How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.
Quote #1
HAMM
And your rounds? When you inspected my paupers. Always on foot? (1.72)
What evidence is there in the play to think that Hamm was actually a monarch? What evidence is there to suggest that his power, in the old world, was largely imagined? How does the vanity obtained from his previous position keep him from adapting to his new one?
Quote #2
NAGG
You were in such fits that we capsized. By rights we should have been drowned.
NELL
It was because I was happy.
NAGG(indignant)
It was not, it was not, it was my story and nothing else. Happy! Don't you laugh at it still? Every time I tell it. Happy? (1.224-225)
How is Nagg acting like a child here? Is Nell's answer really so incompatible with Nagg's retort? Exactly what sort of credit does Nagg want for making Nell laugh? Is this a sign of love or just straight possessiveness?
Quote #3
HAMM
Am I right in the center?
CLOV
I'll measure it.
HAMM
More or less! More or less!
CLOV(moving chair slightly)
There!
HAMM
I'm more or less in the center?
CLOV
I'd say so.
HAMM
You'd say so. Put me right in the center!
CLOV
I'll go and get the tape.
HAMM
Roughly! Roughly
(Clov moves chair slightly.)
Bang in the center! (1.271-279)
What does it say about the fact that Hamm wants Clov to put him right in the center without using a measuring tape? Does this mean he wants to be the center of things according to Clov's judgment, the center of Clov's world?