Fluid Existence: Exploring Metamorphosis in Samuel Beckett's Works

The Theme of Fluidity of Human Existence in Samuel Beckett’s Works Author’s Name The Institutional Affiliation Course Number and Name Instructor Name Assignment Due Date Introduction Samuel Beckett was a renowned post-modernist writer famous for his iconoclastic philosophy of human life, which was called the absurdist philosophy. Based on this philosophy, Samuel Beckett laid the foundation of the literary movement called The Theater of the Absurd; one of the most striking features of this theater was the unconventional use of language, setting, characterization, and traditional course of character development (Rezaee & Monfared, 2022). As an active member of the group of absurdist playwrights, Samuel Beckett produced several absurd plays that evaluated human existence and metamorphosis in the domains of time, identity, and language. Beckett’s plays reflect his anguish on the absurdity of human existence in a typical modernist way; thereby, his play uses the elements of an absurdist setting to highlight the uncertainty of human existence and life. Moreover, Beckett uses the theme of consistent change to elaborate on the ominous fate of human existence as man suffers from consistent degenerative metamorphosis (Rezaee & Monfared, 2022). Another significant aspect of Beckett’s work is his emphasis on the meaninglessness of human existence, which is characterized by loneliness and fluidity (Mohammadi-Aghdash, 2022). Using the technique of imposing negative and destruction metamorphosis on his characters through their language and character degeneration, Beckett reinforces the notion of fluidity and meaninglessness in their existence. In other words, Beckett’s emphasis on the degeneration of human character as it transforms into animal-like existence exposes the fluidity of human existence in the truest sense (Mohammadi-Aghdash, 2022). Therefore, The Beckettian Theater represents a series of remarkable plays connected with each other due to their focus on highlighting the consistent degenerative change in human character. The following literature reviews aim to evaluate the extent and ambit of the theme of human metamorphosis and fluidity of human existence in various works of Samuel A Beckett. For this purpose, it focuses on identifying connectivity among his works in terms of their discussion on the fluidity of human existence and the process of degenerative evolution or metamorphosis. This literature review exposes the atypical universe that Becketts explores through his absurdist plays and other works. Literature Review One of the significant components of the fluidity of human existence is the lack or loosening of connectivity, leading to a rupture in humans’ subjective and objective existence. Evaluation of two of Beckett’s prominent works, his essay Proust and his post-war work “Recent Irish Poetry,” reveals a significant shift in Beckett’s understanding of the nature of human existence (Lawrence, 2015). In his previous work, Proust, Beckett, written before the World War, Beckett expresses his belief in the existence of aesthetic connectivity and identification between the subjective and objective existence of human beings (Lawrence, 2015). However, this belief soon underwent a transformation in his post-war essays. One may refer to Beckett’s famous post-war essay, Recent Irish Poetry, to understand the change in his view from a belief in the connectivity of humans’ subjective and objective experiences. To demonstrate, in this essay, Beckett identifies a break in communication between human objective and subjective experiences (Coughlan, 2014). Hence, Beckett highlights the breakdown by terming it “rupture”, and states, “the artist who is aware of this may state the space that intervenes between him and the world of objects (Lawrence, 2015). Hence, one may identify here how Beckett elaborates on the themes of the fluidity of human experience and consistent change. In another of his works, “Peintres de l’empêchement,” Beckett analyzes Geer and Bram van Velde’s painting. As a conclusion of this analysis, he argues that Bram van Velde’s paintings reflect his refusal to acknowledge the traditional subject-object relationship between human existence and experiences (Lawrence, 2015). Therefore, like his other works, this non-fiction work of Beckett further reinforces the idea that the human notion of subjective and objective reality is ruptured. The space between the two notions indicates the fluidity and uncertainty of human existence. The uncertainty of human existence is essential to the themes covered in Becketts’ works. Using the argument against the standard notions of human belief in life and the world, Beckett highlights the hidden aspect of human existence; in this regard, one scholar’s review sheds significant light on Beckett’s concept of uncertain human identity (Mohammadi-Aghdash, 2022). To elaborate on Beckett’s stress on the fluidity of human existence, this scholar claims that Beckett exposes the realm of human existence “where man does not recognize himself, does not feel justified, where he is no longer present, where he is not a man for him, neither man before God, nor god before himself.” (Tereszewski, 2015). This view highlights the reality that is using his characters and their similar experiences; Becketts attempts to reveal how various alterations of human characters expose the hidden reality of human existence. Accordingly, the uncertainty in the human condition exposes the nothingness of human existence; moreover, as one scholar explains, Beckett’s characters show remarkable degenerative metamorphosis, which signifies their existence’s negative and unpredictable nature (Tereszewski, 2015). Hence, this scholar’s view further highlights Beckett’s focus on stressing the fluidity of human experience in his works. The use of absurd, abrupt, disrupted, and chaotic language is another crucial aspect of Beckett’s works, which signifies human life’s unpredictable and new aspects. In his most famous work, Waiting for Godot, for instance, Beckett introduces a novel language appropriate for expressing the modern man’s uncertainty and despair about his life (Begam, 2007). Moreover, by using the abrupt, incoherent speeches and stream-of-consciousness technique to define natural human language, Beckett presents a phenomenon called forfeiture of thought to display human life’s meaninglessness and fluidity or uncertainty (Mohammadi-Aghdash, 2022). In Samuel Beckett’s plays, such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame, the unconventional use of language presents it as a highly limited means of communication. For the same reason, according to one scholarly review, Beckett’s language in his plays does not produce meaning to normal ears. Its baffling nature reinforces the impression of a lack of identification of human existence (Oteiwy, 2012). Take the example of Pozzo’s response toward Vladimir’s criticism: “I can’t bear it…any longer…the way he goes on…you’ve no idea…it’s terrible…he must go” (Beckett & Bowles, 1979). This example of disrupted language highlights the disruption of humans’ subjective and objective existence discussed earlier. The understanding of the ambiguity, disruption, and abruptness of Beckett’s language in his absurd plays leads scholars to infer that in his plays, the language betrays its anticipated role of displaying the finiteness of human existence. Hence, Beckett deliberately uses abrupt language to show the degeneration of the finiteness of human existence and clarify how human identity lurks in the infinite realm of fluidity and consistent change (Oteiwy, 2012). Therefore, this view on Beckett’s use of language further clarifies his stress on the fluidity of human existence. A key factor in Beckett’s literary language is the use of intentional syntax, which is characterized by the distortion of syntax rules; the main purpose of this device is to develop confusion in people’s minds. Based on a scholar’s review, this technique is effective for Beckett as its use reflects the character’s mindlessness and disorientation about his existence (Liao, 2014). In his play Endgam...