This is an attempt to understand Samuel Beckett’s characterization, use of language and setting in his play 'Endgame' and to explore the manner in which it reveals his tendency to employ some existentialist concepts such as despair and anxiety. Existentialism is a philosophical movement which focuses on an individual's existence rejecting the absolute reason. There are a number of reasons for the concept of 'Existentialism' to come in the history of thought. Firstly, rational sciences could not prove that they were absolute, and thus, existence of absolute truth was put to question. Secondly, and more importantly people had lost their belief in the existence of a divine being, that is God, owing to the wars and losses they faced in these wars. …show more content…
His dramatic creations are haunted by an absence of meaning at the centre. In spite of this meaninglessness, Beckett’s characters desperately strive to find a meaning for themselves. They are born into an irrational world. They life is wasted waiting for an explanation that never comes, and even the existence of such an explanation might be merely a product of their imagination , founded in their despair. Beckett’s drama is based on his perception of human condition, that is, being born and mostly living in pain, suffering ordeals, a short rough and unpleasant existence. Man’s needs and desires are all reduced. Therefore, “All Beckett’s work comprises a unity in which certain attitudes are expressed in different ways with much force and rare imagination: life is cruel and painful; failure is no worse than success because neither matters; what is important is to avoid giving pain to others and to share misfortune”. That is to say, for Beckett, there is neither meaning nor explanation; there is and there remains only nothingness, which puts him close to the Existentialists. Within this context, human relationships in his plays are reduced to cruelty, hope,
Existentialism is a philosophical theory that was developed by Nietzsche and many other philosophers in the 19th century. In the first four chapters of the novel Grendel by John Gardner, the protagonist and the narrator, Grendel tells a story of his adolescence. Like any teenager, Grendel encounters multitude of events which molds him into what he is; an existentialist. Through the use of diction, personification, and simile in the narration of Grendel, John Gardner illustrates the cause of Grendel’s existential outlook.
‘Ender's Game 'written by Orson Scott Card is a novel about Ender Wiggin and his journey to save the world from the buggers. This text informs the audience about issues such as conflict, competition and technology that concern our society and offers interesting understandings about how the composer addresses these issues through the characters and storyline to teach us important lessons about our world. While some aspects of conflict lead to growth, conflict can also result in actions that people will regret. The novel ‘Ender’s Game’ constantly depicts Ender’s experiences of physical contact or man vs man conflict with another character. This is conveyed through the description “It was as if Ender had kicked a piece of furniture.
Each text showed how over the years both characters had slowly isolated themselves, and because of this, both men had become unhappy. The concept of isolation and the effects it has, was conveyed through the use of metaphors in both Wilson’s play and Baraka’s poem. Though the authors use different metaphors, they are both successful
Throughout Bernard Williams essay, he focuses on the rhetorical significance of the Makropulos opera, and how the immortal protagonist killed themselves due to the issue of eternal boredom. Problematically death serves to end this suffering, which enables the concept of death to be depicted as a good in Williams argument. Williams essay focuses specifically on the concept of categorical desires. The categorical desires is a drive that causes enables someone to progress in to the future, because they possess certain desires/goals they wish to achieve. Additionally, the temptation of suicide originates from this unbearable boredom, which pushes the agent away from their categorical desires.
Although the audience can relate to the general scenarios Hamlet undergoes, most of his experiences are quite incomprehensible to the average person. Thus, proposing these questions naturally leads the audience to put themselves in Hamlet’s shoes, evaluating the “whips and scorns” he has endured, which in turn generates empathy. Interestingly enough, empathy and projection are opposite ideas (Abeles); as Hamlet attempts to redirect the focus off of himself, the audience does the exact opposite by evaluating Hamlet’s life from his cynical yet unique perspective. At the same time, the audience can still identify with Hamlet’s pain stemming from the loss of his father and disconnect with his lover, among other
As the innocent victim of Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s insanity is a product of her inability to cope with Hamlet and her father’s death. Her songs show hidden grief and sorrow; her flowers represent the fact that beneath the innocent exterior, there is a weakness or flaw in everyone. Hamlet was able to look past his grief for his father’s death, but he caused someone he loves to be in pain. Whether it is the frailty of women, sorrow, or death, anything, including love, can appear to be pleasant, but can be the ultimate cause of a person’s
Rita Felski’s view of tragedy being the failure “to master the self and the world” is at the heart of Nella Larsen’s Quicksand and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both texts are concerned with the incapacity of defining and accepting one’s identity and the characters’ attempts to resolve this identity crisis by isolating themselves. This essay will argue that the fundamental cause for this tragedy is the lack of emotional connection from one’s family, which in turn prohibits one to sympathize with anyone, including oneself. In Quicksand, Helga Crane’s inability to become truly happy stems from her feelings of being an outsider.
Despite the human form that mankind takes, monstrous qualities thrive throughout the natures of humanity, creating creatures full of spite and savagery. This malformation in mankind is proved dominant in Elie Wiesel’s autobiography Night, William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, and the painting searching for humanity by John Wentz. The theme of all these pieces is referring to the hermetical aspects that rely within each individual. The evil that lurks abaft the mask exhibited in the world to optically discern, Wentz’s painting represents those factors within society holistically.
Existentialism The concept of existentialism has so many contradicting and difficult to grasp components that it is much easier to put in terms of philosophy at its most fundamental. Synonyms of philosophy include: thinking and reasoning, namely the understanding of nature and existence of a person. Although several versions of existentialism exist, there are no set themes that could possibly encompass them all. This philosophy is valid to an individualistic level, however, it does not hold up to modern society as a whole.
Scanning through his past several years, he returns to his mother’s death and analyzes her choice to seek a lover at the end of her life. While before he thought it was strange and even somewhat aggravating, he realizes now, being so close to death, that people will enter a desperate search for meaning when their time left is fleeting. But at the same time, he reasons potentially as a coping mechanism, there is no difference whether he dies by execution later that day or in 40 years because he will be dying all the same. Together, these two realizations, though somewhat contradictory, create his bridge to Existentialism. By establishing these two points, he can allow himself to, “open up to the gentle indifference of the world - finding it so much like himself”(122), and apply whatever meaning he wants to life in order to make it as rich and enjoyable as desired, rather than drifting along as a pitiful being waiting for some greater power to guide him along.
In the Shakespearean comedy The Tempest, we are presented with the psychological violence associated with the abuse of power and continuous theme of colonialism explored throughout the play. In early works of Shakespeare it is evident that the violence interrogated in his plays consists of bloodshed and physical torture as opposed to his later works such as The Tempest where the play focuses on the ideology of psychological violence. The Tempest was one of the last plays written by Shakespeare and is recognised as one of his most popular works
The whole life of an individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to himself. Indeed, they should be fully born - although it is the tragic fate of some individuals to die before they are born. The thought of embracing a tragic hero in King Lear is what creates an icing on the cake. A tragic hero in King Lear is Lear, who is not eminently good and just, and whose misfortune is brought by error in decision making. In William Shakespeare’s King Lear, the development of Lear is indicated in three stages: the entrance of uncontrolled enthusiasm into Lear’s mind as a problematic power; the storm as an image of a problematic power, which relates to the conflict within Lear; and furthermore the rebirth of Lear through self-revelation.
Williams Shakespeare is recognized as the greatest English writer. One of his best works ever written is “Hamlet”, which is the most complex, confusing, and frequently performed play. The extreme complexity of the main character – prince Hamlet in this play contributes to its popularity until today. “Hamlet is supposedly the most quoted figure in Western culture after Jesus, maybe the most charismatic too” (Bloom 384). In the most famous revenge tragedy, his biggest weakness that he procrastinates completing his revenge for his father’s death by killing the murderer.
The objective of this paper is to study the reasons of Tom’s abandonment of his family and his perpetual anguish as its result. At the beginning of the play, Tom Wingfield tells the audience that he is the play’s narrator as well as a character in it. The play takes place in his memory. After giving a brief introduction of other characters and social background, he joins his mother and sister at the dinner table.
The characters are waiting in ‘vain’ for Godot(Sternlicht 51). They are like other human beings who continue to wait, to hope that what they want in life will come to them someday. They never mind how long they will wait. They try to keep some communication with the others or maintain people with whom their lives are linked. Beckett thinks that “the modern artist” is like someone in a trap because there is nothing to express but the main artist’s work, paradoxically, is to express.