Love and Depth in Beckett and Escher

Abstract

It is a popular belief that love is a profound, “deep”, transcendental experience. On the contrary, it is also often said that “love is only skin deep”, meaning that it is merely physical and temporary. I try to argue that both opposing arguments are only partially correct. One cannot deny the “depth” of an experience, its difference from the ordinary and the superficial. But one can also not deny the appearances and the surface on which such “depth” appears. One cannot imagine a transcendental experience without acknowledging the appearance of that transcendence from an immanent position, while immanence itself is ruptured, or incomplete, creating a gap from which arises the experience that is popularly termed “transcendental” or “deep”. Samuel Beckett depicts this rupture of immanence and appearance in his literary works, while M. C. Escher does the same through visual art.