Marcel: The playwright philosopher

Renascence, Spring 2003 by Hanley, Katharine Rose

In his essay, "Presence and Immortality," originally entitled "Existential Premises of Immortality" (1951), Marcel critically examines the nature and also the conditions of possibility for the occurrence of presence of loved ones after death. He points out that although physical proximity and physical communication are usually linked to presence, they are not essential nor do they cause presence. Someone physically close can be distant and closed, more removed than someone miles away and the words spoken scrambled and thrown back unrecognizable.26

Marcel counsels that one must let go of covetous desire for "having" and generously let the other be in a transformed mode. As the other continues to exist, a "we" or an "us" also continues. For to live is to be active in the lives of loved ones. So the essential conditions for the occurrence of interpersonal presence of a loved one from beyond death are similar to those of any genuine interpersonal presence. Thus, if a survivor (one who lives after the one who has died) remains open and permeable, and invokes the presence of the loved one from beyond death, that survivor can experience the presence of the deceased by way of inwardness and depth. It does not depend upon the survivor to summon forth the one who has died. Presence occurs as an other-authored gift that is gratuitously conferred. And whenever presence occurs, its signal benefit is an incitement to create.27 What is summarized here, in general terms, Marcel explores sensitively and concretely in drama and through carefully reasoned analysis in his philosophic essays. It is also noteworthy that Marcel highlights the main lines of this most cherished theme when presenting it in Le Divertissement Posthume (1923, The Posthumous Joke), a satirical farce. The path Marcel cleared for experiencing the presence of loved ones from beyond death also opened up for him a path toward encountering a transcendent God as an absolute thou present for him.

As Marcel's dramatic and philosophic work progressed, he continued to develop his thought on interpersonal relations. Some themes first appeared in "Concrete Approaches to Investigating the Ontological Mystery," and later clarifications deepened and enriched the meaning of these themes. New situations and particular invitations to give talks often sparked clarifications that later appeared as essays or chapters published principally in Creative Fidelity (1940), Homo Viator: An Introduction to a Metaphysic of Hope (1941-43), and The Existential Background of Human Dignity (1963).28

An ideal approach toward showing the continuity between drama and philosophy and complementary contributions in clarifying recurrent themes would be to summarize the characters and action of each play and then indicate the philosophic analysis and interpretation given in later philosophic essays.29 However, the limits of this article allow for only abbreviated summaries.

The theme of self-deception and deception of others and possible opening onto a light of truth occurs notably in several plays. In The Broken World, Christiane's attempt to lose herself in diversions and superficial relations to avoid being in touch with her true self reveals a self-deception and a deception of others. Genevieve's revelation that she knows of Christiane's heartache moves her to accept herself now in a light of truth. In "My Fundamental Purpose" Marcel remarked that the less we eclipse ourselves from others the more we are able to see ourselves and live in a light of truth.30 The passage from self-deception and deception of others to living in a light of truth enables Christiane to establish, beginning with her husband Lawrence, authentic interpersonal relationships. The action in The Lantern shows Raymond's passage from resentment, of his suffering from his parents' divorce, to his opening, in the light of truth, in deciding how he chooses to live his life and conduct his interpersonal relations in ways that will last.