Structure of Images in Samuel Beckett's ...but the clouds...

Abstract

Samuel Beckett's television play ...but the clouds... (1977) is a portrayal of the protagonist's inner images. This paper attempts to reveal that the intratextual structure of his recollection depicts the author's attitude towards his creative activities and life.

First, I verify the possibility that the play can be regarded as the protagonist's memory play; the voice (V) of the narrator is a representation of his inner monologue. Assuming the role of a theatre director, he manipulates several images, particularly a woman's vague figure (W), the appearance of which he longs for.

The protagonist's behaviour is a reflection of the notion that each individual is enclosed in his/her own cocoon; he identifies her otherness with his inner projection. This identification which is an extension of his self-consciousness hinders W's actual arrival in his subconscious, except when the subject is totally ‘exhausted’ from repetitive recollection; however, the end of this repetition is not delineated clearly in the play.

The continuity through the play and ambiguity in the end mirrors the author's awareness of his senescence. This idea is reinforced in the title of this play which is a quote from W. B. Yeats' poem ‘The Tower’ which is an allegory for senescence. This play illustrates that the approaching of the point of exhaustion paradoxically signifies the dynamism of life, following the protagonist's will to affirm senescence.