Samuel Beckett and Samuel Johnson

In “Samuel Beckett and Samuel Johnson: Like-Minded Masters of Life’s Limitations,” Thomas M. Curley reminds us that Johnson’s overall philosophy of life was traditionally and emphatically Christian. But he was a fearful believer, part of whose anxiety, Curley argues, stemmed from a sense of existential emptiness flowing from his abiding vision that we do not really live in the present but, exist primarily by means of past or future apprehensions of living. Perhaps no famous modern author, Curley contends, was more fascinated by Johnson and his anxieties than Samuel Beckett. Beckett turned a blind eye to the traditional magisterial figure of the Great Cham and instead focused upon a doubt-ridden and phobia-filled persona, a subversive Johnson, wrought in the Irishman’s own image and serving as a formative influence on his canon. Johnson’s influence upon Beckett—however unlikely—proves upon deeper scrutiny to be profound.