BECKETT’S BOOTS: The Crux of Meaning

Abstract

Estragon's boots in En attendant Godot harbor secret that is less 'audible' in its English version. To perceive it, we must follow different threads: remark made by Beckett to Roger Blin; commentary by Leslie Hill and one by Dieter Wellershof in their analyses of writer's work; Beckett's avowed intention in composing play; and role given, in both textual and scenic details, to evocation of two thieves crucified on Golgotha.11. An Obsession with BootsBeckett who descended from Huguenot emigres (Knowlson 1996, 6) was quite aware of French origin of his name. In Eleutheria, character disguised as spectator jumps upon stage and, reading author's name in program, pronounces it as 'Becquet' (136). Leslie Hill, recalling this incident, questions status of names with respect to texts they surround (112). He draws attention to fact that word bequet or becquet has three senses: something pasted on to proof, an overlay, a male salmon, or pike, and the middle sole in boot, or hobnail boot itself. He adds fourth sense for near homophone becquee, which is a 'beakful' of food (Hill, 113).2 Actually, French word, as found in Harrap 's Standard French and English Dictionary, first published in 1934 and most likely source for Beckett, is translated, in boot makers' jargon, as 'hobnail.' The boot itself is not designated. Pars pro totol Perhaps because of its tradespecific nature, this meaning is not found in all dictionaries. However, it figures in Tresor de la langue francaise (1975) under heading cordonnerie ('shoe making'), and it is first meaning given in Grand Larousse encyclopedique (1960). The definition given in French corresponds exactly to 'hobnail' as defined in The Concise Oxford Dictionary (heavy-headed nail for bootsoles) as well as in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of English Language, which Beckett would undoubtedly have consulted given his admiration for its author. The synecdochal transfer extends beyond boot itself, for, in English at any rate, 'hobnail' is likewise person. The Oxford English Dictionary (1989), after specifying that short nail with round head was used for bottom of Plough-Men's gives derived meaning: A man who wears hobnailed shoes; rustic, clodhopper, clown (emphasis added).In Eleutheria, boots are indeed key element, for they are clearly associated with identity. They come into play at moment of Victor's father's death. That precise moment is an important turning point: The Vitrier has been summoned to repair window Victor has broken. The symbolic value of broken glass (here window pane) in context of play in which protagonist suffers from suffocating atmosphere of his bourgeois identity is obvious. His revolt is thus associated with his violent gesture and with fact that it is his shoe thrown through closed window that creates crisis. The Vitrier has retrieved shoe and returns it to him, nullifying young man's rebellious act and exacerbating his frustration: On ne peut rien perdre non plus (71). What is he trying to lose? Victor's shoes, according to Dougald McMillan, represent his implication in material world that holds young man captive (106).The symbolic role attributed to boots or shoes is not, however, confined to Eleutheria. In labyrinth-like search for meaning in trilogy, Dieter Wellershoff - in an essay dating from 1963 - signals kind of Ariadne's thread formed by pair of shoes (176). In his essay Wellershof draws attention to scene in Malone meurt in which man wearing pair of yellow shoes hits Malone on head. He raises question about who could be author of this crime: Is it Molloy or Moran who both killed an old man [...]? Has incident now been repeated third time? (Wellershof, 176; my translation). The 'criminal act' being repeated here, Wellershof maintains, is one in which Malone finally meets himself' (176). …