The Theme of the Little-Ease

Explores the metaphor of the little-ease as the condition of modern man, trapped in a state between standing and lying down.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Medieval Cell

The dungeon of the self A cell of ingenious dimensions The little-ease was a cell where one could neither stand up nor lie down. One had to live on the diagonal, in an awkward posture. It was a place of punishment. The symbol of guilt For Clamence, the little-ease represented the condition of the guilty man. Innocence would be to stretch joyously. He was condemned to live hunched.

The Modern Application

The universal prison Everyone in the little-ease Clamence argues that all men are in the little-ease, judged without a law. They are trapped in a state of guilt. The only escape is to accept it. The need to spit first He says we all spit on each other, each trying to be first. The spitting cell is another version. The theme of the little-ease is a metaphor for the human condition.

The Judge-Penitent's Freedom

The escape from the cell A relative freedom Clamence has found a way out of the little-ease: he becomes the judge. He dominates from a height. He is no longer hunched but enthroned. The illusion of release But he is still in the little-ease, only now he is the jailer. The theme ends with a paradoxical solution: the only way out is to become the judge of others, but that is itself a prison.

Historical reference, but applied to Clamence's condition

After his crisis, in his daily life

In his Amsterdam practice