Samuel Beckket's
Krapp Last Tape
I.
Introduction
Krapp’s
last tape by Samuel Beckett is one act drama and first performed in 1958.
This short drama tells about the writer named Krapp who record his own voice in
the recorder tape about the view of Krapp’s life since he was thirty-nine. The plot is just
about the conversation between Krapp and his audio recorder, the hopeless
atmosphere and vacuity from the character.
The
act starts from the situation in the stage, much stuff in the stage, such as
table, envelope, cardboard boxes,
recorder tape, key, a drawer and then the lighting of the stage is dark. The ligthning is suitable with the mood from the
character which is full of motionless and heavy sigh, a loneliness of Krapp.
Then, he checks each cardboard and tape, bend over ledger, find a bunch of keys
to open the drawer one by one and check it. Krapp smile, read and count each
tape over and over. Then, the first tape plays when he was thirty-nine. This
was an eventful year in Krapp’s life. The year when he rejected the love of a
girl. Then, he listens to the tape about his another story life about his
mother’s death and the ending of the act, Krapp over the years with the
distances himself from relationships with other and choose a life of loneliness.
His only fellow now is the tapes he has recorded over the years to reminds him
of the life.
This short drama is full of absurdity
because of the monologue story which is portray the old man, alone in the stage
and he just listening the recorder tape about his life. From the recorder
tape’s voice, we can know about Krapp’s life in the past. This drama is full of
absurdity in the plot same like with the other Beckett’s work Waiting for
Godot is also full of absurdity. Waiting for Godot tells about
someone who is waiting for someone who do not even comeback.
We
know that the authors of literary work have their own style in writing their
work, such as Samuel Beckett who has absurdity in his work.
Samuel Breckett is considered one of the
strongest voices of a dramatic movement known as the Theatre of the Absurdity,
which appeared in Paris in the wake of World War II. To represent this absurd
view of the world, Breckett and the absurdist willfully challenged previous
conventions of drama, abandoning traditional plot elements at will, crafting
long-winded stream-of-the-consciousness speech of their characters, and using
symbolic imagery drawn from seemingly innocent everyday objects (www.haresrocklots.com/word/essay/krapp
access on May, 9th 2015).
This drama is also portray the gloomy
mood of Krapp, stay in his rags, eating banana, count each cardboard and check
the tape one-by-one, and then listening to recorder tape. The setting in the
stage is full of darkness, just white and black color. This setting has a
similarity with the author’s life from the background of Beckett’s childhood
life is an introvert person; he even remarked that he had a little talent for
happiness. Beckett was consistence in his loneliness.
The
scene of his experiences with banana.
KRAPP remains a moment
motionless, heaves a great sigh, looks at his watch, fumbles in his pockets,
takes out an envelope, put it back, fumbles, takes out a small bunch of keys,
raises it to his eyes, chooses a key, gets up and moves to front of the tables.
He stoops, unlocks first drawer, peers into it, feels about inside it, takes
out a reel of tape, peers it, puts it back, locks drawer, unlocks second drawer,
peers into it, feels about inside it, takes out a large banana, peers at it, locks drawer, puts keys back in his pocket. He
turns, advances to edge of stage, halts, storkes banana, pels it, drops skin at his feet, puts end of banana in his mouth and remains
motionless, staring vacously before him. Finally he bites off the end, turns
aside, and begins pacing to and fro at the dge of stage, in the light, i.e.,
not more than four or five paces either way, meditatively eating banana. He treads on skin, slips,
nearly falls, recover himself, stoops and peers at skin and finally pushes it,
still stooping, with his foot over the
edge of stage into pit. He resumes his pacing, finishes banana, returns to table, sits down, remains a moment motionless,
heaves a great sigh, takes keys from his pockets, raises them to his eyes, chooses
key, gets up and moves to front of tables, unlocks second drawer, takes out a
second large banana, peers at it,
locks drawer, puts back keys in his pockets, turns, advances to edge of stage,
halts, strokes banana, peels it,
tosses skin into pit, puts end of banana
in his mouth, and remains motionless, staring vacously before him. Finally he
has an idea, puts banana in his
waistcoat pocket, the end emerging, and
goes with all the speed he can muster backstage into darkness. Ten seconds.
Loud pop of cork. Fifteen seconds. He comes back into light carrying an old
ledger and sits down at table. He lays ledger on the table, wipes his mouth,
wipes his hands on the front of his waistcoat, brings them smartly together and
rubs them.
The ‘banana’ motif in this play as a representation of
Krapp’s unfulfilled goals. From the opening the scene of slipping on place he
puts banana’s peel to the confession from 39 years old Krapp that he has “just eaten I regret to say three bananas and
only with difficulty refrain from a fourth”.
He treads on skin, slips, nearly falls, recover
himself, stoops and peers at skin and finally pushes it, still stooping, with
his foot over the edge of stage into
pit. (page 886)
The relation between banana and Krapp’s goal is when he
slips because of banana’s skin means his goals is unfulfilled. Despite his
early convictions that he should give up his nasty obsessions, drinking and
eating bananas, at that time, he is still 39 years old. Till the end, Krapp has
never accomplished anything he hoped to, nor has he ever really tired.
Eating banana refers to monkeys, as in the related slang
of ‘going ape shit’. It makes clear his closeness to animals, particularly to
apes, who are the only tragedy. He spends his best years just to follow his
addiction in drinking and eating bananas. Also about the girl that had refused
him when he was young. It is the tragedy that he had gotten in the past.
When he repeats the record of his voices, it is also
symbolysed with the repetition of when he repeats eating the bananas. He hear
his record more and more, while he eats bananas more and more. Until he stops
the record and feels dissappinted because he lost his best years. While, he
also stop to eat bananas because he slips on the banana’s peel that she puts by
himself.
The other example that this play
apply secondary function of Artificial sign is Krapp’s fashion style. The
evidence:
“Rusty black narrow trousers too short for him.
Rusty black sleeveless waist-coat, four capacious pockets. Heavy silver watch
and chain. Grimy white shirt open at neck,no collar. Surprising pair of dirty
white boots, size ten at least, very narrow and pointed.”
The evidence shows Krapp’s fashion style. Fashion style
has primary function as his human
necessity. Whereas its secondary funtion as the symbol of Krapp’s life, that is, sadness and vacuity life.
4. Conclusion
This paper canconclude that Samuel Beckett’s
play, Krapp’s Late Tape apply Umberto Eco’s theory, especially secondary function of
Artificial sign. is there is relation between the banana and Krapp’s goals in
his life. Whether in process of repetition about eating and hearing, also about
Krapp’s fashion style. Fashion style has primary function as his human necessity. Whereas its secondary funtion as
the symbol of Krapp’s life, that is,
sadness and vacuity life.
