Title: R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)
Author: Karel Čapek
Date of First Publication: 1920
Place of Publication: Aventinum (Prague, Czechoslovak Republic)
First Staging: Prague, 21 January 1921; English language premiere, Garrick Theater (New York, NY), October 1922
Bibliographic Reference: Abrash, Merritt (1991). “R.U.R. Restored and Reconsidered”. 32 (2). Extrapolation: 185–192.
Type: Play
Keywords: ANDROID; POSTHUMAN; BYRONIC HERO; FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; RACE and POLITICS
Critical Summary: Rossum’s Universal Robots manufactures robots for manual labor. Helen thinks the robots are inherently sentient and believes they should rebel. However, after a lengthy discussion on the origins of the robots, Domin, the new director of the factory, asks Helen her hand in marriage. Ten years later, humans have stopped reproducing and the robots rebel. Helen burns the formula to make robots, so production would cease. The remaining humans, Helen, Domin, and other parties who help run the company, barricade themselves from the incoming robots. During this moment, all of them regret their involvement in perpetuating the reproduction of robots as slave labor, although when death stares them down, they retract their guilt and defend the milestone of creating an Eden for humanity, momentarily.
One by one, the robots picks off the last of the human characters. The robots keep the lone, human survivor, Alquist, as a prisoner in hopes of reproducing more robots. Unfortunately, the formula had been forgotten and cannot be recollected since Alquist insists he’s not a scientist. In the end, Alquist is at peace that the humans’ era has ended and that two particular robots, Primus—an experimental model—and Helena—a robotess made in Helen’s image—have learned the virtue of sacrifice and love for each other, reviving the hopes for natural reproduction.
Like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, generational struggle between a father and son underlie the creation of new life. R.U.R. begins with the origin story of the company and the robots it produces. Domin tells Helen that the concept of recreating the human form began with old Rossum, a mad scientist who wanted to recreate like and dethrone any concept of a higher power. His son, referred to as young Rossum, wanted to make money. He didn’t waste time or effort to recreate the human soul, wanting workers instead. Either way, they both desired a form of power, the same way Dr. Frankenstein did. In R.U.R., young Rossum locked his father away, allowing him to play aimlessly with his experiments.
Young Rossum’s robots are successors to the concept of Frankenstein’s Creature: the mass-produced monster. They are made for work and there are thousands of them. With the robots created solely for cheap labor, they are, at first, devoid of a soul. This idea of robots being a mass-produced version of the Creature gains greater depth with the way the robots die and the manner in which they fear extinction. The robots malfunction and destroy themselves, unlike Frankenstein’s monster, who is seemingly indestructible. As for continuing the legacy of the robots, Alquist, the remaining human, finds solace in knowing that life will continue, even at the cost of humanity. This ending juxtaposes the miserable end to Frankenstein and his Creature.
Administrative Notes: J.D. Mayfield, CSUF.