Come
and Go (1965)
by
Samuel Beckett
(Key Facts)
Come
and Go — Key Facts
Full
Title
Come
and Go
Author
Samuel
Beckett
Type
of Work
Short
one-act play / Dramatic sketch
Genre
Theatre
of the Absurd
Modernist
/ Postmodern drama
Minimalist
symbolic drama
Language
Originally
written in English
(Beckett
later translated many of his works into French)
Time
and Place Written
Time:
Mid-1960s (1965)
Place:
Paris, France
Date
of First Publication
Mid-1960s
(commonly dated 1966)
Publisher
First
appeared in literary journals; later published in collections by Grove Press
(UK/US editions)
Tone
Quiet,
restrained, eerie, melancholic, emotionally subdued
Setting
(Time)
Undefined;
suggests late life / old age
Setting
(Place)
An
undefined, bare theatrical space with a single bench
Protagonist
No
single protagonist
(All
three women—Flo, Vi, and Ru—collectively function as the dramatic focus)
Major
Conflict
The
unspoken knowledge of serious illness and impending mortality, coupled with the
inability or refusal to confront it openly
Rising
Action
Each
woman, in turn, leaves the bench and is privately informed that another is
gravely ill
Climax
The
moment when all three women return to the bench, each carrying secret knowledge
about the others
Falling
Action
The
silent reunion of the three women and their brief hand-holding gesture
Resolution
No
conventional resolution; the play ends in silence and emotional suspension
Themes
Mortality
and physical decline
Silence
and the unspoken
Isolation
within companionship
Knowledge
without action
Repetition
and cyclical existence
Fragile
human solidarity
Motifs
Coming
and going (movement without progress)
Silence
Repetition
Secrecy
Stillness
and restraint
Symbols
The
bench: Shared human existence and confinement
Unnamed
illness: Universal mortality
Silence:
Emotional repression and existential fear
Hand-holding:
Fragile, wordless human connection
Identical
movements: Interchangeability of human experience
Foreshadowing
The
whispered references to illness subtly foreshadow death and decline, while the
repetitive exits hint at the inevitability of disappearance and loss
Exam
Tip
Come
and Go is often examined as an example of extreme minimalist Absurd drama,
where structure replaces plot, silence replaces dialogue, and gesture replaces
action.
 by Samuel Beckett (Key Facts)){kind=link}
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