The Theatre of Absurd and

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)

Samuel Beckett
The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

1. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

NEW MEANING OF EXISTENCE FRENCH EXISTENTIALISM SAMUEL BECKETT

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

2. Historical background

• The aftermath of World War II

increased by the Cold War.

• The atrocities of the Nazi

concentration camps.
The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, 1945

• The Allies’ atomic bomb.

• Disillusionment coming from the

realization that Britain had been
reduced to a second-class power.

The infamous entrance to Auschwitz.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

3. New meaning of existence

• Awareness of man’s propensity to
evil and conscience of the
destructive power of scientific
knowledge.
A sense of anguish,
helplessness and
• The lack of moral assurance and the
decline of religious faith. rootlessness
developed especially
• The disillusionment with both the among the young
liberal and social theories about
economic and social progress.

• Mistrust in the power of reason.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

4. French existentialism
• Existentialism saw man
trapped in a hostile world.

• Human life was meaningless

and this created a sense of
confusion, despair and
emptiness.

• The universe was not Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

rational and defied any

explanation.
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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

4. French existentialism
• The main exponent of this
philosophical current was the
French Jean Paul Sartre.

• Existentialists presented the

absurdity of human condition
by means of a lucid
language and logical
reasoning. Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

5. The Theatre of the Absurd: main features

• Absence of a real story or plot.

• No action since all actions are insignificant.

• Vagueness about time, place and the characters.

• The value of language is reduced; in fact, what happens on the

stage transcends, and often contradicts, the words spoken by
the characters.

• Extensive use of pauses, silences, miming and farcical

situations which reflect a sense of anguish.

• Incoherent babbling makes up the dialogue.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

6. The Theatre of the Absurd: main themes

• The sense of man’s alienation.

• The cruelty of human life.

• The absence or the futility of objectives.

• The meaninglessness of man’s struggle.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

7. Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)

Main works

• Waiting for Godot (written in French in

1952 and translated into English in 1954)

• Endgame (1958)

• Krapp’s Last Tape (1959)

• Happy Days (1961)

• Breath (1970)
Samuel Beckett

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

8. Waiting for Godot

• No Setting: a desolate country

road and a bare tree.

• Time: evening.

• Characters: two tramps,

Vladimir and Estragon, bored by
a day of nothingness; Pozzo and
Lucky.
Poster for a staging of Waiting for Godot.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

8. Waiting for Godot

• Theme: the static situation of

waiting.

• Plot: the two tramps are waiting

for a mysterious Godot who
never turns up.

Poster for a staging of Waiting for Godot.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

9. Waiting for Godot: characters

• Vladimir and Estragon are

complementary.

• Lucky and Pozzo are linked

by a relationship of master and
servant.

• Vladimir and Lucky represent

the intellect. Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

9. Waiting for Godot: characters

• Estragon and Pozzo stand for

the body.

• The two couples are mutually

dependent.

• The character the two tramps

are waiting for is Godot 
Biblical allusions in this name. Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

10. Waiting for Godot: structure

• The play has a circular structure
 it ends almost exactly as it
begins.

• The two acts are symmetrically

built  the stage is divided into
two halves by a tree, the human
races into two, Vladimir and
Estragon.
Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co.

• It is pervaded by a grotesque
humour.

• Its tone is tragic and desperate.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

11. Waiting for Godot: themes

• Human impotence in the face of life’s meaninglessness.

• A static world where nothing happens.

• Absence of a traditional time  there is no past, present and

future, just a repetitive present.

• Disintegration of language  absurd exchanges, broken and

fragmented dialogues.

• The lack of communication  use of para-verbal language:

mime, silences, pauses and gags.

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The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett

12. Beckett vs. Osborne

Beckett Osborne
Plot Obscure, non True-to-life,
consequential consequential
Setting Symbolic, bare Realistic, related to
working class
Theme Meaninglessness of Social critic against
human experience middle-class values

Stage Directions Repetitive, frequent Detailed, informative,

clear
Language Everyday, meaningless Everyday, simple, clear

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