The Theatre of Absurd and Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)

1. The Theatre of Absurd and Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) Samuel Beckett

2. Life (1906 -1989) • IRISH - Born in Dublin (Anglo-Irish parents) • Graduated in Modern Languages (French, Italian) at Trinity College, Dublin • 1928 Paris (lecturer at Ecole Normale) • Influenced by EXISTENTIALISM (Camus, Sartre) • Met Ionesco and Adamov in Paris • Back to Ireland: Teacher at Trinity College Dublin • 1931 (25 years old)  vagabond years across Europe  finally Paris (1936)

3. …life • World War II  fought in the Resistance Movement • 1945 definetely in Paris (met Joyce) • Wrote in French and English, indifferently • En Attendant Godot = Instant success • He wrote other plays (Endgame, Happy days), critical essays, radio plays. • 1969 NOBEL PRIZE for LITERATURE

4. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett HISTORICAL BACKGROUND NEW MEANING OF EXISTENCE FRENCH EXISTENTIALISM SAMUEL BECKETT 1. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett Only Connect ... New Directions

5. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett 2. Historical background • The aftermath of World War II increased by the ColdWar. • Theatrocitiesof the Nazi concentration camps. • The Allies’atomic bomb. • Disillusionment coming from the realization that Britain had been reduced to a second-class power. The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, 1945 The infamous entrance to Auschwitz. Only Connect ... New Directions

6. 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. • The lack of moral assurance and the decline of religious faith. • The disillusionment with both the liberal and social theories about economic and social progress. • Mistrust in the power of reason. A sense of anguish, helplessness and rootlessness developed especially among the young Only Connect ... New Directions

7. Existentialismsaw man trapped in a hostile world. Human life was meaningless and this created a sense of confusion, despair and emptiness. The universe was not rational and defied any explanation. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett 4. French existentialism Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) Only Connect ... New Directions

8. 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 languageand logical reasoning. Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) Only Connect ... New Directions

9. 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 babblingmakes up the dialogue. Only Connect ... New Directions

10. 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. Only Connect ... New Directions

11. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett 7. Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) • 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) Mainworks Samuel Beckett Only Connect ... New Directions

12. 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. Only Connect ... New Directions

13. 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. Only Connect ... New Directions

14. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett 9. Waiting for Godot: characters • VladimirandEstragonare complementary. • LuckyandPozzoare linked by a relationship of master and servant. • Vladimir and Lucky represent theintellect. Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co. Only Connect ... New Directions

15. 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. Only Connect ... New Directions

16. 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. • It is pervaded by a grotesquehumour. • Its toneis tragicanddesperate. Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co. Only Connect ... New Directions

17. 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. Only Connect ... New Directions

18. TRADITIONAL DRAMA There is a story developing in time Portrait of society through realistic characters who move in a definite period of time the audience can identify themeselves with the characters WAITING FOR GODOT NO STORY, NO PLOT (static work) nothing happens The characters interact to fill up their time, pauses and silences are as important as words They quarrel, they put on or off boots (estragon) or hat (vladimir) they speakbut not to communicate something – they just fill up the time to avoid silence Emphasis on INNER REALITY (A DRAMA OF THE MIND) Main features: plot

19. TRADITIONAL DRAMA Events narrated in a chronological way, there is a development, a climax, a conclusion WAITING FOR GODOT No development in time No past, no future = the characters do not remember their past or figure out their future one day similar to the following Not a beginning not an end (sort of nightmare) First act almost identical to the second Main features: time

20. TRADITIONAL DRAMA = Realistic setting and scenery WAITING FOR GODOT A country road, a bare tree (everywhere) Symbolical setting (expressionism= the representation of the mind and its existential desolation and despair) Main features: setting

21. TRADITIONAL DRAMA Realistic characters with their personalities Belonging to a specific social class WAITING FOR GODOT Tramps - No defined personality or social class – (symbolical of an existential situation) COMPLEMENTARY (two different aspects of the same personality = body (gogo) and mind (didi) they need each other Vladimir (didi dìt dìt – he speaks) more intellectual, he plays with his hat Estragon (gogo go,go – problems with his boots) – he has to do with corporal activities (he is angry, sleepy, he always complains he is beaten by someone during the night,) + Pozzo (the oppressor/ the power of the body) Lucky (the slave / the power of the mind, he can speak-when he has his hat on) COMPLEMENTARY, too = Linked to each other by a rope, kept by Pozzo (but the in the second act the role is the opposite – Pozzo is blind and needs Lucky who has become dumb) GODOT The “saviour” or the “saving event” that never comes Main features: characters

22. TRADITIONAL DRAMA Realistic, Characters speak to communicate WAITING FOR GODOT Incoherent babbling, puns, gags (language loses its meaning too) Many PAUSES, MIMING, SILENCES What happens on the stage is often contradicted by the words spoken by the protagonists Main features: language Vladimir “Well, Shallwe go? Estragon “ Yes, let’s go” [they do notmove]

23. Main features: Style • It is pervaded by a grotesque humour (irony about everything because everything is equally meaningless) • Itmaybeconsidered a Tragi-comedy • Tragedy=theywouldliketocommit suicide to put an end totheirabsurd, desperate situation • Comedy=Thereis no tragic end, theyfail, theycannotescapetheirexistential situation • Its tone is tragic and desperate.