Metaphor and Modern Identity: Cultural Resonances in Ionesco’s Rhinoceros

Abstract

The present paper undertakes a literary analysis of Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros (1959), focusing on the evolving function and symbolism of the rhinoceros within the structure of the play. Initially emerging as an absurd and comic intrusion into everyday life, the rhinoceros gradually transforms into a powerful metaphor for the collapse of individual identity and the disintegration of coherent communication. By tracing this symbolic trajectory, the paper examines how Ionesco employs absurdist techniques—such as repetition, proliferation, and linguistic dislocation to explore the nature of transformation and the price of conformity. Rather than confining the play to its mid-20th-century context, this study foregrounds its continued relevance in an era shaped by viral trends, and algorithm-driven consensus. By focusing on the interplay between form, language, and spectacle, the essay highlights Rhinoceros as a profound meditation on the pressures of social alignment. In a time when public discourse is increasingly shaped by performative consensus, Ionesco’s play invites renewed reflection on the costs of belonging and the quiet courage of standing apart in one’s own individual selfhood.