The Portrayal of Existentialism Within Becketts Play, Rockaby Essay Example for Free

The Portrayal of existential philosophy indoors Becketts Play, Rockaby EssayThe Portrayal of existentialist philosophy Within Becketts Play, Rockaby Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. crush again. Fail better. The words of Samuel Beckett, from his short-change Worstward Ho, written in 1983, echo the ideals and philosophies behind absurdist theatre and Existentialism. Created in the wee 1950s, absurdist theatre rejects the conventional techniques of theatre in favour of strange and absurd conventions in order to micturate an impact and impression, and largess the worldview of Existentialism to an audience through an artistic medium. Absurdism is influenced by the Existentialist worldview, especially the model of human cosmos preceding any essence in heart. Absurdist playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Jean Genet, present a distorted view of humanity in their plays, through their own worldview which echoes the tenets of Existentialism. Samuel Becketts play, Rockaby, is one such play that incorporates non-? realist (absurd) theatre techniques to accentuate the existential worldview. Beckett effectively manipulates the Dramatic Languages and Elements of absurdist, non-? linear recitation, symbolism and vocalize, to demonstrate Existentialism through an artistic illustration of the worldview.Beckett effectively exploits the technique of absurdist, non-? linear narrative to accentuate the philosophy of Existentialism within Rockaby. One of the most common quotes apply to explain Existentialism is existence precedes essence. This phrase kitty be translated into the picture of not knowing anything somewhat the past or in store(predicate), but just being existence comes before any meaning of animateness interpreted from knowledge of historic or future rasets. The technique of non-? linear narrative, used within Rockaby, expresses this precept perfectly in dramatic terms.Absurdist, Non-? linear narrative is utilised through the street arab, repetitive nature of the script a technique that play ups the existentialists view of life as nonsense(prenominal) and the repetitious passing of time postponement for death. Furthermore, this circular narrative provides no beginning or end, emphasising the existential belief of existence coming before any meaning of life, including both knowledge of narration as well as future (beginning and end). The play begins with the word more. There is no context, no understanding of what has happened or is about to happen. The cleaning lady just appears, says more, then the play begins.This continues in from each one of the four sections, beginning with more, and ending with silence, broken only by the next more. This circular motion highlights the meaningless state of life, and the absurdity of existent only to wait until death. The circular narrative is s in that it still develops and evolves, with the narrative progressing from sitting at a wind ow, to drawing the blinds, to moving raft the stairs, to waiting in the rocking result for death, to dying.though this does not perfectly follow a circular narrative, it still does highlight Existential belief that life is meaningless, useless and absurd, that the only choice we have in a meaningless life is to exercise our minds, to understand our absurdity and therefore become responsible for our own existence.The play begins with the cleaning lady sitting at the window, look foring the outside world for another standardized herself another who can pee her meaning and prove her existence. This action in itself is an exercise of her mind. However, her standards drop later in the play and her psychic stimulation grows less, as she becomes content just to see movement within one of the windows opposite hers as proof of the existence of another life, and therefore creating meaning in her own life. Upon the realization it was time she stop this searching in vain, she closes the blind (a symbol of death) beforedescending both literally and emotionally to her rocking chair, where she sits and waits for death. Though the narrative is somewhat circular, it still conveys a story of the muliebritys original searching for meaning, a realisation of her absurdity and isolation in a meaningless world, her acceptance of the absurdity, and her resolve to wait for death. through with(predicate) this use of absurdist narrative, Beckett brings out the philosophy of Existentialism stronger than through any of the other dramatic techniques he incorporates.In a similar way, Samuel Beckett incorporates symbolism within Rockaby to effectively present the worldview of Existentialism to the audience. One of the most epoch-making principles within Existentialism maintains the belief that life is meaningless, useless and absurd, and that humans live to die and evaporate into malarkey in an empty, meaningless universe. The focus subject in the play, W, and her actions, argon used to convey this belief to the audience.One of the first, most obvious uses of symbolism is within the costume choices. Becketts 1984 notes on the play, as produce in the Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett, argon very particular in describing what sort of gown should be half-hearted Black lacy high-? necked Long sleeves.Jet sequins Incongruous headdress set with extravagant newspaper clipping to catch the light A funeral gown. This highlights the feeling of death and ending of life, a idea that is echoed throughout the play. The notion of drawing down the blind is another symbol for death, according to Professor Eoin OBrien 1986 who states, A raddled blind is an old custom signifying death. The last thing the woman does before sitting down in her rocking chair is let down the blind, therefore emphasising the morbid, meaningless ideals of life portrayed in absurdism and its existential foundations.The window is also use to create symbolism, as a representation of the womans search for another one accompaniment soul like herself, which alludes to the yearning for meaning, order and the finding of self-? value and self-? commentary in the discovery of another life. Beckett echoes the implications of Bishop Berkeleys words to be is to be perceived. Cited in Davis, R. 1988 Berkeley is saying that life is nothing more or less than the state of being perceived. It is this existential purpose and meaning of life that the woman searches for.In searching for another living soul, she yearns to find meaning for herself, a search that is in vain, as she finds no one and is seen by no one. The womans life and act of living is further explored through the symbol of the rocking chair. The title, Rockaby, refers to a childrens lullaby, and, the original French name, Berceuse, translates to mean both rocking chair and lullaby. In using this title, Beckett brings together two juxtaposed concepts that of birth (in the sense of the Rockaby baby babys room rhy me) and death (the baby falling from the treetop).This is further explored in the use of the childlike take in for more joined with the symbolic references to old age and death, through the costume and demeanor of the woman in the chair. Therefore, it is evident that Beckett incorporates many another(prenominal) various symbolic references within his play to bring to the forefront the philosophy of Existentialism. Furthermore, Beckett utilises the techniques of voice to emphasise the absurdity within his play, Rockaby.The Absurdists plays reflect that human beings have lost the ability to communicate. Crawford, A. , et al. , 2003 This is reflected in many of Becketts plays as the techniques of voice and language frequently carry a disjointed, nonsensical, empty tone that is characteristic of absurdism. This is no unalike in Rockaby, where the voice over, recounting the life of the woman in the chair, follows a very disjointed, to that extent rhythmic, pattern. This disjointed ness echoes the concept of juxtaposing youth with frailness and old age. The simplicity and fragmentation of the voice creates a childlike sentiment, but the frailty of the voice maintains the notion of age and weakness.Rhythm in voice is also a frequently used technique in absurdist plays. The script of Rockaby follows a rigid to and fro feeling, following the trance-? like state of the rocking chair and the dimetric play of the lines, which are very verse like Time she // stopped Sitting at her // window suave at her // window Only // window Facing other // windows Only other // windows All // eye All // sides High and // low Time she // stopped The techniques of silence and pause within the voice are also widely used within absurdist theatre, and Rockaby is no exception.The voiceover used often pauses, adding stress and effect to the verse-? like lines. Silence is further incorporated in the break at the end of each section of the play. The woman in the chair intermittently jo ins in with the last lines of each section time she stopped, living soul and rock her off. This leads to a silence, ended only by the womans demand for more, before the voice over continues the disjointed, rhythmic narrative. Each time the woman joins in with the narration, her voice grows weaker and more fragile, slowly diminishing until, at the end of the last section, she fails to join in, falling into darkness and death.Absurdism is even further explored in the voice through the way the voice over speaks in third person, yet is the womans own voice. This detaches the woman from the voice over, through the use of the word she, yet they are still one in mind, through sharing the same thoughts, feelings and intentions. Furthermore, voice represents the only proof of the womans existence a point that is strongly related to absurdism and easily falls into line with Existentialism. comely as Berkeley said, to be is to be perceived, so too is voice the only object that perceives the w oman.There is no other living soul that acknowledges her existence, therefore, the only way she can prove her existence is through the narration of her life from the voiceover Voice has become the womans own Berkeleyan observer, without whose surveillance any claim to existence would be invalidated. Brown, V. , 2005 Therefore, it is evident that the use of the dramatic language of voice has been effectively manipulated within Becketts play to create the appropriate absurdist impression, which demonstrates an effective portrayal of the existentialist understanding seen through the absurdist techniques.In his play, Rockaby, Samuel Beckett incorporates many different techniques of Absurd Theatre, which accentuates his worldview of Existentialism. The quintessential belief of Existentialism existence recedes essence is brought to the forefront of the audiences management through the use of the absurdist techniques of symbolism, voice, and non-? linear, absurdist narrative. Beckett e ffectively manipulates these Dramatic Languages to create a play that is not necessarily about Existentialism. Rather, it is a play that highlights the philosophy through the narrative, and silently conveys the principles and ideals of Existentialism, without directly referring to the philosophy itself.In this regard, Beckett has effectively communicated the philosophy of Existentialism to a contemporary audience through the manipulation of the Dramatic Languages. Bibliography Beckett, S. , (1984) Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett, London Faber and Faber, p 273.Brown, V. (2005) Yesterdays Deformities A Discussion of the Role of Memory and Discourse in the Plays of Samuel Beckett (Doctorate paper in Literature and Philosophy), University of South Africa. Crawford, A. , Hurst, C. , Lurgering, M. , Wimmer, C. , (2003), Acting In Person And In Style in Australia, Macquarie Park McGraw hammock Australia Pty Ltd. Hale, J. A. , Perspective in Rockaby in Davis, R. J. and Butler, L. St J. , (Eds. ) Make Sense Who MayEssays on Samuel Becketts Later whole kit (Gerrards Cross Colin Smythe, 1988), p 74. OBrien, E. , The Beckett Country (Dublin The Black Cat Press, 1986), pp 197,198 Rockaby, (2012), Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, URL found http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Rockaby (Last Accessed Saturday twenty-seventh October, 2012).