Malone's narratives are investigated through their relation to Schiller's and Schopenhauer's championing of aesthetic contemplation. Although Beckett follows Schopenhauer in his condemnation of the will-to-live, particularly as represented by procreation, it is argued that the narratives of Malone reveal an inability to create pure, disinterested, aesthetic objects. The paradigms of fictional creation adopted by Malone are infected by modes proper to sexual reproduction and therefore fail to release Malone from time and the will. It is argued that the reproductive motifs within demonstrate Beckett's subtle rejection of the aesthetic optimism of Schopenhauer and Schiller.
The Agrarian distress: Factors explaining the will to live among rural and distressed family farmers
