Act without words

by Samuel Beckett

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Literature, Fiction, Read For School

14 pages, pdf

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Novels of Samuel Barclay Beckett, Irish writer, include Murphy in 1938 and Malone Dies in 1951; a wider audience know his absurdist plays, such as Waiting for Godot in 1952 and Krapp's Last Tape in 1959, and he won the Nobel Prize of 1969 for literature.

Samuel Barclay Beckett, an avant-garde theater director and poet, lived in France for most of his adult life. He used English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black gallows humor.

People regard most influence of Samuel Barclay Beckett of the 20th century. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce strongly influenced him, whom people consider as one modernist. People sometimes consider him as an inspiration to many later first postmodernists. He is one of the key in what Martin Esslin called the "theater of the absurd". His later career worked with increasing minimalism.

People awarded Samuel Barclay Beckett "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation".

In 1984, people elected Samuel Barclay Bennett as Saoi of Aosdána.

Reviews

[Megan Mcewen · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Beckett, one need not necessarily imagine Tantalus happy either.

[Yas · Rating 2 out of 5]

پانتومیم بود. یعنی صرفا توصیف حرکات بازیگر.
حس جالبی داشت🤔

[Amirsaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

خوانش اول با ترجمه‌ی مهدی نوید.

[Luna · Rating 2 out of 5]

average Beckett play

[Ermina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heh, BekeČe.

[vea · Rating 4 out of 5]

beckett jamás me harán odiarte

[Dimebag · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play is open to various interpretations, apparently, nothing‘s been given away.

[Lucas Schmidt]

Better to see this play. Reminds me of The Myth of Sisyphus. But the character gives up, depending on how you look at it. Some thought the ending of it as a birth, and the rope as an umbilical cord. He accepts birth or, looking at his hands, realizes he's alive. Now, what does he do with that?

[Zé Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The failure of achieving goals, leading to a nihilistic perspective on reality, shows the failure of the so called "trial and error" theories.

[Nic (nicsbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic example of absurdist mime and clowning. The fact this show is very open to interpretation allows the mind to wonder about staging. Again, a piece I would like to see in the flesh.

[Scull17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have questions; so that's good.

[bella issa · Rating 4 out of 5]

dang life is futile i guess

[Martin Jee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought it was a bit trite, from a modern view at least.

[Rama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tries to review, sees rope, cuts it with the pair of self-scissors and drops back, reflects.

The pair disappears in flies.

He continues to reflect.

[Anne Louise Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

w-what

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't always get what you want....

[Hayder Ghazwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genius.
Samuel Beckett is really a mad man.

[Harry Palacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

When desperation sets in what recourse have we?

[Navya · Rating 4 out of 5]

day in my life.

[clara]

average lucid dream experience.
also somehow reminds me of Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s ‘Can’t Help Myself’ if it was a man on shrooms

[Maryam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another play for the drama course .
Also just finished writing an essay about it , God im so happy im done

[Dylan Kawalec · Rating 5 out of 5]

This absurd realist tragic portrayal of what It means to have goals in life, glosses over what it means to never obtain them. This act shows what it means to have desires but you don't have the materials or the possessions to really obtain these goals of your, or even aims in life. At first I thought it was about how we may be given thing to advance thought in this world but things aren't what drive human intellect, it's ourselves and it's the reason why he stares upon his hands. And he any escape what he is ordered to do which is to think and reach goals in life even if you fail. And if you do fail, Samuel Beckett shows that everything is either taken away from you and you had one chance to do it and if you screw it up or if nothing works you lost your chances. People give up, they try to rest. And if you rest of what you tried using to get your goals, well, those may be taken away too. You could end up with nothing but yourself. And you're the only commander of yourself. This is a wonderful read. And you gain a lot from it like I have.

[alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This piece of theatrical art would be a wonderful
one to study and write on, as it can be interpreted in endless ways!