Endgame Theme of Defeat

Let's start with a question. Is defeat something that is defined subjectively or objectively? Is defeat a
state of mind or is something that can be determined based on the facts surrounding a particular
person's situation? If we define defeat objectively, then the characters in Endgame are utterly
defeated. Their situation is hopeless; they will die in Hamm's house or nearby, and there is no sign
that there is another life to come. Yet, if we measure defeat subjectively, then most of these
characters are not yet defeated, if only because they do not know how to accept defeat and to
recognize it. Now, is this refusal to admit defeat just a lack of common sense or is it something like
a triumph of the human spirit?
Questions About Defeat
1. In what specific ways are the characters defeated? Exactly what hopes have they given
up that normal people still have?
2. What is worse, the external desolation or more immediate failures in their own
relationships?
3. Is the failure to accept defeat an even greater defeat than if they just accepted it? What
would the acceptance of defeat in the play mean? In other words, what is up with the title?
4. How do the characters, and Hamm in particular, perform their defeat in an effort to
make it real?
5. In the play, is defeat a state of mind or is it something that is determined by the external
situation?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.

In the play, defeat is something that has to be performed because it cannot be experienced
directly. Hamm, in particular, is constantly acting out his own defeat in an effort to make it
real.

The characters are not defeated in the play. Despite the apocalyptic setting, defeat is a state
of mind and they are not defeated until they give in to death and decide with certainty that
their lives are completely devoid of meaning.

QUOTES IN THE THEME OF DEFEATING

Quote #1
CLOV (fixed gaze, tonelessly)
Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.
(Pause.)
Grain upon grain, one by one, suddenly there's a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap.
(Pause.)
I can't be punished any more. (1.1)
Why does Clov begin by saying that things are "finishes" and then qualify by saying that
things are "nearly finished" and then qualify again by saying that things "must be nearly
finished"? How much more uncertainty is there at the end of this sentence than at the
beginning? Is there any hope in the play after these first few lines?

Quote #2
HAMM
Enough, it's time it ended, in the shelter too.
(Pause.)
And yet I hesitate toto end. Yes, there it is, it's time it ended and yet I hesitate to
(He yawns.)
to end. (1.2)
How is Hamm's hesitation to end in a way an admission of defeat? How is the failure to
accept defeat that runs throughout the play itself an even greater defeat? Why do you think
that Hamm hesitates?
Quote #3
NAGG
Could you not?
(Pause.)
Would you like me to scratch you?
(Pause.)
Are you crying again?
NELL
I was trying. (1.209-210)
Why might Nell still be trying to cry? Do you think that she would be crying for herself or
for other people? How does she still show sympathy for Nagg even though she refuses to
scratch him? Is the fact that she cannot cry in some way a hint that her death is imminent?
HW> Find out at least two more quotes on this theme in Endgame, and formulate a reflection or
question for your classmates as in the examples.