Nagg again retires, Hamm continues with his story. Offered a job as gardener, the man asks if he may have his little boy with him, at which point Hamm stops, for he has gotten no further with his composition.

Hamm has Clov check again on Nagg and Nell; Clov reports, in a matter-of-fact way, that Nell is dead, Nagg alive but crying. Hamm asks to be pushed near a window so he can feel sunlight on his face and hear the waves, but he only thinks that he can feel the sun, and he hears the sea not at all. Clov moodily continues such tasks but will not, when asked, kiss or even touch Hamm. Clov exits, and Hamm soliloquizes for several minutes, pondering whether to go on with his story, throw himself on the floor, wait for what transpires, or simply “get it over.”

He summons Clov but is informed that the painkiller for which he has asked several times is no more. Again requested to focus the telescope out the window, Clov sees what he takes to be a small boy. On the brink of going out and doing violence to the boy as “a potential procreator,” Clov is checked by Hamm, who now dismisses Clov from service, soliciting a few final personal words, which Clov obediently offers—none too lucidly—on love, friendship, and suffering. At parting, they both politely confess themselves “obliged” to each other, but Clov exits before Hamm’s request to cover him again with the sheet.

Hamm tries to move his chair, and Clov reenters, dressed for the road, and stands by the door, watching Hamm through the latter’s final ritual and accompanying soliloquy. Hamm throws away his gaff (with which Clov would have attacked the presumably approaching boy), keeps his dog, cleans and replaces his glasses, recites a little poetry, and alludes again to the child of his story and the man’s possible motives for wanting the boy fed:. . . You want him to bloom while you are withering? Be there to solace your last million last moments? (Pause) He doesn’t realize, all he knows is hunger, and cold, and death to crown it all. But you! You ought to know what the earth is like, nowadays. Oh I put him before his responsibilities!

Hamm whistles, as if for Clov, and, apparently aware of his presence, calls him, but accepts the fact that Clov’s service is ended. Discarding his dog and whistle, Hamm covers his own face with the bloody handkerchief and sits motionless at the curtain.

Endgame’s simple set and stage properties immediately establish an atmosphere of mortality. A picture, turned to the wall, hangs near the door. A sheet covers Hamm, another the two ashbins, themselves reminders of the inevitable human destiny: dust and ashes. The two high windows and the walls, which Clov at one point describes as hollow, suggest a skull. Combined with the prevalent crucifixion imagery, the skull calls to mind Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, as does Hamm’s bloodstained handkerchief. To reinforce the many overt references to death, ending, and finishing, Clov removes the picture from the wall near the end of the play and replaces it with an alarm clock. When asked what he is doing, he replies, “Winding up.”

Endgame employs and at the same time parodies familiar theatrical terms and devices. Nagg is promised a sugar-plum “after the audition.” Clov interrupts one of Hamm’s speeches and draws the rebuke, “An aside, ape! Did you never hear an aside before?” Then Hamm explains, “I’m warming up for my last soliloquy.” He has in fact yawned his way through an opening soliloquy. In his story of the man and starving child he checks himself once, “No, I’ve done that bit.” Hamm is the quintessential ham actor, always conscious of the effects he creates, insistent upon occupying the exact center of the stage.

All this self-conscious stage business reinforces the metaphor of the world as a stage and the life of man as play and game. It also works as comic relief in what would otherwise amount to an unbearably depressing portrayal of human life, but Samuel Beckett’s characters in both fiction and drama always seem able to leaven their plights with fooling. Hamm can play with the very materials of a play, have fun in the midst of his agony. As Hamlet staged a play-within-a-play, Hamm tells a story in Beckett’s play-within-a-play, which, like Hamlet’s, has an admonitory function, involving as it does a father begging bread for his son. Hamm refuses to gratify Nagg with a happy ending. Nagg later relates, unabashedly, how he and Hamm’s mother had answered the boy’s cries in the dark by moving out of earshot. Now Hamm is a vengeful son, and Nagg is reduced to dozing in his ashbin and waiting for doles of food.

The staging also reinforces the chess theme. Nagg and Nell are pawnlike, while Clov, stiff and restricted in his movements, is perhaps the knight. Hamm, the king, acknowledges that he is held in check at the end. Endgame’s deliberate pace also resembles that of chess; scores of pauses appear in the stage directions. Hamm is both piece and player, both actor and director. This double role has its analogy in the crucifixion theme, for Hamm is, like the other characters, a “nailer,” but he is also the sufferer who at the end of the play meticulously arranges his own Passion. He covers his own face with the handkerchief, but he is not covered with the sheet, as at the beginning. Thus Endgame does not quite end, but ceases in suspension, as if the suffering Hamm cannot or will not accept his own death.

Shelter

Shelter. Unnamed place which is apparently the last refuge of humankind on Earth. In addition to providing the characters with protection from the outside world and sustaining them in the last moments of their lives, the shelter serves as both a prison and a tomb. High up on the left and right sides of the back wall are two small windows with curtains drawn. These windows look out on the other world, nature. All that is visible are an ashen gray sea, sky, and sun in the ever-fading light that represents the winding down of time and the extinction of life. Covered by a sheet in the center of the room is Hamm, the blind master of the house. Confined to a chair on castors because he cannot walk, Hamm must be awakened every morning with stimulants and painkillers, fed, and then “put to bed” in the evening. Clov, Hamm’s servant, provides these functions, without which Hamm would die. The shelter contains two other characters, both legless, Nagg and Nell, the remnants of Hamm’s parents, who are confined to ash cans located at the front of the stage. This confinement suggests their status as “garbage” to Hamm, who refers to them as “accursed progenitors.” Periodically, they poke their heads out of their covered cans and speak to each other or ask for sustenance.

Outside world

Outside world. Although dying, the world outside the shelter appears to be more desirable than the world within, which is a psychological hell and a prison almost devoid of provisions. Three of the four characters are physically unable to leave, and the fourth, Clov, who seems to be preparing to leave, is tied psychologically to Hamm. Hamm, a sadistic master, “father figure,” and adult child enjoys tormenting his dependents. However, at the end of the play, Clov, suitcase in hand, waits at the door, apparently ready to leave.

Nuclear Capability
While Beckett does not specify the time and place for the characters and events in Endgame, the play's solitary set can be interpreted as a bomb shelter following a nuclear explosion that has likely decimated much, if not all, life outside. This was a significant fear during the time Beckett wrote and staged the play in 1957. Although this fear persists today, in 1957, it was at its peak, and the possibility of such an event seemed dangerously imminent.

The Cold War
The late 1950s and 1960s were overshadowed by the Cold War, a fierce competition between the United States and its allies against the Soviet Union. Post-World War II, Europe was split into two spheres of influence: a capitalist west and a socialist east. This rivalry quickly expanded globally, perpetually threatening to escalate into a full-scale nuclear conflict. The struggle turned violent in 1950 when North Korea, backed by communists, invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War, which concluded with the nation divided.

The Eisenhower Doctrine
Announced by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 5, 1957, the Eisenhower Doctrine promised military and economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing assistance against communist aggression. This doctrine marked another intensification of the Cold War, aimed at curbing the Soviet Union's growing influence in the Middle East and their increased support for Arab states.

The Absurdists
Among the French writers known as the absurdists, Arthur Adamov, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, and Samuel Beckett were the most prominent. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, these writers sought to break away from traditional dramatic conventions, challenging audiences with innovative approaches. Antonin Artaud's The Theatre and Its Double (1938) advocated for a "theatre of cruelty," and in 1943, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote Being and Nothingness and No Exit, which presented his existentialist views. Sartre's ideas, combined with the writings of Albert Camus, laid the groundwork for the absurdist movement, which began to take shape in the early 1950s.

In 1952, Ionesco debuted his play The Chairs, an exemplary piece of theatre of the absurd. However, it was the 1953 premiere of En Attendant Godot, or Waiting for Godot, that brought absurdism to a wide and international audience.

Waiting for Godot is arguably the most renowned piece from the absurdist movement. This two-act tragicomedy narrates the tale of two elderly men, Vladimir and Estragon, who grapple with whether to leave or stay and wait for Godot—a figure who may or may not come to rescue them from their dire predicament.

Endgame elevates this existential struggle further, depicting Hamm and Clov as they wrestle with the very meaning of existence, if any meaning exists at all. While Beckett’s significance to the absurdist movement is clear, labeling him solely as an absurdist writer fails to acknowledge the breadth of his work. Beckett's writings distinguish themselves from other absurdist pieces through their creativity, universal appeal, and profound humanity.

Words and Stage DirectionsEndgame’s visual presentation and self-aware dialogue consistently remind the audience that they are witnessing a theatrical performance. Hamm muses: "All kinds of fantasies! That I’m being watched!" This indicates to the audience that they are integral to the play's structure, just as much as the words, physical actions, lighting, sounds, props, and silences are. Beckett uses stage directions to forge dynamic relationships between the characters and the objects they need for survival: Hamm relies on his armchair, while Nagg and Nell depend on their ashbins. Beckett crafts a vivid physical environment to enhance the powerful, minimalist dialogue.

Beckett demonstrates the characters' struggle to comprehend through abstract language and a static dramatic form. He has pared down and fragmented his words and sentences, allowing for contradictions and frequent ellipses. Clov speaks the play’s opening line: "Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished." By starting with the word "Finished," Beckett focuses our attention on endings. As his characters explore themselves and their surroundings, the language mirrors the fragile balance between understanding and confusion.

Beckett’s Minor Plot
Samuel Beckett’s storylines are distinguished by their deviation from classical dramatic structure. The secondary plot of Endgame revolves around Hamm’s parents, Nagg and Nell. It's evident that they shared a romantic love in their youth, but now they reside in ashbins and are poorly cared for by their son. By the play’s conclusion, both Nagg and Nell have died, having found little satisfaction during the play. Most of their interactions involve reminiscing about past happiness or enduring their present helplessness.

Theater of the Absurd
The genre known as the theater of the absurd emerged in the 1950s. Endgame, Beckett’s first play following Waiting for Godot, continues the tradition established by Waiting for Godot.

1950s: The United States and the Soviet Union have conflicting loyalties and support in the Middle East. The fear of nuclear war intensifies.

Today: The United States and England are involved in a war with Iraq. The United States combats terrorism globally. North Korea has nuclear weapons, making the threat of nuclear war feel very real once more.

1950s: Russian scientists launch Sputnik, marking the start of the space race with the United States.

Today: Since the 1990s, Russian cosmonauts have collaborated with American astronauts on the Mir space station. The United States and Russia continue to work together on space exploration and research.

1950s: Eugene O’Neill posthumously receives the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Long Day’s Journey into Night.

Today: Suzan-Lori Parks wins the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Topdog/Underdog.

1950s: Albert Camus is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature ‘‘for his significant literary production that, with clear-sighted earnestness, illuminates the issues of human conscience in our times.’’

Today: Imre Kertész from Hungary wins the Nobel Prize in Literature ‘‘for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history.’’

Released by Ambrose Video on DVD in 2002, the Beckett on Film DVD set marks the first-ever cinematic presentation of all nineteen plays by Samuel Beckett. The renowned Beckett on Film project unites some of the most prominent directors and actors working today. The directors involved include Atom Egoyan, Damien Hirst, Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson, Damien O’Donnell, David Mamet, Anthony Minghella, Karel Reisz, and Patricia Rozema.

The project also features exceptional acting talent, such as Michael Gambon, the late Sir John Gielgud, John Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Julianne Moore, Harold Pinter, Alan Rickman, and Kristin Scott-Thomas. Several films from the Beckett on Film project have been showcased at international film festivals in cities like New York, Toronto, and Venice.

Sources
Aristotle, "VI," in Aristotle’s Poetics, translated by S. H. Butcher, Hill and Wang, 1989, p. 61.

Bernard, Marc, Review of Endgame, in Nouvelles littéraires, May 5, 1957.

Clarke, P. H., "Translator’s Foreword," in Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge, by Y. Averbakh, Pergamon Press, 1966, p. vii.

Cronin, Anthony, "Chapter Twenty-Nine," in Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist, HarperCollins, 1997, pp. 459–60.

Gussow, Mel, "The Stage: Chaikin Directs Beckett’s Endgame," in the New York Times, January 14, 1980.

Tynan, Kenneth, Review of Endgame, in the Observer, April 7, 1957.

Worsley, T. C., Review of Endgame, in the Listener, November 4, 1957.

Further Reading
Abbott, H. Porter, The Fiction of Samuel Beckett: Form and Effect, University of California Press, 1973. This book includes chapters on Beckett’s early short fiction and explores the connection between his stories and novels.

Bair, Deidre, Samuel Beckett: A Biography, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978. This comprehensive biography of the elusive Samuel Beckett is extensive in scope but understandably imperfect.

Ben-Zvi, Linda, Samuel Beckett, Twayne Publishers, 1986. Due to the vast range of Beckett’s writings, this study offers a concise analysis of each of his works.

Bloom, Harold, ed., Samuel Beckett’s "Endgame," Modern Critical Interpretations series, Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. Bloom compiles what many regard as the eight finest critical interpretations of the play.

Coe, Richard, Samuel Beckett, Grove Press, 1964. Coe’s examination of Beckett centers on his philosophical influences.

Cohn, Ruby, Back to Beckett, Princeton University Press, 1973. Cohn offers an in-depth analysis of Beckett’s fiction and plays.

Zurbrugg, Nicholas, "Ill Seen Ill Said and the Sense of an Ending," in Beckett’s Later Fiction and Drama: Texts for Company, edited by James Acheson and Kateryna Arthur, Macmillan Press, 1987. Zurbrugg argues that Ill Seen Ill Said is less a narrative and more a poetic representation of the rituals through which the living and the dead in Beckett’s fiction perpetually, but ineffectively, seek a conclusive "sense of an ending."