Evolution of Memory Writing in Samuel Beckett’s Stage Plays

This article investigates the evolution of memory writing in Samuel Beckett’s stage plays by examining several of his notable works from different periods. Memory serves as a pervasive theme in Beckett’s oeuvre. In his stage plays, memory is predominantly characterised by fragmentation, evolving from evasion to reconstruction and eventually to fabrication. Beckett’s early plays focus more on characters who are afraid of memories and try to evade them, though involuntary memories persistently intrude. Beginning with Krapp’s Last Tape, there is a shift towards a focus on voluntary memory, where characters engage in recollections, endeavouring to reconstruct the past while often exhibiting a tendency to forget. In his later plays, Beckett incorporates more technological elements, employing fictional, disembodied voices and spectral images to externalise memory, but the subject of memory becomes increasingly fragmented.