| Beckett's writing can be roughly divided into three | | | | to him, he documented this in his 1958 play |
| periods - his early works up until 1945; his middle | | | | Krapp's Last Tape. |
| period from 1945 until the early 1960s, during | | | | He returned to Paris and began his most prolific |
| which he wrote his best known works and his late | | | | period as a writer, this was when he entered the |
| period from the early 1960s until his death in 1989 | | | | second period of his writing. He turned definitively |
| during which his style became more minimalist. His | | | | to the French language during his middle period |
| early works were greatly influenced by James | | | | and his work began to develop it's unique style |
| Joyce, critics comment on their erudite nature | | | | moving some critics to claim Beckett as one of |
| appearing to overly display the writer's knowledge | | | | the forefathers of post-modernism. |
| resulting in some obscurity. | | | | During his late period, Beckett whittled down the |
| Beckett began writing in French during this period, | | | | content of his work to the essential elements, |
| he stated that writing in a language that was not | | | | works written during this period include Not I, Eh |
| his first tongue taught him discipline in economy of | | | | Joe, Play and Breath. Beckett's work more than |
| language and contributed to a sparsemess of | | | | any other broke form the realist tradition, |
| style. In 1945, Beckett returned to Dublin for a | | | | dispensing with conventional plot, space and time |
| brief visit, during his visit he had a revelation in | | | | and focused on the essential elements of the |
| which his entire future literary direction appeared | | | | human condition. |