R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

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R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) is a science fiction play by Karel Čapek. It premiered in 1921 and is famous for having introduced and popularized the term robot.

1 Overview
2 The Origin of the Word 'Robot'
3 Characters in R.U.R.
4 Robots in R.U.R
5 Plot of R.U.R.
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Overview

The play begins in a factory that makes 'artificial people' - they are called robots, but are closer to the modern idea of androids or even clones, creatures who can be mistaken for humans. They can plainly think for themselves, though they seem happy to serve. At issue is whether the "robots" are being exploited and, if so, what follows?

The play premiered in Prague in 1921. It was translated from the Czech into English by Paul Selver, and adapted for the English stage by Nigel Playfair in 1923. Basil Dean produced it in April 1923 for the Reandean Company at St. Martin's Theatre, London.

After having finished the manuscript, Čapek realized that he had created a modern version of the old Golem legend. He later took a different approach to the same theme in War with the Newts, in which non-humans become a servant class in human society.

R.U.R is dark, but not hopeless, and was successful in its day in both Europe and the United States.

A more modern (1990) translation in English is available in Toward the Radical Center: A Karel Čapek Reader, published by Catbird Press.

In February 1938, a thirty-five minute adaptation of a section of the play was broadcast on BBC Television—the first piece of television science-fiction ever to be produced. In 1948, another adaptation - this time of the entire play and running to ninety minutes - was screened by the BBC, and in between in 1941 BBC radio had also produced a radio play version. None of these three productions survive in the BBC's archives.

The Hollywood Theater of the Ear dramatized an unabridged audio version of R.U.R. which is available on the collection 2000x: Tales of the Next Millenia {ISBN 1-57453-556-0}.

[edit] The Origin of the Word 'Robot'

The play introduced the word Robot, which displaced older words such as "automaton" or "android" in languages around the world. (In an article in Lidové noviny, Karel Čapek named his brother Josef as the true inventor of the word. [1]) It is noteworthy that, in Čapek's text, "Robot" is always capitalized, which suggests that Čapek envisioned them to be a distinct race of nationality in the world of his play. In its original Czech, robota means drudgery or servitude. The name Rossum is an allusion to the Czech word rozum, meaning "reason", "wisdom", or "intellect". (It has been suggested that the allusion might be preserved by translating "Rossum" as "Reason", but all published translations to date have left the name untouched.)

[edit] Characters in R.U.R.

Parenthesis indicate differences in translations.

Humans

Harry Domin (Domain) - General Manager, R.U.R.
Fabry - Chief Engineer, R.U.R.
Dr. Gall - Head of the Physiological Dept, R.U.R.
Dr. Hellman (Hallemeier) - Psychologist-in-Chief
Jacob Berman (Busman) - Managing Director, R.U.R.
Alquist - Clerk of the Works, R.U.R.
Helena Glory - president of the Humanity League, daughter of President Glory
Emma (Nana) - Helena's maid

Robots and Robotesses [sic]

Marius, a robot
Sulla, a robotess
Radius, a robot
Primus, a robot
Helena, a robotess

[edit] Robots in R.U.R

The Robots described in the play are not robots in the modern sense. Rossum's robots are biological creations engineered in the same fashion as Frankenstein's creature as described by Mary Shelley. They are biological entities that have skin mixed in a vat, and their nerves and digestive tracts spun on spindles, and are then assembled like automobiles. In a limited sense, they resemble more modern conceptions of man-made life forms (such as the Replicants in Blade Runner, and the Cylons in the new Battlestar Gallactica), but there was in Čapek's time no conception of modern genetic engineering. Čapek's Robots are biological machines, but they are still assembled, as opposed to be grown or born.

[edit] Plot of R.U.R.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Prologue

Helena, the daughter of the president of a major industrial power, arrives at the island factory of Rossum's Universal Robots. She meets Domin, the General Manager of R.U.R., who tells her the history of the company and the robot technology, and the basics of economics which generate the demand for labor. Helena meets Fabry, Dr.Gall, Alquist, and Hallemeier, and reveals she is a representative of the League of Humanity, a human rights organisation which wishes to "free" the robots. She is then convinced of the irrelevance of such an organization to robots. Domin and Helena are engaged to be married.

Act One

Ten years later, Helena and her nurse Nana are talking about current events. Helena and Domin reminisce about the day they met, and summarize the last ten years of world history as shaped by the new worldwide robot-based economy. Helena meets Dr Gall's new robot experiment, Radius, and Dr Gall describes his experimental robotess, Robot Helena. In secret, Helena burns the secret formula required to create robots. All the characters are present when they hear the news that the entire robot population of the world is revolting against their human masters.

Act Two

Robot forces lay siege to the factory. Helena reveals she has burnt the formula. The characters lament the end of civilization. Robots storm the factory and kill all the characters except for Alquist.

Act Three

Years have passed and all humans have been killed by the robot government except for Alquist, who has been ordered to recreate the formula to make robots. Because he is not a scientist, he has not made any progress. Officials from the robot government approach Alquist and first order and then beg him to complete the formula. Robots Primus and Helena fall in love, and Alquist realizes they are the robot Adam and Eve.