Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter are central figures of the mid-twentieth century movement called The Theatre of the Absurd. Both writers were influenced philosophically by existentialist writers such as Sartre and Camus and historically by World War II, the holocaust, postwar consumerism. Both writers strain the use of literary language and meaning and challenge the conventions of theatre.  For some critics, the writers' challenge of conventions leads to multiple allegorial understandings of the human condition.  For others, the writers radical use of language undermines meaning and subjectivity to the extent that no meaning is possible and readers/viewers are only left with play.

As we study the challenging plays of both writers, we will consider these interpretive possibilities and others.  Prepare yourselves for feelings of strangeness, isolation, and alienation, but also get ready to conceptualize the world in brand new liberating ways.

• read the works closely so that you can use evidence and explanation to argue effectively for your particular interpretations in writing and orally;

• determine Becket's and Pinter's relationships to  modern and postmosdern literature, history, and culture; and

• determine what makes Beckett's and Pinter's works distinctive.

I will occassionally lecture, but the pedagogy of this class mostly discussion-based.  Consequently, it is is critical that you read the works carefully, closely, and critically. You should come to class with preliminary interpretations of the works, questions that will foster our discussions, and passages that you think are worthy of conversation.   Overall, I want this to be a class where everyone shares, where everyone listens, where you build upon each other's ideas, where you may politely disagree, stick to your views when meritted, and change your minds when you're persuaded. 

You will write three essays (one traditional argumentative analysis and two theatrically-oriented essays), produce an annotated bibliography of a set of reviews, and take a final exam. 

Attendance: Your participation in this course is essential, and as a result, so is attendance.  You are allowed to miss three class periods without penalty.  An absence after three will likely result in a W, F, or WF in the class.  Your three absences are to be used for the inevitable doctor’s visits, illnesses, sports events, court appointments, and funerals that may come up during the term. Extraordinary circumstances will be dealt with on a one-to-one basis. If you plan to be absent, tell me beforehand, so you can submit work ahead of time.  I rarely accept late work. 

Learning Time: You should expect to work an average eleven hours each week for this class, including the three hours of class time. You should devote an average of eight hours out of class each week to activities such as closely reading and analyzing texts; pre-writing, planning, drafting, revising, peer reviewing, and editing for essays the brief research project; viewing films; conferencing with me; and studying for exams and  quizzes.