This book, first published in 1985, stresses Beckett’s success as an innovator in the theatre through a close reading and analysis of his plays. The differing backgrounds of the two authors enables them to approach Beckett’s drama in a particularly fruitful way: ‘Their analysis is clever yet level-headed, readable but does not shirk complexities.’ (Times Educational Supplement). ‘Brilliant collection of essays on Beckett and his works.’ (Irish Times)
1. Introduction 2. The One That Got Away: Eleuthéria 3. Bailing Out the Silence: Waiting for Godot 4. Son of Oedipus: Endgame 5. Love and Doom in an Irish Suburb: All That Fall 6. Death and the Maiden: Krapp’s Last Tape 7. Hectoring Voices in the Head: Embers, Eh Joe, Words and Music, Cascando, Ghost Trio, … but the clouds…, Rough for Radio 8. Blaze of Hellish Light: Happy Days 9. The Net Closes: Play 10. Into Action: Acts Without Words, Film, Come and Go, Breath 11. Last Ditch: Not I, That Time, Footfalls 12. Performance and Response 13. Still Struggling: Human Wishes, A Piece of Monologue, Rockaby, Ohio Impromptu, Quad, Catastrophe, Nacht und Träume, What Where
Biography
John Fletcher and John Spurling
