Rice Univesrity Logo
    • FAQ
    • Deposit your work
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Rice University Graduate Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Rice University Graduate Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Samuel Beckett and William Faulkner: the retreat into magic

    Thumbnail
    Name:
    RICE0420.pdf
    Size:
    5.127Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open
    Author
    Lloyd-Davies, Karen S
    Date
    1970
    Advisor
    Isle, Walter W.
    Degree
    Master of Arts
    Abstract
    The purpose or this thesis is to examine the way in which two authors, William Faulkner and Samuel Beckett, view the traditional function of language in specific works. To some extent in each words appear to explain, but fail to do so meaningfully. Rather, language is revered for its tower as a felt physical force and for its ability to explain away or to exorcise. I shall begin by briefly discussing Beckettts Waiting for Godot, a play in which the four characters are alone on stage with nothing to do. They are left to their imaginative resources for diversion and order and so develop a kind, of primitive dependence on word games, stories, and wishes reminiscent of early civilized man. Waiting for Godot serves mainly as a reference point with which to illustrate the principles of Cassirer, Boheim, and others which I discuss next. The anthropology and epistemology of this group provide useful theories of the origin of rudimentary linguistic forms and their application as magic. Next, we will turn to William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and examine the relationship of Quentin Compson to his own speech, a project which requires consideration of his attitudes, history and surroundings. Hopefully, the parallel between Quentin's responses and those of primitive men in analagous situations will emerge in this analysis, Finally, in Watt, by Samuel Beckett, we will find a specific portrait of a man's language wresting control of itself away from the speaker, a process about which Watt, the protagonist, is but dimly aware, So the value of language as a symbol for "experience" or "meaning" is seriously questioned in these novels. Instead, Beckett, and to some extent Faulkner find language to be a maker of its own laws, and they reject its traditional mimetic function.
    Citation
    Lloyd-Davies, Karen S. "Samuel Beckett and William Faulkner: the retreat into magic." (1970) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/89382.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Collections
    • Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations [13796]

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map

     

    Searching scope

    Browse

    Entire ArchiveCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map