X. Letters on Language Summary and Analysis

The chapter contains four letters, three of which are addressed J.P. In these letters, the author defends his stance on language in general and elaborates on his arguments regarding the destruction of spoken language as the main artifice in theater.

In the first letter, addressed to M.B.C., Artaud insists that the task of "mise en scène" must not be subordinated to spoken or written words as if this task was simply an accessory to theater. While it still qualifies as "theater," a play which depends entirely on a scripted text is nothing but a perversion of theater. The great tragedians (Sophocles, Shakespeare) might have written wonderful plays, but our contemporaries are incapable of physically rendering the play in the way that their "authors" would have wanted them to appear. This physical...