Genre
Theatre of the Absurd
Language
Romanian, French
Setting and Context
Middle-Class English Home, Evening - 1950
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Mr. and Mrs Smith.
Tone and Mood
Absurd, Comedic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists and Antagonists are Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Major Conflict
The Martins have shown up late to dinner with the Smiths, who have already eaten.
Climax
The Fire Chief visits and leaves, and the Smiths and Martins begins to scream statements and words at one another until the Martins take the place of the Smiths and restart the play by speaking the Smiths' lines from the beginning.
Foreshadowing
Mr. and Mrs. Martins' coincidences foreshadow that they are married.
Understatement
It is understated as to why the Martins were so late to dinner.
Allusions
The play is an allusion to how communication in society has broken down to the point that how we respond to one another makes no sense.
Imagery
The Martins restating the play with the Smiths' lines creates the imagery that this absurd inability to have an articulate conversation could happen to anyone. That people have become interchangeable in their inarticulateness.
Paradox
Mr. and Mrs. Martin realize they are married with a child. Paradoxically, they aren’t who they say they are; Mary reveals this.
Parallelism
The opening scene with the Smiths parallels the closing scene with the Martins speaking their lines.
Personification
The Fire Chief becomes the personification of putting out fires after the fire of his life was extinguished by Mary.
Use of Dramatic Devices
The absurdist nature of the entire play creates comedy out of apparent absurdity.
Mary’s speech to the audience revealing that Mr. and Mrs. Martin aren’t who they say they are.
The Martins taking the Smiths' place as the play starts over.
