Nothing is more real than nothing : nothingness as an achievement in Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame' and 'Happy days'

Abstract

Upon watching, or reading, Samuel Beckett's plays, one could easily notice that the plays are reduced to the bare minimum, both in terms of staging and language. What is also particularly interesting is the fact that this sense of reductionism is also reflected in the action of the plays, because, as will be discussed in this dissertation, (N)othing happens. The three plays which are analysed in this dissertation, Waiting for Godot (1952), Endgame (1957) and Happy Days (1961), were all published and performed after the Second World War. Although there is no direct link with the Second World War in Beckett's plays, one could sense the consequences of its destruction reflected in the Nothingness in Beckett's plays. What is more, this Nothingness which prevails Beckett's three plays might also mirror the incredulity towards certain narratives, such as those of redemption. What one is presented with, then, is bare human experience, isolated from any delusive grand narrative. In the Introduction, we will analyse the claims made by the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, on narratives, particularly those related to religion. Nietzsche's claims will then be linked with Lyotard's argument on the incredulity towards grand narratives in a postmodern world, in order to set the context. In Chapter I, we will then see the means and ways by which the characters in the three plays go on to persist in the struggle of meaninglessness. Moreover, in the Chapter II, we examine how the meaninglessness which characterises the postmodern world is reflected in language's failure to capture that which is intended to be signified. Language becomes devoid of meaning, and as a result, Beckett resorts to silence as a superior conveyor of the situation which the characters are in. In the Chapter III, the sense of Nothingness in Beckett's three plays will be discussed. We will explore how the Nothingness in Beckett's plays is far from simply being nihilistic, and how ultimately, it is Beckett's achievement. Finally, the Conclusion sets out to view Beckett's Nothingness as a reflection of the bare human condition, with all the deceitful narratives of redemption stripped away. By stripping away all grand narratives, Beckett turns the Nothing into something through his interest in the ordinary. What one is thus provided with by encountering Beckett's plays is a sense of the way human life actually is, an affirmation of the foundations of human life.