You choose -- answer fully any ONE prompt below . . .

1)  Any worthwhile story has a source of tension that propels the characters, and usually a central protagonist who must confront the problem en route to a discovery of self or other.  Endgame is a classic drama – but one which avoids some of the trappings and traditions of pre-twentieth-century literature.  What is the tension at play in this work?  Who is the protangonist and what is his/her discovery, if anything?  How does this tension contribute to the larger meaning of the work?

2) Why does Endgame open the way it does? Why does it end in a similar manner?  Where are they?  What happened to them that got them here and made them this way?  Why on earth are Nell and Nagg living in trash bins?

3) How is Modern Man like Hamm and Clov? Where do we see ourselves and our world in this dark episode?  What does Hamm want? What does Clov want? What’s their history? Why doesn’t Clov leave?

4) An odd title, Endgame.  What do you make of it?  What do you fathom Beckett was suggesting with this enigmatic wordplay?

5) Is this ALL just dark and depressing, as some have claimed, or is there some jocularity?  What purpose might the humor serve? (Hint: NOT just to offer comic relief.)

6) Beckett infuses this play with a range of Biblical and classical ALLUSIONS. What are some of your favorites?  To what end (significance) do these references speak?

7) Endgame is both a dark, sordid tragedy and a witty, ironic parody of life itself; as such, it has a little something for everyone.  I hope that – at the least – some parts of this story spoke to you directly.  Considering this, what are some of your favorite quotes or passages from the text?  Why do these excerpts resonate with you?

8) What does this play remind you of? Where have you seen similar characters, or a similar situation, or a similar treatment of theme?  What other literature, art, or cinema – or even world event --  reminds you of Endgame?