Curtain Calls
It's not just House who has his share of knowledgeable references. Wilson, if one pays attention, has a tendency to drop a few literary ones now and then. Some of these are also noteworthy, given that actor Robert Sean Leonard is perhaps best recognized for his work on the theatrical stage, not in front of the camera.
Sonnets and Poetry
In the second season, it's Wilson who quips--during a cafeteria consult with House--"So, it's TB but not TB?", giving the title for the episode as well as a Shakespearean reference. (Leonard also has played the role of Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.)
The actual line, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," is the introduction to one of the most famous lines in Hamlet. In the monologue, young Prince Hamlet contemplates suicide, but ultimately decides that the "dread of something after death" is unknown and not worth the risk; he'd rather "suffer the slings and arrows" of the living life.
A scene in "Poison" also brings back recollections of Leonard's role as a young, prep school student striving to be an actor in the classic film Dead Poets Society. House is greeted with Wilson reciting poetry, albeit poetry written by an 82-year-old clinic patient with a strain of syphilis that's upped her libido:
Wilson: [reading] “The healer with his magic powers… I could rub his gentle brow for hours… His manly chest, his stubble jaw, everything about him leaves me raw.... with joy. Oh House, you're very name, will never leave this girl the same."
Seems David Shore feels like giving Leonard some time under the stage lights occasionally. :)
Theatrical References
Maybe viewers can start assuming Wilson, like Leonard, has a love for the stage...or, at least, somet tickets to Broadway shows. In "Poison," House, the interns, and Wilson are reviewing what treatment needs to be distributed to two sick teenage boys. While one set of parents are willing to go with the diagnosis, the other mother is too skeptical of House's judgment to give permission to treat her son.
Chase: "...Matt’s mom won’t do anything until she gets that opinion from the CDC."
Wilson: "Godot would be faster…"
It's a half-murmured statement most viewers probably negligently tossed to the side. I didn't catch it either until I watched the episode for practically the fifth time.
So who's "Godot" and why is he so slow?
Wilson was referring to a three-act, French play entitled "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett. In it, two tramps wait aimlessly by a dying tree for someone named M. Godot. They are visited by a master and slave, who appear like vaudeville characters (Beckett was very influenced by Charlie Chapman), and yet while these new performers add some grotesque comedy to the skit, there still is a sense of pervading uselessness about the waiting.
Eventually, a young boy stops by and tells them that Godot will not be coming, but he should arrive tomorrow. As if to emphasize the pointlessness, the tramps say to one another, "Shall we go?" "Yes, let's go." Yet neither one moves as the curtains close and the play ends.
It has been debated who this mysterious M. Godot could be. Many literary critics claim that the character symbolizes God. Others believe that Beckett combined the names God and Charlot, which the French often use for Charlie Chapman. Of course, when author Beckett was asked this question directly, he replied, "If I knew, I would have said so in the play."
There you have it. Vagueness from the author himself. Good thing the writing in "House" is a bit clearer, though it is layered in references if one pays close attention.
Sonnets and Poetry
In the second season, it's Wilson who quips--during a cafeteria consult with House--"So, it's TB but not TB?", giving the title for the episode as well as a Shakespearean reference. (Leonard also has played the role of Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.)
The actual line, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," is the introduction to one of the most famous lines in Hamlet. In the monologue, young Prince Hamlet contemplates suicide, but ultimately decides that the "dread of something after death" is unknown and not worth the risk; he'd rather "suffer the slings and arrows" of the living life.
A scene in "Poison" also brings back recollections of Leonard's role as a young, prep school student striving to be an actor in the classic film Dead Poets Society. House is greeted with Wilson reciting poetry, albeit poetry written by an 82-year-old clinic patient with a strain of syphilis that's upped her libido:
Wilson: [reading] “The healer with his magic powers… I could rub his gentle brow for hours… His manly chest, his stubble jaw, everything about him leaves me raw.... with joy. Oh House, you're very name, will never leave this girl the same."
Seems David Shore feels like giving Leonard some time under the stage lights occasionally. :)
Theatrical References
Maybe viewers can start assuming Wilson, like Leonard, has a love for the stage...or, at least, somet tickets to Broadway shows. In "Poison," House, the interns, and Wilson are reviewing what treatment needs to be distributed to two sick teenage boys. While one set of parents are willing to go with the diagnosis, the other mother is too skeptical of House's judgment to give permission to treat her son.
Chase: "...Matt’s mom won’t do anything until she gets that opinion from the CDC."
Wilson: "Godot would be faster…"
It's a half-murmured statement most viewers probably negligently tossed to the side. I didn't catch it either until I watched the episode for practically the fifth time.
So who's "Godot" and why is he so slow?
Wilson was referring to a three-act, French play entitled "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett. In it, two tramps wait aimlessly by a dying tree for someone named M. Godot. They are visited by a master and slave, who appear like vaudeville characters (Beckett was very influenced by Charlie Chapman), and yet while these new performers add some grotesque comedy to the skit, there still is a sense of pervading uselessness about the waiting.
Eventually, a young boy stops by and tells them that Godot will not be coming, but he should arrive tomorrow. As if to emphasize the pointlessness, the tramps say to one another, "Shall we go?" "Yes, let's go." Yet neither one moves as the curtains close and the play ends.
It has been debated who this mysterious M. Godot could be. Many literary critics claim that the character symbolizes God. Others believe that Beckett combined the names God and Charlot, which the French often use for Charlie Chapman. Of course, when author Beckett was asked this question directly, he replied, "If I knew, I would have said so in the play."
There you have it. Vagueness from the author himself. Good thing the writing in "House" is a bit clearer, though it is layered in references if one pays close attention.
