Summary
In the sixth scene of the play, the woman says that she believes the man would have had a more distinguished career if he had been better able to get along with other people. She comments that he quarreled with various superiors and added that he even had a fight with his own brother. The man mentions the things his brother said to anger him and his wife dismisses them as minor. She says again that he could have been someone of high status. They sit in silence.
In the following scene, the man continues to recall their trip to a garden, but struggles with the exact details. His memory seems to crumble, as he questions the weather and his purpose in visiting the place to begin with. His wife tries to remind him of various things about it, but eventually tells him not to overwork himself about it.
She then goes on to say that he is a strong communicator and that it is very important for him to share his message with the world. The man says he frequently has difficulty expressing himself. The woman responds by saying that he just needs to begin, as they both discover their ideas through talking and once he does so he will be able to share his brilliant thoughts. He makes up his mind to hire an orator.
She asks him who he has invited and he informs her that he has told a large number of people. They go through a lengthy list of the different occupations of the invitees. He says it will redeem all of his previous failures. She asks if this all won't end up being too taxing for them and he starts to pace around. He nearly leaves but then says it is too late for him to call it off. The woman admonishes him for being hasty.
The couple hears a boat and they answer the door for an invisible guest. This guest is supposedly a woman and they seem to take her things and guide her into the main room. They set her up with a chair.
From there, they begin a conversation, though this woman is still both unseen and unheard. Their exchange is bizarre and changes subjects multiple times abruptly. They discuss the weather, boats, and the man's work. The old woman also tries to get the man to tell their story from the previous evening, which he clearly does not wish to do.
Another guest arrives and the man goes to the door. This invisible guest is supposedly a colonel and trumpets greet his arrival. The man's manner becomes much more rigid and formal. He acts very deferentially to the colonel. The man introduces his wife to the colonel. The woman tries to tell the colonel about how impressive the man is, but he downplays her compliments and is clearly uncomfortable.
Analysis
One of the foremost themes of this section of the play is status. When the colonel supposedly appears at the door, the man's entire demeanor changes. He becomes much more formal and acts with a great deal of nervous courtesy toward the colonel. This appears to be largely career-motivated, as he hopes that his message will finally earn him the respect of his peers. At the same time, the seeming unreality of the colonel's presence (he is invisible) implies that the man has these concerns in a vacuum. Nothing he will say at the gathering will likely impact anyone's opinion of him, particularly if none of the guests appear to be real. Likewise, the man's wife immediately shifts into trying to ingratiate him with the colonel, saying that he has a prodigious intellect. They are both greatly concerned with raising his profile, even in the absence of real people.
Theatricality is another major aspect of this section of the play. The old man and woman essentially stage a play. He says he will deliver his message through the medium of an orator. They invite an audience. They even arrange a stage: their home. However, interestingly, Ionesco sets up this play-like atmosphere while also suggesting that it is extremely likely to fail. The man is nervous, the orator is absent, and the woman seems to believe they didn't have enough time to adequately prepare. By making this environment within the play, Ionesco seems to question theater's actual ability to portray the kind of truth the man claims to possess.
Absurdity is also a key theme in these scenes. When the woman arrives, the old man and woman take her things, sit her down in a chair, and begin talking with her, despite the fact that she is invisible. Similarly, when the colonel arrives, the man's whole demeanor shifts dramatically, but he too remains unseen by the audience. Ionesco accentuates the absurdity of these scenes to draw attention to the character's strange behavior and poke fun at their attempts to appear impressive to their guests.
Communication is another major part of this section. The man and woman have extremely strange conversations with the guests. They change subjects often and disagree on a number of things. The man repeatedly seems irritated by the woman's attempts to make him seem impressive to the guests. They fill the space with their commentary, but almost none of it is meaningful. Instead, they seem to talk to avoid the emptiness of silence.
All of this also appears to occur in isolation. Though the man has set out to make a dramatic spectacle for the audience, little appears to have actually changed between the scenes. The couple is still in an empty room with empty chairs.
