The Great Dante
This class has given me my first opportunity to
read Samuel Beckett, and he appears to be a Symbolist. He lies somewhere in
between Romanticism and Realism. Beckett romanticizes about actions or objects
that are realist, or boring and disgusting actions or objects. Also, his
descriptions of the mundane are unreasonably thorough, especially in “Dante and
the Lobster.” Beckett describes making toast for almost three pages. Although
thorough, his descriptions are necessary and funny, in my opinion. One example
is the flat character, Mlle. Glain.
When introduced, her character dominates every
sentence. “Sounds of conflict were borne in from the hall. Then silence. A
knuckle tambourined on the door, it flew open and lo it was Mlle. Glain, the
French instructress, clutching her cat, her eyes out on stalks, in a state of
the greatest agitation” (85). From this small passage, the reader gathers that
Mlle. Glain is loud, “sounds of conflict;” over excessive, “knuckle
tambourined;” dramatic, “flew open…eyes out on stalks;” and a crazy cat lady,
“clutching her cat.” The reader also becomes aware of the fact that she speaks
French, because Beckett utilizes this attribute to describe her entire being.
“Mlle. Glain took a French step forward” (86).
The Crazy Cat Lady
Another quirk of Mlle.
Glain that remains for us to discover is her ability to be nosy and humble at
the same time. She barges into the Italian room to question Belacqua about a
situation she has already prevented. Belacqua responds “fish”because he does
not know the French word for “lobster.” “He did not know the French for
lobster. Fish would do very well. Fish had been good enough for Jesus Christ,
Son of God, Saviour. It was good enough for Mlle. Glain” (86). What a hilarious
way to state that she accepted his answer! Beckett has created a flat character
with dimensions that can only be described as ridiculous and hilarious.
Lobster
The Dancing Lobsters We All Hallucinate About
Why do you think he created a such a character whose only attributes are absurdity and ridiculousness? I really liked whoever drew comparison between Beckett and Camus last week; Beckett revels in the absurd, especially in More Pricks than Kicks, which, to me, speaks volumes as to how his work progresses. He simultaneously strips away and relishes that which is absurd, creating a sort of feedback loop that is extremely difficult to break.
ReplyDelete