This paper aims to study postmodern element of undecidability in Samuel Becket's Endgame. As Butler and Davis holds, "What is different about Becket is not that he provokes a critical response ... but the protean, open-ended, 'undecidable' and inexhaustible quality of the challenge he offers" (168). Endgame like Becket's other plays is in a way that, as Wittgenstein notes, is nothing more than "language play" between characters and although there are some minor actions there are not in such a way to affect the play, moreover it is their vague utterances that make the play undecidable for the reader to make out what is happening. Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle in their An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory explain the term undecidability as: Undecidability involves the impossibility of deciding between two or more competing interpretations ... classical logic is founded on the law of non-contradiction: something cannot be both A and not A at the same time. The postmodern gives particular emphasis to ways in which this law may be productively questioned or suspended. Undecidability splits the text, disorders it. Undecidability dislodges the principle of a single final meaning in a literary text (232). One of the most significant and undecidable subject of the play, that perplex the reader just at the very beginning of the play, is its title. Vivian Mercier points out that, the title reminding both of the ?ending? and ?end game? in chess (117). Considering the latter assumption, it suggests that red-faced Hamm in his wheel chair is the Red King, who can only be moved one square at a time in any direction and Clov, also red-faced, is more mobile Red chess man with his unsteadily walk... ... middle of paper ... ... The Norton Anthology of English Literature: . The Major Authors. Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 2001. 2657-84. Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle. ?An Introduction to Literature, Criticism . and Theory.? 2nd ed. London: Prentice Hall Europe, 1999. Hale, Jane Alison. ?Endgame: How are your eyes?.? The Broken Window: . . Beckett?s Dramatic Perspective. West Lafayette: Purdue UP, 1987. Mercier, Vivian. ?How to Read Endgame.? Ed. Andonian, Cathleen Culotta. . The Critical Response to Samuel Becket. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, . 1998. Pattie, David. ?The Complete Critical Guide to Samuel Becket.? London: . . Routlege, 2000.
Abrams, M. H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993.
Heberle, Mark. "Contemporary Literary Criticism." O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Vol. 74. New York, 2001. 312.
Henry Christ points out that the play is like a lock with many keys. Each key presents just a portion of the possibilities. Every new version opens up new vistas, without stopping new interpretations. Every generation studies the play, but never comes up with all relevant answers (Christ, 321).
This section is integral to the play as a whole for two reasons: (1) it describes the beginning of the play’s climax, and (2) it is a key example proving that Hamlet’s “madness” is indeed a conscious ploy. It is generally agreed upon that the play-within-a-play is the climax of this play.
...ne else in the play the power of language to alter reality, and the issues of conscious or unconscious deceit.
Abrams M. H, et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. New York: W. Norton & Company, 2000.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
Written during a time of peace immediately following the conclusion of the War of the Roses between the Yorks and the Lancasters, William Shakespeare’s play Richard III showcases a multi-faceted master of linguistic eloquence, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a character who simultaneously manages to be droll, revolting, deadly, yet fascinating. Richard's villainy works in a keen, detestable manner, manifesting itself in his specific use or, rather, abuse of rhetoric. He spends a substantial amount of time directly interacting and therefore breaking the fourth wall and orating to the audience in order to forge a relationship with them, to make members not only his confidants of murderous intentions, but also his accomplices and powerless, unwilling cohorts to his wrongdoings. Through the reader’s exploration of stylistic and rhetorical stratagem in the opening and final soliloquies delivered by Richard, readers are able to identify numerous devices which provide for a dramatic effect that make evident the psychological deterioration and progression of Richard as a character and villain.
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 125-156.
In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” or “What You Will” is one of Shakespeare’s many comedic plays. The passage in Act 1, Scene 5 focused predominately on a conversation between Feste and Olivia about the mourning of her brother. It was through Feste and Olivia’s word games that contributed to the play as a whole because it added humour to the play. The passage also helped to reveal an underlining theme of the play, which is deception as shown through the character of Malvolio. This essay has attempted to explain the meaning of the passage, attempted to unpack the language utilised by Shakespeare and determine his ideas behind the chosen language. It then tried to justify why and how those ideas in the passage contributed to the play as a whole.
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
Samuel Beckett’s Endgame is a complex analysis of politics in a seemingly apolitical and empty world. As Hamm and Clov inhabit the aftermath of Marxism, they display characteristics of the bourgeoisie and proletariat respectively, but only retain them so they can define themselves as something. The work implicitly argues- through the setting, and by defining Hamm and Clov as the bourgeoisie and proletariat- that political platforms are simply human rationalizations in futile opposition to a meaningless world, pointing towards Beckett’s ideological message of existential nihilism.
Guerin, Wilford L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1979.
The three stories, The Endgame (Beckett), The Dumbwaiter (Pinter), and The Horse Dealer's Daughter (Lawrence) all deal with the themes of repression, repetition, and breakdowns in communication. The stories show us the subjectivity of language and exemplify the complexities of the human condition.
Abrams, M. H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993.