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Samuel Beckett is a representative of the absurdist. As one of his representative works, Endgame is a direct reflection of Beckett’s absurd view of the world. The setting, the estrangement and hate between characters, and the emptiness of thoughts and disabled action and so on all exhibit the absurd life without meaning.
The setting in Endgame by Beckett immediately gives audience the feeling of absurdness. The absurdist emphasized the comprehensive stage effects, such as stage setting, stage properties and lighting. Beckett considered such stage languages as “similes”. Intuitionistic stage effects can better arouse the attention of audience and inspire their sympathy. The setting in Endgame is simple from the inside to the outside. In the “bare interior” of the room, the curtain opens on a sparely furnished box with two small curtained windows located like eye holes to the left and right backstage, a door leading to the kitchen offstage, a picture turned face to the wall, Hamm's throne/chair on castors center stage, two ``ashbins''. Thus the desolation in the room is directly felt by audience. As for the wildness outside the room, we are told by the eye of Clov. The world outside the room is lifeless and stationary; there is no sea, no sun, and no seed; everywhere was dark. This was an absolutely desolate world. The only life in the room was waiting for final death. The oppressed environment in the room and the lifeless scene outside the room indicate a meaningless world the characters are placed in.
Furthermore, the absurdness is revealed by the estrangement and hate in the relationship between the four characters. The alienation between human beings is one of the most important themes of modernist literature. Absurdists also tried to express the theme. In Endgame there are not furious conflicts and struggle between characters. Everywhere is calm. Something happens. But nothing seems to happen in the end. There is hidden sadness in the latent coldness and alienation. These characters are lonely, and Beckett is likely to put these characters into contrast, such as Hamm and Clov. These coupled characters are in opposition, but are also dependent upon each other. They are always together, but can never reduce the lonely feeling of each other. Their loneliness is increased by the misunderstanding and coldness. The playwright tried to do so in order to present the comic effects of the play and also explained the loneliness of the personal and absurdness in human relationships.
The relationship between Hamm and his parents is also full of coldness and absurdness. The bond between parents and son has disappeared Hamm puts his parents in two dirty dustbins. If his parents are annoying, Hamm would ask Clov to close the bins, ignoring their needs. In Nagg and Nell’s mock-syrupy reminiscences of an occluded past, we know the parents’ cold treatment of their child, Hamm. The apathy and selfishness between parents and son has entirely gone beyond the traditional family ethic and morality. The language Beckett uses demonstrates the precarious balance between cognition and bewilderment. The breakdown of language reflects the breakdown of the characters' ability to perceive the world around them. The diseased relationship between characters presents to us audience a vivid picture of meaningless and loneliness in modern life.
Besides, the empty thoughts and disabled actions of characters reflect the absurdness of their life. The humble characters in Endgame are in lack of abundant thoughts, rich emotions and lofty reason. Their spiritual world, like the natural world they are living in, is a wasteland. The one-act play is developed by the random gibberish between Hamm and Clov, accompanied by the complaints and tease of Nagg and Nell. Although the protagonist Hamm seems to plan a novel, and he tells his story, his language is desultory and illogical. We cannot find any importance or significance in his novel. Also, the dialogues between the four characters are full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense. The absence of formal language and the difficulty of communication embody the emptiness in the characters’ spirits and thoughts.
The plot in Endgame is also the structural revelation of the absurdity in modern life. Endgame is a unique masterpiece with an intricate dramatic structure that runs contrary to traditional theatrical structure. Beckett dared not to adhere to accepted dramatic rules. Endgame's structure breaks from the theory that shaped centuries of dramas and tragedies. The plot is frequently cyclical. Endgame begins where the play ended at the beginning of the play, Clov says, "Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished"and themes of cycle, routine, and repetition are explored throughout.
As a prominent representative playwright of “The Theatre of The Absurd”, Beckett finds an unconventional yet successful way to address the absurdness question in modern life. Beckett succeeds by exploding the paradigms of traditional drama. He uses setting, characterization, and simple plot to express his understanding. Beckett treats his audience with the utmost respect by investigating the human condition without allowing for the hope of an absolute answer to life's biggest puzzles. One may wish to go to the theater to come away with conclusions and answers, but Beckett presents a fictional world as complex as the real world, where conclusions are uncertain and answers not easily defined. Beckett's Endgame, though a labyrinth in its complex construction, is an extraordinary work of twentieth-century art.
Works cited
1.Andonian, Cathleen Culotta. Ed. The Critical Response to Samuel Beckett. Westport, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press, 1998.
2.Homan, Sidney. Beckett’s Theaters: Interpretations for Performance. London: Associated University Presses, Inc, 1984.
3.Kenner, Hugh. A Reader’s Guide to Samuel Beckett. London: Thames and Hudson, 1973.
4.Webb, Eugene. The Plays of Samuel Beckett. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1972.
作者简介：刘惠萍（1986—），女，四川资阳人，四川外语学院研究生部2009级英语语言文学专业硕士研究生，研究方向：英美文学。
The setting in Endgame by Beckett immediately gives audience the feeling of absurdness. The absurdist emphasized the comprehensive stage effects, such as stage setting, stage properties and lighting. Beckett considered such stage languages as “similes”. Intuitionistic stage effects can better arouse the attention of audience and inspire their sympathy. The setting in Endgame is simple from the inside to the outside. In the “bare interior” of the room, the curtain opens on a sparely furnished box with two small curtained windows located like eye holes to the left and right backstage, a door leading to the kitchen offstage, a picture turned face to the wall, Hamm's throne/chair on castors center stage, two ``ashbins''. Thus the desolation in the room is directly felt by audience. As for the wildness outside the room, we are told by the eye of Clov. The world outside the room is lifeless and stationary; there is no sea, no sun, and no seed; everywhere was dark. This was an absolutely desolate world. The only life in the room was waiting for final death. The oppressed environment in the room and the lifeless scene outside the room indicate a meaningless world the characters are placed in.
Furthermore, the absurdness is revealed by the estrangement and hate in the relationship between the four characters. The alienation between human beings is one of the most important themes of modernist literature. Absurdists also tried to express the theme. In Endgame there are not furious conflicts and struggle between characters. Everywhere is calm. Something happens. But nothing seems to happen in the end. There is hidden sadness in the latent coldness and alienation. These characters are lonely, and Beckett is likely to put these characters into contrast, such as Hamm and Clov. These coupled characters are in opposition, but are also dependent upon each other. They are always together, but can never reduce the lonely feeling of each other. Their loneliness is increased by the misunderstanding and coldness. The playwright tried to do so in order to present the comic effects of the play and also explained the loneliness of the personal and absurdness in human relationships.
The relationship between Hamm and his parents is also full of coldness and absurdness. The bond between parents and son has disappeared Hamm puts his parents in two dirty dustbins. If his parents are annoying, Hamm would ask Clov to close the bins, ignoring their needs. In Nagg and Nell’s mock-syrupy reminiscences of an occluded past, we know the parents’ cold treatment of their child, Hamm. The apathy and selfishness between parents and son has entirely gone beyond the traditional family ethic and morality. The language Beckett uses demonstrates the precarious balance between cognition and bewilderment. The breakdown of language reflects the breakdown of the characters' ability to perceive the world around them. The diseased relationship between characters presents to us audience a vivid picture of meaningless and loneliness in modern life.
Besides, the empty thoughts and disabled actions of characters reflect the absurdness of their life. The humble characters in Endgame are in lack of abundant thoughts, rich emotions and lofty reason. Their spiritual world, like the natural world they are living in, is a wasteland. The one-act play is developed by the random gibberish between Hamm and Clov, accompanied by the complaints and tease of Nagg and Nell. Although the protagonist Hamm seems to plan a novel, and he tells his story, his language is desultory and illogical. We cannot find any importance or significance in his novel. Also, the dialogues between the four characters are full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense. The absence of formal language and the difficulty of communication embody the emptiness in the characters’ spirits and thoughts.
The plot in Endgame is also the structural revelation of the absurdity in modern life. Endgame is a unique masterpiece with an intricate dramatic structure that runs contrary to traditional theatrical structure. Beckett dared not to adhere to accepted dramatic rules. Endgame's structure breaks from the theory that shaped centuries of dramas and tragedies. The plot is frequently cyclical. Endgame begins where the play ended at the beginning of the play, Clov says, "Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished"and themes of cycle, routine, and repetition are explored throughout.
As a prominent representative playwright of “The Theatre of The Absurd”, Beckett finds an unconventional yet successful way to address the absurdness question in modern life. Beckett succeeds by exploding the paradigms of traditional drama. He uses setting, characterization, and simple plot to express his understanding. Beckett treats his audience with the utmost respect by investigating the human condition without allowing for the hope of an absolute answer to life's biggest puzzles. One may wish to go to the theater to come away with conclusions and answers, but Beckett presents a fictional world as complex as the real world, where conclusions are uncertain and answers not easily defined. Beckett's Endgame, though a labyrinth in its complex construction, is an extraordinary work of twentieth-century art.
Works cited
1.Andonian, Cathleen Culotta. Ed. The Critical Response to Samuel Beckett. Westport, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press, 1998.
2.Homan, Sidney. Beckett’s Theaters: Interpretations for Performance. London: Associated University Presses, Inc, 1984.
3.Kenner, Hugh. A Reader’s Guide to Samuel Beckett. London: Thames and Hudson, 1973.
4.Webb, Eugene. The Plays of Samuel Beckett. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1972.
作者简介：刘惠萍（1986—），女，四川资阳人，四川外语学院研究生部2009级英语语言文学专业硕士研究生，研究方向：英美文学。