Reza’s “God of Carnage” is a play set in modern day Paris that entails a meeting between two middle class couples, the Vallons and the Reilles, after their children get into a physical altercation with each other. Reza explores the “bourgeois respectability” ideals that both the couples share and strive to maintain throughout the play by focusing on the artificial facades put up by them and the performative element in their interactions.The play is centered around the dynamics between the characters, especially Annette and the others, as their ever changing quality leads to conflict throughout the play. As the play is set in one of the couples’ home, the staging and the props become a defining feature and greatly contribute to these shifting dynamics. Reza illustrates the breakdown of the facades and the solidarity that exists between Anette and the others at various points in the play through the use of tulips as a prop, amongst others, to showcase her physically destructive nature and her questionable moral code.
At the beginning of the play, Reza presents Annette as an affable and courteous woman who is genuinely concerned about solving the situation peacefully, by presenting Annette’s attempts at befriending the Vallons through the use of the tulips and staging, alongside others, in order to showcase her apparent co-operative nature and values, ideas she is not able to maintain for long. Annette’s remark to Veronique, “Those tulips are gorgeous.” exemplifies the efforts that Annette puts in to befriend the Vallons, which could be a signifier of her friendly nature. However, this remark can also be representative of Annette’s shallow mentality, because of which she tries to develop an urgent allegiance with Veronique to solve the crisis as soon as she can without really understanding the gravity of the situation. Reza’s use of the tulips here demonstrates the initial facade of friendliness that Annette revels in. Nevertheless, the pressure of maintaining this facade gets to Annette quite soon as Alain becomes absorbed in his phone calls and the others remain fundamentally opposed to her. She starts to panic and pace the room which creates a very tense dynamic between the characters due to the small scale stage. Some time later, she vomits on Veronique’s art books after which Veronique reveals her true face by focusing all her attention on the books and exclaiming how the books were invaluable because they“ went out of print years ago” . Perhaps instigated by this reaction and realising that she cannot hold up the facade forever, Annette declares that Ferdinand wouldn’t have injured their child “without a reason” thereby adding to the uneasy dynamic between her and Veronique. Her initial amiable nature thus disappears and is replaced by her true self. The use of the art books by Reza contribute to the breakdown of Annette’s inhibitions by breaking down Veronique’s.The situation here truly represents Annette’s duplicitous nature, which shows itself with the slightest provocation.
The use of one of the couples’ home by Reza as the stage creates a claustrophobic environment which helps the audience notice the dynamic shifts brought about by Annette’s changed demeanor when she returns after cleaning up, showing how she does not have the sense of morality she pretends to possess. The most significant instance where this idea is displayed is when Michel implies that their son’s reference to the Reilles’ son as grass may have been justified. Annette’s response that theirs “ is as well” is a direct result of the flaring tensions that were arising between her and Michel due to being stuck in the small room for an extended period of time. This meaningless bickering also marks Annette’s weak moral code as it demonstrates how she is willing to insult someone else’s child in a tough situation which signifies how she can stoop very low when pressured. The development of this uneasy dynamic between her and Michel reveals how they are quite like children themselves, who argue aimlessly and in an unreasonable manner. Later, Annette’s remark that Michel “murdered the hamster” hints at the return of the facade that Annette had revelled in at the beginning of the play. Perhaps, she was trying to put it up again and claim moral superiority over the other characters. Nevertheless, this comment furthers the conflict between her and Michel.Here, Veronique agrees with her and reprimands Michel. At this moment, a brief allegiance forms between Annette and her over their shared disgust at what Michel did. For a brief moment, the dynamics shift pitts the women against Michel, but even as the women claim moral superiority, they aren’t any better than him. Reza’s careful use of the staging creates an environment that builds up tension and induces feelings of entrapment due to which the characters all reveal their true selves.
Towards the end of the play, Reza makes use of the alcohol to break down Annette’s inhibitions which lead her to revealing who she truly allies with and what she actually understands about the entire situation, which ultimately illustrate the significant changes that Annette’s personality goes through and the emergence of her actual nature. After drinking the rum, Annette seems to have lost all her reservations and begins to react impulsively. Reza uses the alcohol to portray Annette’s destructive side as she throws her husband’s phone in the vase of tulips exclaiming, “So there” after being infuriated due to his constant phone calls. This incident reveals her hypocritical nature as Veronique and her were the ones arguing with Michel over the hamster’s death, an incident seen as a huge act of cruelty by them. Alongside, her casual dismissal of the matter, as she and Veronique go about laughing at Alain alludes to how she behaves like a child in tense situations. This incident breaks up the familial allegiance that existed between the couples, and momentarily, it is the men against the women. However, this does not last long as Reza presents the final straw that breaks down all the false respectability ideals that the characters pretend to posses by Annette’s remark, “That’s what I think of your pathetic flowers.” to Veronique and Michel ,after tearing up the tulips, which contrasts strongly against what she had said at the beginning. By showing how Annette had put up a facade in the beginning where she appeared to be very agreeable, Reza comments on all the false image that all the characters hold up, as they all shared very similar ideals of “bourgeois respectability. At the end of the play, the character allegiances are back to square one, with the couples pitted against each other. Ultimately, the readers are able to discern that Annette aligned herself with whoever agreed with her at that specific moment in time, not who was morally right. She also did not care about doing something to solve the situation, she just wanted a “quick fix”.
To conclude, it is apparent that one of the central themes in The God of Carnage is the hypocritical nature of the characters and their weak moral values, exemplified here by Annette’s character. Annette’s breakdown is caused by the lack of support that she receives by her husband due to his emotional unavailability and the lack of empathy that she receives from the others. Her breakdown shows us how facades can only be maintained for so long and that these “ideals of respectability” are of no use since all they do is build up an artificial exterior that cannot even resolve a conflict between children. Reza also makes a strong comment on the inherent nature of human beings to be unreasonable in tense situations and act like children, through the strategic use of the props and staging to aid in creating a pressurising environment that the characters have to interact in.