Endgame is a one-act play for four characters by Samuel Beckett. It was originally written in French, entitled Fin de partie; as was his custom, it was translated into English by Beckett himself. Published in 1957, it is commonly considered, along with such works as Waiting for Godot, to be among Beckett's most important works. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist and poet. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Waiting for Godot (sometimes subtitled: tragicomedy in 2 acts) is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, written in the late 1940s and first published in 1952. ...

Synopsis

Michael Gambon as Hamm in Endgame

Its protagonists are Hamm, an aged master, who is blind and can't stand up, and his servant Clov, who can't sit down. They exist in a tiny house by the sea, although the dialogues suggest that there is no exterior left - no sea, no sun, no clouds. The two characters, mutually dependent, have been fighting for years and continue to do so as the play goes on. Clov always wants to leave but never seems to be able. Also present are Hamm's parents Nagg and Nell, who live in rubbish bins. Hamm once ruled over peasants of some kind, and Clov complains that he had to survey Hamm's peasants on foot because he was denied access to a bicycle. Image File history File links Image from Samuel Becketts Endgame (play) (from a production starring Michael Gambon) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Image from Samuel Becketts Endgame (play) (from a production starring Michael Gambon) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Michael Gambon in Charlotte Gray, (2001) Sir Michael Gambon (born October 19, 1940) is an actor who has become known worldwide for his role as Albus Dumbledore in the two latest Harry Potter films; he is also a Samuel Beckett scholar. ... Hamm is one of the main characters in Samuel Becketts play Endgame. ... Hamm is one of the main characters in Samuel Becketts play Endgame. ... Clov is one of the main characters in Samuel Becketts play Endgame. ...

Interpretation

The English title is taken from the last part of a chess game, when there are very few pieces left. (The French title can be applied to games besides chess, and Beckett lamented the fact that there was no precise English equivalent). Beckett himself was known to be an avid player of the game, and the struggle of Hamm to accept the end can be compared to the refusal of amateur chess players to admit an inevitable defeat, though professional players usually resign after facing a major setback. Hamm perhaps represents a king with Clov as his last remaining pawn. In chess, the endgame (or end game or ending) refers to the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. ... Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players. ...

The literary critic Harold Bloom considers 'Hamm' to be an allusion to Hamlet and finds an intertext (transumptive litotes) within Hamm's line: Harold Bloom, Literary Critic Dr. Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930) is an American professor and prominent literary and cultural critic. ... A detail of the engraving of Daniel Maclises 1842 painting The Play-scene in Hamlet, portraying the moment when the guilt of Claudius is revealed. ...

'...it's time it ended...[a]nd yet I hesitate, I hesitate to...to end.'

Bloom contends this is an intertext with Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, in which doubt prevents the character in Hamlet's revised version of The Mousetrap from taking decisive action, and Endgame is a play devoid of action, in Beckett's typical absurdist style. Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail because no such meaning exists (at least in relation to humanity). ...

Ruby Cohn, in her book Back to Beckett, writes that "Beckett's favorite line in the play is Hamm's deduction from Clov's observation that Nagg is crying: 'Then he's living.' But in Berlin he felt that the most important sentence is Nell's 'Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.' And he directed his play to show the fun of unhappiness."

External links

• Text of Endgame
• Study guide for Endgame
• Endgame Online
• An interesting interpretation of Endgame in terms of chess

References

• Cohn, Ruby. Back to Beckett. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1973.