How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.
Quote #4
NELL
Can you see me?
NAGG
Hardly.
NELL
So much the better, so much the better.
NAGG
Don't say that. (1.156-159)
In what ways are failed senses linked to peoples feelings of isolation in the play? Why is everyone blind and handicapped? How much more weight on words to keep one from being isolated when one's sight fails?
Quote #5
HAMM
Don't stay there,
(i.e. behind the chair)
you give me the shivers.
(Clov returns to his place beside the chair.)
CLOV
If I could kill him I'd die happy. (1.281-282)
Why would Clov's physical position frighten Hamm? Why is it that having someone beside him makes him feel like he has a companion, but having someone behind him seems like a threat? Is Clov's feeling sincere?
Quote #6
HAMM (with ardour)
Let's go from here, the two of us! South! You can make a raft and the currents will carry us away, far away, to other…mammals!
CLOV
God forbid!
HAMM
Alone, I'll embark alone! Get working on that raft immediately. Tomorrow I'll be gone for ever.
CLOV(hastening towards door)
I'll start straight away. (1.363-366)
Moments like these seem funny from the audience. Do you think that they are slightly funny for the characters as well? If not now, do you think they were at one time? Is there anything but stubbornness that makes Hamm say that he will brave solitude? Is there anything but fear that keeps him from doing it?