INANIMATE CHARACTERS IN SAMUEL BECKETT’S ENDGAME

Abstract

Characterization is one of the significant elements of writing a dramatic work. Much focus is given to the representation of characters on the stage in communicating the dramatist’s theme in the past research. However, less attention is paid to the study of the role of non-human elements in communicating the same theme. The current study claims that inanimate characters share with the human characters the significance in conveying the main theme in the dramatic work in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Inanimate characters are used by the modern dramatist symbolically to state various aspects, conditions and beliefs of the characters and the whole action of the play. Modern playwrights animate the inanimate objects because the human characters are depersonalized and disfigured in the modern world. So, they invest this technique and charge it with various meanings to help the audience in understanding the illogicality and absurdity of the human characters. Thus this study examines the inanimate characters, and their role beside the animate characters in communicating the main theme of the play. It concludes that they have a great contribution on the stage in conveying Beckett’s themes to the audience in his Endgame.