Beckett’s Spectral Presences

Abstract

Spectrality remains a key motif and metaphor in Beckett’s writing; many of his wandering and destitute creations seem on their way towards another kind of life, uncomfortably close to death, and remarkably close to the spirit world. This article outlines some of the paradoxes that surround Beckett’s relation to the ghost as a dramatic device; it emphasises how uneasily Beckett’s work sits within the tradition of the ghost play, and unravels some of the preoccupations and interests shaping Beckett’s treatment of dialogues with the dead.