Comparison of The Tempest and Endgame

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This article compares the plays The Tempest and Endgame, focusing on the themes of colonization and master-slave dialectic. It explores the similarities and differences in structure, character dynamics, and dramatic techniques used by Shakespeare and Beckett. The analysis highlights the role of power, dependency, and existentialism in both plays.
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Running head: ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
English Assignment
Name of the Student:
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Author Note:
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1ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
Beckett published “Endgame” almost three centuries after shakespeare produced “The
Tempest”. Still, both of these plays share certain similarities as well as differences. In “The
Tempest” Shakespeare introduces Prospero, his daughter Miranda, Ariel, Caliban, Antonio
and many others who contribute to the structure of the play. It is the desire and intension of
Prospero to return to Milan and claim his rightful place as the Duke that drives the play
(Shakespeare). The play opens with chaos and confusion. The play accelerates with the help
of Prospero’s magic and at the end all problems are resolved. “Endgame”, on the other hand,
begins with the word “finished” and through the rest of the play the very idea that the
beginning and ending are intertwined are established (Van Hulle). The main characters are
Clov, Hamm, Nagg and Nell. The whole play carries an imagery of chess and hell which
justifies the title of the play (Beckett). In the paper, the two plays will be compared and the
theme of colonization and master-slave dialectic, their applicability on both the plays will be
analyzed.
“The Tempest” and “Endgame” both are masterpieces in their time and genre.
Shakespeare as well as Beckett has used several dramatic techniques to create the ambience
desired for the play. Both the plays start at ‘in media res’ which means starting the narrative
directly in the middle of an action. “The Tempest” begins at the midst of a storm and
“Endgame” starts with Clov exclaiming about the end of something.
CLOV (fixed gaze, tonelessly): Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be
nearly finished.
This technique sets the audience on edge. They are left wondering what the previous
incidents are, that has led to the present situation. Both the plays have instances of
dependency and hopelessness within it. In “The Tempest” Miranda is dependent on Prospero
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2ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
psychologically and emotionally. All her knowledge is sourced from her father and she feels
obligated to please her father throughout the play.
MIRANDA: More to know
Did never meddle with my thoughts (Shakespeare).
In “Endgame” Clov is dependent on Hamm. He waits for the orders coming from Hamm.
Hamm uses a whistle to summon Clov. Though Clov threatens many time to leave the place
he, till the end cannot even leave the room (Arthur). Their co-dependent relationship is
established again when they are unable to explain why they cannot leave each other and why
is it that they stay together.
HAMM: Why do you stay with me?
CLOV: Why do you keep me? (Beckett).
Both the central characters of the plays are obsessive. Prospero is obsessed with power
whereas Hamm’s obsession is his position at the center of the room, his central position in the
stage. Both the plays take place in a circular movement. In “The Tempest” all the actions
come to the circular motion where the resolution leads to Prospero’s return to Milan as he had
intended. In “Endgame”, the same actions are repeated, same words are uttered several times
to create the circular motion of the play (Moosavinia and Tabari).
Despite these similarities in the plays, there are several differences that set the two
plays apart from each other. The very rudimentary difference is the structure of the plays.
“The Tempest” is a five act play maintaining the prescribed structure of the play whereas
“Endgame” is a one act play. The former play is generally considered as a dark comedy
where Prospero directs the actions of the movie and other characters acts as mere puppets.
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3ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
The union of Miranda and Ferdinand is questionable as it seems to be based on infatuation
rather than true love and acceptance. The “Endgame” on the other hand is an existential play
where the issues of existence, life and death have the main focus. It is comic but certainly not
a comedy in the traditional sense as the characters die in the end (Jeffers). Throughout “The
Tempest” actions take place on the stage. Very few scenes lack action in them and there is a
steady growth towards climax whereas “Endgame” is linear in its movement and stagnancy is
the main theme of the play. The characters are all waiting for death.
“CLOV: Can there be misery— (he yawns) —loftier than mine?” (Beckett).
The central character, Hamm too is unable of any action. They movement happens in
the form a game of chess, repeated movements that lead to an inevitable end, death (Halpern).
The plays also differ in creating suspense. The former play has some suspence left as the
audience cannot be sure what the outcome of Prospero’s magical intervention is going to be.
In the later play the final outcome is rather clear. It is the journey how they reach the
destination that remains to be seen.
Pearson in his study on”Endgame” and both the plays have elements of colonialism
and master slave relationship among them (Cartelli). In “The Tempest”, the master slave
relationship is shared between Caliban and Prospero. The island that the actions of the play
take place belonged to Caliban. Now, Caliban has been enslaved by Prospero. He is ridiculed,
humiliated and beaten regularly. He is forced to do menial jobs and is kept in a cell. Prospero
threatens to torture him with the use of his magic and Caliban believes that it is only his
books that make him powerful (Kunat). In “Endgame” too, Clov is placed as a servant to
Hamm. Clov anticipates Hamm’s summons and is not able to leave the room, after
threatening with it several times. It seems he too is dependent upon Hamm for orders. In
reality neither Caliban nor Clov is dependent upon their master. It is the exact opposite.
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Hegel’s master slave dialectic claims that it is the master that is dependent upon the servant
for his position as the master. The master has no existence without his servant counterpart.
The servant, on the other hand has a identity of his own (Hegel). The master in “Endgame” is
physically paralyzed. Clov moves him about in his chair. In “The Tempest” too, it is Prospero
that is dependent on Caliban for his living. Caliban showed him the places where he could get
fresh supplies and later on brought fuel, food supplies that enabled Prospero and Miranda to
live a comfortable life on the island. Without Caliban, Prospero would not have been alive
even. The language taught by Prospero only taught Caliban how to curse.
CALIBAN: You taught me language; and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. (Shakespeare)
Ariel too shares the same dynamics with Prospero. Apparently Ariel is the slave of
Prospero whereas in reality without Ariel Prospero does not possess the power to do half the
things that he had done throughout the play. Sinclair’s “Cannibal” present some similarity
with “The Tempest”. The theme of primitivism and colonization is present in both works
(Sinclair).
From the above discussion it can be concluded that both Shakespeare’s “The
Tempest” and Beckett’s “Endgame” share some similarities when it comes to the theme and
plot. Being three centuries apart, most of their central ideas are different. The main crisis in
“Endgame” is the existential question and the wait for death. This play almost portrays death
as a respite whereas “The Tempest” is focuses mainly on power play and supernaturalism.
The element of colonization is prominent in both the plays and constitutes the basic similarity
between the two. The master slave dialectic plays a vital role in both the plays and is a
derivation of colonialism as colonialism leads to the establishment of master slave
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5ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
relationship. However, both of them have their own place in literary genre and stand apart in
their own way.
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6ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
Works Cited
Arthur, Christopher J. "Hegel as lord and master." Socialism, Feminism and Philosophy.
Routledge, 2013. 34-52.
Beckett, Samuel. Endgame. Faber & Faber, 2012.
Cartelli, Thomas. "Prospero in Africa: The Tempest as colonialist text and
pretext." Shakespeare Reproduced. Routledge, 2013. 107-123.
Halpern, Richard. "Beckett’s Tragic Pantry: Endgame and the Deflation of the
Act." PMLA 129.4 (2014): 742-750.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, Arnold Vincent Miller, and John Niemeyer Findlay.
"Phenomenology of spirit." (1977).
Jeffers, Jennifer M., ed. Samuel Beckett: A Casebook. Vol. 2025. Routledge
Kunat, John. "" Play me false": Rape, Race, and Conquest in The Tempest." Shakespeare
Quarterly 65.3 (2014): 307-327.
Moosavinia, Sayyed Rahim, and Bamshad Hekmatshoar Tabari. "Waiting for Godot is an
Irish Endgame: A Postcolonial Reading of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and
Endgame." International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 2.1 (2013):
60-67.
Shakespeare, William. The tempest. Vol. 9. Classic Books Company, 2001.
Sinclair, Safiya. Cannibal. U of Nebraska Press, 2016.
Van Hulle, Dirk, ed. The New Cambridge Companion to Samuel Beckett. Cambridge
University Press, 2015.edge, 2014.
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