In a story with Dante in the title and in which the protagonist bears a name taken from Dante, readers expect allusions to the greatest of medieval poets. In “Dante and the Lobster,” the work that in many ways commences Beckett’s career as a writer, Beckett provides these allusions in significant numbers. However, it is…
Tag: Samuel Beckett
Dante and the Lobster: Setting
Samuel Beckett wrote this story in the early 1930s, at the very start of his writing career. Those years were a tumultuous time in Beckett’s life (he was aimless and dissatisfied and did not settle down until he moved to Paris permanently in 1937), but it was a traumatic time in Europe. The Treaty of…
Dante and the Lobster: Literary Devices
Allusion As would be expected from a story that alludes to Dante in its title and has a protagonist named after a Dantean character, “Dante and the Lobster” is rife with allusions. The allusions, in fact, give the story much of its meaning. The Divine Comedy, of course, is the primary text Beckett alludes to,…
Dante and the Lobster: Themes
Dante As suggested by the title, Dante is an important presence in ‘ ‘Dante and the Lobster.” The medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem, the Divine Comedy, in 1307-1308. It is difficult to accurately assess the importance of Dante’s accomplishment, but it is certainly not an overstatement to say that Dante brought…
Dante and the Lobster: Characters
The Aunt Belacqua’s aunt lives in Dublin. He goes and visits her, bringing her a lobster for their meal. She is a very down-to-earth and practical person, focused on the facts of everyday life. In many ways, she is the opposite of Belacqua. Mademoiselle Glain Mademoiselle Glain teaches French lessons next door to the room…
Dante and the Lobster: Summary
The story opens with Belacqua Shuah, the protagonist, studying the “canti of the moon” of the Paradiso of Dante Alighieri. He is confused by the text and becomes bored with it. Frustrated, he slams the book shut and thinks about what he has to do with the rest of the day. “First lunch,” he thinks,…
How do the themes, elements and issues found in Candide resonate with contemporary audiences?
There are many themes in Candide which resonate with a contemporary audience. One of the recurrent attacks in the book has been against religious institutions and the politico-cultural power wielded by them. Although Voltaire was a deist, he did not espouse the view of the Optimists who believed that we inhabit a perfect world in…
A Socio-psychological study of Seamus Heaney’s poems The Grauballe Man and Strange Fruit & Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot
Both Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney display an acute understanding of human pathos, which is manifest in their works. This essay peruses Waiting for Godot by Beckett and the poems The Grauballe Man & Strange Fruit by Heaney to illustrate the social awareness contained in them. Social awareness (sometimes also referred to as social consciousness)…
Symbolism in Waiting For Godot
Written by Samuel Beckett originally in French in 1948, the translated English version was first enacted on stage in 1953. One of the masterpieces of the absurdist tradition, the play is infused with psychological, political and philosophical symbolism. It is also rich in its layered themes and motifs. The plot is outwardly quite simple, involving…