History, Memory and The Quest for Self-Improvement in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson

Abstract: This paper looks at the measures that the characters in both plays take to escape from their present situations. It posits that, despite the hardships that these characters face, they still have hope. It examines how characters in both Beckett’s and Wilson’s plays attempt to break free from the grip of the past by definitely rewriting history. For the purpose of this study, we will x- ray it using trauma and dream as a tenet in psychoanalysis by Freud and subjectivity of history. It is construed that both plays, are written in generically mimetic terms, as we see in the portraying of some elements or quality universally connected to human life. In some cases, while the characters try to get hold of the past, we cannot also undermine the fact that some happenings are beyond their control. In this chapter, one argues that there will be no more tape recordings, not because Krapp will not live again, but because he has definitely sorted out a way to overcome the past complexities. Eric Levy notes that, “by fixating exclusively on the past moments, Krapp reduces the present to the site of ‘rememoration’ and thus fortifies his life” (56). It shows that at some point, Krapp finds a way to break free from the grip of the past. Krapp’s looking back into history is not to dwell in it, but to define his identity. In as much as The Piano Lesson illustrates the disconnectedness and complex nature of the past, it is only by asserting Africanness that the Black Americans can belong, have a sense of identity and possess that understanding of where he or she belongs.