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【Abstract】To the famous absurd play Endgame by Samuel Beckett, many spectators and critics from home and abroad hold that this play have no obvious meaning and theme, for the whole play only describes a grey, deserted and lifeless world. All the characters in despair are waiting for death. This paper puts forward a new point of view: Under the absurd surface, it contains the real essence; in despair sprinkles the starlight of hope. The paper studies each character’s detailed behaviors in the despair world, arguing the realistic meaning of this absurd play.
【Key words】real essence; absurdity; struggling; despair
The play is built in an isolated and closed room. Three of the four characters are paralyzed: Nagg and Nell are trapped in two big trash cans; blind Hamm helplessly sits on a chair. Only the servant Clov can limp. There are no more bicycles, no more lamp oil, no more ‘pap’ or sugar plums or Turkish Delight for Nagg, no more pain-killers for Hamm. Time is “as usual”; light is sunk; waves are “lead”; sun is “zero”. The whole play has no complete plot and coherent action. The so-called dramatic conflict is the mutual torment between the characters. It simply describes a grey, deserted and lifeless world; protagonists are waiting for death in despair. After watching the show, a series of questions will occur to us: Is this the absurd play, which claims world is meaningless? Since this genre of theater is meaningless, what is the meaning of staging this play? Has it really not led a way for us in despair? This play does not provide answers any more than the earlier works did, but it leaves open the possibility that a new path out of the old ruts might lead. In despair world sprinkles the starlight of hope.
Let’s begin with the central figure in the play Hamm. Sitting at the center of the stage, he has been trying to get rid of his difficulties to see the earth and sea through Clov’s eyes. Two small windows high on the wall with curtains draw is the only passage he contacts with the outside world. He eagers to feel sunshine. He asks Clov to move him to feel the wall which cuts him from the reality outside. He yearns for power, and wants to be focus. Even to his dog, Hamm wants to know, “Is he gazing at me?... As if he were asking me to take him for a walk?... Or as if he were begging me for a bone”. “Leave him like that, standing there imploring me”. To Clov, he is a master as well as a sort of foster father. With imagination and language, he sitting on the wheelchair tells his own play and novel. “Many critics have suggested his ‘chronicle’ relates to the arrival of Clov in the house”(McDonald, 43). According to the play, this statement is not unreasonable. Evidently Hamm takes Clov into the house while Clov was still quite young and raises him to be his servant. From the context the boy in the story appears to be the symbol of vitality, and limped Clov to this paralyzed family is a sign of hope of life. Hamm presides over the others. Nothing is more important to him than his power. He is full of desire for power and desire for signs of life in the outside world. Although he cannot change his current situation by himself, he uses material possessions as a means of controlling his parents and Clov, and manages to meet his own needs through them. In despair, he is still doing his best to explore the hope of survival. Superficially, although he is waiting for the end of this meaningless world, driven by the desire, he does not resign himself to death. Hamm’s legless parents Nagg and Nell are confined to ashbins. Nagg brings rare laugh for the dull stage, and the laugh comes from the love in his heart. He loves his wife very much, leaving three quarters of the unique biscuit to her. He recalls their amorous youth with his wife. Nagg has mentioned they crashed on their tandem in the Ardennes; he reminisces they once went out rowing on Lake Como; he recollects they got engaged. He shows great concern for his wife’s comfort, scratches for her. Under such a despair circumstance, he still tells funny story to his wife to cheer her up, to make himself get rid of his bad situation as well. But his efforts are violently interrupted by his son. As a son, Hamm imprisons his paralyzed parents in the trash cans. What’s worse, he does not give them food unless they listen to his story. However, as a father, Nagg is full of love to his son. He tries to bring hope to Hamm through his love and affection, but only to find his efforts come to nothing. He has no choice but to retract into the dust bin and suck his biscuit. However, in such a grey, depleted, and lifeless world, he still shows his love to his relatives. He tries his best to buoy them up. Although he fails to cheer his wife up, and does not bring hope to his son, his persistent love seems to be starlight in the devastated and despair world, which lit a light of hope for the audiences enveloped by dull, depression and despair.
Now, let’s move on to Clov, the only one who can move freely in the play. He takes care of the daily life of the four people. Although suffering from Hamm’s torture, he has been constantly looking for things to do, because “I do my best to create some order”. He has said in play it can be seen as he finds the meaning for his actions. We can see that he does not want to live in such a chaotic and meaningless world. He manages to add flavor to his dull and meaningless life. Although he must rely on food provided by Hamm to survive, he could no longer endure this life; he would burst and fight back, and eventually chose to leave. As the end approaches, however, “it becomes evident that a new spirit of independence is growing in Clov”(Webb, 63). Although Clov has been trying all his life to leave and has never succeeded in doing so, finally it seems even to Hamm as if perhaps he may. As Clov sets up the alarm clock they had agreed upon as the device that would let Hamm know whether Clov was gone or “merely dead”. Hamm then orders him to look at the earth again. And when Clov looks, he sees something completely new and completely unexpected: “... a small boy!” “What the sudden appearance of the boy means is as obscure to Clov as it is to Hamm, but what is important is that it makes him think in a new way which seems for the first time to be entirely his own”(Webb, 63). Previously he had always depended on Hamm or at least on others for his categories of thought, and if old categories became inadequate he still looked to Hamm for replacements. When Hamm taunted him with the meaninglessness of the world “yesterday” in their world of attenuated time, Clov had answered violently; “That means that bloody awful day, long ago, before this bloody awful day. I use the words you taught me. If they don’t mean anything any more, teach me others. Or let me be silent”. Now, however, in trying to understand what this new event means for him, Clov shifts from dependence on the thoughts of others to a personal and immediate confrontation with mysterious reality. Although we do not know whether Clov leaves Hamm at the end of the play or not, it exactly leaves open the possibility that a new path out of the old ruts might lead. We would not know if Clov can survive after leaving Hamm’s “shelter”, nor does he. However, he realizes that this closed house not only can protect him, but also separate him from the outside world. In despair, Clov has the courage to walk to the unknown new life. Through the analysis above, it is time to come back to our question proposed at the beginning: If Beckett leads a way for us in a grey, lifeless and despair world? Superficially, Beckett leads us to the end of the world, in which all hope are scattered to the four winds; all efforts are in vain; the colorful coat of the real life is torn into pieces. It seems this play aims to make us be aware of the “suffering” essence of life. In addition, the process of seeing the play is the process of spiritual decay. When the play finishes, our soul may be as dead as the world described; while when we come back to the real life, our hearts seem suddenly very calm and peaceful. It makes us realize that although the world is meaningless, and life is full of hardships, we still can do as Hamm taking advantage of the external available conditions to meet his own needs; we still can do as Hamm’s father Nagg showing love to others in all cases; we still can do as Clov constantly looking for something to do in order to endow the life with true meaning, at the same time being brave to challenge the unknown reality. “When Beckett got the Nobel Prize in 1969, the assessment is as follows: a new form of his plays and novels enable modern people to get excited from the despair predicament”(Peng) Maybe it is the meaning of the existence of Absurd Play.
References:
[1]Eugene,Webb.The Plays of Samuel Beckett.Seattle:Univ.of Washington Press,1974.
[2]McDonald,Rónán.The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett.Shanghai:Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,2008.
[3]彭勇文.荒誕之后的涅槃——再评《终局》[J].上海戏剧,2005, (6).
【Key words】real essence; absurdity; struggling; despair
The play is built in an isolated and closed room. Three of the four characters are paralyzed: Nagg and Nell are trapped in two big trash cans; blind Hamm helplessly sits on a chair. Only the servant Clov can limp. There are no more bicycles, no more lamp oil, no more ‘pap’ or sugar plums or Turkish Delight for Nagg, no more pain-killers for Hamm. Time is “as usual”; light is sunk; waves are “lead”; sun is “zero”. The whole play has no complete plot and coherent action. The so-called dramatic conflict is the mutual torment between the characters. It simply describes a grey, deserted and lifeless world; protagonists are waiting for death in despair. After watching the show, a series of questions will occur to us: Is this the absurd play, which claims world is meaningless? Since this genre of theater is meaningless, what is the meaning of staging this play? Has it really not led a way for us in despair? This play does not provide answers any more than the earlier works did, but it leaves open the possibility that a new path out of the old ruts might lead. In despair world sprinkles the starlight of hope.
Let’s begin with the central figure in the play Hamm. Sitting at the center of the stage, he has been trying to get rid of his difficulties to see the earth and sea through Clov’s eyes. Two small windows high on the wall with curtains draw is the only passage he contacts with the outside world. He eagers to feel sunshine. He asks Clov to move him to feel the wall which cuts him from the reality outside. He yearns for power, and wants to be focus. Even to his dog, Hamm wants to know, “Is he gazing at me?... As if he were asking me to take him for a walk?... Or as if he were begging me for a bone”. “Leave him like that, standing there imploring me”. To Clov, he is a master as well as a sort of foster father. With imagination and language, he sitting on the wheelchair tells his own play and novel. “Many critics have suggested his ‘chronicle’ relates to the arrival of Clov in the house”(McDonald, 43). According to the play, this statement is not unreasonable. Evidently Hamm takes Clov into the house while Clov was still quite young and raises him to be his servant. From the context the boy in the story appears to be the symbol of vitality, and limped Clov to this paralyzed family is a sign of hope of life. Hamm presides over the others. Nothing is more important to him than his power. He is full of desire for power and desire for signs of life in the outside world. Although he cannot change his current situation by himself, he uses material possessions as a means of controlling his parents and Clov, and manages to meet his own needs through them. In despair, he is still doing his best to explore the hope of survival. Superficially, although he is waiting for the end of this meaningless world, driven by the desire, he does not resign himself to death. Hamm’s legless parents Nagg and Nell are confined to ashbins. Nagg brings rare laugh for the dull stage, and the laugh comes from the love in his heart. He loves his wife very much, leaving three quarters of the unique biscuit to her. He recalls their amorous youth with his wife. Nagg has mentioned they crashed on their tandem in the Ardennes; he reminisces they once went out rowing on Lake Como; he recollects they got engaged. He shows great concern for his wife’s comfort, scratches for her. Under such a despair circumstance, he still tells funny story to his wife to cheer her up, to make himself get rid of his bad situation as well. But his efforts are violently interrupted by his son. As a son, Hamm imprisons his paralyzed parents in the trash cans. What’s worse, he does not give them food unless they listen to his story. However, as a father, Nagg is full of love to his son. He tries to bring hope to Hamm through his love and affection, but only to find his efforts come to nothing. He has no choice but to retract into the dust bin and suck his biscuit. However, in such a grey, depleted, and lifeless world, he still shows his love to his relatives. He tries his best to buoy them up. Although he fails to cheer his wife up, and does not bring hope to his son, his persistent love seems to be starlight in the devastated and despair world, which lit a light of hope for the audiences enveloped by dull, depression and despair.
Now, let’s move on to Clov, the only one who can move freely in the play. He takes care of the daily life of the four people. Although suffering from Hamm’s torture, he has been constantly looking for things to do, because “I do my best to create some order”. He has said in play it can be seen as he finds the meaning for his actions. We can see that he does not want to live in such a chaotic and meaningless world. He manages to add flavor to his dull and meaningless life. Although he must rely on food provided by Hamm to survive, he could no longer endure this life; he would burst and fight back, and eventually chose to leave. As the end approaches, however, “it becomes evident that a new spirit of independence is growing in Clov”(Webb, 63). Although Clov has been trying all his life to leave and has never succeeded in doing so, finally it seems even to Hamm as if perhaps he may. As Clov sets up the alarm clock they had agreed upon as the device that would let Hamm know whether Clov was gone or “merely dead”. Hamm then orders him to look at the earth again. And when Clov looks, he sees something completely new and completely unexpected: “... a small boy!” “What the sudden appearance of the boy means is as obscure to Clov as it is to Hamm, but what is important is that it makes him think in a new way which seems for the first time to be entirely his own”(Webb, 63). Previously he had always depended on Hamm or at least on others for his categories of thought, and if old categories became inadequate he still looked to Hamm for replacements. When Hamm taunted him with the meaninglessness of the world “yesterday” in their world of attenuated time, Clov had answered violently; “That means that bloody awful day, long ago, before this bloody awful day. I use the words you taught me. If they don’t mean anything any more, teach me others. Or let me be silent”. Now, however, in trying to understand what this new event means for him, Clov shifts from dependence on the thoughts of others to a personal and immediate confrontation with mysterious reality. Although we do not know whether Clov leaves Hamm at the end of the play or not, it exactly leaves open the possibility that a new path out of the old ruts might lead. We would not know if Clov can survive after leaving Hamm’s “shelter”, nor does he. However, he realizes that this closed house not only can protect him, but also separate him from the outside world. In despair, Clov has the courage to walk to the unknown new life. Through the analysis above, it is time to come back to our question proposed at the beginning: If Beckett leads a way for us in a grey, lifeless and despair world? Superficially, Beckett leads us to the end of the world, in which all hope are scattered to the four winds; all efforts are in vain; the colorful coat of the real life is torn into pieces. It seems this play aims to make us be aware of the “suffering” essence of life. In addition, the process of seeing the play is the process of spiritual decay. When the play finishes, our soul may be as dead as the world described; while when we come back to the real life, our hearts seem suddenly very calm and peaceful. It makes us realize that although the world is meaningless, and life is full of hardships, we still can do as Hamm taking advantage of the external available conditions to meet his own needs; we still can do as Hamm’s father Nagg showing love to others in all cases; we still can do as Clov constantly looking for something to do in order to endow the life with true meaning, at the same time being brave to challenge the unknown reality. “When Beckett got the Nobel Prize in 1969, the assessment is as follows: a new form of his plays and novels enable modern people to get excited from the despair predicament”(Peng) Maybe it is the meaning of the existence of Absurd Play.
References:
[1]Eugene,Webb.The Plays of Samuel Beckett.Seattle:Univ.of Washington Press,1974.
[2]McDonald,Rónán.The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett.Shanghai:Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,2008.
[3]彭勇文.荒誕之后的涅槃——再评《终局》[J].上海戏剧,2005, (6).