Repetition In Hamm's The Black Knight

Moreover, Hamm continues to use his method of repetition to repress the past to forget the pain associated his memories. Ultimately, he wants represses his emotional damage to acquire control and sustain a sense of dominance. Obtaining dominance over other characters allows him to retreat his insecurities caused by inner helpless that prevents him from escaping the mental turmoil. He continues to replace his feeling of inferior through the unfair treatment of Clov, reducing him to a lower status. Such thinking is illustrated in the scene where Hamm orders Clov to position him in the centre of the stage, highlighting his obsessive need for power and regulation. Under further analysis, the power struggle between the characters resembles a game of chess, where Hamm is the Black Knight, the chess king playing against obedient

The Black Knight in recognized as a plyer that “occupies a position of dominance and power” (Templeton, 163). Using the chess game as a metaphor for their relationship highlights the power play in Hamm use of repetition. He insists to be in the “right in the centre” (Beckett, 746) suggesting an awareness of his spatial domination in relation to Clov. With clear instructions, Clov seeks to satisfy Hamm’s demand by moving him “back to my place” (Beckett, 747.445) so he moves the chair accordingly. It is clear that Hamm’s strategy is to reaffirm his power to increase his

Freud psychoanalysis reveals that one reinforces such behaviour seeking “to avoid the unpleasure which would be produced by the liberation of the repressed” (20). Freudian reading of Hamm illustrates that “the resistance arises from his ego” (Freud, 20), he refuses to deal with inner helpless through repetition, replacing it with a new self-worth. Hamm consciously seeks separation from the emotional trauma through repetitive speech and gestures to feed his hungry ego that that been deprived of power and attention by his