Information AboutParataxis |
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Perhaps the most well known use of parataxis is Julius Caesar's famous quote, "Veni; vidi; vici," or, "I came; I saw; I conquered" An extreme example of parataxis is the immortal Mr. Jingle's speech in Chapter 2 of '' The Pickwick Papers '' by Charles Dickens . 'Come along, then,' said he of the green coat, lugging Mr. Pickwick after him by main force, and talking the whole way. 'Here, No. 924, take your fare, and take yourself off--respectable Perhaps an even more extreme proponent of the form was Samuel Beckett . The opening to his monologue "Not I" is a classic example: " . out . . . into this world . . . this world . . . tiny little thing . . . before its time . . . in a godfor– . . . what? . . girl? . . yes . . . tiny little girl . . . into this . . . out into this . . . before her time . . . godforsaken hole called . . . called . . . no matter . . . parents unknown . . . unheard of . . . he having vanished . . . thin air . . . no sooner buttoned up his breeches . . . she similarly . . . eight months later . . . almost to the tick . . . so no love . . . spared that . . . no love such as normally vented on the . . . speechless infant . . . in the home . . . no . . . nor indeed for that matter any of any kind . . . no love of any kind . . . at any subsequent stage" and so on. Although the use of ellipses here arguably prevents it from being seen as a classic example of parataxis, as a spoken text it operates in precisely that way. Other examples by Beckett would include large chunks of Lucky's famous speech in '' Waiting For Godot ''. SEE ALSO
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