On the Dionysian Vision of ‘Becoming’ and ‘Cosmic Cruelty’:D. H. Lawrence’s St. Mawr and Antonin Artaud’s Theory of ‘Theatre of Cruelty’

Abstract

Artaud and Lawrence believe that art-work should not be to create purely an aesthetic effect. Their works should not offer a psychological analysis of personality. In stead of this psycho-moral drama, Lawrence and Artaud intend to uncover a sense of the incomprehensible reality of fundamental life through a Dionysian vision. Lawrence's St. Mawr and Artaud's 'theatre of cruelty' set out to expose the 'unknown' forces of the psyche, thus, revealing the hidden, essentially religious, reality of life. They are concerned with a Dionysian vision, that is what was there before the intellectualisation of instincts, urges and energies. Artaud and Lawrence explore the 'ugliness' and 'cruelty' of the Dionysian behind the 'beautiful face' of the Apollonian. Artaud's 'theatre of cruelty' and Lawrence's St. Mawr are a kind of Dionysian arts which is to represent the artistic 'realisation' of becoming. This kind of Dionysian art can rediscover the 'naked' purity or cruelty of things-in-themselves by breaking ruthlessly the intellectual and moralistic surfaces of things. Furthermore, Artaud and Lawrence hope to rediscover the forgotten elements of ancient rituals and religious rites. They hope to artistically recreate the Dionysian vision of cosmic cruelty rooted in ancient rituals. By this cruelty, Lawrence implies a ritualistic human sacrifice. But this artistic cruelty doesn't indicate the uncanny sacrifice of a human being. In fact, it rather symbolizes the apocalyptic destruction of all the established western cultural embodiments. Lawrence make his strong point on the ritualistic sacrifice of the western consciousness. This is the indirect expression of his hope for the cultural regeneration of the western world.