Endgame

Key Facts

full title ·  Endgame

author · Samuel Beckett

type of work · Drama

genre · Absurdist drama/comedy

language · Originally french; translated into English by Beckett

time and place written · Paris, mid-1950s

date of first production · London, April 3, 1957

publisher · Grove Press

narrator · No narrator; drama

climax · The climax occurs when Clov finally leaves

protagonist · Hamm; Clov

antagonist · At times Hamm; the environment; death

setting (time) · Modern day

setting (place) · A hole near the sea

point of view · The audience empathizes most with Clov, though we spend the most time with Hamm

falling action · Clov returns as Hamm soliloquizes

tense · Play; present tense

foreshadowing · Clov frequently threatens to leave, and Hamm often tells him to

tone · Absurdly comic, philosophical

themes · Cyclical, Repetitive Nature of Beginnings and Endings; Emptiness and Loneliness; Theatre of the Absurd

motifs · Chess

symbols · Light and darkness; Youth