Table of Contents
Background
After his magnanimous attempt to lay bare the absurdity of the human condition post the second World War, Beckett shocked the world with the second of its kind- Endgame. With reference to the play Beckett once wrote in a letter-
“Have at last written another, one act, longish, hour and a half, I fancy. Rather difficult and elliptical, mostly depending on the power of the text to claw, more inhuman than Godot. ”
However, the absurdity underpinning both plays is uncanny, both being modernist in their approach. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the play extends its readings as a parable play with a universal moral approach.
Performance and Stage Directions
This is yet another of Beckett’s huge successes especially noted for its unusual stage directions. This play is also marked by its patterns of circularity and was published in 1957 and originally written in French as “Fin de parttie”. The play was first performed in French at the Royal Court Theatre, London.
Endgame is marked by its abrupt pauses and silences forming a disruptive mode of direction for the actors on stage. The disjunctive conversations between Clov and Hamm help to bring out the inherent suffering of mankind. It also has a pattern of circularity which is very similar to that of Waiting for Godot.
Endgame: Characters
At the beginning of the play, readers are introduced to two characters Hamm and his servant Clov. Hamm, his father Nagg, his mother Nell as well as Clov are trapped together in Hamm’s home. Beckett’s play forms critic of human existence and the habit or routine that the characters display becomes a major theme of the play.
Hamm suffers from frequent headaches, and his faithful servant Clov has stiff legs and is unable to sit down. Even Hamm’s parents Nagg and Nell have lost their legs in the apocalyptic disaster and are destined to eternal suffering.
Hamm on one hand seems to be a representative o the aristocracy who has enjoyed privileged treatment ever since. He finds it incomprehensible that Clov, his servant did not have a bicycle in the first place. His request orders to Clov even proves Hamm’s aristocratic position. He is seen as a compassionless being by Clov.
Clov on the other hand is a loyal servant serving his master Hamm, since childhood. Readers might be reminded of Lucky and Pozzo from Waiting for Godot. They both share a relationship of interdependency, a psychological and social dependency. They share a relationship of brutal honesty.
For instance when Clov says: “Why do you keep me?” Hamm replies immediately “there is no one else” Clov often wonder why he still serves Hamm when he is so devoid of a companion. He cites the story of an old woman who died in darkness because Hamm refused her oil for the lamp.
Nagg and Nell seem to exist in pairs and complement each other just like Hamm and Clov; Vladimi and Estagon in Waiting for Godot. Nagg emerges out of the trash bin. Trapped just like his wife, Nagg emerges now and then to cry for food. He tries to kiss Nell and tell her the same story he always tells.
Verbally inept, both these characters are representations of the trauma that humankind can go through. Nell is the most resigned to their lives of routine, calling forth the repetitive pattern of human life and calling Nagg’s kiss a “farce.”
Endgame: Themes
Isolation, suffering, and communication all seem to be major themes of the play. Language and dialogues seem to be the only way in which the characters keep up hope and get a respite from the post-apocalyptic atmosphere surrounding them. The character feels each other’s void and form counterparts for one another to keep them from feeling further isolated.
There are repeated references to death in the play one of which is when Clov finds a telescope Hamm asks to put it in his coffin. Before Clov leaves, Hamm asks him to say a few words from his heart and Clov repeat-“They said to me” and reflects on the pain of life. Beckett manoeuvres difficult situations such as this to portray the suffering of mankind.
Conclusion
Because of its “rather difficult and elliptic” nature, Endgame is met with a lot of criticism. This helps to explain its initial reception. Beckett himself described the premiere as “rather grim, like playing to mahogany, or rather teak.” The hostility of the audience was matched by the hostility of reviewers who were baffled or annoyed by the play.
T. C. Worsley, a critic said that in Waiting for Godot, “Mr Beckett’s neurosis and mine were for quite long stretches on the same theme; in Endgame they never tangled. He has, in Endgame . . . expanded not the public but the private images. He has concentrated not on what is common between his audiences and him but on what is private in himself.”
FAQs
What is the meaning of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame?
Through the play, Beckett intended to show how suffering is intrinsic to mankind and that death is something that we are destined to do. These are unavoidable, thereby becoming a regularity of life.
When did Beckett write Endgame?
Beckett wrote the play to showcase the absurdity of existence and survival. With reference to the play Beckett once wrote in a letter-“Have at last written another, one act, longish, hour and a half, I fancy. Rather difficult and elliptical, mostly depending on the power of the text to claw, more inhuman than Godot. ”
What role does Hamm’s toy dog play in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame?
The toy dog is shown as Hamm’s companion to juxtapose companionship and loneliness. With the apocalypse, humanity is on the brink of collapse, however, Hamm’s dog remains constant and completes his being.
How is Endgame an absurd play?
The themes, dialogue, abrupt pauses and silence all point to the fact that Endgame is a groundbreaking absurdist play. The repetitions and language, the inherent themes of the suffering of mankind all appear to point out that just like Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Endgame too is an absurd play.