Marin Sorescu, Paracliserul: iter perfectionis

Our study aims to reveal the most significant aspects of Marin Sorescu’s drama Paracliserul (The Verger) (1970). We point out that the hero’s ambiguous status in the forgotten cathedral is to be considered an iter perfectionis through an incomprehensible maze that life itself is. The existence the verger has to face is empty and shallow. The hero will ultimately find a significance of the world he lives in through his own exemplary struggle. The verger will overcome several essential obstacles along his originator spiritual path: the solitude, the in-existence or the taciturnity of God, the nonsense of his journey and the absurdity of life itself, the apprehension of the unbeknown the Reaper implies, the reason and purport of birth, life and death, the awareness of his own inherent sacrifice. There are three main aspects that support the verger throughout his spiritual journey: the firm belief that he will ultimately achieve the end of his struggle, thus completing the unfinished work of his predecessors; the continuous dialogue with himself, thus trying to become the master of his own destiny; the irony and self-irony, thus doing his best to maintain his objective, critical approach to the absurdity of life, tender the anxiety or horror and keep an optimistic vision. The suicide at the end of the voyage is however a problems solution.