The Portrayal Of The Theatre Of The Absurd

1785 Words4 Pages

The Portrayal of the Theatre of the Absurd

Throughout literature, much has been assumed and gathered about the state of man and his purpose in life. Different poets, novelists, and playwrights have employed the powerful tools of language to broadcast their respective statement to the literate world. Many authors stand out for their overly romanticized or horribly pessimistic notations on life, but only Samuel Beckett stands out for his portrayal of absence. As Democritus, a Greek philosopher, noted, "nothing is more real than nothing," a quote which became one of Beckett's favorites and an inspiration for his masterful plays (Hughes 1). Beckett's works have astounded many through their utter divergence from the typical basis of a play. His blatant discount for the traditional concepts of character development, setting, time, and sequence of events distinguish Beckett's plays from a myriad of themed dramas. Because of such breaks from the standard, the message of Beckett's plays rings clearly. In his ground breaking play Waiting for Godot, Beckett describes two men, Estragon and Vladimir, who come to a rock and a tree beside a road and wait for an unknown "Godot" in vain day after day, idly making frivolous conversation and casually meeting another pair of characters, Pozzo and Lucky, who pass by daily. His follow up play, Endgame, creates a similar scenario with a blind, chair-bound man, Hamm, and his servantile friend, Clov, stuck in a room characterized only by two high windows and two ashbins housing Hamm's parents, Nagg and Nell. Such unusual plays portray the American Theatre of the Absurd perfectly. In both Waiting for Godot and Endgame, Samuel Beckett expertly incorporates nonconformist setting and dual chara...

... middle of paper ...

...lis Carmel Mendelson. Vol. 6. Detroit,

Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1976. 47.

Mayoux, Jean-Jaques. Samuel Beckett. 1974. 48. Rpt. in Contemporary

Literary Criticism. Ed. Sharon Gunter. Vol. 18. Detroit, Michigan:

Gale Research Company, 1981. 41-43.

McDaniels, Daryl. "Critical Essay on ‘Endgame'." Drama For Students

Vol. 18. Gale, 2003.

Murray, Edward. The Cinematic Imagination: Writers and the Motion

Pictures. 1972. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism.

Ed. Carolyn Riley and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Vol. 6. Detroit,

Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1976. 36.

Campbell 8

Schlueter, June. "Beckett's Didi and Gogo, Hamm and Clov."

Metafictional Characters in Modern Drama 1977. 53-69. Rpt. in

Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Sharon Gunter. Vol. 18.

Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1981. 43-46.

Open Document