THE TRAGICOMIC ELEMENTS IN SAMUEL BECKETT'S PLAYS

Abstract

This thesis attempts at introducing a histotical background to the term tragicomedy, digging deep to pinpoint its roots in the writings of some Greek and Roman playwrights.

Tragicomedy has been one of the most arguable and controversial tenns among writers and critics alike, because it was sometimes used by writers to help them convey certain themes, but "often without reference to historical precedents" (Dutton, 9). Moreover, "Tragicomedy has always been subject to misunderstanding and mistrust" (27) because, compared with tragedies especially those cif Shakespeare, the tragicomedies especially those of the Renaissance, have certain defects according to Atistotle's Poetics. "Shakespeare's mature histories and. tragedies and their plots seem engineered solely to put the principals into positions of extreme mental and moral parade" (Guthke, 48). But in the tragicomedies the reverse happens and these paradoxes can be understood or explained by certain devices that go along with the mood of the play. .•