Oh, Krapp!

Krapp’s Last Tape amazes me as we continue to discuss it. The play is relatively short, yet the performance we watched was fifty eight minutes long. Because the reading is short, I troubled over what to blog about, but our exercise on Wednesday helped me.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was how Krapp’s name resembles the English word for shit, or crap. I believe that Beckett did this on purpose, especially when the tape monologues about how the light allows the darkness to accentuate Krapp.

The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness round me I feel less alone. [Pause.] In a way. [Pause.] I love to get up and move about in it, then back here to [hesitates]…me. [Pause.] Krapp (219).

Because Krapp already names himself in the previous sentence as “me,” so his name at the end sounds exactly like he is saying “crap.” For example: “I love to get up and move about in it, then back here to…me. Oh, crap.” His name at the end remains unnecessary and resembles exasperation as if he was cursing.

An "Oh, Crap! Moment

Beckett writes astonishingly because of his nouns and verbs. In the above excerpt, the strong sentences are “I feel” and “I love.” In class, we practiced this exercise of strong noun-verb sentences, and mine are not quite as sophisticated as everyone else’s in the class, but here they are.

            The floor boards surrender to Krapp’s feet.

            The rain falls in the background of the darkness.

            The desk, chair, spool, and box reflect the age of the old man.

            The memory of her causes him to cry tears of burning fire.

            He slips on the banana peel, curses, then drinks alcohol.

            He bitches about the bitch he once screwed with the moving earth, touching her thighs,

drinking to remember, and drinking to forget.