A Samuel Beckett bridge, poem, and play,
that is how I spent my day.

Samuel Beckett’s works, especially early works, are greatly influence by Joyce; even in “Eneug II,” the poem I read for the reading in place assignment, we can see how Beckett uses Joycean phrases and techniques, like “feet in marmalade.” It is interesting how these authors interacted, reacted, and reinvented the literary styles of Ireland’s past writers and their own contemporaries.

On the Dubliners walking tour, the guide explained that Joyce added everything in his works where Beckett stripped everything away. The Beckett Bridge embodies this description with its minimalistic design of the harp, Ireland’s national symbol.

After seeing the Samuel Beckett Bridge, we went to a literary pub crawl. At the first stop, the actors performed a skit from Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: the two characters wait for Godot, but do not seemingly remember when or why they are supposed to meet Godot. While they are waiting (which may be in vain), they lose track of time, consider killing themselves, and fall asleep. As a part of Theatre of the Absurd, Beckett includes black humor and existentialist concepts, like what happens when human existence has no meaning or value. In some ways, I think these ideas can relate to some of the anxieties of the 1916 Easter Rising where the political leaders and poets did not know if their actions would be meaningful. Were they actually waiting for an Irish Republic? How long would they wait? What, or who, would be the final straw in gaining an independent Ireland?