Rodolfo Usigli

• Born: November 17, 1905
• Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico
• Died: June 18, 1979
• Place of death: Mexico City, Mexico

Other Literary Forms

Although Rodolfo Usigli is recognized principally as a playwright, he has worked in other genres as well. His theoretical works on the theater, in general, and the Mexican theater, in particular, include: México en el teatro (1932; Mexico in the Theater, 1976), Caminos del teatro en México (1933; paths of the theater in Mexico), Itinerario del autor dramático y otros ensayos (1940; itinerary of a dramatist), and Anatomía del teatro (1966; anatomy of the theater). He has also produced two theoretical essays on the theater titled “Ensayo sobre la actualidad de la poesía dramática” (essay on the actuality of dramatic poetry) and “Epílogo sobre la hipocresía del Mexicano” (epilogue on the hypocrisy of the Mexican). Usigli’s poetry is collected in a volume entitled Conversación desesperada (1938; desperate conversation). He has also produced a novel, Ensayo de un crimen (trial of a crime), which was published in 1944.

Achievements

Rodolfo Usigli has been hailed as the father of Mexican theater. He introduced authentic dramatic representations of Mexico through works that addressed its history, its politics, and the psychological makeup of its people. The psychological factor is the core of his theater.

Usigli does not merely criticize the Mexican people and their society: Rather, he seeks to ennoble them by offering them models of their own potential greatness. Usigli accomplishes this by introducing the concept of myth formation. The concept of myth formation has its roots in Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s conception of the historical process as a series of syntheses that revolve around transcendental historical figures such as Maximilian and Montezuma, who represent superior cultural symbols. From a cultural and theatrical perspective, a myth is a transcendental synthesis embodied in one of these figures that offers a new perspective, a positive direction for the country’s future growth. Its direct appeal to the faith of the Mexican audience causes them to reevaluate their mythical past and to experience a catharsis of nationality with those national sentiments and values that most ennoble it. In recognition of his efforts to create a Mexican national theater, Usigli was awarded the Premio Nacional de Letras in 1972.

Usigli’s determination to forge a sense of national identity for Mexico, his sense of the Mexican spirit and the originality with which he expresses it in his plays, and the increased awareness he offers Mexican audiences of their national identity, culture, history, and values constitute his most important achievements.

Biography

Rodolfo Usigli was born in Mexico City, Mexico, on November 17, 1905, the product of Italian, Austrian, and Polish ancestry. Usigli demonstrated his interest in the theater at an early age. When he was eleven years old, he worked as an extra in the Castillo-Taboada troupe at Mexico’s Teatro Colón. He wished to study drama, but there were no established schools of drama in Mexico at that time. Therefore, he designed his own curriculum whereby he read and analyzed on a daily basis six plays by well-known dramatists. He then attended local performances, at which he compared the dramas he studied with the actual stage productions. His commentaries were published in Mexican newspapers. By the time he reached the age of twenty, he had become a respected theater critic.

Usigli met with little success in finding producers for his first dramatic attempts. His difficulties with managers, producers, and critics may perhaps be traced to unhappy childhood experiences. Usigli was born with slightly crossed eyes, a person the Spaniards call bizco. His classmates punned on the word and nicknamed him Visconde (Viscount), which also alluded to his conviction of being superior to them. He later underwent corrective surgery for his eyes but never lost his conviction about his superiority, which often expressed itself in an arrogance and defensiveness that theater authorities found unappealing.

From 1932 to 1934, Usigli offered courses in the history of the Mexican theater at the University of Mexico and served as director of the Teatro Radiofónico, which broadcast plays in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. During this period, he was also associated with the Teatro Orientación, which was created to introduce Mexico to the masterpieces of world theater, performing plays translated from French, Italian, English, German, and Russian. Usigli prepared the Spanish versions for the stage. In 1935, Usigli was awarded a scholarship to study dramatic composition at Yale University. During this period, he wrote El gesticulador (the pretender), one of his greatest works. On his return to Mexico, he was appointed director of the school of drama and theater and director of the department of fine arts at the University of Mexico. In 1940, he founded his own theater, the Teatro Media Noche, to produce his Mexican plays, but ongoing problems with producers soon ended this venture.

During the period from 1943 to 1946, Usigli served Mexico in a diplomatic capacity, becoming the cultural attaché at the Mexican embassy in Paris. During his tenure in Europe, he had the opportunity to meet his idol, playwright George Bernard Shaw. Also during this period, he completed another of his great works, Crown of Shadows, part of a trilogy about the three Mexican myths of sovereignty. (The other works in the trilogy are Corona de fuego—crown of fire—and Crown of Light.) After completing his tour of duty, Usigli returned to Mexico and offered courses at the University of Mexico in the history of the theater and playwriting. He completed The Corona Trilogy and several other plays.

Usigli resumed his diplomatic career from 1956 until 1962, serving as Mexico’s ambassador to Lebanon and Norway. During this period and after his return to Mexico, he continued to produce dramatic works.

Analysis

Mexico and its people have furnished the material for almost all of Rodolfo Usigli’s dramatic works. Psychology is the essential component of his writing and the soul of his interpretations. Usigli’s dramatic works can be classified into two major categories: the social satire of contemporary Mexico, and the treatment of certain historically significant figures or periods in the development of Mexico. The themes most frequently treated are insanity, hate, love, hereditary illness, stagnant lifestyle, cruelty, sex from a Mexican perspective, and culminating moments in Mexican history.

There are four elements that constantly recur in Usigli’s plays: fantasy, myth, family types, and humor. Fantasy is present in all of his works. Through examples that illustrate his philosophy, he sets the course that propels the action and motivates the characters: madness, absurdity, dreams, superstition, double identity, and illusions. The element of the fantastic is reinforced by dramatic techniques such as the play of lights, visions, flashbacks, and anonymous voices. Myth is of utmost importance in Usigli’s works. He sees Mexico as an outstanding example of a fusion of two cultures, the indigenous and the Hispanic, both of which are myth-oriented. Within the framework of Usigli’s Hegelian view of history, the central characters become transcendental myth figures. He uses myth to reinterpret historical events, clarifying their significance and offering a new and positive direction for Mexico’s future. Another recurring element found in Usigli’s dramatic productions is the character types based on members of the family. He treats all social levels—lower, middle, upper, and aristocratic—to portray segments of Mexican society. Usigli’s acute awareness of the inconsistencies in Mexican life and culture are often expressed in witty dialogue and amusing episodes.

The Great Middle Class, El gesticulador, and Crown of Shadows are considered to be Usigli’s finest works. Each portrays a conflict that tests the spirit. Human emotions are presented so as to diminish the distance between the public and the stage. Ridicule is not provoked from pathetic situations; rather, the audience feels a sense of spiritual elevation at the conclusion of each of these dramas.

Usigli dedicated his life to the creation of a Mexican national theater. He combined practical experience, a keen sense of the Mexican spirit, a thorough knowledge of the theater, stylistic creativity, and a new ideology to establish the basis for a new Mexican theater. His dramas are neither didactic nor doctrinal, but objective in their thematic treatment. Usigli’s desire was to bring the past and the present into harmony, to see them in a positive light, and to appeal to the faith of the Mexican people to overcome their weaknesses and gain a new and optimistic perspective on their country’s future. Through his acting, translating, teaching, and writing, he played a decisive part in the creation of a Mexican national theater.

The Great Middle Class

In the sociological drama The Great Middle Class, the mundane Sierra family is transformed by Usigli into a universal symbol of middle-class family life. This play depicts the problems that beset a typical middle-class family, not only in Mexico but anywhere in the world. Each family member has his own particular problem. The father has lost his job with the government because of his political affiliation and has taken refuge in pursuing other women. The mother’s overwhelming religious character prevents her from seeing that anything is wrong. Their sons also have problems. David, the eldest son and moderator of the family, suffers from tuberculosis. Victor is unhappy because he has no money with which to court a girl whom he has just met. Julio finds that everyone is hostile to him because of his Communist sympathies. Martin, the youngest son, is interested only in animals and is unhappy because animals are not allowed in their apartment. The daughters are also unhappy with their situations. Gabriela is frustrated because she cannot find a political party compatible with her beliefs; Enriqueta is suffering from the banalities of married life and from grave financial problems after the bankruptcy of her husband’s store; Sarah is in love with someone of whom the family does not approve. David alone realizes that the only form of salvation is unity. Still, it seems that each one must find his way by himself or herself because each finds the others to be incapable of understanding and showing compassion. An atmosphere of dissension, pessimism, confusion, and egotism prevails. Unknowingly, however, the family members share a sense of unity that will surface during a grave crisis.

At the end of the drama, the circumstances are much more serious than at the beginning. The father moves the family, which is very poor, to another province, and he must sell much of the family furniture in order to pay the rent. The mother is able to recognize and acknowledge her family’s difficulties and suffers much, knowing that Gabriela spent the night in jail for attending a Communist rally. David enters the hospital to seek help for his illness. Julio leaves for Spain to fight against the forces of Francisco Franco and the Fascists, and Sarah is pregnant. The difference, however, lies in the sense of consolidation and unity among the members of the family and their attempts to rescue one another. They feel a new freedom in thought and action, born of the now-prevailing atmosphere of mutual love and respect.

The Sierra family is a typical example of the trials and tribulations of any middle-class family anywhere in the world. The value of this drama lies in the fact that Usigli, by presenting the life of the Sierra family in a universal light, successfully transcended national boundaries and won the empathy of other frontiers. Psychologically, Usigli appealed to a fundamental element of Mexican society: the clan instinct, the overpowering desire of family members to overcome their personal differences, no matter what the sacrifice or price, in order to ensure the continuation of their line.

El gesticulador

El gesticulador, like The Great Middle Class, deals with conflict and the psychology of human emotions. They are presented from a political perspective, however, and involve the concept of myth formation. El gesticulador is the story of a professor of revolutionary history, César Rubio, who loses his job for political reasons and returns with his family to his native province. He realizes that his life has been a failure and is afraid that he has been a sorry example to his children. During a chance meeting with a historian from the United States, César, on a promise of secrecy, assumes the identity of a glorified revolutionary general of the same name whose fate had been a mystery. César then uses his acquired identity to run for provincial governor. He is assassinated and dies a famous man. César’s son finally learns the truth but is powerless to proclaim it. If he exposes his father as an impostor and is believed, it would arouse little indignation; if he is not believed, he would be incarcerated as an insane political agitator.

In the structure of El gesticulador, there is a clear progression toward the formation and propagation of a myth. The work is divided into three acts. Act 1 introduces César and the character he assumes, General César Rubio. The arrival of Bolton, the historian from the United States, looking for information about the general, causes a psychological change in the personality of César, who almost instantly believes himself to be the general. This enables Usigli to introduce the element of predestination, which is made manifest in three ways: by the arrival of the failed professor and his family in his native town, where, coincidentally, two men share the same name and one is a hero; by the attitude of the other family members toward César; and by the arrival of the American historian Bolton. César, desperate because of his family’s rejection of him, acts solely on his instincts in an effort to save himself.

Act 2 traces the development of the myth, César’s assumption of the false identity that permits him to overcome his sense of inadequacy. His family plays a large part in this. The family functions as a chorus—they serve as César’s conscience and externalize his inner conflict. His wife represents the part of his conscience that wants to liberate itself from the lie. His precocious son suspects that something is amiss and becomes very disgusted. His daughter, however, represents the other side of his conscience. She shares her father’s sense of failure because she believes that she is ugly and socially unacceptable. Because she aspires to be loved and to live well, she sees something positive in her father’s new lifestyle and encourages him. Finally, César accepts the lie, the past becomes the present, the myth begins to take root, and optimism becomes the prevailing mood of the play.

Act 3 presents the propagation of the myth. At the beginning of the act, César is converted into the universal candidate who has reached the peak of glory. He is respected and loved by his people. Yet the confrontation between César and his colleague Navarro interrupts the euphoria. The meeting between the two rivals illustrates the theme of truth against illusion. Navarro wants to denounce him as a fraud to all the people. The most important event of act 3 is César’s assassination. With his death, the myth will never be separated from the man. Navarro immediately changes his attitude toward César and proclaims him a true hero. The myth is engraved in the public mind; it is stronger than reality.

In this work, Usigli uses the Revolution to focus on Mexico and its people. The false César Rubio is not regarded in a negative light. Rather, he is revered as a hero for assuming a new identity to affirm his faith in the Revolution and ultimately to die for it. Psychologically, the Mexican concept of heroism is infantile. A hero is not expected to perform only one great deed but rather constantly to provide examples of heroism during his lifetime. Mexico had no such heroes. The hero César Rubio evolved because a conflict arose that created a need for one of these heroes in a historical event that was purely Mexican. Thus, Usigli was able to save the intention of the Revolution, metamorphose it, and convert it into a positive growth symbol for Mexico. It is interesting to note that Usigli dedicated El gesticulador to his hypocritical countrymen because of their tendency to hide from reality and avoid the truth by putting on other faces. By exposing this character flaw, Usigli hoped to chide his countrymen out of this weakness.

Crown of Shadows

Crown of Shadows shares with The Great Middle Class and El gesticulador the theme of conflict and an acute psychological analysis of the Mexican people and their ideologies. Like El gesticulador, it deals with myth. It is part of a trilogy devoted to three fundamental Mexican myths: political sovereignty (Crown of Shadows: Benito Juárez versus Maximilian), territorial or national sovereignty (Corona de fuego: Cuauhtémoc versus Hernán Cortés), and spiritual sovereignty (Crown of Light: the synthesis of paganism and Catholicism).

Crown of Shadows is a reinterpretation of the history of Maximilian and Carlota presented as a modernized version of an Aristotelian tragedy. In this setting, the psychological projection of his characters, rather than the action, is emphasized. This drama involves the conflict between fate and justice. Maximilian and Carlota abide by completely opposite moral codes yet share an adverse fate. Maximilian is a novice in the political world and dies, without ever having committed any wrongdoing, for a country that never accepted him. He is sacrificed for the deeds of another politician, namely Napoleon Bonaparte. Carlota, on the other hand, is driven by a strong sense of ambition for which she is punished by the death of her husband and seventy years of madness.

This play has been widely lauded for its innovative theatrical techniques. The stage is divided, which helps to evoke and reconstruct the past and allows for rapid shifts of space, simultaneous action, and the juxtaposition of time using flashbacks. Some psychological symbols are presented by crossing planes of reality. For example, in the first scene, when the doorman is guiding Erasmo Ramírez, the Mexican historian, through Carlota’s home, visible reality, such as the terrace and the garden, is described using the verb “to seem.” An unreal environment as well as a sense of atemporality is constructed. Another example occurs when Carlota becomes confused and believes that she is speaking to Juárez, her husband’s rival. The error establishes the symbolism present in the title: It alludes to her insanity and her illusion of power. Her constant demands for more light symbolize a brief recovery of her reason, during which time she clarifies historical reality to her listener.

Usigli’s purpose in writing Crown of Shadows was to justify the misfortune suffered by Maximilian and Carlota by suggesting its ultimate positive significance. He classifies the play as antihistorical, treating his characters as human beings rather than historical figures. Thus, he was able to present them at various levels: husband and wife, rulers, foreigners. He succeeded in ennobling this period of Mexican history through Erasmo Ramírez, the Mexican historian: His name recalls the Dutch scholar who sought reforms from within. The audience, and the historian, are able to review and reconcile themselves to the past. They are able to see that Maximilian loved Mexico and sensed the essence of the nation—its ancient symbols and bloody upheavals—and that his death was in fact a catalyst for the birth of Mexican nationalism.

Bibliography

Beardsell, Peter R. A Theatre for Cannibals: Rodolfo Usigli and the Mexican Stage. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1992. A study of the dramatic works of Usigli and of the Mexican theater of his times. Bibliography and index.

Jones, Willis Knapp. Introduction to Two Plays: “Crown of Light,” “One of These Days,” by Rodolfo Usigli. Translated by Thomas Bledsoe. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1971. In his introduction to the translation of two of Usigli’s plays, Jones provides information on Usigli’s life and dramatic works.

Savage, Ronald Vance. “Rodolfo Usigli’s Idea of Mexican Theatre.” Latin American Theatre Review 4, no. 2 (1971): 13-20. This essay examines the Mexican theater according to the viewpoint of Usigli.

Tilles, Solomon H. “Rodolfo Usigli’s Concept of Dramatic Art.” Latin American Theatre Review 3, no. 2 (1970): 31-38. A discussion of drama as conceived by Usigli.