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CREATION OF CRUELTY
purpose of rites of passage is to facilitate and secure a change of state, the
process of which can be divided into three phases: the ritual of separation
from the earlier world is preliminal; the ritual along the boundaries is liminal;
and the ritual of entering into the new world is called the postliminal rite.”
This schema is further developed by Victor Turner, who explores the main
features of each section. The definitions of the preliminal and postliminal
phases in this respect are not hard to define: the former means the separation
of an individual from his former social status, and the latter entails integra¬
tion into a new state. However, the liminal phase is more complex than the
other two: it lacks any specific classification; the participants (the “travelers”)
are neither here nor there, they have no valid status, they no longer have
the former and have not yet reached the latter. Another important feature of
liminality is that it is often created following a “prophetic fracture,” that is,
a situation where the seemingly fundamental social values lose their former
status and ability to act as axioms of social behavior. At the same time, order
breaks down, as a result of which the former structure falls apart; but it is the
loosening of these conditions that can lead to the highest state of the self — the
all-pervasive gnosis. Liminality in this sense carries the possibility of com¬
munitas, a just relationship, in which people can shed their previous selves to
come together as purified human beings.”
WHO’s AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLE? —
THE BEGINNING OF THE SPLIT
The preliminal phase of the play in this sense begins with the first mention of
the child: the disclosure of the secret is a violation of the rules of the game,
the rules which ensured the existence of the previous order of appearances.
However, it is important to note that this is valid only within the relationship
of George and Martha, since it is a secret that does not extend to their wider
circles. In this approach, therefore, it is necessary to speak of a structure that
is relatively narrow in scope and is based on the silence of the couple; its op¬
erating principle is nevertheless the same as larger social structures: the rules
of its sustainability are accepted and observed by everyone. Martha, however,
by merging reality and illusion, causes this fragmentation to emerge, thus
marking the starting point for their rite of passage:
Arnold van Gennep: Atmeneti ritusok, trans. Zoltan Vargyas, Budapest, L Harmattan, 2007,
49, 55.
Victor Turner: Átmenetek, határok és szegénység: a communitas vallási szimbólumai, in
Paul Bohannan — Mark Glazer (eds.): Mérföldkövek a kulturális antropológiában, Budapest,
Panem, 2006, 673, 675, 689-695, 698.
* 121°