Beckett's Major Plays and the Trilogy

Authors

Charles R. Lyons, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

Despite the complexity of his texts and the diversity of his imagery Samuel Beckett maintains a unity and coherence in his work which is singular. Rarely, of course, does a novelist move into playwriting with success. The dramas of Henry James and James Joyce's Exiles are plays which come to mind immediately to document the typical failure of the novelist in the theater. The success of En attendant Godot, however, provided the motive for a critical re-evaluation which brought attention to Beckett's earlier novels, Watt and Murphy. The later trilogy-Molloy, Malone meurt, and l'Innommable-shares the same general period as the major plays.¹ Here Beckett's basic exploration of consciousness moves skillfully between play and novel, exploiting his keen sense of the possibilities of each form.

Recommended Citation

Lyons, Charles R. (1971) "Beckett's Major Plays and the Trilogy," Comparative Drama: Vol. 5: Iss. 4, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol5/iss4/2