Forming a pair with the voice the gaze is a central structuring element of Samuel Beckett's
creation. And yet it takes the form of a strangely impersonal visual dimension testifying to
the absence of an original exchange of gazes capable of founding personal identity and opening
up the world to desire. The collapse of conventional reality and the highlighting of seeing
devices-eyes mirrors windows-point to the absence of a unified representation. While masks
and closed spaces show the visible to be opaque and devoid of any beyond light and darkness
spectres-manifestations without origin-reveal a realm beyond the confines of identity where
nothing provides a mediation with the seen or sets it within perspective. Finally Beckett's
use of the audio-visual media deepens his exploration of the irreducibly real part of existence
that escapes seeing. This study systematically examines these essential aspects of the visual
in Beckett's creation. The theoretical elaborations of Jacques Lacan-in relation with
corresponding developments in the history and philosophy of the visual arts-offer an
indispensible framework to understand the imaginary not as representation but as rooted in the
fundamental opacity of existence.
