“The Play's the Thing”: Samuel Beckett's Midlife Transition and the Theatre of the Absurd

This article considers the question of shifts in artistic and literary style from a lifespan developmental perspective, focussing on changes during midlife. Using Samuel Beckett as an example, we demonstrate the relation between his abrupt shift to playwriting (and specifically to the Theatre of the Absurd) and his entrance into midlife. Abandoning the “counting the wrinkles” approach to mid-adulthood, we consider midlife change in terms of growth. We base our contention on theories of lifespan personality development that suggest parallels between the technical demands of dramatic art and the psychological needs of midlife.