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Waiting for Godot

The absurd comedy of absurd tragedy

Alec Charles explores how Samuel Beckett’s experience in wartime France and of the work of major French writers of the period impacted upon his imagination as he developed his most famous play

Edexcel: Paper 1 Drama: Comedy

Samuel Beckett had been living in Paris since 1938 when, on 10 May 1940, the German army began its invasion of France. By 14 June, the Nazis had taken Paris. Other foreign authors and artists, including his mentor and fellow Irishman James Joyce, had fled the city at the outbreak of the Second World War, while such French writers as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus had stayed in France. (Sartre had joined the French army; Camus had had his application rejected due to poor health.)

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A degree in creative writing

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Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

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