La Construcción de Samuel Beckett en el Teatro del Absurdo de Martin Esslin [The Construction of Samuel Beckett in Martin Esslin’s Theatre of the Absurd]

Wilson, Susan (2015) La Construcción de Samuel Beckett en el Teatro del Absurdo de Martin Esslin [The Construction of Samuel Beckett in Martin Esslin’s Theatre of the Absurd]. In: Beckett Bajo La Lupa: Catorce Miradas [Beckett Spotlight: Fourteen Views]. Paso de Gato Editions, Mexico, pp. 285-306. ISBN 978-607-8439-01-0

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Abstract

Since the early 1960s, Martin Esslin’s landmark study The Theatre of the Absurd has wielded a powerful infleunce over the reputation of Samuel Beckett. Essential to Esslin’s theatre of the Absurd is a “sense of metaphysical anguish at the absurdity of the human condition” (2001, 23-24) and the persistence of this metaphysical interpretation of Beckett’s work – with particular emphasis on its “anguished” nature – has been tenacious. However, the logical coherence of Esslin’s original analysis is open to doubt, as his contentions are as much informed by historical, and therefore contingent, post-World War II conditions as by any of the philosophical works of the Existentialists. The paper considers the popular image of Beckett as initially constructed by Esslin and whether this version can survive close analysis of its founding text.

Item Type:	Book Chapter
Additional Information:	Translated and published in Spanish
Keywords:	Samuel Beckett, Theatre of the Absurd, Martin Esslin
Faculty:	ARCHIVED Faculty of Arts, Law & Social Sciences (until September 2018)
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic User
Depositing User:	Symplectic User
Date Deposited:	08 Nov 2019 16:33
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2022 12:33
URI:	https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/704942

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