Beckett Happy Days

Beckett Happy Days

Checked Redux
      Awakened by the sound of a bell offstage at the beginning of Act II of Happy Days Winnie continues to be basked in sunlight as she did in Act I. She accepts these phenomena as forms of social interaction, saying, “Someone is looking at me still. Caring for me still. That is what I find so wonderful. Eyes on my eyes.” So great is her craving for validation that the unforgiving ringing of a bell and the relentless, burning light have become equated with the affection shared eye contact. Winnie’s persona is simultaneously domineering yet also pitiful; she attempts to fill her emotionally depleted relationship with Willie by goading him, sometimes by baiting criticism, other times by recounting bygone days. Much like Hamm of Endgame who remains trapped in an armchair in the center of the stage and relies on Clov for assistance, Winnie attempts to overcome the physical distance between her buried body and Willie’s mobile one by employing verbal and psychological manipulations to entangle him to her, in much the same way that wives are colloquially said to nag their husbands in a desperate attempt to patch together a failing marriage but their efforts only serve to hasten its speedy demise.
      Yet, near the conclusion of Act II, as Willie reappears for the first time since Act I in a “top hat, morning coat, striped trousers, […and] white gloves,” reconciliation with Winnie appears certain. Winnie senses this too and exclaims delightedly, “Well this is an expected pleasure!” She goes on to reminiscence the day of Willie’s proposal and encourages him to kiss her, “Have another go, Willie, I’ll cheer you on.” Just as Willie presumably leans in to do so, Winnie, immediately rebukes him in the next breath, screaming “vehemently,” “Don’t look at me like that! Don’t look at me like that! Have you gone off your head, Willie? Out of your poor old wits, Willie?” Willie answers only with a soft endearment “Win,”...