The Existence of a Scarecrow is Essential1: ISA and RSA in The Four Boxes

The Four Boxes is the most political play written by Bahram Beizaie in 1968 before the Islamic revolution in Iran. In the acclaimed work which has been written in the western form of the Theatre of Absurd, Beizaie depicts the social and political situation of his time. Whereof Bahram Beizaie created works that incorporated the literature of the world and adapted modern western literary styles of writing, this essay employs the western approach of the Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses by Louis Althusser. The writer explores The Four Boxes to depict the ways in which Beizaie has pictured Iranian society of the late 1960s in his play. Concepts such as Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses are employed to analyze the relationship between the scarecrow, as the ruler of the society, and the four colors, as a representation of different social classes. The paper aims to investigate different apparatuses which are practiced in society and their effects on the subjects. Therefore, it grants the readers of the play with a better understanding of the association between levels of society and the reasoning behind the characters’ actions.

Keywords:

Bahram Beizaie , Iranian society , Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses , The Four Boxes.