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Linearity In Samuel Beckett's Endgame

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‘Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished’, Clov, Endgame. Analyse the functions of linearity in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame (1958) and one other play or performance that you have studied on this course. Your critique may extend to how linearity functions across notions of time, space, narrative and culture.

“A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.”
- Jean-Luc Godard (Beaumont, 2000)
The above quote is taken from the French-Swiss film director, Jean-Luc Godard. It demonstrates that although a film, novel, play or story should have an identifiable beginning, middle and end, it does not always have to be in that exact order. In an article written by Amy Antwell, she discusses …show more content…

A large feature of this play is based around the idea of storytelling. These stories have a dramatic life of their own. They are, in a way, self-contained but in the play they function as dialogue, as revelations – often times ironically and as vessels of hidden meanings. It is a combination of all of the above that captures McDonagh’s advance in dramatic form – actions that drive forward the movement of the play. Like Endgame, the time and place for The Pillowman is left rather ambiguous. We are show a number of concrete locations such as a police interrogation room and a prison cell, two fantasy worlds where two of Katurian’s stories are dramatised which include a section of a child’s bedroom and an outdoors area set in a forest. Any place names mentioned in the play are a mixture of Eastern European and references. (Pilný, 2006). As with Beckett’s work, the length of action in The Pillowman seems to be equal with the overall length of the play. The play begins with Katurian being interrogated on a Monday evening and ends with him being shot to death approximately two hours later. (McDonagh, 2003). The action of the main plot is enhanced by scenes of the past (in the form of Katurian’s stories) and also references to the future (Detective Ariel’s story about retiring in the future.) Despite all of this information, the historical time and location of the play remains …show more content…

McDonagh’s work is quite straightforward to identify these pivotal moments. Firstly we see the rising action or beginning occur as we observe Katurian, a writer of twisted stories involving children, learn of several murders that mimic ideas presented in his stories. He is being questioned by police who are keen to put the blame on himself or else his brother Michal. After reciting one of his stories, Katurian is lead to his brother’s cell. Despite having protested their innocence, Katurian is shocked and appalled to learn that Michal was actually the person who murdered the children. When he realizes this Katurian tells Michal a bedtime story and smothers him with a pillow. This is the climax or turning point of the play, also called the middle. At the end of the play we are presented with Katurian being executed after taking credit for the murders. We also witness Katurian posthumously narrate his final moments before being shot, which reveal an interesting ending to the play. It is somewhat more difficult to divide Endgame up into specific sections. One can say that the exposition of the play begins with Clov, Hamm, Nagg and Nell making their appearances and participating in dialogue. The turning point of the play (middle) can be identified at the moment of Nagg’s curse

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