Samuel Beckett, Endgame

Paul Davies (University of Ulster at Coleraine)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1958

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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Based on the metaphor of chess, the title and the play's content point towards the process of ending, a process undergone in the knowledge that the predicament is issueless, with the likelihood not of winning or losing, but of stalemate. The main character Hamm “is a king in a chess-game lost from the start. From the start he knows he is making loud senseless moves.” (Beckett in interview, 1967). First performed in Paris and London (in French, directed by Roger Blin) in 1957,

Endgame

opened a year later in the USA, directed by Alan Schneider; in Berlin directed by Beckett in 1967; and twice in 1980, directed by Beckett, in London (Young Vic) and Chicago (San Quentin Drama Workshop). While one of his most difficult, it has proved also one of the most popular Beckett plays.

Along

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942 words

Citation: Davies, Paul. "Endgame". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5366, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Samuel Beckett, Endgame

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