
« Le Tableau » by Eugène Ionesco: the myth of metamorphosis, a threshold between life and dream
« Le Tableau » d'Eugène Ionesco : le mythe de la métamorphose, un seuil entre la vie et le rêve
Keywords: metamorphosis; fabulous; magic wand; story; window; symbol;
Our study focuses on the myth of transformation viewed in the play “The Painting” ("Le Tableau") as a passage from the imaginary universe to the real world. The title itself, strongly related to the artistic field, suggests from the very beginning the idea of imagination, oneirism, reality governed by an aesthetic ideal. Therefore, the huge canvas unrolled by the two characters Alice and the Painter can be seen as a symbolic window which separates two different worlds. For example, Alice, the ugly woman, transforms at the end of the play into a very beautiful woman wearing a crown. Thus, impossible things appear to be possible due to a magic wand, as it happens to be in fairy tales.
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