END GAME BY SAMUEL BECKETT: THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE LANGUAGE AND THE META THEATRAL PLAY

The article studies Samuel Beckett's Endgame as a meta-theatrical play. To examine the problem of genre four critical approaches are focussed: Martin Esslin's theory about the Theatre of the Absurd, Theodor Adorno's interpretation as a drama of decomposition, Christoph Menke's reading as a tragedy of representation and Lionel Abel's metatheatre proposal. In relation to the definition provided by Abel, Beckett's play is analized in the light of two major dimensions: the notion of the representational play as a self-reflexive drama and the distinction of language as a dramatic support.