenger resists and denies death, clinging to authority and ceremonial power.

 

Climax:

Bérenger confronts the full reality of his mortality and the total collapse of his kingdom.

He reaches a point of acceptance, recognizing the inevitability of death and relinquishing illusions of control.

 

Falling Action:

The king gradually surrenders authority and lets go of worldly attachments.

Marguerite supports him through the final moments, symbolizing compassion and human connection.

The kingdom fades, reflecting the passage of time and the impermanence of power.

 

Themes:

Mortality and the inevitability of death

The futility of power and authority

Acceptance and transformation

The absurdity of human existence

Decay and the passage of time

Companionship and human connection

 

Motifs:

Repetition and circular dialogue

Rituals and ceremonial routines

Crumbling or decaying structures

Light and darkness

 

Symbols:

The King: Human vulnerability, mortality

The Crown/Regalia: Transient power and authority

The Kingdom: Life, civilization, and impermanence

Marguerite: Compassion, guidance, human connection

Albert / Physicians: Rationality, unavoidable truth

Old King / Death’s Envoy: Mortality, inevitability

Courtiers and attendants: Ritual, social order, absurdity

 

Foreshadowing:

The gradual physical decline of Bérenger and the crumbling kingdom foreshadows death.

Repeated warnings and factual statements by Albert signal the inevitability of the king’s demise.

Rituals and ceremonial exaggeration hint at the futility of resisting mortality.