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            The most interesting thing that I found in Beckett’s Happy Days is the deconstruction of the concept of ‘word and body’. It shows how body and words against each other. In this works, this matter is shown by how man and woman show their body or not and by the utterances of the characters. In this essay, I try to find how the deconstruction of the concept of separation of words and body which is firstly popularized by a philosopher, Rene Descartes.

Actually, the concept of body and mind had a long story, since Plato who says that human is divided into soul and body, Aristotle who have a contrast opinion against Plato, and then found became a systematic study, which concerns in the relationship of body and mind, in Rene Descartes’ seminal work (Tan, 2007). Descartes’ term is known as Cartesian Dualism with its famous quotation: “cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). It explains that body and mind are two different things that interact each other. Then it becomes more complex while it specifies that mind is man’s and the body is woman’s. Mind is consider to be in a higher degree which can produce words and becomes law, while the body has a function to ‘reproduce’ without being able to speak the words.

Why it has to be ‘deconstruction’? I use Derrida’s term, ‘deconstruction’, because I found that the works show that the concept of the word and body is not regular, steady and constant. The definition of deconstruction itself, as stated by Culler (1982) cited in Graupner & College (-) that “to deconstruct a discourse is to show how it undermines the philosophy it asserts, or the hierarchical oppositions on which it relies by using a certain method.” Besides that, according to Balkin (1996), deconstruction firstly known as a technique of reading the texts which are connected to a set of philosophical claims about language and meaning. He also states that deconstruction is referred as poststructuralism and understood as a response to structuralism.

From this definition, I conclude that deconstruction is a term which reminds us so that there’s nothing which is stable and has the steady order, that everything will be changed and have no constant system.  Therefore, in this essay, I will show the concept of deconstruction in a broad sense and try to find how the text deconstructs the steady, regular, and constant concept of ‘body and words’.

In this work, the concept of words and body is played through the description of the two characters, Winnie and Willie. The drama itself is divided into two acts. In act 1, Winnie, the woman character, is described as a half body, while Willie, the man character, is only shown the back of his body and his hands when it move towards Winnie. It shows the contrast between Winnie, who has ‘body’, although it is only a half part of her body, and Willie who talks less and his body is only shown the back part.

In Act I, Willie is presented reading a newspaper while Winnie is busy with her body: brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, wearing a hat, being busy with her mirror, and many more. In my view, those activities show us that Willie is busy to feed his mind by reading the newspaper, while Winnie is busy to feed her body needs so that she can present good appearance. She has a body and really cares with it while Willie has a body but it is only shown the back parts. Winnie talks a lot and most of them are repeated several times while Willie talks less although in this act Willie is feeding his mind by ‘reading’. Reading in this works does not mean that the subject who does the activity can produce the words.

In Act I, Winnie repeats some sentences, one of them is “marvelous gift—wish I had it—well—can’t complain—no no—mustn’t complain—so much to be thankful for—no pain—“ (Beckett, 1906, p. 2273). I assume that this is when she shows her womanish, that she is weak, she has no choice and can do nothing because she cannot own the marvelous gift. She only can be thankful even only to have no pain. I think that the marvelous gift itself is being free, to enjoy her life without her half part of her body being confined. It is highly possible because after awhile, she says that “loss of spirits…lack of keenness…want of apetite…infants…children…adults…six levels…” (Beckett, 1906, p. 2274). From this sentence, I assume that it shows that she loss a chance for having children because her reproduction organ does not function. It is because it is confined and can be used in the same way as its basic function. It shows that the texts deconstruct the concept of mind and body. When the order system has a steady view that woman has a body and man has mind and can produce the words, in this works, it becomes unclear. It is because when women can produce words, it means nothing while the man who has mind cannot use his mind to produce the words either.

The other interesting thing is the ‘talking and hearing’. When Winnie says that “Ah yes, if only I could bear to be alone, prattle away with not a soul to hear –days perhaps when you hear nothing something but days too when you answer”(Beckett, 1906, p. 2277).  It is two different views about what a happy day is. The man wishes that he does not hear anything and expects the woman not to talk while the women wants to talk and wants to be heard. It is related to what Winnie says then, that “what now?...Words fail, there are times when even they fail….what is to do then when they come again? Brush and comb the hair, if it has not been done …trims the nails…” (Beckett, 1906, p. 2278). I think that the words fail when it is not responded by Willie, it means that she fails to produce the words and turn back again to her womanish activities, such as combing her hair, trimming nails, having make up, and many others. The ‘talking and hearing’ becomes clearer when Winnie says “Well, I don’t blame you, no, it would ill become me, who cannot move, to blame my Willie because he cannot speak. Fortunately, I’m in tongue again” (Beckett, 1906, p. 2282).

Then why doesn’t Willie want to hear Winnie? We can also find the answer in the text that “Oh I can well imagine what is passing through your mind, it is not enough to have to listen to a woman,….Well it is very understandable” (Beckett, 1906, p. 2279). It shows (again) that although Winnie can speaks, her words are worthless. Her words mean nothing to Willie because she is a woman whose voice is not enough to be heard. The texts also shows the position of the woman as a creature who has to obey and honor the man, when Winnie understandably excuse for not being heard, and she says that she always tries to obey and honor Willie as she used to.

However, in another scene, Willie, even has shown that he was reading to ‘feed his mind’, seems that he does not have mind. It can be found when Winnie asks Willie to turn into his hole again. It shows that Willie can move everywhere freely, while Winnie cannot. Willie should be notified about how he can turn into his hole. Winnie curses him as a stupid man because he cannot turn into his hole ‘correctly’.

 In conclusion, the concept of body and mind is deconstructed in this works. A woman does not always have a body and cannot speak the words and a man is not always utter the words although he has fed his mind by ‘reading’. It also can be said that reading or having mind does not always mean someone can produce the words. The woman, which according to the order of the concept of ‘body and mind’ has a body and cannot produce the words, in this works, the woman, is presented having body, but only a half, while the rest is confined, including her reproduction organ, so that her body does not function as it should be. In contrast, the man, has a free body, he can move everywhere, but his mind, which has been fed by reading, does not produce the words. It means that it also does not function as the order says so. However, by all of these absurdities, Winnie is still represented as a womanly woman, so does Willie. Winnie still takes care of her physical body (by having makeup her face), wears a necklet, completed with women’s stuffs in the black bag whilst Willie is also shown as a mannish man with his manly activity: ‘reading’. Therefore, it shows that the text has deconstructed the concept of ‘body and mind’ by playing the role of Winnie and Willie. However, the old concept that woman has body and man has mind is also confusing, because while it is deconstructed, the old concept is still can be found that Winnie’s words is worthless because she is only a woman. Besides that, she is also has to obey and honor Willie. While Willie itself although he has a mind, he seems so stupid and deaf.