Samuel Beckett

Samuel Barclay Beckett

Biography

• an Irish playwright, poet, and novelist
• began writing in his early 20s
• attended Portora Royal School (also attended by Oscar Wilde)
• a student and companion of James Joyce

Biography (continued)

• adventured through Britain, Germany, and France while writing
• stabbed in Paris upon returning home
• Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnuil
• awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery

Writing Style

• wrote in both French and English
• many allusions to Dante, Descartes, and Joyce
• focused on the essential elements of the human condition

Writing Style (continued)

• considered one of the last modernists and first postmodernists
• plays contained minimal characters, plot, and scenery
• reflections of alienation, emptiness, and his existential crises

Late Life

• spent most of his late life writing in his home
• tightened when his wife passed, as he confined himself to small room where he later died

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail Better."