BIBLE AND BECKETT: DRAMATIZATION OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THE PLAYS OF SAMUEL BECKETT

Abstract

This research aims at exploring the influence of the Bible on the writing of Samuel Beckett and his dramatization of the religious experience in his plays like Waiting for Godot and Happy Days. The analysis of his works has been done in the light of his biographies by James Knowlson, Enoch Brater and Deirdre Bair to see how he was affected by the Bible and the ‘Christian Myth’, as he would like to call it. This research is significant for future researchers as in this era of liberal academia, this aspect of Beckett’s work is mostly ignored.  The analysis clearly shows that the amount of Biblical references, that Beckett uses, cannot be ignored. So the importance of the Bible and the English heritage of Christian thought, while interpreting or discussing Beckett, can never be over-emphasized, and it is becoming more and more relevant with the movements arising in the last few years that emphasize the importance of saving Irish and British culture and Christian heritage.