Samuel Beckett and the schizoid condition

Abstract

This thesis is a wide-ranging and exhaustive study of mental illness in the work of Samuel Beckett. It focuses primarily on schizoid/schizophrenic pathology but also discusses other mental disorders of relevance. Samuel Beckett's novels and plays have long puzzled literary critics with their experimental forms, recondite allusions and pessimistic outlook. But the ambient presence of mental disorder in his writing has received no more than cursory critical attention. This study seeks to redress this by demonstrating just how central schizoid states and schizophrenic illness are to his writing.