Here woman is categorised as a species that is separated from men and is compared to animals such as oxen and sheep -- one symbolises immense strength and fertility, and for the other, obedience -- and most importantly, they are both tamed domestic animals. To place woman in between those two animals is to point out the social expectation of the so-called qualities/societal function that women should have, the ability to fertilise, and to obey, and to serve with their sexuality. It is obviously said in the sarcastic way from a patriarchal viewpoint, but powerful indeed.

Here Agnes is constantly trying to correct Tobias' wording, from aphorism to epigram, two words that only has very delicate differences in their meanings -- the former indicates a pitchy observation which contains a general truth, and the latter is more of the same idea yet being said in an witty way -- as Tobias explains, one is usually satiric and the other grimly serious. Although the two characters are merely talking about which category the a sentence should fall into, what they are really trying to differentiate is the two characteristics the two sisters possess, Agnes being the serious one and Claire being the satiric and amusing one. Agnes' character is emphasised even more directly as she says 'spill my marbles' for this idiom is usually used as 'lose one's marbles,' with a meaning of 'losing one's mind.' 'Spill,' compared to 'lose,' is a much more subtle action that even contains certain level of elegance, which indicates Agnes' unconcealed ego and pride, in comparison to her sister.

The hidden spaces in the play seem completely detached from the characters’ surroundings, and from their lives. There is something unsettling of the scene in which Gus asks Ben which town they are in, and Ben answers Birmingham. Here the characters are supposed to be in Birmingham, which is hidden here for the protagonists never step out of the room, yet the confinement of their basement provides a drastic contrast to Ben saying “I[t is ] the second biggest city in the Great Britain.” This not only emphasises Gus and Ben, as working class, are suppressed within isolation and repetition, to the point that they start to grow indifferent to where they are at the moment — all that matters is just who would be the next victim that they are commanded to kill — it seems like they often move to different places, yet no matter where they are, it is the same bleak dungeon that they live in, and the only connection between them and the outside world, here is ‘Birmingham,’ is that dumb waiter. What is more unsettling here, for me, is that due to the invisible upper authority, e.g. Wilson, in this play, wether the hidden spaces, the outside world, or Birmingham exists cast a doubt in my mind.

In this scene, Hamm draws a reminiscent reference to nature, a past one that hasn’t decayed much as it does at this moment, a paralleled situation that resembles his blindness and inability to stand up. He has nothing left but being a wretched existence, codependent to his servant Clov. Here the mood is bleak and his attitude is nostalgic, a forlorn combination that provides a stark contrast between the desolation and his warm longing which seems only to be in vain. This draws back to Nell and Nagg's conversation in the previous dialogue, where Nagg mentions the loss of a tooth. "I had it yesterday." "Ah, yesterday!" The characters speak of nature, though keep referring back to themselves in the end, for they degenerate as the nature decays. However, we don't know if the cause of their physical disability is ecological, or are the two only analogical.

These lines begin with ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ acknowledging the audience’s existence directly, while hoping for a response In a sense, Sabina sees herself in a ‘Theatre Mundi’ situation where her life is being scripted and directed by a somewhat intangible force; though she seems to always have known that, as indicated in the former context, she now begins to rebel against the settings arranged for her. These lines feel almost like a cry for help, and for accordance for her own judgement. I believe such refusal of hers marks a significant transition, because before these lines, the ‘breaking of the fourth wall’ fits merely a stereotypical image of ‘life as a play’, while as she speaks, it is elevated to the cosmic level of ‘the world as a stage.’

Imagine looking at this moment without context, it could be just a reflective thought said in a solemn tone; yet following that prisoner marching scene, it is such a blood-curdling line that it completely disrupts the audience’s expectation. The time should be staccato, as if a silent shriek instantaneouly strikes in a vacuum. I imagine the climate to be paralysing cold, in a way that parallels to Todd’s indifference to the burning of bodies in this dystopian realm. The mood is neither restrained or violent, but restrainedly violent, and sepulchral, as if someone suddenly bursts out laughing at a funeral in the most unsuitable manner, followed by awkward uneasiness.