Final answer:
The Theatre of the Absurd used irrational acts, spontaneity, and chance in plays to disrupt complacency and challenge the audience to confront the absurdity of human existence and the perceived pointlessness of life, especially in the aftermath of World War II.
Step-by-step explanation:
The plays referenced are characteristic of what's known as the Theatre of the Absurd. This post-World War II movement in European theatre aimed to make audiences face the profound absurdity and illogic that seemed to govern human existence, in light of the atrocities experienced during the war. Irrational acts sought to attack complacent society, while spontaneity and chance played significant roles in these works, often constructed around circular narratives to convey the sense of inescapability. These plays did not follow coherent logic, and sometimes introduced made up words meaning nothing, all to highlight the essential purposelessness and solitude of humanity in a content loaded universe that ultimately appears meaningless. By starkly presenting the absence of traditional narrative structures and expected meanings, these plays invigorated the audience to confront and question their own perceptions of reality and their societal roles. The purpose was to jar people from their complacency, which the creators of the Theatre of the Absurd deemed responsible for allowing the war to occur. By disrupting audiences' expectations and presenting them with the irrational, the movement strove to underscore the absence of any preordained meaning in life, encouraging personal liberation and a reevaluation of one's place in the world.