Codependency in Samuel Beckett's Endgame
"Clov asks, "What is there to keep us here?" Hamm answers, "The dialogue."" In the play Endgame, Samuel Beckett demonstrates dramatically the idea of codependency between the two focal characters who rely on each other to fulfill their own physical and psychological needs. Beckett accomplishes this through Hamm, who assumes the identity of a kingly figure, and his relationship with Clov, who acts as his subject. In Endgame, this idea is established by tone and humor in the dialogue amid Hamm and Clov.
Samuel Beckett was an Irish-born poet, novelist, and foremost dramatist of the theater of the absurd. His surreal writings mixed humor into a world paralyzed and grief stricken with pain and anguish. Beckett's characters grasp for a meaningful existence amongst an unrelenting and disorderly world, finally finding release only within the confines of their own minds.
The play Endgame is the story of a few survivors after some unknown apocalypse on Earth. Hamm, a blind man who lives in a small bare room with two windows, shutoff from the rest of the dead outside world, is accompanied by two legless parents, Nagg and Nell, who live in two dustbins. The remaining character is Clov, who acts as an enslaved son of Ham[HAC1]m, who answers to his beckon call and grants his requests. At the end of the play his parents have apparently died, and he has given up the struggle or reason to live on. It is now that Clov is on the verge of escape to leave his life of submission to Hamm, but to where? For there is nothing but a vast void of emptiness.
Samuel Beckett was born on April 13, 1906, in Foxrock, near Dublin. As a child he was raised in a religiously oriented, Protestant, mid...
... middle of paper ...
...down the lids of Hamm's parent's
dustbins as well, Hamm being prone to exercising his direct power over him: "Bottle him!" he cries out (10).
Finally, the relationship between Hamm and Clov can be aggregated in the theme of this codependent nature that each fulfills for one another. This is relevant to today's society in that it examines the basic underlying structural dependence of a monarchical or dictatorship type form of government, of the needs and duties of a King or leader with his subjects. In this way, the King would provide protection and leadership for his subjects, while they would owe homage in the form of taxes and loyalty in allegiance to him. Similarly in the play, Hamm provides the protection from the starvation and desolation of the outside world beyond his store, and Clov repays this buy waiting on Hamm's requests, however reluctantly.
The Imperium Romanum (Roman Empire) was a vast domain containing large territorial holdings in Europe and the Mediterranean. Beyond the empire however consisted of barbarous nations that were a constant threat to the Roman boundaries. For this reason, it was necessary for well-functioning frontier policies to be administrated and sustained to protect the outskirts of the empire from invasion. During the Julio-Claudian dynasty both Tiberius and Claudius established many effective frontier policies during their Principates. In addition to securing the frontiers, both also provided stability in the empire through the maintenance of the Pax Romana (the peace of Rome), which was established during the reign of Augustus.
The play is an eternal challenge, a lock with many keys, none of which ever fits perfectly. Every interpretation presents just a portion of the possibilities. Every new version opens up new vistas, without limiting further experimentation. Every generation comes, looks, and studies the play, but never comes up with all the answers.
The climax of the play is in the last act in which the balance of
The theme of suffering is emphasized when the motif of loyalty is analyzed throughout the play. The loyalties of all the characters involved seem to work against them and
abandoned the conventions of the classical play to concentrate on his important message to humanity. Using his pathetic characters, Estragon and Vladimir, Beckett illustrates the importance of human free will in a land ruled by science and technology. He understood the terrors of progress as he witnessed first hand the destruction caused by technologically-improved weapons working as a spy during WWII. In his tragicomedy, Estragon and Vladimir spend the entire time futilely waiting for Godot to arrive. They believe that this mysterious Godot will help them solve their problems and merely sit and wait for their solution to arrive. Beckett utilizes these characters to warn the reader of the dangers of depending on fate and others to improve one's existence. He supports this idea when Estragon blames his boots and not himself for the pain in his feet, and Vladimir responds, "There'...
Irish-born French author Samuel Beckett was well known for his use of literary devices such as black comedy in his various literary works. Written during late 1948 and early 1949 and premiered as a play in 1953 as En attendant Godot, Beckett coupled these devices with minimalism and absurdity in order to create the tragicomedy known to English speakers as Waiting for Godot. True to its title, Waiting for Godot is the tale of a pair of best friends known as Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) who are waiting for the character the audience comes to know as Godot to appear. Throughout Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett alludes to the monotheistic religion of Christianity through symbols, dialogue, and characters to reveal the heavy invisible influence of God in the daily life of man.
Shakespeare exposes the human frame of thought through Hamlet. Throughout the play, he questions life and death and Shakespeare carefully crafts Hamlet to contrast with the other characters who are unable to see the things Hamlet does and question the prospects of death. Beginning and ending with death, Hamlet’s philosophical insight is a way of reminding us to also question the things around us instead of giving in to the ways of the world.
People deal with stress in their lives daily. Temporary and moderate stress can help to remind people of the seriousness of certain situations and push them to work hard. This stress is also very rewarding due to the relief that follows when the important task is completed. On the other hand, constant and excessive stress can have many negative effects in a person’s bodily and mental health.
Look up the word conflict in the dictionary and you will see several negative responses. Descriptions such as: to come into collision or disagreement; be at variance or in opposition; clash; to contend; do battle; controversy; quarrel; antagonism or opposition between interests or principles Random House (1975). With the negative reputation associated with this word, no wonder people tend to shy away when they start to enter into the area of conflict. D. Jordan (1996) suggests that there are two types of conflict: good, which is defined as cognitive conflict (C-type conflict) and, detrimental, defined as affective conflict (A-type conflict). The C-type conflict allows for creativity, to pull together a group of people with different opinions or ideas, to combine and brain storm all thoughts to develop the best solution for the problem. The A-type conflict is the negative form when you have animosity, hostility, un-resolveable differences, and egos to deal with. The list citing negative conflicts could go on forever. We will be investigating these types of conflicts, what managers can do to recognize conflict early, and what strategies they can use to resolve conflicts once they have advanced.
To begin, we must understand the meaning of the rule of law and why the UK courts implement this constitutional principle in day to day practice. British jurist and constitutional theorist A.V. Dicey paved the way for much of our understanding of the rule of law we know today; giving a strong starting point for academics such as Lord Bingham and Joseph Raz whom later on developed the formal and substantive theories of the rule of law. Dicey has three key principles: no punishment unless there is a breach of the law; Law should not be exercised arbitrarily; and there should be a consistency in the creation of law. Dicey simply means that an individual should be aware of laws which apply to them, they are free to act as they please, whether they
As stated by Cohn in her article " 'Endgame': The Gospel According to Sad Sam Beckett" there is much evidence given relating to the many comparable instances between the Bible and Beckett's “Endgame.” With this interpretation as well as the discussion about the significance of the title, and the constant reference to the end of the world, it is nearly impossible to see Beckett's “Endgame” as anything other than a post-apocalyptic tale. I found particularly interesting Cohn's relation to Beckett's Hamm and the Bible's Ham. Ham being the son of Noah, as Cohn states, he is responsible for the survival of life. In the Bible, Ham obeys the wishes of his father, and thus God, and devoted his life to the expansion of humanity and the earth's mere existence. As the Noah story tells, God, unhappy with the world, creates a mass flood that kills the entire world's population, barring a male and a female of every species. This boatload of beings was to start the world anew, to try and make it a better place.
"Overpopulation: Environmental and Social Problems." Effects of Overpopulation on the Environment and Society. Institute for Population Studies, 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Kern, Edith. “Drama Stripped for Inaction: Beckett’s Godot.” Yale French Studies. Vol. 14. Yale University Press, 1954. 41-47. JSTOR. 22 Mar. 2004. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0044-0078%281954>.
First, stress is defined as an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well being (Patel, 14). Stress is a universal feeling to everyone but the word stress means different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure or negative emotions such as anxiety or anger (Patel, 15). Other people may view stress as a process involving a person’s interpretation and response to a threatening event. In any case, stress has many facets of how one perceives and responds to the certain predicament that is ailing them.
Although Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot, has no definite meaning or interpretation, the play acts as a statement of hopelessness regarding human existence. Debate surrounds the play because, due to its simplicity, almost any interpretation is valid. The main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are aging men who must wait for a person, being, or object named Godot, but this entity never appears to grace the men with this presence. Both characters essentially demonstrate how one must go through life when hope is nonexistent as they pointlessly attempt to entertain themselves with glum conversation in front of a solitary tree. The Theater of the Absurd, a prevalent movement associated with Waiting for Godot, serves as the basis for the message of hopelessness in his main characters. Samuel Beckett's iconic Waiting for Godot and his perception of the characteristics and influence of the Theater of the Absurd illustrate the pointlessness and hopelessness regarding existence. In the play, boredom is mistaken for hopelessness because the men have nothing to do, as they attempt to occupy themselves as, for some reason, they need to wait for Godot. No hope is present throughout the two-act play with little for Estragon and Vladimir to occupy their time while they, as the title indicates, wait for Godot.