Endgame is a one-act play for four characters by Samuel Beckett. It was originally in French, entitled "Fin de partie"; it was translated into English by Beckett himself. Published in 1957, it is commonly considered, along with such works as Waiting for Godot, to be among Beckett's most Absurdist works.
Its protagonists are Hamm, an aged master, who is blind and can't stand up, and his servant Clov, who can't sit down. They exist in a tiny house by the sea, although the dialogues suggest that there is no exterior left - no sea, no sun, no clouds. The two characters, mutually dependent, have been fighting for years and continue to do so as the play goes on. Clov always wants to leave but never seems to be able. Also present are Hamm's parents Nagg and Nell, who live in rubbish bins.
The title is taken from the last part of a chess game, when there are very few pieces left. Beckett himself was known to be an avid player of the game, and the struggle of Hamm to accept the end can be compared to the refusal of most chess players to admit an inevitable defeat.
The literary critic Harold Bloom considers 'Hamm' to be an allusion to Hamlet and finds an intertext within Hamm's line:
Bloom contends this is an intertext with Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, in which doubt prevents the character from taking decisive action. And Endgame is a play devoid of action, in Beckett's typical absurdist style.