The Aesthetics of Impersonation and DepersonalizationSamuel Beckett and Philip Roth

This essay begins by considering an obvious point of difference between the work of Samuel Beckett and Philip Roth. In view of its tendency to present anonymous voices and body parts, Beckett’s writing is frequently seen to explore the erosion of personhood. Roth’s concern with the secret lives of his characters, by contrast, means that he is often considered to be more concerned with impersonation than depersonalization. While accepting the general validity of this view, the essay complicates it. Through readings of works such as The Breast, Sabbath’s Theater, The Humbling, Molloy, and Not I, it argues that a close comparison of the two writers can reveal the central role that depersonalization plays in Roth’s writing and also the stubbornness of personhood in Beckett’s.