The Effect of Disillusionment on the Characters in the Plays of Alejandro Casona.

A common theme in the plays of Alejandro Casona is disillusionment with life as a consequence of the alienating elements of modern society. This disillusionment results in reactions of two types: "disabusement," an enlightenment which eventually brings about positive attitudes; and "disillusion," a negative force which creates a self-centered individual. Three recurring themes are associated with disillusionment: the emergence of guilt and inferiority, the abdication of social responsibility, and the flight to a world of fantasy. Individuals who suffer from feelings of guilt and /or inferiority frequently are the underdogs of society and receive sympathetic treatment by the playwright. The majority of these characters experience disabusement when perceptive friends help them to develop self-esteem. Casona finds reprehensible those individuals who abdicate responsibility to society. When these characters undergo disabusement, it is through an unpleasant shock of reality. Many individuals experience disillusion and never adjust. Social structures fail to solve human problems because of their depersonalized form. Human progress is best achieved through personal efforts on a one-to-one basis. Casona condemns the recourse to fantasy except when amorous, artistic, or religious considerations are a factor. However, disabusement is necessary before acceptable compromises with reality are possible. Controlled fantasy is an important part of human progress: dreamers often accomplish great deeds. The playwright is familiar with Freudian principles and uses them to emphasize contemporary thinking on the expansion of the ego. Casona favors the use of religious, moral, and ethical considerations as guidelines for human fulfillment. God is real, but He is sufficiently veiled to maintain an aura of mystery. Disillusioning experiences, which at first create existentialist uncertainty, frequently lead to disabusement. Casona's view of the human predicament in the twentieth century is optimistic. Disillusionment plays an important role in revealing the relationship of human beings to the universe in general and to other people in particular.PhDRomance literatureTheaterUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158973/1/8224930.pd