Q 01/05

Which phrase ends Beckett's much-quoted lines from Worstward Ho about trying again and failing again?

A) Fail harder

B) Fail better

C) Fail faster

D) Fail quietly

Answer · why

B) Fail better

Fail better. The tennis champion Stan Wawrinka, who won Grand Slam titles after years of defeats, had the lines tattooed along his left forearm.

Q 02/05

Who collected Beckett's 1969 Nobel Prize in his place?

A) His wife

B) His publisher

C) His agent

D) The Irish ambassador

Answer · why

B) His publisher

His publisher, Jerome Lindon, went in his place. Beckett accepted the prize but would not face the ceremony and the speech it required, and he made no...

Q 03/05

Which Irish novelist did the young Beckett befriend in Paris and help with research?

A) Oscar Wilde

B) James Joyce

C) W. B. Yeats

D) Flann O'Brien

Answer · why

B) James Joyce

James Joyce never employed him as a secretary, as is often said: Beckett was a friend and aide who ran research errands and read aloud to him as his e...

Q 04/05

In which language did Beckett write most of his works after 1947, including his most famous play?

A) French

B) English

C) Italian

D) German

Answer · why

A) French

French, he said, made it easier to write 'without style'. He then translated most of the work into English himself.

Q 05/05

In which Beckett play is Winnie buried up to her waist, then up to her neck, in a mound of earth?

A) Endgame

B) Happy Days

C) Footfalls

D) Rockaby

Answer · why

B) Happy Days

Happy Days. Sinking into the earth, Winnie still brushes her teeth, puts on her hat and declares 'Oh this is a happy day' to a husband who barely answ...