Samuel Beckett was influenced by the existential philosophies of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. His work is therefore defined by the consciousness that words are incapable of expressing the inner self and by the simultaneous acceptance of the fact that language is intrinsic to the human situation and thus not a removable element.
Beckett regards language as equivalent to the identity of self. In each of his plays, the scenes are woven with dialogues and signify in conjunction with another theatrical element on stage. Interaction via language is traditionally based on the principle of causality. This is seen especially in his Endgame and Waiting for Godot where a clutter of absurd conversations deconstruct certain existentialist themes in the play.
Table of Contents
Backdrop
Beckett usually employs a bleak atmosphere for his plays which have both to offer tragedy and comedy. Such employment of a dark, bleak atmosphere generally helps in bringing out absurdist themes like the misery of the human condition, especially when woven along with dialogues. Words enable the characters in Beckett’s plays to recover from their surroundings and misery.
Samuel Beckett’s Language And Style: Disjunction
The disjunctive words are a characteristic feature of Beckett’s plays and are a post-modern approach to showcase the disjunctive, brokenness of life that was inherent in the post world war period. The misery and absurdity surrounding man were profound and there seemed to be no end to suffering. This is exactly what Beckett tries to capture in his plays.
Good instances of this is his play Waiting for Godot where words seem to carry away Vladimir and Estragon from the painful knowledge that their existence is bound by Godot’s and words enable them to recover from the difference.
Aspasia Velissariou rightly notes- “words enable them to recover from the consciousness of their difference from Godot at the moment of their utterance but their sense of difference cannot be removed because it is intrinsic to the very language they employ woven into their very being” [Language in Waiting for Godot]
Missing Coherence
Therefore the casual linking of dialogues that could be found in any other play is missing in Beckett’s world. This can be seen in Endgame as well as readers often find it difficult to make sense of Hamm and Clov’s dialogues. Even Vladimir and Estragon’s language seems to be like unrelated monologues. Noticeably this unrelated dialogue, and illogical conversations bring out the misery of the human condition and the perpetual suffering the characters are destined to.
Dialogues Entailing Death
Dialogues that Beckett uses often entail conversations on death. This can be seen in Endgame as when Clov finds a telescope Hamm asks him to put it in his coffin. Similarly in Waiting for Godot Vladimir and Estragon often talks about hanging themselves from a tree after being tired of waiting incessantly. Beckett successfully brings out with his writing style that death is preferable to suffering.
Iteration, Silences and Pauses
Iteration of dialogues is a characteristic of Beckett’s plays, especially in Waiting for Godot and this gives them the illusion of being happy. Frequently interjected by silences and pauses, these iterations represent the loop of suffering and of time in which the characters are caught.
In Krapp’s Last Tape Krapp’s pauses, silences and hesitation tend to function like ellipsis and indicate the suppression of thought, words and ideas. Silence in such cases acts like a catalyst to speech, breaking the continuity of words and conveying meaning in its totality.
Stichomythia
Not only is Beckett’s world replete with iteration, but it also consists of stichomythia which in drama is a dialogue consisting of single lines spoken alternately by two characters. In Beckett, stichomythia elevates prose to the level of poetry but does not glorify language. It instead deconstructs language and institutions which he mocks in his dialogues and by using rhythmic stichomythia, Beckett draws our attention to the “new order of artistic reality”.
Monologues
Monologues are intrinsic to Beckett’s plays. A good instance of such a monologue can be seen in Waiting for Godot where Lucky’s speech disconnects and broaches various subjects from their spinal cord, which is the point of convergence and presents them to the readers for them to scrutinize it. Fragments and repeated parts of his speech reflect the linguistic chaos which results from the ‘absolute absence of the absolute’.
His speech starts with a hypothetical statement about the existence of a personal god living in divine ‘apathia’. This personal god loves us with some exceptions but does not communicate with u and finally condemns us for reasons unknown. Beckett also uses monologue to show the breakdown of language in Krapp’s Last Tape and the characters’ alienation from others due to the lack of interaction among the characters.
Numerous monologues within the play tell us the characters’ inability to maintain a conversation because of their egocentricity, which becomes a reason why people just want to express their own thoughts and do not pay attention to others’ discourses. That is also why they must repeat their questions several times before they can get answers. “Through monologue, Beckett uses the technique of the stream-of-consciousness to attack the audience’s sense of time, place, and order,” says Su-Lien Liao.
FAQs
What is the main feature of Beckett’s language?
Beckett’s language involves repetitions, disjunctions, and monologues and is linear in the progression of action. The disjunctive words are a characteristic feature of Beckett’s plays and are a post-modern approach to showcase the disjunctive, brokenness of life that was inherent in the post world war period.
What is the style of Waiting for Godot?
Characterized by a bleak atmosphere, Waiting for Godot displays similar repetitions of dialogues and seems to be regularly thwarted by their abrupt pauses and silences.
What is the language in Waiting for Godot?
Words enable the characters in Beckett’s plays to recover from their surroundings and misery. Iteration and abrupt pauses help to convey meaning in their totality in Waiting for Godot.
What are the chief characteristics of Beckett’s work?
Beckett ventures to portray through a bleak presentation of language and characters, the absurdity of the human condition and the perpetual loop of suffering that human beings are destined to.