As with gender, you wouldn't necessarily think that love would be a big theme in a play about robots—who can't love. Or can they? That's kind of the big question in R.U.R. Early on, Helena is horribly upset to hear that robots can't love. And eventually, at the end, it seems that maybe they can, or that they've learned how, which turns them human. So, it's not that robots can't love because they are built in a factory and have no love chip. It's that "robot" is defined as a thing that can't love—when you love, you're a human. This arguably makes Domin a robot, since it's not clear he's got much sense of what love is all about. (We don't like Domin much. Did you notice?)
Questions About Love
- Does Domin love Helena? How can you tell?
- Does Domin love the robots? What parts of the play support your answer?
- Are love and sex separable in R.U.R.? What parts of the play support your answer?
Chew on This
Love saves the human race, because it ensures that life will go on at the end of the play.
No so fast there, hopeless romantics. Love dooms the human race, because it ensures that robots will rule the planet.