Samuel Beckett was born in a suburb of Dublin in 1906. He came from a Protestant, Anglo-Irish background. He went to the Portora Royal School, the same school attended by Oscar Wilde, in Northern Ireland at the age of 14. He studied at Trinity College, where he received his bachelor’s degree and became a teacher for a brief period of time. In his youth he would periodically experience severe depression keeping him in bed until mid-day, and this experience influenced his writing later on.

Ireland may be small, but it has made an impact on theatre thanks to playwrights like George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. Early Irish dramas leaned toward political commentary and served government purposes, but this changed as playwrights started meeting the needs of the people. Attending plays became a popular pastime in Ireland and audiences grew as new theatres emerged. However, with the 19th century, many writers were forced to relocate to London or America to establish careers due to the economic struggles in Ireland.