More on Samuel Beckett’s love of chess, his friendship with James Joyce, and what he really thought of the Lord Chamberlain in our Endgame Footnotes. Listen to our podcast Addendum, where we talk more about Beckett’s life and the premiere of Waiting for Godot.

Not listened to the episode yet? You’ll find it here

Samuel Beckett and Chess

Matt’s reference to the game in Endgame being suggestive of a game of chess was especially illuminating. Beckett was a life-long chess player, building a library of books on the game in which he annotated his learnings. In chess the “endgame” refers to the closing moves from which the end is inevitable, but the moves need to be played out. Hamm says “me to play”, indicating the alternate nature of the game. He stands for the figure of the King, who is hierarchically powerful but also the most limited in his movement, as Hamm is. As Hamm’s servant Clov is but a pawn, although pawns also have the potential to turn themselves into a Queen and gain much more freedom, albeit this is usually a very distant hope. The specifics of the analogy may be less important than the philosophical resonances. We are confined to the board and the rules of the game, as well as dependent on the other player’s actions. Most of us are poor players, with little understanding of the almost infinite possible ways that the game will unfold and end.

The Theatre of the Absurd

Beckett’s plays have been labelled as part of the so-called “Theatre of the Absurd”, works which deal with themes similar to those of the roughly contemporary existentialist thinkers. The term “Theatre of the Absurd” was coined by Martin Esslin in a book of the same name in which Beckett is included. Esslin argued these plays were the fulfilment of Albert Camus’ concept of the absurd as defined in his 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus – highlighting man’s repetitive and vain responses to a world without meaning. Esslin did argue that the result was not simply despair:

It is a challenge to accept the human condition as it is, in all its mystery and absurdity, and to bear it with dignity, nobly, responsibly; precisely because there are no easy solutions to the mysteries of existence, because ultimately man is alone in a meaningless world. The shedding of easy solutions, of comforting illusions, may be painful, but it leaves behind it a sense of freedom and relief. And that is why, in the last resort, the Theatre of the Absurd does not provoke tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.

Beckett’s endgame

Beckett died in December 1989, age 83. He is buried in Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, with a simple granite gravestone that follows Beckett’s directive that it should be “any colour, so long as it’s grey”. A remark that minutely suggests both the bleakness and humour that infuse his work.

The Texts

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Suggest a play

We’re always open to suggestions about plays to talk about, so if you’d like us to discuss a favourite of yours, please email us at plays@theplaypodcast.com. Let us know why you think we should cover it, and if you know anyone who’d be excited and qualified to talk about it with us (even yourself if modesty permits!).