Alfred Jarry was a French playwright, poet, and journalist who created the scandalous and surreal play Ubu Roi. He developed the character of Ubu as a young student and later became known for his eccentric behavior and absurd philosophy of “pataphysics.” Despite his difficult behavior, Jarry gained a cult following among younger artists and influenced later 20th century artists such as Pablo Picasso. He died at the age of 34 from tuberculosis.
Alfred Jarry was a French playwright, poet, novelist and journalist whose work prefigured Dadaism and the theater of the absurd. His best-known work, the five-act play Ubu Roi (1896), was scandalous, surreal, and full of despicable characters. After the debut of the play, he began to take on the character of Ubu, becoming more and more bizarre and developing an absurd philosophy which he called “pataphysics”. Despite his difficult public behavior, Jarry gained a cult following among the younger artists of his time, becoming a hero to the likes of Guillaume Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso.
Born on September 8, 1873, Jarry began developing the character of Ubu as a young student in Brittany. He and his friends routinely joked about one of their teachers, Hébert, who had evolved in their imagination into the truly grotesque figure of Père Heb, the original of Ubu. The group wrote a puppet play starring the figure, called Le Polonais, which Jarry would later rework into Ubu Roi.
Jarry moved to Paris at the age of 17, after passing his baccalaureate, to prepare for higher education. Although he was not accepted, the city offered him the opportunity to begin a writing career and he published his first book, a volume of poetry, in 1893. His parents died the same year, and Jarry, who had recently discovered the absinthe, soon went through his legacy.
He was drafted into the army the following year, though it didn’t last long. There were no uniforms small enough for him, and it seemed so strange to wear the ones he’d been given that his fellow soldiers dissolved in mirth at the sight of him. He was duly exempted from training and finally discharged for medical reasons.
Back in Paris, he continued to write, collaborating with the symbolist writer Remy de Gourmont on an art criticism journal called L’Ymagier. He also wrote novels and plays independently, culminating in Ubu Roi in 1896. The play, with a profanity as its opening line and no attempt to convey any kind of clear meaning or to follow theatrical conventions, closed after opening night . Nonetheless, it consolidated his fame, particularly among the young Parisian avant-gardes.
He was vehemently eccentric, riding bicycles and carrying loaded guns everywhere, perpetually drunk and dressed in biker black. He lived in an apartment that had been divided in half horizontally, forcing everyone besides him to bend over. He ate his meals in reverse, dessert first, and adopted the monotonous, nasal style he’d invented for Ubu, enunciating each syllable the same way and referring to himself in the real “we.” He also used laboriously indirect phrases, such as “the one that rolls” for his bicycle.
He also developed and lived the absurd pseudo-philosophy of ‘pataphysics, which is no more sensitive than his comedies. ‘Pataphysics was outlined in the posthumously published Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician.
With his habitual abuse of alcohol and ether, Jarry was not long in living in this world. He fell ill with tuberculosis in 1907 and had his corpse photographed for postcards to send to his friends. He died on November 1 of that year, aged 34.
After his death, Ubu Roi was rebuilt and grew in popularity, and his two other Ubu plays Ubu Cuckolded and Ubu Enchained were released. He was immensely influential on later 20th century artists. Pablo Picasso idolized him and often carried his gun. He also owned several of Jarry’s manuscripts and a drawing by the author.
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