Beckett, Samuel (Vol. 6) - Beckett, Samuel 1906–

Beckett, Samuel 1906–

Beckett, an Irish-born Nobel Laureate, lives in Paris and has written mainly in French since 1937. He is a major dramatist, as well as a poet, critic, novelist, essayist, translator, and short story writer. His plays, metaphysical enigmas, are generally regarded as prototypical of existential theater. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 5-8, rev. ed.)

Waiting for Godot … is a poetic harlequinade—tragicomic as the traditional commedia dell'arte usually was: full of horseplay, high spirits, cruelty and a great wistfulness. Though the content is intellectual to a degree, the surface, which is at once terse, rapid and prolix in dialogue, is very much like a minstrel show or vaudeville turn.

The form is exactly right for what Beckett wishes to convey. Complete disenchantment is at the heart of the play, but Beckett refuses to honor this disenchantment by a serious demeanor. Since life is an...

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