Krapps Last Trappe

"Krapps Last Tape" is quite a different type of drama. It has a unique emphasis on our existence and the way we view life and the way that affects us. The play focuses on an old man going over his life by way of tape. It is a monologue in its entirety, where we can view a struggle in him. There is only one character physically present in the play, but, there are three. The other characters in the story are his past selves, who we meet via tape. These characters are nothing more than a voice on a tape player, but they play a crucial role in shaping the Krapp that we get to know in the play. From this information, we can assume that his old selves play a bigger part in the drama than we can see.

Krapps Last Tape revolves around Krapp, a lonely old man who is “celebrating” his birthday. His celebration consisted of a tradition he had begun in his youth.

Listening to a

He looks back and sees all the times where he decides to change, he scoffs, finding it amusing. But in the present he remains the same, with the same vices and habits. He speaks about drinking less and being less promiscuous. But none of these have come to fruition. HE is still a lonely, alcoholic, sex driven old man. He finds looking back at those resolutions somewhat entertaining. Krapp simultaneously seems to be bitter toward his younger self, since he did not change. Deep down he wishes he had changed, but this was impossible now due to how events had transpired.

The Krapps however, are all individual people. They had their own desires, ambitions and dreams. Yet the younger version directly affected the older one. This is made clear as we see him reminiscing of how he was and how he became what he is. His entrapment in the past seems to infect his everyday life to a point where he doesn’t find joy in it. The other characters, his past selves, represent what he could have been and how he could have