For you, if you really want it, but only if you really

want it. Because it really has meaning, the others

are only everyday.¹⁶

Whereas earlier rejections had always forced Beckett into withdrawal and an

inability to cope with his life, the rejection of FIN DE PARTIE by even the

producers who had embraced WAITING FOR GODOT, seemed to drive him on

harder. Even after the play had been produced, Beckett took an active role in it. He

was on hand for as many productions of it as possible, always advising, sometimes

directing. His notebooks from these productions show constant adjusting and

tuning on a very minuscule level.

Two thingsbecome very clear in studying the development of the text of

ENDGAME:

1: Nothing in the text (including stage directions) is arbitrary.

The length of time that Beckett spent on the initial text of FIN DE PARTIE

and his satisfaction with the result makes it clear that his work on it was extremely

thorough and, even to Beckett's excessively self critical mind, successful. This work

is then, reworked, rethought and refined into the English ENDGAME.

Initially, Beckett had thought that he would be able to finish the translation

of FIN DE PARTIE in a month or so. However it ended up taking almost a year.

There are several indications that Beckett himself was eventually convinced that

ENDGAME was a superior text.

First of all he said so.¹⁷

Secondly the fact that the primary difference between the two texts is that