The Unanswered Prayers of Nacht und Träume

Abstract

Surely no passage from late Beckett is cited more frequently than the motto from Worstward Ho: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better” (89). These lines perfectly capture Beckett’s inexhaustible devotion to exhaustion, displaying his condensed late prose style while reiterating his resilience to keep going on in the face of failure. Though it is not certain that Beckett regarded the final production of Quadrat I + II as a failure, there can be no doubt that he was greatly disheartened by his efforts to make this “crazy TV piece” (Harmon 383), so much so that he threatened more than once to abandon television and directing forever. Nevertheless, he pressed on to complete production in June 1981. By May 1982, he was already writing warmly again to Dr. Müller-Freienfels at SDR: “‘I often think of you all and wish I could look forward to being with you again. But I fear there is not much invention left in me, crazy or otherwise. Though I keep trying’” (Damned 599). Rather than resign in frustration over his difficulties with Quadrat I + II, Beckett responded as he had after his disappointing experience on Film, determined to try again and to fail better. He succeeded with Nacht und Träume.