Title:
THE SELF CONFUSION IN SAMUEL BECKETT’S ENDGAME

Authors:
Yan Huang ,China

Abstract:
The importance of subject has been put into emphasis since Enlightenment and flourished in Romanticism. And the celebration of the great significance of reason and self were constantly examined along the literary development. While, with the aggravating cruelty of capitalism and the concurrence of the two world wars, people utter the voice of opposing human reason and selfdoubt. Under such background, modernism focuses on the issue of self-assertion and it remains as a central theme in modernism study. Among modern theories and thoughts, Samuel Beckett’s study on self deserves special attention since he doubts the possibility of self-confirmation. As an influential representative in the theater of the absurd, he creates many a drama to describe people’s futility to pursue the meaning of life. This paper addresses Beckett’s Endgame to analyze the selfconfusion of the characters in the play and the reasons behind it. Also, it would elaborate what causes the desperate experience of self-doubt and ambiguity.