Samuel Beckett and the Twentieth Century: Life and Work



Overview

Samuel Beckett, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, had a career that spanned nearly the entirety of the twentieth century. That career saw Beckett move between novels, stage plays, radio plays, television, poetry, and short fiction, writing in French and English with equal success. Today, his work remains iconic; recent high-profile stagings of his plays have included actors such as Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Cumming, Maxine Peake, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart.

This course will examine a representative selection of Beckett’s writing, paying particular attention to the political and cultural contexts that shaped his literary works: from his early life and education in Dublin, to his self-imposed exile in France, including his work for the French Resistance during the Second World War, through to his fame late in life and his continual efforts to subvert what the public knew of or could expect from his work.

Programme details

Courses starts: 16 Jan 2024

Week 0: Course Orientation

Week 1: Introduction

Week 2: First Love (written 1946, published 1973) [short fiction]

Week 3: Waiting for Godot (1952) [stage play]

Week 4: Waiting for Godot continued

Week 5: Endgame (1957) [stage play]

Week 6: Endgame continued

Week 7: All That Fall (1957) [radio play]

Week 8: Play (1964) and Not I (1972) [short stage plays]

Week 9: Quad I and II (1981) [television play]

Week 10: The Lost Ones (1971) [short fiction]

Digital Certification

To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend and participate in at least 80% of the live sessions on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £257.00
Take this course for CATS points £10.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Hannah Simpson

Dr Hannah Simpson is Lecturer in Theatre and Performance at the University of Edinburgh. She has published two books on the work of Samuel Beckett: Samuel Beckett and the Theatre of the Witness: Pain in Post-War Francophone Theatre (Oxford University Press) and Samuel Beckett and Disability Performance (Palgrave Macmillan). Her research has also been published by the Journal of Beckett Studies, Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui, Twentieth-Century Literature, Journal of Modern Literature, Etudes irlandaises, Comparative Drama, New Theatre Quarterly, Columbia University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Edinburgh University Press. Her PhD is from the University of Oxford, and her MA is from Boston University; she was educated in the state school system.

Course aims

Students will read, enjoy, and critically engage with a selection of Samuel Beckett’s literary works. They will gain familiarity in reading and analysing a range of literary media, including prose, stage play, radio drama, and television script.

Course Objectives:

  • To analyse and evaluate a range of Samuel Beckett’s work in different genres.
  • To develop an understanding of the political, historical, and cultural contexts from which these works have emerged.
  • To improve the student's confidence in the written and oral analysis of these literary texts.

Teaching methods

All the required reading material for the course will be made available online.

The course will consist of a weekly, one-hour pre-recorded lecture, to be viewed by students in preparation for the weekly, live online seminar at the time advertised. The live online seminars will take the form of guided discussions based on the course reading. Student participation is expected and welcomed.

At times during the live online seminars, students will be divided into smaller groups or pairs to study short passages of the plays or of critical material relating to the plays, and then will report back to the class as the basis for further group discussion. These activities are intended to foster an active, participatory approach to learning that will allow students to sharpen their critical faculties, test out new ideas, and develop their oral skills.

Students will also have the opportunity to share their plans for the assessed writing in class, in peer-review groups and with the tutor, prior to submission.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be expected to:

  • have read a diverse range of Samuel Beckett’s selected works in different genres;
  • recognise the significance of the cultural, political, and historical contexts in which these works were produced;
  • have developed their skills in close reading and performance analysis;
  • have gained confidence and competence in both written and oral work.

Assessment methods

A short formative piece (500 words) submitted midway through term focused on a short passage from any text on the syllabus, and a longer summative essay (1,500 words) submitted at the end of term focused on the treatment of a particular theme or technique in two of the texts on the syllabus.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without this form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

We will close for enrolments 7 days prior to the start date to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (7 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support