If one were instructed to construct a list of the five most famous playwrights, Irish writer Samuel Beckett would almost certainly be included in most of those lists. His most famous works were written between World War II and the decade of 1960. His first play Eleutheria involved a man’s struggles to escape from his family and social responsibilities.
His most famous works include Waiting for Godot, an existentialist drama; Happy Days, a play in two acts; and Endgame, a play in one act which follows four characters. His style of writing has been termed as “Theater of the Absurd” by British dramatist Martin Esslin. He wrote in both French and English.
The Absurd plays focus on meaningless human life and the will to live in an incorrigible world. Influenced by great writers like James Joyce, Albert Camus, and Dante Alighieri, Samuel Beckett is widely loved by laymen and critics alike. His work - which spanned decades - is widely regarded as some of the best works to have ever been produced. He was interested in depicting necessary aspects of human experience.
We can understand it through the example of his masterpiece work “Waiting for Godot”. In this play there are two human beings in a simple human situation and not knowing why they are there. Their presence is depicted on a stage with a tree and no one other than them. It suggests that they are waiting for someone. But there is no evidence that the Godot even exists. Beckett’s unique style is that the setting of his works contrast with that of traditional literary works.
Across his entire career, Beckett's works are most famous for their bleak yet comic look at humanity, as well as their black comedy and gallows humor. Like in traditional dramatic literature, the characters pursue proper aims, seeking money or something else. But Beckett discarded such themes and wrote about untouched questions. He has created an empty and vague ambience and opened scenes to simple.
As far as his writing style is concerned, he wrote short and irregular sentences. He followed stream of consciousness technique. He chooses to reject the normal rule for tense. He also broke grammatical rules like use of paragraphs. He repeats words or phrases two or three times to make a thought more precise.
Not only is Beckett one of the most acclaimed playwrights, but he is also among the most distinguished. In 1969, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."
