Endgame
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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
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