The Picture (1955) by Eugène Ionesco (Key Facts)

 

The Picture (1955)

by Eugène Ionesco

(Key Facts) 

Key Facts for The Picture (1955) by Eugène Ionesco

 

Full Title:

The Picture (French: Le Tableau)

 

Author:

Eugène Ionesco

 

Type of Work:

One-act play

 

Genre:

Absurdist Drama / Theatre of the Absurd / Tragicomedy

 

Language:

Originally written in French

 

Time and Place Written:

Written in the mid-1950s in France (Ionesco was living and working in Paris during this period)

 

Date of First Publication:

1955

 

Publisher:

Originally published and performed in France (associated with French theatrical publications of the period)

 

Tone:

Ironic, satirical, subtly comic yet deeply unsettling; tragicomic with an undercurrent of psychological tension.

 

Setting (Time):

Contemporary to the 1950s; unspecified but modern.

 

Setting (Place):

The modest home of an elderly couple (a simple domestic interior).

 

Protagonist:

The Old Man (representing the ordinary individual confronted by authority).

 

Major Conflict:

The psychological struggle between the elderly couple and the Marshal over the ownership of a painting—symbolizing a deeper conflict between personal dignity and social authority.

 

Rising Action:

The Marshal visits the couple’s home.

He notices the painting and begins praising it extravagantly.

The painting’s value is inflated through exaggerated dialogue.

The couple begin to doubt their worthiness to own such a “valuable” object.

 

Climax:

The elderly couple surrender the painting to the Marshal, symbolizing their psychological defeat and acceptance of inferiority.

 

Falling Action:

The Marshal leaves triumphantly with the painting.

 

Resolution:

The couple remain in their now emptier home, having lost not just the painting but a part of their dignity and self-confidence.

 

Themes:

Power and Authority

Social Hierarchy and Insecurity

The Relativity of Value

Identity and Self-Worth

Illusion vs. Reality

The Absurdity of Communication

 

Motifs:

Exaggerated Praise and Inflation of Value

Psychological Submission

Social Comparison

Repetition and Circular Dialogue

 

Symbols:

The Painting → Dignity, identity, socially constructed value

The Marshal → Institutional authority and dominance

The Empty Wall → Loss, psychological emptiness, erosion of self-worth

 

Foreshadowing:

The Marshal’s early intense interest in the painting hints that he intends to claim it.

The couple’s immediate insecurity in his presence suggests their eventual surrender.

The exaggerated praise of the painting foreshadows the inflation of its value and the inevitable transfer of ownership.