Rough for Theatre II (Fragment de théâtre II, written c. late 1950s, published 1976) by Samuel Beckett (Symbolism and Motifs)

 

Rough for Theatre II (Fragment de théâtre II, written c. late 1950s, published 1976)

by Samuel Beckett

(Symbolism and Motifs) 

Symbolism and Motifs in Rough for Theatre II

In Rough for Theatre II, Samuel Beckett relies on a stark economy of symbols and recurring motifs to convey meanings that the play refuses to articulate directly. Deprived of elaborate setting, psychological depth, or narrative resolution, the drama communicates through objects, positions, silences, and repetitions. Beckett’s symbolism is not decorative or allegorical in the traditional sense; it is functional and reductive, serving to expose how human existence is diminished, examined, and ultimately erased.

One of the most potent symbols in the play is the table at which A and B sit. The table represents authority, order, and institutional power. It is a place of deliberation, yet it is also a barrier—physically and symbolically separating A and B from C. While the judges are seated comfortably with their papers and tools, C stands isolated and exposed. The table thus symbolizes the distance between those who judge and those who are judged, reinforcing the play’s central imbalance of power.

Equally significant are the files, papers, and documents that dominate the action. These materials symbolize the reduction of a human life into bureaucratic fragments. C exists not as a living being but as a dossier, his experiences flattened into notes and reports. The constant handling of papers becomes a recurring motif, emphasizing how modern systems replace lived reality with written abstraction. In Beckett’s world, documentation does not preserve life—it replaces it.

The pencil used by A and B functions as a subtle but chilling symbol of authority over existence. With it, they annotate, correct, and finalize judgments. The pencil’s erasability suggests the provisional nature of human value: lives can be altered, revised, or erased with a single mark. Unlike traditional symbols of power such as weapons or crowns, the pencil represents quiet, administrative control—the kind that operates without spectacle or violence.

The figure of C himself is a symbolic presence rather than a character in the conventional sense. His silence and stillness transform him into an emblem of the voiceless individual. Positioned near a window or ledge, C embodies liminality—standing between life and death, presence and absence. His physical posture becomes a visual motif of suspension, reinforcing the idea that his fate has already been decided elsewhere, before any action occurs.

The window or ledge functions as a symbol of threshold and finality. Traditionally, windows suggest possibility or escape, but in Beckett’s play, the window offers no vision of hope. It marks the boundary beyond which C will vanish. This spatial symbolism reflects Beckett’s bleak inversion of transcendence: the only “beyond” available is disappearance, not renewal.

Silence operates as one of the most pervasive motifs in the play. C’s muteness contrasts sharply with the constant speech of A and B, whose words fill the space without producing understanding. Silence here symbolizes exclusion rather than depth. It marks the point at which language fails—or is denied—and where existence becomes indefensible. Beckett transforms silence from a poetic device into a sign of powerlessness.

Another recurring motif is fragmentation. The information about C arrives in pieces, never forming a coherent whole. This fragmentation symbolizes the collapse of meaningful narrative in modern life. Human identity, once shaped by stories and continuity, is here reduced to disconnected observations. The motif underscores Beckett’s rejection of psychological realism and his insistence on the insufficiency of narrative to justify existence.

Finally, the closing of the file at the play’s end serves as a powerful symbolic gesture. It represents finality without ceremony, death without mourning. The act of tidying papers after C’s disappearance equates administrative closure with existential termination. Life ends not with tragedy or reflection, but with completion of procedure.

In sum, the symbolism and motifs of Rough for Theatre II operate through subtraction rather than accumulation. Beckett strips symbols of comforting resonance and repurposes them as instruments of reduction. Tables divide, papers erase, silence condemns, and closure replaces meaning. Through these recurring images, Beckett crafts a theatrical language in which human existence is not dramatized, but processed—and quietly, irrevocably dismissed.