ABSTRACT
Samuel Beckett's work forever changed the concepts of literature and theatre. His work remains a core part of introductory courses on literary history, drama, theatre or performance and also features in more specialist modules such as Modernism or The Absurd. Samuel Beckett is a comprehensive introduction to his life and work as well as an outline of the critical issues surrounding his work. This guidebook leaves judgements up to the student by explaining the full range of often very different critical views and interpretations and offers guides to further reading in each area discussed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |1 pages
Introduction
part |46 pages
Life and Contexts
chapter |7 pages
(a) The Early Years: 1906–1927
chapter |17 pages
(b) The Young Writer: 1928–1939
chapter |4 pages
(c) War and Watt: 1939–1946
chapter |5 pages
(d) Breakthrough: 1945–1953
chapter |9 pages
(e) Fame: 1953–1969
chapter |6 pages
(f) Last Years: 1970–1989
part |52 pages
Work
chapter |13 pages
(a) The Early Prose: 1929–1945
chapter |22 pages
(b) Beckett's Post-War Work: 1945–1960
chapter |15 pages
(c) The Later Work: 1960–1989
chapter |3 pages
(d) Beckett the Poet
part |102 pages
Criticism