Beckett’s Writings :: Literary Analysis, Beckett, Winnie

1. How can you apply the Latin phrase Esse est percipi to a specific and concrete analysis of Beckett’s material? Esse est percipi, or To be is to be seen, is a very profound statement which Beckett seems to use as one of the major themes of his playwriting. Beckett’s Collection of Shorter Plays often have no beginning or end and build good examples of to be is to be seen. Beckett’s utilizes the senses in his writing. With the use of the sense of seeing, and the sense of hearing, Beckett builds his characters very being and thus brings forth the idea of to be is to be seen.. In Happy Days, Beckett created the character of Winnie who is trapped and buried in a mound of dirt. Beckett has written Winnie as being a great deal focused on seeing. During the play, Winnie is constantly doing things that emphasize the act of seeing. She is putting on and removing her glasses, reading the tube of toothpaste, reading the handle of the brush and other such acts. By seeing each item, and reading the writing on it, she justifies its existence and in reading and seeing each item she exists. Her eyes are used as props, opened and shut, demonstrating â€Å"that one sees the other the other sees the one† (28). This declaration is very powerful example of each person justifies the other by seeing the other. Without one seeing the other, there is no one to see the one. In this simple statement, Winnie proclaims the very act of existence. Winnie makes many other statements about the act of seeing, during the play, when talking with her husband Willie, as in â₠¬Å"Could you see me, Willie do you think, from where you are, if you were to raise your eyes to me [†¦] Lift your eyes to me† (28). Winnie needs Willie to look at her to verify that she is still there by seeing him, and him seeing her. Being stuck in the same routine of her day-to-day living can be a prison. By sharing that day with someone, even if it is just hearing or being seen, it gives Winnie a reason to go on and â€Å"to be†. Winnie articulates the feeling of disappearing in a blink of an eye by stating â€Å"Strange feeling that someone is looking at me.