“Merdre!”
— Ubu's first word, a neologism for 'shit,' setting the tone for the play.
Track Your Reading
Sign in to track this book
King Ubu, a ridiculous and crude character, takes power. His rule quickly turns into a farcical display of gluttony and greed, exposing how easily authority can be debased. Audiences often find it both shocking and funny.
Synopsis
Pa Ubu, a crude and ambitious captain, is persuaded by his wife, Mère Ubu, to kill King Wenceslas of Poland and take the throne. With his followers' help, Pa Ubu overthrows the king and begins his cruel rule. He immediately misuses his power, killing nobles, taking property, and making unfair laws. This causes widespread suffering and rebellion. His extravagant spending leads to mounting debts, and an invasion from Russia, led by Prince Buggerlas (Wenceslas's surviving son), pushes Pa Ubu's rule into chaos.
During the war, Pa Ubu shows extreme cowardice, abandoning his troops and fleeing. Mère Ubu tries to steal from the royal treasury but is caught. After several comical events and narrow escapes, Pa Ubu and Mère Ubu meet again. They escape Poland during a violent storm, fleeing to France where Pa Ubu, still delusional, dreams of becoming a financial minister. The play ends with their escape, leaving behind destruction and showing their ongoing ambition and incompetence.
Reading time
90 min
Difficulty
Medium
Pacing
Fast
Mood
Absurdist, Satirical, Darkly Comedic, Provocative
✓ Read this if...
You enjoy absurdist, satirical plays that challenge conventions and explore themes of power and corruption with dark humor.
✗ Skip this if...
You prefer traditional narrative structures, realistic dialogue, or are easily offended by scatological humor and crude language.
Plot Summary
The Call to Power
The play begins in Père Ubu's house. Mère Ubu constantly criticizes her husband for his cowardice and poor life, urging him to overthrow King Wenceslas of Poland. Père Ubu is at first hesitant and afraid, but Mère Ubu's arguments and the promise of wealth and sausages convince him. Captain Bordure, an officer, joins their plan, promising military support and further fueling Ubu's ambition. Despite his initial doubts, Ubu gives in to the idea of power, stating his intention to murder Wenceslas and take the crown. This marks the start of his tyrannical rise.
The Assassination and Coronation
Père Ubu, Mère Ubu, and their co-conspirators attack King Wenceslas during a military parade. In a comically brutal scene, Ubu attacks and kills Wenceslas. Queen Rosamund and her three sons, Boleslas, Ladislas, and Buggerlas, are present. Ubu, wanting complete power, orders the execution of the two older princes, Boleslas and Ladislas, to remove immediate rivals. Young Buggerlas, however, escapes and vows revenge. With the king and his direct heirs gone, Père Ubu is quickly crowned King of Poland, beginning his rule of absurd terror.
Ubu's Tyrannical Rule
As king, Père Ubu immediately shows his incompetence and cruelty. He announces he will change everything in Poland, starting with revising the calendar and abolishing taxes, only to bring them back with arbitrary increases. He takes land and property, seizes all money, and removes the nobility and judges using his 'debraining machine' or by throwing them into the dungeon. His rule is a chaotic mix of greed, ignorance, and a disregard for justice or human life, much to the dismay of the Polish people.
Betrayal and Escape
Captain Bordure, who helped Ubu gain the throne, soon disagrees with the new king's random rule. Ubu refuses to reward Bordure properly, even trying to throw him into the dungeon. Bordure, realizing Ubu's betrayal and constant greed, escapes. He flees Poland and goes to Russia, seeking an alliance with Tsar Alexis. He hopes to convince the Tsar to invade Poland and remove Père Ubu, thereby getting revenge and restoring order to the kingdom.
Financial Ruin and Desperation
Père Ubu's extravagant spending and chaotic financial policies quickly bankrupt the kingdom. He has wasted the national treasury on lavish feasts and luxuries, leaving the country in ruins. Faced with an empty treasury, Ubu tries increasingly desperate and absurd ways to raise money. He attempts to sell government positions, places new, high taxes on an already poor population, and even tries to make new currency from old clothing, further showing his lack of skill and the complete breakdown of government under his rule.
The Russian Invasion
Tsar Alexis, convinced by Captain Bordure's plea and stories of Ubu's tyranny, mobilizes his army and invades Poland. Père Ubu, completely surprised, must stop feasting and prepare for war. Despite his cowardly nature, Ubu puts on his armor and leads his poorly equipped, disorganized army to face the Russians. Mère Ubu, always looking for an opportunity, stays behind to loot the palace, seeing the war as a chance to get richer. The stage is set for a comical battle for Poland's future.
The Battle and Ubu's Cowardice
The battle between Ubu's Polish army and Tsar Alexis's Russian forces is chaotic and comical. Ubu, despite his boasting, is an incompetent and cowardly commander. He hides behind his troops, gives illogical orders, and cares more about his own safety than his soldiers. When his forces start to lose, Ubu panics and flees the battlefield in terror, abandoning his men. Captain Bordure, fighting bravely for the Russians, dies during the fight.
Buggerlas's Revenge
After the battle, Prince Buggerlas, who had escaped earlier, pursues the fleeing Père Ubu. Buggerlas, wanting to avenge his murdered father and brothers, confronts Ubu in a cave. A brief struggle happens, showing Ubu's fear and desperation. Despite Buggerlas's anger, Ubu escapes. Sadly, Buggerlas, weakened and alone, dies from his wounds or exhaustion soon after, without getting his full revenge. Ubu's fate remains unsettled.
Mère Ubu's Looting and Capture
While Père Ubu is away fighting (or fleeing) the Russians, Mère Ubu ransacks the royal palace, filling her pockets with gold and valuables. She tries to escape with her stolen goods, but her greed leads to her capture. Loyal Polish citizens, disgusted by her actions and Ubu's tyranny, catch her looting. She is arrested and stripped of her stolen treasures, left to face the results of her involvement in Ubu's destructive rule, losing all the wealth she wanted.
Reunion and Escape to France
After their separate problems, Père Ubu and Mère Ubu surprisingly meet again. Both are messy, defeated, and without power or wealth. Despite their past arguments and betrayals, they decide to combine their remaining resources and flee Poland. They board a ship, planning to sail to France, leaving the damaged kingdom behind. Ubu expresses a wish to return to his former life, perhaps as a 'Master of Finances' in France, completely unrepentant for the chaos he caused.
The Storm and Final Delusions
As Père Ubu and Mère Ubu sail toward France, their ship faces a violent storm. The dangerous journey shows their vulnerability and the unpredictability of fate, a sharp contrast to their former inflated sense of power. Despite the danger, Ubu remains mostly unaware of the real threat, continuing to spout nonsense and complain about his lost sausages. Even with nature's fury, his petty concerns and delusions of grandeur continue, showing his unchanging, self-absorbed character until the end.
Principal Figures
Père Ubu
The Protagonist/Antagonist
Ubu begins as a disgruntled, ambitious bourgeois and rises to tyrannical power, only to be stripped of it due to his incompetence and cowardice, ultimately fleeing, unrepentant.
Mère Ubu
The Supporting
She instigates Ubu's rise to power, enjoys the spoils, and attempts to flee with stolen wealth, only to be caught and ultimately escape with Ubu.
Captain Bordure
The Supporting
He begins as Ubu's co-conspirator, becomes his betrayed enemy, and dies fighting for vengeance.
King Wenceslas
The Mentioned
He is introduced as the reigning king and is swiftly murdered, serving as the catalyst for the entire plot.
Prince Buggerlas
The Supporting
He escapes Ubu's initial massacre, seeks vengeance for his family, confronts Ubu, but dies before fully achieving his goal.
Tsar Alexis
The Supporting
He is introduced as a powerful foreign ruler and successfully leads an invasion to depose Ubu, restoring some semblance of order.
Nobles and Magistrates
The Mentioned
They are introduced as the ruling class and are systematically eliminated by Ubu.
Themes & Insights
The Absurdity of Power and Authority
The play constantly makes fun of power, showing it not as a noble goal but as a corrupting force that turns people into grotesque tyrants. Père Ubu's rule is a series of illogical decrees, random executions, and self-serving policies. This highlights the inherent irrationality that can happen when power is given to the incompetent and immoral. His 'debraining machine' and constant changes to laws (like taxes) show how authority can be used without reason or justice, leading to complete chaos, as seen when he bankrupts the country and his army is easily defeated.
“Père Ubu: 'By my green candle, I shall be King of Poland, and my wife will be Queen!'”
Greed and Gluttony
Père Ubu's main drives are his constant desires for food, wealth, and power. He always thinks about sausages, gold, and his 'Phynance' (his term for finance), which he uses to get rich at the kingdom's expense. Mère Ubu shares this greed, always pushing her husband to take more. This theme is clear in Ubu's immediate seizure of all wealth when he becomes king, his attempts to make money from old clothes, and Mère Ubu's frantic looting of the palace during the war. Their greed directly causes the kingdom's ruin and their eventual flight.
“Mère Ubu: 'You were a great king, my lord, but now you are a poor wretch, and soon you will have nothing to eat.'”
Cowardice and Brutality
Ubu shows a mix of extreme cowardice and shocking brutality. He is a loud bully when in power, ordering executions and tortures happily. Yet, he panics and flees at the first sign of real danger, such as during the battle with the Russians or his confrontation with Buggerlas. This contrast shows the hypocrisy often found in tyrants who are brave only when their victims are defenseless. His casual violence, like the 'debraining' of nobles, is often presented with grotesque humor, making the brutality even more disturbing.
“Père Ubu: 'What a fine thing to be king! I can eat all the sausages I want, and throw people in the dungeon!'”
Revenge and Justice (or lack thereof)
The idea of revenge mainly comes from Prince Buggerlas, who wants to avenge his murdered family. His pursuit of Ubu suggests a traditional story of justice. However, the play twists this by having Buggerlas die before fully achieving his goal. Ubu, despite losing his throne, escapes unpunished, sailing to France with dreams of new ventures. This lack of definitive justice for Ubu highlights the play's nihilistic and absurd view, suggesting that evil often goes unpunished and moral order is not always restored.
“Buggerlas: 'I will avenge my father and my brothers! I will kill this monster, Père Ubu!'”
Plot Devices & Literary Techniques
Grotesque Humor
The use of exaggerated, often vulgar and violent, comedy to satirize serious subjects.
Jarry employs grotesque humor to make the horrific actions of Ubu simultaneously repellent and laughable. This device is central to the play's shock value and its critique of power. Examples include Ubu's scatological language ('merdre!'), the 'debraining machine' which is both absurd and terrifying, and the farcical nature of the battles and political maneuvers. This humor prevents the audience from fully empathizing with any character, instead forcing them to confront the inherent absurdity and brutality of human nature and political ambition.
Caricature
Exaggerated portrayal of characters, especially for satirical purposes.
All characters, particularly Père Ubu, are caricatures rather than realistic individuals. Ubu is an extreme embodiment of greed, gluttony, and cowardice, with no redeeming qualities. Mère Ubu is similarly an exaggerated figure of manipulative ambition. This device serves to strip away any pretense of realism, allowing Jarry to focus on the abstract concepts these characters represent (e.g., the corrupt bourgeois, the tyrannical ruler). The lack of psychological depth emphasizes the play's allegorical nature and its critique of universal human flaws rather than specific individuals.
The 'Debraning Machine'
A fantastical, symbolic torture device used by Ubu to eliminate his enemies.
This device, though never explicitly described in detail, is Ubu's chosen method of executing the Polish nobility and magistrates. It's a symbol of his arbitrary, nonsensical, and brutal exercise of power. Its absurd name and implied function (removing brains) highlight Ubu's contempt for intellect and order, suggesting that he prefers mindless obedience. It functions as a chillingly comical representation of totalitarian purges, where logic and humanity are discarded in favor of brute force and irrational cruelty, making the horror of his reign palatable through its sheer absurdity.
Scatological Language
The use of vulgar, toilet-humor language for shock and satire.
The most famous example is Ubu's opening word, 'Merdre!' (a deliberate misspelling of the French word for 'shit'). This device was revolutionary and highly controversial at the time of its premiere. It immediately establishes the play's anti-establishment, anti-bourgeois tone and signals a departure from traditional, polite theatre. It is used to strip away any sense of decorum or nobility from the characters and their actions, reinforcing the grotesque and primitive nature of Ubu's world and serving as a direct affront to audience sensibilities.
Critical analysis
Notable Quotes
“What a fine country, it's full of potatoes!”
— Ubu's initial observation upon arriving in Poland, highlighting his gluttony and simplistic view.
“I will make a great fortune in this country.”
— Ubu's declaration of intent, revealing his avarice and ambition.
“Long live Pére Ubu! Long live Poland!”
— The people's chant, demonstrating their fickle loyalty and susceptibility to Ubu's influence.
“It's all one to me, so long as I can eat well and sleep well.”
— Ubu's philosophy, simplifying life to basic animalistic needs.
“I perceive that I am going to become very rich, and I will be able to eat a lot of sausages.”
— Ubu's primary motivation for seizing power, linking wealth directly to food.
“Gentlemen, you have been chosen by me to collect the taxes.”
— Ubu's arbitrary appointment of tax collectors, leading to widespread corruption.
“We will have to kill everyone.”
— Ubu's simplistic solution to any perceived problem or opposition.
“I will exterminate the nobility and the gentry.”
— Ubu's radical plan for social restructuring, reflecting revolutionary fervor gone awry.
“Ha! I'm going to have my fill of money!”
— Ubu's exultation after confiscating wealth, emphasizing his insatiable avarice.
“This is going badly, it's going very badly.”
— Ubu's repeated lament when faced with difficulties, showcasing his cowardly nature.
“No more justice, no more anything! It's an outrage!”
— Ubu's reaction to being challenged or having his authority questioned, highlighting his arbitrary rule.
“I will hang them all, and then we will be quiet.”
— Ubu's brutal and simplistic approach to maintaining order, a characteristic of his reign.
“My dear friends, we have made a fine campaign.”
— Ubu's self-congratulatory remark after a chaotic and often disastrous military campaign.
Quiz
Test Your Knowledge
Ready to see how well you understood this book? Take our interactive quiz with 10 questions.
10
Questions
~5
Minutes
?
Best Score
Key Questions (FAQ)
Ubu Roi follows the grotesque and cowardly Père Ubu, a captain of dragoons and confidant of King Wenceslas, who is incited by his ambitious wife, Mère Ubu, to usurp the Polish throne. The central conflict arises from Ubu's immediate and brutal abuse of power upon becoming king, leading to widespread oppression and chaos.
About the author
Alfred Jarry was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics.
Similar books
The Prada Plan
Ashley Antoinette
4.6
The Song of the Mockingbird
Mark McDonald
4.4
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Luo Guanzhong
4.4
The Summer We Got Free
Mia McKenzie
4.3
The Portable Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker
4.3
The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
4.3
The Thurber Carnival
James Thurber
4.2
To Dance with the White Dog
Terry Kay
4.2