Parallel features: the dramatic works of Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Vaclav Havel

Abstract

Although Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Vaclav Havel as playwrights represent some very different features of the twentieth century, their dramatic works bear several rather striking similarities in content and form. This study attempts to find, name and analyse what causes the similarities between the plays, rather than declare these similarities a mere coincidence. Moreover, this study aims at emphasising that Beckett, Pinter and Havel, despite having remarkably different backgrounds, reflect the world in a similar way. The post-war period, when the three playwrights emerged, is characterised by the existence of two very different systems, namely the Eastern and Western bloc, which are respectively associated with socialism and capitalism. Although living in different blocs (Beckett and Pinter in the West, Havel in the East), there is a similarity in how the post-war European landscape affected the three playwrights. Having emerged during the Cold War, their plays represent a disintegrated world, as stated in Mary Kaldor's portrayal of the period below.