Words and their Limits

Abstract

The previous chapter discussed the relationship between Peter Shaffer’s use of language and his concept of theatrical communication and argued that ‘meaning’ did not arise from verbal discourse alone. Here, the matter of communication is examined from another point of view in an analysis of the way in which it operates as a theme in several of these plays. The idea that words alone may not be enough to effect true communication, expressed theatrically in this body of work, is continued into the action of the plays themselves where words are consistently seen as a block to understanding, meaning and truth. This chapter traces the many ways in which this modernist concept is illustrated concentrating largely on Shaffer’s earlier plays where the theme is foregrounded, but incorporating some discussion of the later work where the theme also infiltrates stage action.