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Terms
“Raptus” (rapture) is an outdated, little-used psychological term for a sudden psychotic episode that leads someone to commit suicide . In Fo’s play, the police blame the anarchist’s death on a “raptus”—by which they mean that the anarchist randomly committed suicide, and there is no explanation for it. Fo uses this explanation to mock the policemen’s corruption and unimaginativeness.
Raptus Quotes in Accidental Death of an Anarchist
The Accidental Death of an Anarchist quotes below are all either spoken by Raptus or refer to Raptus. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 2
Quotes
MANIAC: What imaginations! Is it any wonder with your incredible inventions battering him from all sides that the suspect is seized with the most enormous raptus and launches himself into space? I’ll be frank. You two are done for. You will be charged forthwith with instigating this man to commit suicide.
Both protest.
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PISSANI: He’s right!
He climbs onto the window sill.
PISSANI: I can’t bear the disgrace! Famiglia, pardona me!
SUPERINTENDENT: No! No! No! There has to be another way!
MANIAC: Can’t you feel the raptus boiling up inside you?
PISSANI: Oh oh oooh.
Swaying there, about to jump.
MANIAC: One great liberating leap!
SUPERINTENDENT: (Suddenly) I’ve got it! Don’t panic! I’ve got it!
PISSANI: If I want to panic, I’ll panic! I’m going!
As he leaps the SUPERINTENDENT grabs him and pulls him back in.
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Get the entire Accidental Death of an Anarchist LitChart as a printable PDF.
Raptus Term Timeline in Accidental Death of an Anarchist
The timeline below shows where the term Raptus appears in Accidental Death of an Anarchist. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 2
...Superintendent wrote that the man jumped out the window when he was “seized by a ‘raptus’”—or a sudden fit of suicidal anxiety. The Maniac asks the policemen to reenact the interrogation,...
(full context)
...and Second Constable point at Pissani, who takes the blame. The transcript blames the anarchist’s “raptus” on his fear of getting fired, so the Maniac asks who threatened to get him...
(full context)
...a lie, too. The Maniac says that the Superintendent and Pissani clearly caused the anarchist’s raptus and that he will charge them with instigating the man’s suicide. At the Superintendent and...
(full context)
...happy and stress-free by the end of the interview. The Maniac asks where the man’s “raptus” came from, in this case.
(full context)
