Mrs. Rooney. The Maiden and Her Dance with Death

An Analysis of the Motif of "Death and the Maiden" in Beckett's '"All That Fall"

Term Paper , 2021 , 19 Pages , Grade: 1,3

English Language and Literature Studies - Literature

Language, as it produces sound and life, is the most essential feature of "All That Fall", a piece that revolves around the idea of disappearing, of ceasing to exist, but also of productiveness and creating new life. Through language, the characters can create and be brought to life themselves, but anything that is inaudible does not exist to the audience. This dichotomy of producing and non-existing also constitutes the central conflict for Maddy Rooney, the main character. She dreams of being young, productive, and fertile again while painfully watching and feeling her body age and deteriorate, just like the people and world around her.

Mrs. Rooney resembles the young girl in the play’s central reference to music, Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14, "Death and the Maiden". The piece tells the story of a young girl being preyed upon by death. Although he is coming for her before her time, they are familiar with each other, and the two of them have developed some sort of dance where the maiden tries to avoid death, all the while being tempted to give in to his promise. Just like the maiden, Mrs. Rooney is haunted by death. She cannot avoid it in her life, it is everywhere around her, and she can feel it slowly coming for her. Yet, she still longs for the fertility and energy of a young woman, wishes for love and sexuality. Everyone and everything she meets on her way to the train station either reminds her of that promise of fertility on the one hand, or of the painfully inevitable end of life on the other.

This paper aims to point out how Mrs. Rooney, who is constantly confronted with death by the world and her own body, both longs for fertility and youth, and sees death as a release at the same time and can therefore be seen as an embodiment of Schubert’s maiden.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Death and the Maiden

3. Death in Mrs. Rooney’s Life
3.1. Aging Bodies
3.2. The Decaying World around Her

4. Mrs. Rooney as the Young Maiden
4.1. Youth
4.2. Love and Sexuality
4.3. Fertility
4.4. Death as Release

5. Conclusion

Works Cited

• College: University of Erfurt
• Course: Samuel Beckett’s Plays: Theatre, Radio, Television
• Grade: 1,3
• Publication Year: 2021
• Pages: 19
• Catalog Number: V1161334
• ISBN (PDF): 9783346563248
• ISBN (Book): 9783346563255
• Language: English
• Tags: Samuel Beckett, All That Fall, Death and the Maiden, Mrs. Rooney