Happy Days By Samuel Beckett - 1273 Words

Happy Days by Samuel Beckett is not an easy play to categorize by genre. However, I could not qualify it as purely a comedy. It does have comedic components, but the humor is more of a tool to distract from the desolate tragedy of the play. Happy Days is an attempt at a satirical piece that targets the audience of the play. It implies that those watching the play are tragic beings themselves, who inhabit a world a routine, lost memories, and futile efforts to find fulfillment in language. Though, Happy Days cannot be solely treated as a tragic play about the existential crisis, either. There still are elements that draw the play into the conventions of comedy. Therefore, the play is more of a tragi-comedy than anything else, falling†¦show more content†¦Isherwood describes her spirit as indomitably chipper...as she spends her long hours babbling merrily, keeping up a bright sheen of optimism, expecting every day to be a happy day, in benign acceptance of her strange predicam ent (Isherwood, Review). This is a key theme of the play. Winnie s refusal to give up opposes the tragedy within the play with her enduring optimism. She pulls them out of her bag with purpose, it is a routine. These items are all she has. Winnie makes do with what she has, and she persuades herself that her belongings and Willie s presence for her monologues are enough to sustain purpose. These items also connect Winnie to her memories of certain occasions that are important. What is interesting about these objects is that they are all getting clearly old. These items clearly keep Winnie happy, and as they run out she has to fight harder to stay optimistic. She is slowly losing the materials that give her hope and meaning. It is ironic that the only item from her bag that does not change is the gun. Unfortunately, the available sources of Winnie s optimism are being used up and she has to work harder and harder to keep up her positive front which is already wafer-thin when we first meet her. brings out toothbrush, rummages again, brings out flat tube of tooth-paste, turns back front, unscrews cap of tube, lays cap on ground, squeezes withShow MoreRelatedWinnies Dramatic Story in â€Å"Happy Days by Samuel Beckett Essay1210 Words   |  5 PagesSamuel Beckett’s play, â€Å"Happy Days,† portrays a woman, Winnie, buried in the ground, first up to her waist, then up to her neck, determined to live out her meaningful life. Although her situation is hopeless because she has no idea how she got there, Winnie trusts that her life is meaningful and truly believes that there is nothing she can do to change it. Consequently, Winnie focuses on trivial details to pass each day. Beckett definitely succeeds in making this character’s life dramatic by consumingRead MoreViolation Of The Maxims Of Cooperative Principle7912 Words   |  32 Pages Chapter –I For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English (Ph. D.) Research Topic Violation of the Maxims of Cooperative Principle in Samuel Beckett’s Selected Plays. Research Student Mr. Mundhe Ganesh Balavantrao Research Guide Dr. B. A. Jarange Place of Research Institute of Advanced Studies in English, Pune CONTENTS 1) Introduction 2) Rationale of the Study 3) Hypothesis 4) Review of the Research Work 5) Aims and Objectives of the Research Project 6) Data, Methodology and TechniquesRead MoreWaiting For Godot1686 Words   |  7 PagesWaiting for Godot: Time Waits For No Man Waiting for Godot is an original French play written in 1948 by author Samuel Beckett. The play was first performed in 1953, and then later translated into English. 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