Rhinoceros

play by Ionesco

Also known as: “Le Rhinocéros”

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Article History

Rhinoceros, quasi-allegorical play in three acts by Eugène Ionesco, produced in Germany in 1959 and published in French the same year as Le Rhinocéros.

At the play’s outset, Jean and Bérenger sit at a provincial café when a solitary rhinoceros runs by them. The next day, townspeople are talking about the strange and sudden proliferation of rhinoceroses and about the metamorphosis of fellow citizens into these creatures. When his friend Jean is transformed, Bérenger attempts to warn everyone, but he appears to be the sole remaining human.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.