In the citation for his Nobel award, the Swedish Academy praised Dario Fo for “opening our eyes to the abuses and injustices
in society…” According to Dario Fo, “the magistracy and the police… are the most overt expressions of the
bourgeois state, of the class enemy to be fought.”
The play is based on the bombing incident in Milan on 12th December 1969. The play mocks state’s insistence on secrecy and abuse of power. The play’s protagonist, Madman is the chief instrument towards making fun of the state. The Madman’s various disguises mock the authority and authenticity of positions of power. He destroys the façade of state and exposes to the audience/ readers how state requires numerous conspiracies, manipulations and masquerades in order to maintain its abusive power structure.
The Madman’s role playing enables him to direct the police officers. With clever wit and improvisation he re- opens the case of the death of the
anarchist, and subtly and ingeniously draw out the truth from the police. He uses Police’s technique of confusing and thus extracting confessions, against them. The Madman abuses authority but uses its laws to secure himself, emphasizing the hypocrisy of these rules/ laws and their blatant misuse by the people in power. He fully utilizes his status of ‘certified’ mad. He manipulates and plays everyone around him while staying safe in his security circle of being mad.
The Madman’s arbitrary nature mirrors the arbitrariness of the bourgeois state. His whimsical dismissal of certain criminals and branding others as ‘real bastards’ in act one, scene one, critiques the manner of deliverance of justice by the old, almost senile, judges. It comments on the absolute judgment passed by the courts. In a bourgeois democracy, the judicial system often overlooks or disregards reason under the pretext of impartiality.
The Madman also raises the issue of politics of knowledge. He claims he is a ‘trained’ psychiatrist as he has been to sixteen different mental hospitals. His knowledge comes from first hand experience. Although the madman may appear absurd he is not completely without sense. The Madman’s claim questions the education system of bourgeois society, where degree is valued more than knowledge.
The character of Madman exposes various myths and demons of bourgeois society. The democracy in a bourgeois society is not real but illusionary. It does not uphold the interests of the masses but only of the rich and the powerful. Through Madman, Fo is trying to deconstruct various abstract ideals that the people have internalized. In a very subtle way, the Madman deconstructs the illusion of public opinion in a democracy. It is not difficult for the ruling class/ party to control various state networks such as the church, the media and education. Thus the so- called public opinion is in fact an opinion of the few who are able to force their point of view on others. State’s practice of fabrication and deceits is also exposed in the play in order to break the false image of state as benevolent and humane institution.
According to T.H. Marshall, the state- citizen relationship primarily works on two levels. On the first level the state provides its citizens with security but only in return of allegiance and loyalty from the citizens. On the second level, in return of taxes, etc the state grants civil, political and social rights to its citizens. This meticulous relation between the State and the people is highlighted by the Madman in Accidental Death of an Anarchist. The state is not attached to the people on humanitarian level. The relation between the state and the people in a bourgeois society is that of social contract. The state uses various kinds of lies, deceptions, myths and illusions to maintain its authority.
Through out the play, Fo uses Madman to highlight the various malpractices, corruption and the network of lies prevalent in various positions of power. He has applied exaggeration, caricature, melodrama, ludicrous situations, etc in Accidental Death of an Anarchist giving it a shape of political farce.
The Madman is an indispensable tool in this ‘instrument for political struggle’.
Fo’s Madman unabashedly accepts his madness and arbitrariness and clearly draws comparison with the institutions of authority. He says, “I want to judge, condemn, repress, persecute. Infact, we are one and same inspector.” Madman’s madness is characterized by his whimsical attitude and ironically, the various ‘rational’ excuses that he provides to free himself of the charges of impersonating and ‘fraudulent representation’- he plays with the rules of grammar to prove his point. Still he appears comparatively saner as he seems to be acting upon objective realities/ reason. He might be a ‘certified’ mad and act like a buffoon but he talks sense i.e. his outward appearance is not the absolute truth. Similarly, the state may appear to be benevolent but at its core it is arbitrary. The state tries to conceal the truth by the means of hypocrisy, facades, distortions, etc. The Madman can also be seen as the alter- ego of the police- their subconscious- as the Madman lay bare their guilt of lying, manipulation and the fear of exposure.