SOURCE: Guicharn, Jacques, and June Beckelman. “Existence on Stage: Samuel Beckett.” In Modern French Theatre: From Giraudoux to Beckett, pp. 193-220. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1961.

In the following essay, Guicharn and Beckelman examine the irony of the characters' acknowledgement and awareness of their own existence in Beckett's plays.

Despite the success of Genêt, Adamov, and Ionesco, despite the recent interest in Jean Vauthier and Arrabal, Samuel Beckett is still considered the unquestionable originator of a new conception of theatre. Since the 1952-53 season, during which he was in danger of being eclipsed by more established names, critics and a great majority of the public have almost unanimously recognized the importance of his first play En attendant Godot.

Today there is little point in defending Beckett's play. The play is “important,” it is new, it lives, it represents a true insight into a way of feeling...