Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature Concept of Destruction in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot Bachelor thesis Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Monika Chmelařová Brno 2013 Declaration: I declare that I was working on the thesis Concept of Destruction in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot independently, using only the sources listed in the bibliography section, in accordance with Disciplinary Regulations for Students of Masaryk University Faculty of Education and act no. 121/200 concerning the copyright, the rights related to copyright and change of laws (copyright laws), as amended. In Brno, ....................................... ........................................................ Monika Chmelařová Acknowledgement I would like to to express my gratitude to the supervisor of my bachelor thesis, Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk, for his guidance, help, professional advice and willing attitude he provided all the time of the development of my bachelor thesis. Annotation The subject of the thesis Concept of Destruction in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is an analysis of the play with the aim to identify the elements of destruction within it, with a subsequent discourse. The theoretical part of the thesis is based on the application of knowledge gained from the secondary sources with the focus on thematically determined interpretation of the primary source. The practital part of the thesis is focused on identification and discourse over the elements and mechanisms of destruction in the play, with the argumentation from secondary sources used. The manifestations of destruction are divided primarily into two main lines, i. e. destruction at a somatic level and one at a psychical level. The work also deals with the presence of destruction at spacial, temporal and linguistic concepts of the play. The issue of destruction falls within characteristic features of the Existentialist movement; the play is also inserted in the context of the Theatre of Absurd. Therefore, the aforementioned movements are introduced, at least at their very basic level, relevantly to a defined interpretive intent and in an accordance with author's attitude towards them. Finally, an attempt is made to justify the presence of destructive elements and to find their origin. Anotace Předmětem bakalářské práce Pojetí destrukce v díle Samuela Becketta Čekání na Godota je analýza hry zaměřena na identifikaci prvků a mechanismů destrukce s následným rozborem těchto jevů. Teoretická část práce je založena na uplatnění poznatků ze sekundárních zdrojů s cílem tematicky vyměřené interpretace primárního zdroje. Praktická část práce se zabývá identifikací a rozborem prvků destrukce v rámci hry, a to za použití argumentace ze sekundární literatury. Projevy destrukce jsou primárně rozděleny do dvou linií, a to destrukci projevující se na úrovni somatické a destrukci s dopadem na úrovni psychické. Práce se rovněž zabývá přítomností prvku ničení a omezenosti v prostorovém, časovém a jazykovém zasazení či pojetí hry. Téma destrukce spadá do charakteristických prvků směru existencialismu; hra rovněž náleží do kontextu absurdního dramatu. Z tohoto důvodu jsou v práci představeny i zmíněné směry, minimálně na jejich základní úrovni, relevantně k vymezenému interpretačnímu záměru a v souladu s přístupem samotného autora k daným směrům. V závěru analytické části práce je pojednáno o možném původu destruktivních prvků, které jsou v díle přítomny. Jedním z vymezených cílů je analýza kontextu díla za účelem nalezení původu těchto prvků a opodstatnění jejich přítomnosti v díle. Bibliographical Description CHMELAŘOVÁ, Monika. The Concept of Destruction in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2013. 70 p. Supervisor: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Bibliografický popis CHMELAŘOVÁ, Monika. Pojetí destrukce v díle Samuela Becketta Čekání na Godota: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2013. 70 p. Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Keywords Existentialism, Atheistic Existentialism, The Theatre of The Absurd, Destruction, Psychical destruction, Somatic destruction, Spatial setting of the play, Temporal setting of the play, Hierarchy, Emotional dependence, Existentional dependence, Perception, Epistemology, Language concept, Communication, Never been properly born / Never been born entirely (C. G. Jung), Loss, Suffering, Limitation, Absurdity, Myth of Sisyphos, Suicide, Timeflow, Disillusionment Klíčová slova Existencialismus, Ateistický Existencialismus, Absurdní drama, Destrukce, Psychická destrucke, Somatická destrukce, Prostorové zasazení hry, Časové zasazení hry, Hierarchie, Emoční závislost, Existenciální závislost, Vnímání, Gnozeologie, Jazykový koncept, Komunikace, Jungovo "nikdy nearozen plně/přirozeně", Ztráta, Utrpení, Omezenost, Absurdita, Mýtus o Sysifovi, Sebevražda, Plynutí času, Deziluze The Content: The Content ....................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 8 1. Samuel Beckett ............................................................................................................ 10 1. 1. General interpretability of Samuel Beckett's literary work .................................. 10 1. 2. Samuel Beckett's autobiography in the background of his work and thoughts; Destruction as an autobiographical feature .................................................................... 14 2. Psychical destruction and war as overlapping phenomena ........................................ 17 2. 1. Existentialist situation as a starting postition and Destruction as a driving force ...................................................................................... 18 2. 2. Destruction in the field of other literary works .................................................... 20 2. 3. The phenomenon of destruction in the form of motive or a theme in other Beckett's plays .................................................................................................. 23 3. Destruction in Waiting for Godot ............................................................................... 25 3. 1. Concept of the term ................................................................................................ 25 3. 2. Concept of somatic destruction .............................................................................. 26 3. 3. Concept of psychical destruction ......................................................................... 26 4. Somatic destruction and its manifestations .............................................................. 27 4. 1. Reasoning of Pozzo's blindness and Lucky's dumbness ........................................ 28 4. 2. Motive of suicide and its concept (Social vs. Existential) .................................... 30 5. Psychical destruction and its manifestations ............................................................ 32 5. 1. An absurd destiny of a man ................................................................................... 32 5. 2. Issue of hierarchy, subordination and manipulation .............................................. 35 5. 3. Issue of dependency .............................................................................................. 36 5. 4. Loss of dignity ...................................................................................................... 37 5. 5. Loss of power to speech ........................................................................................ 38 6 6. A comparison of somatic and psychical destruction ................................................ 40 7. Temporal concept of the play ..................................................................................... 41 7. 1. General temporal setting of the play ..................................................................... 41 7. 2. Subjects to destruction at temporal level, An issue of memories .......................... 44 7. 3. Destruction of temporal causality of the plot ........................................................ 45 7. 4. Motive of coincidence and its function ................................................................. 46 8. Spatial concept of the play ......................................................................................... 47 8. 1. General spatial setting of the play ......................................................................... 47 8. 2. Subjects to destruction at spacial level ................................................................. 48 9. Concept of language function in the play ................................................................. 50 9. 1. General concept of the language ........................................................................... 51 9. 2. Predictive value as a subject to destruction .......................................................... 51 10. The origin of destructive features ........................................................................... 54 10. 1. Beckett's stay in Tavistock centre ....................................................................... 54 10. 2. War experience and the feeling of alienation ..................................................... 55 10. 3. Godot as