Happy Days (play)

Happy Days is a play in two acts, written by Samuel Beckett.

Winnie, buried to her waist, follows her daily routine and prattles to her husband, Willie, who is largely hidden and taciturn. Her frequent refrain is “Oh this is a happy day.” Later, in Act II she is buried up to her neck, but continues to talk and remember happier days.

Winnie is embedded waist-deep in a low mound under blazing light, with a large black bag beside her. She is woken by a piercing bell, and begins her daily routine with a prayer. Talking incessantly to herself, she brushes her teeth, drinks the last of a bottle of tonic and puts on her hat. She struggles to read the writing on the toothbrush. She wakes up Willie, her husband, who is hidden by the mound, and prattles to him. He occasionally responds with headlines from his newspaper, one of which reminds her of her first kiss. They both look at an apparently saucy postcard. Winnie explains that Willie’s listening enables her to go on talking, and is delighted when he responds even briefly to one of her many questions. From her bag she pulls out a revolver, recalls how Willie asked her to take it away from him, and puts it on the ground beside her. She puts up a parasol to protect her from the sun, but it catches fire. She finds in her bag a musical-box, which she plays, and in response to which Willie briefly sings. Winnie files her nails and remembers the last people who passed, a Mr and Mrs Shower (or perhaps Cooker), who asked what she was doing stuck in the ground. She prepares her bag for the night, and instructs Willie on how to crawl backwards into his hole. Winnie wishes that he would come round and live where she could see him better.

Winnie is now embedded up to her neck, still wearing her hat, still with the bag and revolver beside her. She is woken by the bell, which rings again each time she falls back asleep. She feels Willie is looking at her but cannot see him, and he does not respond to her calls. She continues to talk, recalling a time when a little girl called Mildred undressed her doll in the nursery at night, but is interrupted by anxiety about Willie and further memories of Mr and Mrs Shower. Willie crawls out from behind the mound, smartly dressed, which reminds her of the day he asked her to marry him. She encourages him as he tries to crawl up the mound towards her, and is delighted when he grunts “Win”. She sings the musical-box song, a love song.

– Dame Peggy Ashcroft

Winnie is a "woman of about fifty", who passes her time between "the bell for waking and the bell for sleep" by following a very exact daily routine. in Act 1, after she methodically removes the items from her bag— a comb, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bottle of patent medicine, lipstick, a nail file, a revolver and a music box. The routine is raised to the level of ceremony. Beckett’s instructions to Billie Whitelaw in 1979 emphasize this:

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