Is Not I A Life Assuring Play? Samuel Beckett wrote Not I in 1972. It has often been described by the term 'Theatre of the Absurd'

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Is Not I A Life Assuring Play?

Samuel Beckett wrote Not I in 1972. It has often been described by the term 'Theatre of the Absurd'. This term was invented by Martin Esslin and refers to plays written in the 1950's and 60's. It originates from an essay by the French philosopher 'Albert Camus' called 'The Myth Of Sisyphus', and describes the situation of man as 'totally meaningless'. Beckett's plays often contain this idea; they suggest that man is out of tune with the universe, and that we as humans cannot decipher what our meaning or purpose is in life. Waiting for Godot, Becketts first play presents the idea that our roles have no purposes, and that man is a troubled and doubtful creature. At the time when Waiting For Godot was written, the Hiroshima bomb had just exploded in Japan, bringing an end to the second world war and leaving desolation in it's wake. This news of human life being wiped out on such a massive scale changed people's consciousness, broke down social boundaries, wavered religious beliefs, and most of all, provoked absolute despair. This fading out of religion, and lack of conviction that there was any