How does Beckett introduce the central concerns and techniques in the opening of the play?

Essay by nzmickyHigh School, 12th gradeA+, October 2007

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How does Beckett introduce the central concerns and techniques in the opening of the play?

Samuel Beckett's 'Endgame' is a play which forces the audience to become aware of the meaningless of life and the tragic way in which humans try to survive. Through use of setting, character and stage directions, Beckett aptly introduces the central concerns of the play.

Beckett's use of staging introduces the central concerns of death and the dependency that people have on others. The stage is introduced as having a "bare interior" with a "grey light" and "high up, two small windows". This presents an image of a skull which directly conveys the theme of death whereas the "grey" indicates that the characters are neither black nor white, which traditionally represents death and purity. This links to further on in the play when Clov is looking out the window and again describes the scenery as "grey" and "Light black.

From pole to pole." This suggests the play is set in a barren wasteland, where the characters are struggling with the decision to live or die and thus, are left in a "grey" area. In addition, the "bare" stage symbolises the emptiness of life and is a parody of traditional theatre which connotes to the audience that this play is unlike others. This image also gives the play a bleak and moribund atmosphere, in which everything is close to death and extinction and the characters are condemned to die. To further this image, after Clov has looked outside the windows, he describes the view as "zero" to Hamm. This indicates the environment is static and the world is stranded between light and dark. Furthermore, Beckett uses two of each prop such as two "old sheets", "two ashbins" and two characters- Hamm and Clov. This introduces...