TRAGICOMEDY IN ENDGAME

Athens Epidaurus Catalogue , 2021

(trans. Konstandinos Tzikas)

Postmodern Openings, 2018

This article leads a phenomenological reading towards the dramaturgy of Samuel Beckett and more specifically his Endgame with recourse to the doctrine of Merleau-Ponty. By mapping out a drama that decentralizes subject-ivity, Beckett " s Endgame textualizes the subversion of the constancy of identity (" être-pour-soi ") of the modern man who holds a dichotomous look on subject and object in his dominating view on the world. From this perspective, Endgame exudes an atmosphere of existential Angst which peaks in a potential way of being that prevails in the hope for an authentic life but yet at the same time falls in a cosmic exile that emanates from man " s failure in his dominance over the world. Here, the examples of the Hegelian master-bondage concept and experimental psychology are felicitous reflections of this tragic relegation of man. Accordingly, registering the Pontian phenomenology of disembodiment delineates the characters of the Endgame as (in)human beings lost in a meaningless space that abandons all attempts to influence the progress of the mechanistic material world they live in. Nevertheless, this case study traces the humanistic resonance of man to bestow new methods of exploring Beckett " s " art of failure " as a relevant aesthetic reaction of the destabilized man in the modern world.

College Literature, 2015

In this paper we will study how the notions of cultural memory and trauma are represented through Samuel Beckett’s theater play Endgame. Endgame proposes a post-apocalyptical vision of the world and is therefore very interesting in the sense that it presents itself as a possible testimony of what happened and in what condition humanity is left. We will in a first time see how these concepts are interpreted and translated into the work itself and through its various characters. Further on we will see how Heidegger’s interview with Der Spiegel untitled Only a God Can Save Us meets many notions approached in Beckett’s work. Heidegger’s theoretical framework will help us to gain a deeper insight into the play, in order to interpret its complex and absurd aspects. The idea of technicity and Heidegger’s take on the tension engendered by the cold war will be of particular interest since we will see how they correlate with the situation developed in Endgame. In the end we will see how through the absurdity of Endgame we come to understand that it exemplifies the loss of faith in the ideals of humanism but also how it is a tragic testimony of the horrors witnessed through the 20th century. Finally we will come to see that Endgame can be seen as a drama cornerstone regarding post-modern trauma.

Literary Happy Endings, 2012

Despite virulent attacks and deep dissatisfaction expressed by critics and sometimes novelists themselves, be they modern or postmodern in their approach, throughout the twentiethcentury, happy endings have not necessarily completely deserted the contemporary novel but more often than not have evolved with their times. The aim of this paper is thus to point to ways in which happy endings still appear in the contemporary novel, with the world view and aesthetics entailed in their various transformations.

Philosophers have long argued over the nature of free-will; whether one is forced to enact a predetermined cosmic or biological mandate or whether one is free to truly determine their own destiny. Yet, regardless of the true state of external affairs, one can effectively live their life as if either proposition is correct. To internalize the notion of radical free will can be called existentialism, whereas the internalization of predeterminism labels one a fatalist. While it may be impossible to answer the ontological question of external free will, it is certainly possible to examine those lives who commit themselves to either form. Aside from the naturalists like Stephen Crane who trap their many Maggies in the bondage of biological happenstance, most modern fiction allows its characters the freedom to adopt an internalized stance on free will. The notion of existential responsibility weighs heavily in the pages of Julian Barnes’ novel The Sense of an Ending, with direct mention of Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus included in the immortalized quote “suicide [is] the only true philosophical question” (Barnes 15). The previously stated separation between fatalism and existentialism is not cast as a dichotomy within this paper, but as a continuum upon which the individual fluctuates. When one loses a clear sense of their personal freedom he naturally gravitates towards fatalism, for the world then begins to act upon him instead of him upon it. Likewise, one necessarily overcomes fatalism to reach a state of personal responsibility, rejecting the world’s existential pressure and internalizing a distinct purpose. Barnes’ protagonist, the “average” Tony who only wants “life not to bother” him, rides the rail between a man condemned to fate and one who moves with internal purpose. Defying the natural progression assumed in the novel format, he peaks at the middle and declines into despair, discontent that his weak attempts at redemption and purpose fall short. He represents a realistic existential portrayal, one detached from the pristine perfection that an Absurd hero like Sisyphus embodies. While Camus asserts that “one must imagine Sisyphus happy,” that the eternal struggle against meaninglessness is enough in itself to fuel a man’s continued existence, Tony demonstrates that this is only truly applicable in theory (Camus 78). The mythic Sisyphus can accept radical responsibility for his actions and live in joyful rebellion, but Tony cannot help but succumb to guilt, crippling remorse, and the shackles of external responsibility, beaten down by his failed reconciliation and inability to, until the end of the novel, make sense of the events surrounding him.

The impact of Nietzsche’s project of the ‘revaluation of all values’ in Western thought can possibly be best seen in the artistic sphere, in, for example, Stanley Cavell’s interpretation of the play Endgame by Samuel Beckett. For Cavell, Endgame is about undoing the ‘curses’ of language – associated with positivism – returning us to the ordinary and common sense understandings we have. Thus, the impulse toward too much meaning is undone. Theodore W. Adorno also reads Endgame in Nietzschean fashion, stating that the play is radically devoid of meaning, and that that is its’ point: “authentic” subjectivity and meaningful discourse are no longer possible after the unspeakable events of Auschwitz and the repetition of capitalist relations. For Nietzsche, Western society’s decadence had led it to nihilism, which was not just about destruction, but rather a normal or routine part of the status quo (passive nihilism). I will argue that Nietzsche would see Beckett’s characters in Endgame as prime examples of Last Men, and that therefore he would reject Cavell’s reading of the play. Yet, even though Endgame eschews metaphysics and “grand narratives,” it has its own type of metaphysics: what Adorno calls “micrology." This Nietzschean “anti-foundational” metaphysics is appropriate to the historical situation after World War II, in which metaphysical and lived experience are estranged from each other according to Adorno.

European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 2013

While this play can be analyzed from different aspects, the psychological aspect has an important contribution to the theme of play. According to different schools characters can be considered the outcome of different forces ; in Marxist view they are products of cultural, economic and ideological forces; according to Darwin and naturalistic views human are outcome of natural selection; according to Freud and Lacan current situation of human are determined by their past, memories, the way they have been brought up, language and whatever characterized their past. In this play there are some references and evidences that support what have said above. Hamm, Clov, Nagg and Nelly are the characters to whom their past are significant. The role of unconscious and its effects on conscious, the repression of their desires, their melancholic response to what has been lost, the master/ slave relationships, the interpretation of dreams, the feeling of abandonment and their relationships to the theme of the play are all aspects that can be examined psychoanalytically in this play.

Wounded Bodies, Wounded Minds, 2014

The aim of this article is to show that the key image in Beckett's play Endgame may be considered a decay of the body and a parallel shrinking of the entire universe. There are no more bike wheels, pap, nature, sugar-plums, navigators, rugs, pain killers or coffins. The absence of the last item points to an image of a landscape of unburied corpses, Hamm remembering Mother Pegg's fear of not being buried. Characters are imprisoned in their bodies, houses and minds and there is a general state of paralysis of the body, Ieading to death or madness. Centres are absent, hence Ham's obsession to be placed by Clov in the centre of the room; bodies are decentered as well. 'Though the imagery in the play may be well related to the context in which it was written, i.e. the world in the aftermath of WWII, we would also like to draw attention to a more Irish background, i.e, the devastation of lreland during the Great Famine in mid-l9th century, the immediate physical consequences and the long-term trauma of the lrish psyche.