How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #1
WINNIE
Don't go off on me again now dear will you please, I may need you. (1.1)
What is there to suggest that Winnie's desire for company is circumstantial? She obviously doesn't need Willie all the time, so why does she want his company all the time?
Quote #2
WINNIE
Ah yes, if only I could bear to be alone, I mean prattle away with not a soul to hear. (1.7)
Winnie actually dreams of solitude. Contrary to the previous quote what would be the positives of being alone for Winnie?
Quote #3
WINNIE
I beseech you, Willie, just yes or no, can you hear me, just yes or nothing. (1.9)
It is apparent that Winnie needs vocal recognition in order not to feel alone. What is the relationship between isolation and speech?
Quote #4
WINNIE
Even when you are gone, Willie. You are going, Willie, aren't you? You will be going soon, Willie, won't you? (1.23)
Winnie is constantly worried about being alone, when she is, in fact, already alone. However, there is the physical relationship between the two of them that still exists.
Quote #5
WINNIE
... just to know you are there within hearing and conceivably on the semi-alert is... er... paradise enow. (1.29)
Is that really enough? What about communication being a two-way street? It seems more like a one-way street to us. Even though Willie doesn't respond, it provides a welcome relief to the awfulness that is living in isolation.
Quote #6
WINNIE
Strange feeling that someone is looking at me. (1.31)
How alone is the actor on stage? Does the actor playing Winnie feel isolated or connected to the audience? After all, she is forever looking straight at them, which, in turn, acknowledges that the audience is not invisible and sharing in her story.
Quote #7
WINNIE
Next thing they're away—hand in hand—and the bags—dim—then gone—last human kind—to stray this way. (1.31)
The passing visitors only add to her loneliness, as they never find any reason to stay to talk with her. How long has Winnie been in her predicament? How long has she been the last of humankind?
Quote #8
WINNIE
Do you know what I dream sometimes?… That you'll come round and live this side where I could see you. I'd be a different woman. Unrecognizable. (1.31)
Is Winnie's isolation from Willie a form of punishment? If so, who is punishing her? Willie? A higher power? Herself?
Quote #9
WINNIE
... I say I used to think that I would learn to talk alone. By that I mean to myself, the wilderness. But no. No no. Ergo you are there. (2.1)
How much are our Facebook or Twitter status updates a conversation with other people? How alike is our situation in modern America to Winnie's dilemma?
Quote #10
WINNIE
Faint confused cries. They come. Then go. As on a wind. (2.1)
Are the voices within her head company enough for Winnie? Or could it be that Winnie has slipped into the realms of madness, in which case she will be entirely alone? Is the fantasy world that she disappears to enough to satisfy her loneliness?