Endgame
by Samuel Beckett
(Key Facts)
Key Facts
Full Title
Endgame (Fin de partie)
Author
Samuel Beckett
Type of Work
One-act play
Genre
Absurd Drama
Tragicomedy
Modernist / Existentialist play
Language
Originally written in French; later translated into
English by Samuel Beckett himself
Time and Place Written
Mid-1950s; written primarily in France
Date of First Publication
1957
Publisher
Les Éditions de Minuit (French edition)
Tone
Bleak, ironic, darkly comic, pessimistic, detached,
existential
Setting (Time)
An undefined, post-apocalyptic present—suggestive of a
time after the end of civilization
Setting (Place)
A bare, enclosed room with two high windows (one facing
land, one sea); Nagg and Nell live in dustbins inside the room
Protagonist
Hamm
Major Conflict
The struggle to endure existence in a meaningless,
dying world, marked by mutual dependence—especially between Hamm and Clov—and
the desire for an ending that never fully arrives.
Rising Action
Hamm asserts authority over Clov
Clov repeatedly checks the empty world outside
Hamm tells fragmented stories
Nagg and Nell recall the past
Resources (food, painkillers) diminish
Climax
Nell’s silent death and Clov’s preparation to leave the
room, suggesting the possibility of final separation or ending
Falling Action
Hamm delivers his final monologue
Clov stands motionless at the door, undecided
Resolution
No conventional resolution; the play ends ambiguously
with existence continuing without closure
Themes
Absurdity and meaninglessness of existence
Endings and finality without closure
Mutual dependence and power
Isolation and confinement
Decay and degeneration
Failure of language and communication
Existence as habit and endurance
Motifs
Repetition and routine
Silence and pauses
Storytelling without completion
Waiting and postponement
Physical disability and decay
Symbols
The room: confinement, the human mind
Windows: failed hope, unreachable reality
Chess endgame: inevitable final stage of existence
Hamm’s blindness: spiritual ignorance
Clov’s inability to sit: restless suffering
Dustbins: human degradation and discarded past
Painkiller: exhaustion of comfort and relief
Foreshadowing
Constant references to depletion (food, medicine, life
outside)
Repeated talk of endings and departure
Nell’s withdrawal and silence foreshadow her death
Clov’s repeated threats to leave anticipate the
ambiguous ending.
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